Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we drove down to Monroe, Louisiana on Wednesday to celebrate with Mike's family. That evening we ate Crawfish Etoufee, Red Beans & Rice, and Garlic bread. It was fabulous as always. Then we played Rock Band until the wee hours of the morning. My fingers are very untalented, so I only sang, but it was lots of fun.

On Thursday morning the girls and I watched the Thanksgiving Day parade. Kathryn told me she wanted to be a cheerleader when she grows up, and I told her that she could be anything she wanted to be. (But secretly I was cheering (pun intended) on the inside!)

Trimming the Tree

For Family Home Evening last Monday, we decorated our Christmas tree. We had so much fun looking through all our ornaments and showing the girls. We have ornaments from places we've lived, places we've visited, and from people we love.

Getting ready for Christmas!

Today we got out of church early because there was no electricity! It went out in the middle of Sacrament, but everyone just kept on doing what they were doing. It was kind of neat. There was enough light coming in from the front windows that everyone could see, but it was just a little dark. We finished Sacrament meeting and the speakers spoke without a microphone and the choir sang with the piano.

So, we came home around 10:30 and had pizza for an early lunch. Then we got out all of our Christmas decorations! We listened to Christmas music, put up our Christmas tree and I changed the mantle from Fall to Christmas! Tomorrow night we will put the ornaments on the tree and talk about the Savior's birth for Family Home Evening.

When I got out the Christmas tree skirt, the girls didn't know what it was, so I told them it was a cape and we all took turns wearing it and running around the house! Then when we showed them what it was actually for, they seemed kind of disappointed. They are excited to start the advent calendar when December starts.

Before:
After:
Mike got really worn out from putting up that tree!

Twilight at Midnight

Last night we went to see Twilight at the Midnight showing. We had a lot of fun! Three YW leaders and four of our YW went from our ward.

These girls were studing for a Science test! I hope they did well!

Here are our four girls ready and excited about the movie!

We were all some tired girls on our way home at 2:30 in the morning! I'm saving my review of the movie until later, after some of our other friends have seen it!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I saw this sign at our local donut shop and had to take a picture! After we dropped Kathryn off at preschool this morning, Sydney and I went and got a donut together. It was fun to be alone with her and she flirted with all the old men that were there having their morning coffee.

Then we picked Kathryn up early from school to go to Bounce U. Here she is dressed for Wacky Wednesday. Lately she's been saying, "Mom, That was too much fun!"

Christmas Stockings

I made our Christmas stockings today. I bought them after Christmas last year for $1. Then I bought stiff glitter felt and cut out the letters.

Today was 'Wear your PJs' day at preschool. Here is what Kathryn chose to wear. Well, actually she wanted to wear, "the ones with the flower, you know?, right here (points to her tummy) and the stripes on the side, you know?", but I couldn't figure out what she was talking about!

Her hair looks fuzzy, becuase it is! I braided it last night into 6 braids when it was wet to see what it would do when it dried. And...this is what it did. It actually looked cuter in person.

Another good dinner...

Okay, so I'm not usually one to buy pre-cooked convenience food, because of the higher prices and usually the diminished taste and preservatives. But I bought this a couple of weeks ago during a special deal at my local grocery store and we had it for dinner tonight. It was so good and so easy! And I don't even love pork! They have some other entrees, but this is the only one I can recommend because it's the only one I've tried.

FHE & Christmas Crafting

Tonight we had a Family Home Evening on being thankful. We sang A Song of Thanks (primary song), read a scripture on being thankful in all things (D&C 59:7), and made a Gratitude Can. Tonight Kathryn was thankful for "helping mommy sweep" and Sydney was thankful for her paci. Kathryn knew what she wanted to say right away, but I had to ask Sydney a little differently. I asked her what makes her happy, and she said her paci.

I also made these Christmas trees tonight for my mantle. I first saw the idea here, using styrofoam and fabric. I didn't really want to pay for the supplies, so I made mine out of posterboard and wrapping paper.

