Belated Post #1: Thanksgiving in Mississippi

Blogging may not be very time consuming for some people, but for me it is quite a task. And the number one reason is this....I HAVE SOOOOOOO MANY PICTURES!! It is so difficult to sort through all of them and pick which ones to post. I probably take at least one picture every single day of our lives. So here are the thirten chosen ones (pictures, that is) from our Thanksgiving trip...

We would have loved to go home for Thanksgiving, but it's hard to justify an 18-hour trip home when you can only stay for the weekend. So...my parents decided to rent a condo on the beach in Mississippi & we all met there.





We were so excited that Grandma & Grandpa agreed to come! It was wonderful having them with us!

Walking to the beach...

The boys got to play a little pool...


But mostly this is what they did....Mario Kart! I actually even got 1st place on one race, although I don't think any of them would admit it.

Luke making one of his typical Mommy-has-the-camera-pointed-at-me faces...

Luke loves Aunt Steph!

I love the smile on Papa's face here.

Here's Nana & Kallie taking a power nap to get ready for the best part of our trip...

PAJAMA JAM !!!!!!!! On Thanksgiving night, the huge outlet mall in town opened at midnight for Black Friday, and if you wore your pajamas you got a treat bag! So all the girls went shopping in our pj's!

Grandma and Kallie only made it a few hours before they went back to the condo. But Mom, Steph and I stayed out ALL NIGHT and had a blast!! We loved it!

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. The only thing we missed was having Brian, Mary & Hannah with us. We have so much to be thankful for, and my family is definitely at the top of our list.

These are a few of my favorite things...by Luke.

1. Wanket
I LOVE my blanket. I try to carry it around all day, but Mommy sneaks it away. The teachers at school like to call me Linus.

2. Hoi-see

This horsie was Seth's when he was a baby, but I recently discovered it and it has been permanently attached to my ear ever since. It plays lots of my favorite songs. I like to dance to them too.

3. White-Man

Daddy keeps telling me it's BATMAN, not White-Man, but that's just what I call it. I love to dress up and show my muscles.

4. Mrs. Tammi

I heart Mrs. Tammi. She is my favorite teacher. If Mommy knows I'm about to go into a class with another teacher she has to start warning me the day before so that I can get used to the idea.

5. Wauklet Milk

Yep, chocolate milk is soooooo yummy!!! Mommy especially enjoys finding old cups of chocolate milk under the couch, in my bed, and in other hiding places. Have you ever seen what chocolate milk turns into after about a day?

6. Waum-ade

Lemonade is my #2 favorite drink. It is not as fun to look at when it's a few days old though.

7. Hamming it up for the camera

Mommy likes to take lots of pictures of me. She always says "Smile Luke, smile!!!!!" and this is what I do instead. I think it's funnier.

8. Singing my ABCD's

Here I am for your viewing & listening pleasure...

9. Singing Winkle Star
This one's actually my favorite. The ABC song just made the list because it has the same tune.

10. Being two-and-a-half

Mommy took my two-and-a-half-year-old pictures today. Did you see all those faces I made in #7? Well...I thought of a bunch more, so this was the only good smiling picture Mommy got. Aren't I cute?

At a wedding rehearsal tonight...
Kallie: Mommy, is that a violin or a jello?


In two separate conversations this week...
Kallie told Nana that Luke wanted a boy swimming baby for Christmas, and Seth told Nana that Luke wanted an electronic dinosaur. Hmmmm...are we thinking of ourselves maybe?


In other news...
Luke climbed out of his crib this morning for the first time. Kallie knocked on our door to wake us up and ask who got Luke out of bed because he was wandering around downstairs. I found him crying, asking for Daddy, and his face was all red and splotchy like he'd been crying for a while. I have no idea how long he'd been down there. I'm just thankful that he didn't decide to leave the house. Tonight we put a childproof doorknob on the inside of his room & shut the door so that he can't get out. I broke out the baby monitor so that we'll hear when he wakes up. I guess it's time for a big boy bed. We haven't not had a crib in our house in over seven years.

