Happy Turkey Day!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! We went to my aunt and uncle's house to eat lunch and it was a lot of fun. Madelyn enjoyed eating dressing and mashed potatoes. She also learned how to climb stairs- which made for a fun dinner, because someone had to be with her the entire time! It was a great time with family and good food....even though the turkey didn't get finished cooking until after we all ate dessert! Here are some of the things that I am thankful for:

Madelyn! This is her Thanksgiving photo shoot!

Our family of four! We tried really hard to get a decent picture, but after about 35 attempts, we gave up! These are just a few.

These two kids! I couldn't be more thankful for them...even without pants and with chocolate pie all over them!

The rest of my family...including the ones not pictured! I would say that most of the time my kids enjoy picture taking, but our Christmas card is proving me VERY wrong!

I'm thankful for being a mom to Andrew and Madelyn...even when Andrew didn't want to take a picture with me!

I'm thankful for my sister and my cousin. I'm especially thankful that he didn't cut his finger completely off with the table saw! Yes, I am the oldest and shortest!

Also thankful for our spouses! I'm thankful that Jason does so much to help out...and for his promotion a couple of weeks ago! I'm also thankful that Jenny knows how to make wreaths and gave me inspiration to make one of my own! I'll post a picture later.

There are many other things to be thankful for this holiday season, but my list would be very long! I'm busily getting ready for Christmas. Lots of decorating is going on. My house is on our church's home tour and I've got to go a little over the top! I'm actually having a lot of fun doing it and I'm determined to do it all myself! I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Madelyn Is One!

Madelyn turned one on November 13 and I have been waiting to post her birthday pictures, but the pictures are on our computer and it is unhooked because we are getting our new floors this week. These are a few that my great aunt and uncle took and sent me. We had a Minnie Mouse birthday party and it was a lot of fun. We had family and close friends come to celebrate her birthday. Madelyn wore her Minnie Mouse dress and had a lot of fun. She didn't really enjoy getting to dig into her cake. That surprised me, because she loves cake! She was exhausted so she took a nap and didn't open her gifts. Andrew opened them for her and thinks that they all belong to him! He keeps telling me "those are not Madelyn's birthday presents, those are my birthday presents." Here are a few pictures until I get the rest uploaded. I can't believe that she is already one year old!

Tubes, Party of Two!

The kids got their tubes yesterday and Andrew got his adenoids out also. They both did great, it was quick and easy! Madelyn went first and Andrew kept asking when it was his turn to go all by himself! They got done with her and while she was in recovery, they took Andrew. Then they brought us a very angry Madelyn! She took two bottles and then fell asleep while we waited on Andrew. Andrew's procedure took a little bit longer and he was really groggy when they brought him back to us. Madelyn woke up about that time and decided she felt great and it was time to play! We had to wait with Andrew for a little while and then got to take them both home. Andrew rested for several hours and then he perked up. They gave him some medicine for pain and said it could make him nauseated, but he didn't have any problem. He was just wanting to eat! We gave him soup and jello, but that wasn't enough! He ate meatballs, mashed potatoes, and peas for dinner. I'm hoping that he will be even better today. We were really glad that my mom could be here to help us out. Jason and I were both off work yesterday, but we both needed to go in today and so mom stayed home with Andrew. I took Madelyn, because she is fine! I'm so glad that they are doing so good!

Washington DC

Jason and I went to Washington DC last weekend to celebrate my birthday...it's this Sunday. With Madelyn's birthday being on this Saturday, we knew that the weekend would be all about her, so I didn't plan anything. Jason asked what I wanted to do for my birthday and jokingly I said I'd like to go to DC and see the Smithsonian museums. We had free airline tickets and hotel nights leftover from our summer travels, so we just used that and had a great time. We did a lot of walking and sight seeing! Here are a few of the pictures I took. When I don't have the kids, I just have pictures of "stuff"!

The White House
The Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial, behind the WWII Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The Vietnam Memorial...that's rain, not snow!

Us at the Capital. The only picture with people in it...well, people we know anyway!

Arlington Cemetary

The changing of the guard

More at Arlington. The trees were so pretty!

We had a great trip and then it was time to get back to normal, but it was nice to just have a few days to do something out of the ordinary! I'm thinking the weekend before my birthday will be a good time for a small trip every year!

Andrew's First Dentist Appointment

Today was Andrew's first dentist appointment and it went really well! I like the place that I chose to take him to. The staff is very friendly and the dentist is very nice. It is geared towards kids, which makes it a little bit easier. We got there and Andrew was able to play video games and watch TV while he waited. Then he brushed his teeth in the little, tiny sink- he thought that was really fun! After that, they tried to clean his teeth! He didn't want to lay down on the little table, even though they had headphones and a tv on the ceiling. He did put the headphones on and watch the TV upside down. They let him play with all the tools and he got to squirt water on Jason and I...and the rest of the office staff! He loved the little vacuum! He had a great time with that. She would put water in her hand and let him suck it out with the vacuum. The dentist came in and checked his teeth. He forewarned us that a lot of premature babies have dental problems because of their development, but after looking at his teeth, he said that Andrew's teeth show no signs of that! Praise the Lord! They did the flouride treatment, which he didn't enjoy too much, but otherwise it went great! Here are some pictures from our visit.

Thanks Dr. Rhodes! It may not look like it, but he did have a great time!

Harvest, Horns, and Halloween

We had our Harvest Parties at school on Thursday and Friday. We did a parade in the morning and then the party in the afternoon. Andrew was a Razorback football player and Madelyn was Minnie Mouse on Thursday and a Razorback cheerleader on Friday. Andrew enjoyed getting to eat plenty of candy and cupcakes! Madelyn went to all the class parties with me, as I took pictures, and enjoyed getting to crawl around and play with the older kids. The babies didn't do a party, because they are too little!

Madelyn wasn't a very happy Minnie Mouse! She was hungry.
Andrew as a football player!

Madelyn enjoying the party with Andrew.

Madelyn enjoying a cupcake!

I tried to get a picture of the two of them together on Friday, but Madelyn would not stay still! She kept crawling away!

This was the best I could do!

She was a busy little cheerleader! She couldn't even keep her shirt tucked in!

Andrew enjoyed his snacks!

Madelyn joined the party and enjoyed her snacks too!

On Friday afternoon, we headed out to Western Oklahoma for Jason's Grandma Horn's 90th Birthday party. We had a great time with his cousins and their kids. This was the first time I had met them and the first time that Jason had seen them in at least 10 years. Grandma has 11 great grandchildren and they all played and had a great time together! After the party we all went to dinner together and then dressed the kids up for Halloween (all except mine, their costumes were filthy- they wore their Halloween shirts) and went to a carnival. On Sunday, Jason's cousin preached and we had a big Sunday lunch with ribs, baked beans, and corn! It was a great trip and we cannot wait until our next visit!

Madelyn was all dressed up for the party!

Grandma Horn and her great grandchildren

The younger kids were all dressed up for Halloween- minus Andrew, he was running all over the yard!

Very blurry, but he was moving fast!

We got home on Sunday evening in time to change and go to the fall festival at church. Madelyn was much happier! She looked so cute in her Minnie dress! Andrew's costume was dirty, but I didn't have time to wash it. I decided that he was just an "authentic" football player! He played alot of games, ate a lot of candy, and had a great time. After we got home, I decided to let him trick-or-treat down our street. He thought it was great to just ring the doorbell and the people would give him candy. He would say "I want candy" when they would answer. I told him that was not what you say. So he said, "I want candy, please." Oh well, maybe next year he'll say trick-or-treat!