Ladybug Game

Ben got this board game for his birthday and we recently started playing it with him during Emmie and Callie's naptime. He caught on very quickly and mostly plays by the rules;) It's a great game for practicing counting, adding, subtracting and taking turns. We love it so much that Santa will be bringing a few more board games this year!


Ben's turn! It took awhile to "get" the concept of counting the spaces.

So excited to win!

We're still teaching good sportsmanship to Dan, though.

He's working on not being such a sore loser;)

Balance, Climb, Slide

Balance

Climb

Slide

Just Because...

Just because she's the cutest baby on the planet...

Must Love Dogs

Most of you know Emmie well enough to know she's harbored a deep-seated fear of dogs since babyhood. We're talkin' full-out, hysteria whenever one was near. She loved them from afar, but if a d-o-g came within 20 feet of her, it was NOT good. God forbid one would advance on her! It would take forever to talk her off the ledge, so to speak. We've hoped she'd eventually warm up to dogs and it looks like she has! We've now had three successful interactions with dogs where Emily was brave enough to be close to them, play with them, even pet them! She's still a little fearful, but she has come a loooong way. At the park today, a father came with his toddler and dog. Both Ben and Emily loved watching the dog run around, play fetch and climb on the playground equipment. Emily was all giggles as she watched the doggie and surprised me by not crying when the dog would run near us. She surprised me even further when she walked up to pet the dog for several seconds! She even took a turn throwing the ball for our new dog-friend:) I can't believe how big she's getting; changing and growing every day. Sigh...




Petting Kaia the Dog

Throwing her ball

Standing there, brave as can be as the dog RUNS to her! Huge breakthrough;)

Gobble, gobble

We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Mimi's tonight, although a certain jive-turkey refused to eat the previously anticipated t-day dinner once he saw the dessert buffet. He knows he must take four bites ove everything before getting dessert and boy did he take those four bites quickly! Emily, as usual, enjoyed the meal with gusto. She tried everything, exclaiming "MMM! I like this!" after each bite. Her favorite was the mashed potatoes, corn, turkey and dinner rolls. At one point during dessert, she switched back to her dinner plate and we laughed about how only Milly would have two kinds of pie AND ice-cream on her plate but choose the dinner roll and mashed potatoes instead:) Callie just enjoyed eating her hands and feet while sitting at the table with us. It was a pretty low-key evening(until the sugar-high kicked in for the Gruesome Twosome!) but very enjoyable!

The Mini Gourmand

The Grinch Who Stole Turkey-Day. Homeboy had to be excused from the table for bad behavior when he found out he couldn't have dessert until we ALL finished. His exact response? "WhatEVER. I'm leavin the table". Sigh...he's already 14 apparently!



Me, with my Mini-Me



Sisters, enjoying some conversation at the dinner table:)


The by-product of a meal consisting of four bites of marshmallow yams, three different kinds of pie, some ice-cream and a mini Sierra Mist: sugar-rush from hell!

Emmie much prefered to take care of her baby instead. She's burping her, here!

As you can see, Callie is not yet a fan of the Exersaucer:( I think it had more to do with the two very, VERY enthusiastic demonstrators she had showing her just how to play with it.


And who doesn't enjoy a nice pipe after a delicious holiday meal? Before you judge me, it came in a birthday gift(bubble set) and he loves it. He calls it a Mo(as in Mo Sizlack from the Simpsons. If you want to judge me for something, judge me for letting him watch that!) and doesn't realize it's a tobacco accessory. Meh...whatever. I played with far worse as a child...just ask my mom;)

Thanksgivings, past.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the blessings in your life and appreciate all the gifts that have been bestowed upon you. My family is truly my most cherished gift! It doesn't take a holiday to make me realize how lucky I am to be married to my fabulous husband, nor does it take a holiday to make me thankful for the health and well being of my beautiful children. Thanksgiving merely highlights the many wonderful people and things I have in my world.

Thank-you to my friends, for being the lovely people that you are! You make me smile and laugh and sane(ish).

Thank-you to my mother for all the help and support she lends me, even when I don't deserve it.

Thank-you to my husband for loving and supporting our family! You are an amazing father, friend and husband!

Thank-you to my children for making me love with my entire being every second of every day! I'll never stop trying to be the best mother I can be so you'll grow up always knowing just how much I love and adore you.

Now, here are some pictures from Thanksgivings, past!

The beginning of the end of my girlish good-looks! Dan, Ben and me on our 1st Thanksgiving!

My sweet lil baby-turkey, only 2 months old!

Ben's 2nd Turkey Day, wearing the shirt
we made to announce Emily's imminent arrival!
I was 14 weeks pregnant with her.

Emily's 1st Thanksgiving, only 6 months old!

Ben's 3rd time gobble-gobblin' at our T-Day feast!

Two little pumpkins, enjoying his 4th and her 2nd "Happy Tanksgidding"

We hope you enjoy your feast of food, family and friends! We're also thankful that you read our blog:)

Clearly, she has a problem...

She managed to fit four in there at once! I don't know whether to be proud or horrified? Pacifiers Anonymous, anyone?