Thanksgiving 2015

We have had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Justin and I hosted our combined family Thanksgiving again their year and it turned out great.  Everyone helped by bringing a couple dishes and Justin fried the turkey again this year (a huge 15 lb turkey - the perfect size).

 

I bought a new tablecloth and centerpiece for our dining room table and was pleased with how it turned out.  I'm not the most creative person but after buying some ribbon and flowers at the dollar tree it made my candle holder a little more festive. 

 

I also found a cute Thanksgiving tablecloth at Target that was perfect for the kid's table.  I wished later that I had bought a few more since it was such a hit.  The kids had a great time coloring it. 

 

On the kid's table, I put out their Thanksgiving place mats they made at school:

 Kate's

 Mason's

 and the turkeys they painted as the centerpiece.

(Mason's on the left and Kate's on the right) 

 

While we were cooking the turkey, Mason drove the Gator until the battery went dead: 

 and Kate watched the parade...

 

 The head chef:

 with the supervisors:

 and finally it was time to eat!

 After lunch we took several golf cart rides (compliments of Uncle Jordan):

 and family pictures:

 We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving!  My friend Brittany (from work) joined us too but I didn't think to get a picture of the two of us. 

 Mason showed off the headband he made at school.

 and Kate put on her Indian Princess outfit. 

Her name was "Creeping Squirrel".

Happy Thanksgiving from our two little turkeys!

 

Veteran's Day 2015

This year we had an extra special Veteran's Day.  Typically, Justin and I have dropped the kids off at daycare for a few hours and done some early Christmas shopping.  We didn't plan on that this year since Kate was now in school and public schools are closed on Veteran's Day.  Instead, we were so excited to spend some time with Aunt Linda and Gaga!  They came up to Tallahassee to attend a special ceremony for the Florida Veteran's Walk of Honor on Wednesday.

 

All three of Justin's uncles and his dad served in the Vietnam War.  His Uncle Bobby, Mimi's and Aunt Linda's brother, was killed in action.  In honor of Uncle Bobby, Mimi purchased a brick that was engraved and placed in the Veteran's Walk of Honor, which is located in the courtyard between the Old and New Capitol.  It was an honor to attend the ceremony and be reminded of all the individuals serving our country and their family's sacrifices to protect our freedom.  I was so thankful the kids behaved as well as they did since it was extremely hot and the sun was beating down on us for the hour long ceremony.

 

Before the ceremony, we all went to the Veteran's parade. This was the first time we have gone but it won't be the last.  It might have been one of my favorite parades.  Kate told me that morning she didn't want to go because "parades are boring".  She quickly changed her tune once we arrived. 

 Little man didn't like the loud motorcycles and marching bands.

 Proud to be an American!

 Watching the parade with Gaga.  We loved having her here.

 Check out all those beads and flags.

 Posing for a picture in front of the Old Capitol.

 Love our family picture.

 Uncle Bobby's brick.

 This paper came home from school today and made me smile.  Kate did such a great job writing her words and coloring the camo.

Last night, Gaga and Aunt Linda came over to our house for dinner and to spend some time with us before they drove back to Naples today.  We had a wonderful time together and I wish so badly we all lived closer.  The kids gave them a tour of our house and we spent time going through all the photo books I have created over the years. Thankfully it will only be a few weeks before we go down to Naples before Christmas.

 

Happy Veteran's Day!  This is one I won't forget.

Happy Halloween 2015

The kids have had an exciting Halloween weekend but I'm glad it's over!  Whew.  Earlier in the week, the kids opened Halloween bags from Gigi and Granddaddy and Mommy and Daddy. We also carved our pumpkin at the house. It worked out that we waited to only a couple days before Halloween because it has been so hot recently - our pumpkin would have rotted. 

Everyone needs a pumpkin flashlight!

 We started off carving our pumpkin outside, but then it started pouring rain so we moved the party inside.

 Our master carver.

 This was how the kids "helped"...

 I drew the face on and daddy and Mason carved while Kate colored.

 Ta-da!

On Thursday, Gigi and I attended Mason's costume parade and class party at Good Samaritan. 

My little cowboy.

Mason's class getting ready for the parade to start! 

 They're off!

 Rhiannon (Sterling's little sister) and Mason.

 

On Friday, I helped out in Kate's class for their class party and later we all attended the Fall Festival.  There were several different stations set up for the kids: caramel apples, slime, skeletons, Halloween bingo, pin the nose on the pumpkin and snacks.  The kids had a great time and I ran around taking pictures of all the fun. 

 Stella.

Kate's friend Eden.

 Sterling.

 Ramsey.

 Caroline.

 Kate and Cole making slime.

 Kate and Ellie wearing their spider hats.

 Later that afternoon at the Fall Festival!

 

Since we had such a busy day on Friday, we took it easy on Saturday morning.  Before we met our friends that evening, we stopped by Nanny's house to trick-or-treat.

 My parents once again hosted all of us and this year, my co-worker Marleni and her family joined us! A big thank you to my mom and dad!  It was so much fun!

I managed to get pictures of everyone in their costumes before we took off trick-or-treating.

 Marleni's girls from left to right: Millie, CJ and Bree-Ana. 

 Audrey the witch and Sawyer, aka Hulk.

 Landon was Marshall from Paw Patrol and Peyton was a kitty.

 Spiderman Levi and Izzy the cat.

 Fireman Cowart.

 Bree-Ana was so sweet to help Mason all night.

Ready to Trick-or-Treat!

 A special thank you to Uncle Jordan for getting the trailer ready for another fun night of Trick-or-Treating! We had a great time. Happy Halloween!