Kathryn's Yoga Moves

Kathryn & Sydney love to play 'gym'. They take turns pretending to be the mommy and leaving the kid in the Kid's Club and then going to do an exercise class. Their favorite part is coming back to the Kid's Club to pick up their baby. They'll ask each other, "Did you have fun? Did you color me a picture? Did you hit anyone?" It's quite funny. And it's behavior that I don't mind them copying. I love it actually. Here she is showing me some of her yoga moves.

Wentzville Turkey Trot

This morning I ran in the Wentzville Turkey Trot. I finished in 28:53 approx. No chip timing, so I could be off a couple of seconds either way. It was fun and I ran it with a couple of my friends but IT WAS SO COLD!!! We dressed the girls in ski bibs, big jackets, gloves, and hats, and they were actually able to stand out there for the entire hour that we were there. I brought hot chocolate that we had after the race, which was a warm treat. I didn't win any awards, or win the turkey that they gave away, but it was a good time. It's always nice to push myself in uncomfortable situations, just to know that I can do it.

We sold the Pathfinder yesterday! Finally! Admittedly, we hadn't been trying very hard to sell it, but we finally got our act together and did it.

A favorite snack...

This is my favorite snack for the moment! They are so good! Lately I've been eating them with hummus.

Bedtime

Out of the bath...

Brushing our hair...

Brushing our teeth...

Saying our prayers...

In bed by 8 and Mommy is silently cheering!

Ready...Set...Read!

We attended a Parents-as-Teachers event tonight called Ready...Set...Read! It was mainly for Kathryn's age group, but Sydney tagged along. We did lots of fun activities centered around fun books like, The Carrot Seed, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Corduroy, and lots more! Here Kathryn is fishing for One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish!

Sydney working on her hat.

Sydney fishing and the girls modeling their hats. Kathryn said, "Sydney looks like a magician!" (BTW, I had the girls hair cut yesterday. And Sydney got bangs. I'm not in love with them yet, but I think it's just such a change to her little face. Kathryn saw her and said, "She looks silly!" But I know that she just meant different and we will all grow to love them. And they will grow out. I'll try to get a better picture.)

The girls in the reading tent. I climbed in there with them and we read some books. They mainly wanted to play with the flashlights.

Leaves are falling all around!

I took the girls out to take pictures with all the pretty fall leaves today. We found these rocks along the way and they wanted to climb on them.

This location is on our way to church and is so beautiful. It's on Bent Oak Cutoff which is this short little road that cuts between the access road and Lake St. Louis Blvd. It was even more beautiful on Sunday when we drove through it for church, but we didn't manage to get out there until today! The girls love driving through the 'magical forest' (as they call it).

Bummer about the shadows on their faces. It was hard to tell when we were there. But the picture is still very cute!

Mmmmmm....yummy in our tummy!

This is what we had for dinner tonight and it was so good and easy! I used pork steaks instead of a pork shoulder roast and it turned out just fine. I love cooking with my crock pot. If anyone else has a crock pot recipe that they love, please share!

Sunday Evening Walk

On Sunday evenings we sometimes like to get out and go for a walk, because we feel like we've been cooped up inside all day. Tonight we headed out to look at the changing leaves, but we left a little late and it was already getting dark (darn Daylight Savings...). Anyway, we drove out to Brommelseik park and had just enough light to take a couple of pictures and walk around the woods a little. The leaves are so beautiful right now. They are the most gorgeous shades of yellow, orange, purple, and red. Some of the leaves look like they're glowing.

We love spending time together as a family and talking and listening to the funny things that our kids say. We feel so blessed to have them.

Halloween Fun!

We had a lot of fun on Halloween day. We got up and went to the gym first. I wore funky orange and black striped tights to work out in and the girls wore Halloween shirts and had tattoos on their faces.

Then, after Mike got home, we went to the nursing home near our house with our friends and visited the residents. Some of them had candy for the kids, and some were just happy to see the cute kids.

After the nursing home we came back to our house and dined on chili, mummy dogs, and a vegetable pizza. Then we hit the street for some serious trick-or-treating. The girls had a lot of fun. Sydney loved to knock on the door and when they would answer, she would start to walk in and say, "Come in your house?" We let the girls eat whatever candy they wanted, so they were pretty hyper by the time we were finished. They were hyper, but still sweet and funny, no major meltdowns. It was a good night and the weather was perfect!