With a Gobble Gobble Gobble

 And a wobble, wobble, wobble... *excerpt from one of the girls favorite Thanksgiving songs this year.  Ask them to sing it - they are not shy.  :)

We had a great Thanksgiving with our families this year.  In the spirit of the holiday, we are so thankful that both sides of our family are close enough that we can visit everyone!  We started out in Huntsville with a turkey dinner at Aunt Wissa & Uncle Scott's house.  Everything was delish (beautiful turkey, Wissa!) and we had fun laughing & hanging out with everyone.  The only hiccup was when Tyler locked the keys in the van.  On Thanksgiving Day.  Oops.  Thankfully, Papa had a friend who was a locksmith who graciously came over and helped us out!  It also gave the girls some time to run around outside, shoot some hoops & play with a cool light-up football.  :) 

Ready for turkey!

Burning off the after dinner calories.  :)

Big fans of these glasses.  They made the football glow!

Take me to your leader

Then it was off to Franklin for more fun!  We had a great time visiting with Mimi, Grandbob, Gabby, Uncle P & Mallory.   There was lots of reading, being thrown up in the air (the girls, not us!), laughing and all around good times.  Then, we all got to go see Shrek - carved entirely out of ice.  It was pretty cool (pun totally intended).  There was even an ice slide - and I don't know who enjoyed it most - the grown-ups or the kids!  We made it over to Opryland Hotel to look at the lights for a few minutes before the girls decided they were hungry & commenced meltdown - so we hit the road and enjoyed a delightful Mexican dinner.  Ole!

My kids have mad Where's Waldo skills.  Just like Uncle P.

Storytime with Gabby

Wheeee

That'll do donkey.

Family Picture attempt.  FAIL.

Daddy & Elle

Ready for the ice slide!

Mimi & Grandbob.  Modeling the always fashionable giant parkas provided.

Ice Ice Baby.  (couldn't resist)

Tyler's good side.  ZING!  :)

Beautiful ice Nativity Scene at the end.

And we are happy & pooped!

A wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of great memories!

Here Comes the Bride...

A sweet friend from Auburn - a fellow squirrel and all around beautiful lady - got married in November.  Tyler & I were able to head down to lovely Eufaula, AL to celebrate her big day and spend some time with other friends we don't get to see nearly enough.  It was a beautiful wedding and I cried, like I always do, because I am a big sap.  Love my girls and am so thankful we were able to go.  My other girls had an excellent time at home with Mimi & Grandbob.  :)

Makes my heart happy

Good times catching up!

Music Party!

One of the girls BFF's celebrated her birthday with a fun music party and the girls had a lovely time.  This sweet friend is moving away soon and we are so sad (and by "we", I mean "me", as I have not told the girls) and will miss her & her parents tons!  I'm serious, guys.  Her mama is awesome and a great friend and neighbor and I may start sucking MY thumb and rocking in a corner once they've moved away.  To another COUNTRY.  Thumbs down.  But total thumbs up for it being a great opportunity for their family.  I suppose the thumbs down is really just for me being selfish and wanting them to stay.  :)

But, as usual, I digress...

Elle & Kate got to make their own noisemakers and tambourines and then participate in a music class where they sang songs, danced, and clapped and engaged in all manners of music-making.  Kate?  Not so much into it.  She just kinda wanted to hang out with me quietly and watch everyone.  Which, if you know Kate, seems a smidge out of character.  The child is hilarious and loves to be silly and dance.  I always happy for snuggles from my girl though.  :)  Elle jumped right in and joined the fun!

PS - Christmas posts coming soon.  Promise!

I'm supposed to clap?  And sing?  Um, no.

Crafting it up - making their own musical instruments.

Starting to feel the music.  :)

Sweet pic of Elle & the bday girl!

Brusha Brusha Brusha

The girls first trip to the dentist was infinitely less dramatic and scarring than I thought it would be.  Hooray!  Both did an excellent job and did just what Karla, the friendly neighborhood hygienist, asked.  And even got BACK in the chair when Dr. Berger (who they call Dr. Hamburger - of course) came in to give them the final once-over.  Holler! 