No news is good news...

Well, there hasn't been much activity to report lately! I owe you Halloween pictures, but I have yet to upload them to the computer. Here's some randomness in the meantime...


'Miss Accident Prone' fell up the steps last night and bit her tongue so hard that it is bruised. Have you ever seen a bruised tongue? I haven't until now. There is a big knot underneath the skin on one side as well.



Luke wanted me to take a picture of his tongue too...


On a similar note, we are headed back to the orthopedist next week to see how her arm is healing. It is starting to feel like she's been in either a cast or a splint for most of this year. Let's just say that your prayers for her arm to stay in one piece are not wasted!

Kallie went to a friend's house after school today, so Luke and I came home alone. It was such a gorgeous day that we decided to take a walk through the neighborhood. Would you believe he held my hand the entire time? I was soaking up every second of it. We stopped to look at ants, stomped in every pile of leaves on the side of the road, watched the airplanes, balanced on the curb, took a detour to the playground, picked some flowers from a neighbor's yard (with consent, of course!), and then came home & ate popsicles! Shane and I absolutely love this age. It sounds so trite when parents say that their kids are full of life...but there really is no better way to describe Luke. He is such a joy!


The little yellow ones are the flowers he picked. The other ones came from our friend Chris who came to visit last night. Thanks for the flowers, Chris!

A Pumpkin-y Day!!

We went to the pumpkin patch today! The kids had so much fun. They look forward to this every year & start begging daily from the second they see the bales of hay going out. This year we painted pumpkins, carved pumpkins & baked pumpkin cookies. Here are the highlights...enjoy!













(I love this picture below ... I think his hands look so sweet cradling that pumpkin.)






The end result .... messy kids & scary pumpkins!!




Happy Fall to all of you!

Luke's first fish...

Luke got to go fishing with Daddy for the very first time today, and he actually caught a fish! (At our house, your first fish is as big of a milestone as your first tooth.) He was excited as they were reeling it in, but once it got close to him he started freaking out a little.









And of course, Kallie and Seth shared in the fun...

We have a winner!

Seth came home today with a blue ribbon for winning 1st place in a race at school. He was so proud of himself! Apparently, this is a race they have every Friday in P.E. that includes all of the second grade. Way to go Seth!

Our graceful ballerina...

Okay, so maybe not the graceful part...

Let's just say the apple doesn't fall far. There are many things I can do gracefully...moving is just not one of them.

Two broken arms in four months helped us decide that some grace/coordination training was in order. So last night Kallie attended her very first classical ballet class...

There were only four little girls in the class, and Kallie was the oldest. I know I'm probably just a little biased, but she definitely had the best pointed toes in the class! (Um, and definitely the longest legs...)

Just for fun...

My friend Emily tagged me (under slight duress) to post 7 things about myself that you may or may not know about me. So here's my list:

1. I don't enjoy anything at all about planning or preparing meals. In fact, if I were being really honest, I'd admit that I wish food were an option rather than a necessity. My pastor from a long time ago used to talk about how he couldn't wait to get to heaven so that he could eat all the time and not gain weight. I can't wait to get to heaven so that I never have to prepare a meal again.

2. I'm incredibly unobservant. Case in point...a few days ago I was a having a conversation with someone about countertops. I knew what color ours were, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what our edges looked like.

3. I have a ridiculously sensitive gag reflex. If I'm not hungry and try to eat anyway, I gag. Yesterday on the way to church I started gagging as soon as I smelled the sausage rolls Shane brought into the car.

4. I secretly want to have twins one day. (Don't tell Shane.)

5. I only wash my hair every 3rd day. Hey, it's very, very thick.

6. For some reason I can't seem to just take the first item off the shelf when I'm shopping. I have to get one from the back.

7. I eat another meal every night around midnight. I can't go to sleep it I don't.

Okay, now that you know all my weird-isms, I'm tagging Tami, Jeni, & Mary!