Thanksgiving

Well, our Thanksgiving week started out with this cutie pie

and this cutie pie

 

spending a couple of days in Hartselle with Gigi and Jabo.
Dan and I missed them terribly, but we also enjoyed our kid-free time. We went to an MSU basketball game and a date night to see the new Harry Potter movie, and that's not to mention all of the housework I caught up on! :)
The boys also had TONS of fun:
Will did a little fishing with Jabo,

while this little one caught up on some z's.

They threw the ball around in the backyard,

and played LOTS of dinosaurs!

Will did a little cooking with Gigi and Jabo,

and made this delicious pie that he was sooo proud of! :)

Then, it was back out to the pond for some more outdoor fun!

Will loved chasing the ducks and geese.

Andrew took it all in...

never too far from Gigi

until he found a mud puddle,

 

and, in true Andrew fashion, sat in it!

 

Another day in the books, Will raced back to the house on Gigi's awesome new bike!

 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Aldridges, Clay, and Dan and I made it into town.
It is always fun when these three get together!

 

Andrew got all dressed up for lunch at Grandmother and Papaw's house! (And from the look on his face, I think he knows how cute he looks!)
We had a delicious lunch and a great time with the Whatley clan.

 

We also had a big dinner at Nanny and Papa's house that evening and got to see all of the Staudt side of the family!
The rest of the weekend was filled with Kate dancing in the kitchen, "again" and "again, peez"

 

and finished up with "Elmo Day."

 

I am so thankful for all of our family, those we saw this week and those we missed. We are truly surrounded by blessings! Thank you God!

Christmas Cards

It is that time of year to start to thinking about Christmas cards. Shutterfly is offering 50 free cards to bloggers who write a post about it, so here you go!
I have used Shutterfly for my Christmas cards for the past couple of years and they turned out great! They have lots of affordable cards and lots of cute designs to choose from. You can see for yourself by going to Shutterfly.
I have also used Shutterfly to make picture calenders for Christmas presents for our families! These are great quality calenders and way cuter than ones I have ordered from another store.
I get so excited about this time of year! The shopping, the cold weather, the hot chocolate, and the list goes on. But, Dan always says that Thanksgiving gets overlooked between Halloween and Christmas, and I think I'm finally starting to see it his way. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love Christmas. I am already searching for Christmas music on the radio and I have already gone to a "Mistletoe Marketplace." But, I do think that Dan has a point. Between watching all of the advertisements on tv that talk about holiday shopping and seeing the displays out in the stores way before Thanksgiving, we kind of lose one of the really great holidays! It is important to stop and give thanks for all that we have and for the wonderful people in our lives. As well as enjoy lots of yummy food and some good football games! I think these are secretly Dan's real reasons for loving Thanksgiving. :)
And, I think I really might have unleashed the Grinch within Dan when I asked him if we could put up Christmas decorations this weekend! Oops! But, the kids will be visiting the grandparents and we might as well get a jump on things right?! Okay, maybe that is a little much for the guy single-handily trying to save Thanksgiving. :)

I am thankful for...

Dan! Dan is wonderful!! Just plain and simple! I have to brag on my guy...so, just bear with me.
There are not words to describe all the ways he makes our family better, but I will try to paint a little bit of a picture for you. :)
First of all, he is the best dad! He never seems to tire of Will's endless questions or Andrew's needing to be picked up the minute he walks in the door. And he makes bathtime the most fun time of day at our house. And to top it all off, he is the best role model any two boys could ever wish to have.
And I'm not even done. In addition to his awesome role as daddy, he still finds ways to make me fall in love with him more everyday. He brings me coffee in bed almost every morning. He helps with chores around the house without even being asked...like emptying the dishwasher before I come downstairs. He assures me every day that I am a great mom even when I feel like I got nothing accomplished and the kids are acting so bad. And the best one yet, I sent him to buy dog food the other day and he came home with these beautiful roses! Just because! Am I lucky or what?

Tomorrow is the anniversary of our first date together 10 YEARS AGO! Wow, has it been that long? And with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am so thankful for my Dan-O!

Dress Up

Everyone knows how much I HATE Walmart and how I try to make my trips to the place few and far between. Well, I had to make an exception for these awesome costume deals. A friend told me that all of their Halloween costumes were 90% off! Will is very much into pretending and characters, so I fully stocked our dress-up wardrobe!! And I did so for around $6!! 6 bucks!! Wow! I can't deny a good deal when I see one...even if it is at (gulp) Walmart.
Check em out:
A Transformer (He is presently still in this costume, several hours later!)

Check out those moves! :)

A Pirate

A Knight

And his favorite...the Ninja swords!

Halloween Hoopla

We had a very busy few days leading up to Halloween and lots of festivities to attend. This is how the weekend shook down...
Thursday: Trick or Treat on Sorority Row and games in the Junction.
Here are the cutest 2 green dragons you will ever see.

Will giving me his best roar!

It was super crowded in the Junction for the games, but we still managed to play a few.
We did a little fishing, pumpkin painting, and pie in the face fun!

And checking out the loot the next morning! :)

Friday: Trunk or Treat at our church and then Pumpkinpalooza in downtown Starkville. (I forgot my camera at home on Friday night, so, sadly, no pictures.)

Saturday: Tailgating and MSU football game.
Sunday: ACTUAL Halloween day
Nonnie and Papaw were in town and got to spend the weekend with us!

We were too pooped to get out and trick or treat that night, plus we were already at candy overload in this house. But, Will was totally content to dress up in his dragon costume and "roar" the kids who came to our door.
It was a fun weekend...and I'm tired!


And last but not least, here is a picture of the boys in their cute new truck t-shirts made by Kelly. The kids were anything but cooperative for this picture, but the shirts are still cute! :) Thanks Kelly!