Tyler and I have prayed that our children would get my teeth and his eyes, therefore avoiding braces & glasses in adolescence.  That's not too much to ask, right?  I'm not sure our thumb-sucker will escape the braces, as she has already been referred to an orthodontist, but I'm saying my prayers that if we nip this in the bud while she's young, maybe we can avoid it!  Shockingly, Dr. B did not take me up on my offer to come to my house and get my 3 year old to stop sucking her thumb.  Hmph.  However, BOTH kiddos were told they had very little plaque and tartar build-up.  Score. 

Here are a few pics I took to commemorate the occasion.  Also, they got prizes at the end.  When prizes are involved, it's a good day. 

Kate actually volunteered to go first!

No big whoop, Mom.

Nervous giggling

Dr. B checking out the bite

I'm sorry, what?  I have to stop sucking my thumb?  I don't understand.

Death by...

CUTENESS.  The track suits.  The pigtails.  I can't take it.  And it needed to be recorded on the blog for all eternity.  That is all.

Spiders and Kitty Cats in Pumpkins..Oh my!

Happy (wayyy belated) Halloween!  We had an action-packed, fun-filled one here.  This may be the only time in their lives that I am able to convince the girls that because they can fit into them, they should wear the same costumes they did last year.  I took full advantage and voila!  A spider and a Kitty Cat in a Pumpkin.  You will recall last year that Kate wanted nothing to do with the pumpkin part of her costume.  She started out that way again this year, but after cajoling and promises of eyeliner-drawn whiskers, she consented.  So it was like, a TOTALLY different costume for her.

Leading up to the big night o' Trick or Treating, the girls were able to celebrate in style at our local library during story time, and at a church Trunk or Treat.  We went Trick or Treating with our dear friends and neighbors on Halloween night and they racked up even more candy and had a great time, despite accidental beer spillage on the Kitty Cat.  For the rest of the night, she was a Stray Cat who reeked of booze.  HA!

Story time at the library with their friends, the Flamingo & the Ladybug

More candy?

Getting candy from Ms. Laura at the library - she's famous at our house.

Sweet friends!

Approximately 1 house into Trick-Or-Treating, we are already checking our stash

Kate even sat down for the occasion

They were PROS at this by the end of the night!

One house had a wheel of candy - fancy!

We also got to go to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to see the scarecrows on one of our Field Trip Fridays.  

Ready for the scarecrows!

There were tons of them!  Here's a troop leader and her scouts.

Posing in the gardens

And they celebrated BIG time at school!  I've never seen so many Halloween crafts.  Who needs Halloween decorations when you've got kiddos in preschool??  They got to wear these cool spider hats they made below and parade around school.

Now that Halloween is over, they are still requesting candy after every meal and for snacks.  Needless to say, Mommy is NOT their favorite person during those times.  :)  All in all - Halloween was big fun.  They were super excited about everything and really got into it!  Makes me even more excited for Christmas.  

Fall Getaway

The girls and I were able to take a quick trip to visit Mimi & Grandbob at their timeshare in TN earlier this month.  We had so much fun and are so glad they invited us.  We missed Tyler, of course, but he did an excellent job holding down the fort while we were away.  And then he got to go play golf.  :)

The leaves were starting to turn, so we were treated to some beautiful fall foliage on the drive up there and while we were there.  The girls kept saying "Look at all the pretty colors!".  They are loving them some fall leaves, for sure. 

Here are just a few of the highlights of our trip:

• Eating out at restaurants.  The girls love to eat out at "westauwants."
• Swimming in the indoor pool with Grandbob
• Reading stories with Mimi - The Berenstain Bears is a favorite right now. 
• Swinging on the playground
• Staying at the condo.  Elle & Kate have been talking about the condo since we went last year.  And this year?  There was a spiderweb on the stairs.  They were mesmerized.

When I asked them what their favorite part of the trip was, Kate said "Watching TV!" (HA.  Again, she is her mother's daughter) and Elle said "When Mimi drew a picture of my family!".  We brought magnadoodles with us and they had a great time telling Mimi what to draw - one of those things being their family.  

A few pics below.  Thanks, Mimi & Grandbob! 

Reading with Mimi

Swinging!

Yes.  I'm a weirdo.  But I thought this was a cool picture.

Grandbob doing the swing countdown - fun stuff.

First taste of coffee.  Psych.  They thought they were so big drinking water out of these cups though!