~ Stuffed ~

With three Thanksgiviving dinners in the last week, I am officially STUFFED. At any given moment, I believe Wes, Jaidyn or I could start gobbling. Since there wasn't peanut butter & jelly yesterday, Addy & Levi ate like birds. They missed out! I can't really complain as when I stepped on the scale this morning, I weighed 1/2 lb. less that I did on Thursday morning. WTH! We had a great time getting to visit so much of our family over the past week and Levi met more of his relatives for the 1st time. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful, supportive family and are glad that so many of us get to be together over the holidays.

We celebrated Thanksgiving a week early with Wes's mom and extended family. Jaidyn also reminded her Grandma Penny that her birthday was coming up so we did some early 5th birthday celebrating as well.


Jaidyn and Grandma Penny


Jaidyn got to wear the Sombero hat while eating her fried icecream.


Addy sucking up to her sister hoping that she will share. That bowl was huge so we all shared it.




These two probably played over 30 games of Old Maid, Go Fish and War. Jaidyn is actually very good at cards or maybe just extremely lucky with the hand she is dealt.


Levi loved the four wheeler. He would probably be content riding on it for hours. Anytime that I tried to get him off, he would throw a fit and start running after Grandma Penny on it.

One of Addy's favorite toys is her stick horse Flicka (some days she changes it's name to clifford). She can gallop like no other. It is funny to watch her stomp and snort like a horse before taking off in a gallop. Levi has also figure out how to run with it. I think that a smaller stick horse would work out much better for him. When we first brought him home he wanted nothing to do with the stick horse as it scared him. He changes so much everyday.



You can tell by the nose that she takes this outside with her often. Too bad they can't be washed.



Jaidyn and Addy really wanted to go on a picnic today and since it is only in the low 60's (that might be estimating high) we had a picnic on the kitchen floor.



I thought he might be better off eating at a table, but eating on the floor must have looked like more fun.

Tis The Season for Super Glue

Well, the Christmas tree is up and dazzling with lights and ornaments. If only Levi will allow it to stay that way. Hoping to make this a jolly occasion with the kids, I put on some festive Christmas music while decorating. Wes was able to help set up the tree and string lights, but then had to go to work, so it was just the kids and I. I should have known better and waited to try and put the ornaments on with the girls after Levi went to bed, but I kind of wanted him to experience it too. After about the first 5 minutes, I was already super gluing pieces back on Wes's Highway Patrol themed light-up and attempting to super glue Santa's arm back on one of Wes and I's first ornament together. Agh! Keeping him from pulling every ornament off the lower branches of the tree has really tested my patience with him tonight. He would look at me right before pulling the ornament off to see if I was looking. He is Ornery! Luckily, I have Jaidyn and Addy to put on Tree Patrol.

I did manage to get some cute holiday pictures of the kids in their new Christmas pj's from their Nana.










Last weekend I scavenged the local thrift store to find these beauties for the upcoming Ugly Sweater Party. Here is a sneak preview as the kids were having a ball modeling my finds! Sorry if anyone is offended and actually likes these sweaters...it is just my personal opinion that they are hideously decorated with Christmas spirit and bling.


Levi loves playing Peek-A-Boo. He will hide behind a wall or a door and then peek around the side laughing and grinning.



Then the best part...he comes running for a great big hug!



We are so excited for our bloggy friends, JoAnne and Dennis. They are leaving for the Philippines tomorrow to meet their son and bring him home. What a wonderful Thanksgiving for their family!



Rachel from Adventures in the Philippines blog, gave me this blog award. Take some time to visit her blog. She has a huge heart for the children of the Philippines and she captures the best photos of the children while caring for them at the children homes during her mission work stays. I also can't wait to find some time to sit down and visit some of the other blogs that she nominated for this award. I also get to now pick some blogs to receive this blog award too, so I will soon be sharing the love. :)

This week is the national collection week for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Jaidyn was really in to it this year and she helped me sort and pack each box. She was especially particular about the girl boxes and wanted them to be just perfect. This year we were able to print a barcode online and now we will be able to track which country our boxes go to along with information about Operation Christmas Child in that country. Operation Christmas Child distributed shoe boxes early to some of the Philippines hit hardest by the Typhoon. This is a wonderful ministry to participate in and it is a great way to start the holiday season.
Article: Ministry Partners Reach Out To Storm Victims

Halloween Fun!

Whoa, last week was a busy week. The girls are at a great age and loved every minute of it. I am not sure what Levi thought of the weekend as he seemed to be trying to soak in all of the craziness...so many new things to him.

I have lots of pictures to share of our Halloween weekend.








Jaidyn, Addy, and Levi were completely freaked out by their Nana & Papa in these masks. I have to admit those masks are pretty creapy!


Ugh oh, they are loose, roaming the streets! Good thing they are a friendly ladybug and kitty cat.






Addy saw one of her little preschool friends in the neighborhood.

We had one tired little dinosaur who fell asleep in the stroller while trick-or-treating so we left him with Papa and Nana while we took the girls to a church Halloween festival.

Face Painting!



Digging for treasures and more candy!





Earlier on Halloween morning, Wes and my sister (different teams)participated in an Adventure Race...trail running, canoeing, wood splitting (mystery event), and biking. They had a great time and I think enjoyed most of the race with the exception of crossing the river chest deep. Brrrr! And I just love doing all of his muddy laundry afterwards.
















And it is a sprint to the finish line!!

On Friday we attended 2 library Halloween parties. Here they are parading around the library and trick-or-treating for candy.




I keep having to whisper to Levi, "Yes, Levi, you want these treats...mommy really wants these treats, mommy loves chocolate".






Isn't he the cutest little Dinosaur?












Trying to get a spoonful of Smarties candy in to the Cauldron. Jaidyn is such a cheater...she kept using 2 hands, anything to get to go pick out a prize!



Friday night our friends were able to join us for dinner and some time over at the park "Spooktacular Walking Trail". This is the 3rd year in a row to do this together so it has kind of become a tradition.