Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving Day has arrived!  I decided to make everything from scratch this year.  It all looked so doable online, and I even had a cooking schedule to follow.  I started cooking on Wednesday mashing the potatoes,  chopping vegetables, slicing bread, and making the dough for rolls.  I got the turkey in the fridge to brine overnight.  This morning, I woke up to get the turkey in the oven, make the stuffing, and form the rolls.  We were ready to eat by lunch time, and it was tasty!  I'm not sure if I'll do everything like this next year, but it was fun to try!  We had just two guests because Leah was feeling a little under the weather, so Harper couldn't come visit.  We missed them!

 Our spread...We'll be eating leftovers for days!

After lunch, we hung out and watched lots of football.  Leah was excited to have Grams over, and we talked to Nana on the phone.  We missed seeing Nana and Grandpa and Leah's uncles this year!  All in all, it was a great day!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Harper Lillian

Meet Harper Lillian, our new niece!  She was born today at 9:52 a.m., and weighs 6lbs and is 18 inches long.  She is the teeniest, sweetest thing!

Congratulations Matt and Hayley!  She is beautiful!

Happy Halloween!

Leah was excited to celebrate Halloween this year!  They have been talking about it at school, and must have been counting down because she woke up that morning asking to put on her costume.  :)  Eric was at class that night, so we headed out with Leah's best friend, Addyson, and her mom.

 

 Goofing around before heading out

 

 Leah dressed up at Izzy, from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  She has her pixie dust around her neck.

 

 Yes, Addyson was also Izzy.  Leah didn't seem to mind that they were both dressed up as the same character!

 

 Her haul

 

Two little Izzys, hanging out and sharing some candy

Happy Birthday Leah!

Happy birthday, sweet Leah!  You are four years old already, and have grown into such a little lady over the past year.

I was reading about what we wrote about you last year, and it is all still true, and then some.  Your brain is constantly working and figuring out how this crazy world works.  You want to know why things happen or why things are the way they are.  My word, you are so smart!  You make connections between ideas all the time, and amaze us with how much you know.  And, once you know something, it sticks in your brain and never leaves!  We are always shocked when you bring up something that happened to you when you were 3 or even 2, and recall everything with detail.  We'll have to be careful with this skill later, I think!

While you still like your routine, you've become better with being flexible with whatever might happen.  This was proven with a recent trip where we had to stay an extra night out of town.  You had to sleep in a strange bed again, in a different hotel than the night before, and you got to bed late for the second night in a row...all things that might have led to a very frustrating day after for mom and dad.  But you were in such a great mood the next day, and listened when you needed to.  I love that you are now at an age that we can reason with you and you understand logical reasoning. 

Last year, we gave you a survey of all your favorite things.  Here is the 4 year old edition!  What is your...

favorite color?...pink and purple
favorite toy?...soccer ball (shout out Uncle Chris and Uncle Brett!)
favorite fruit?...cherry mixed fruit
favorite TV show?...Doc McStuffins
favorite thing to eat for lunch?...mashed potatoes
favorite outfit?...rainbow shirt and pink leggings
favorite game?...hide and seek
favorite snack?...goldfish
favorite animal?...unicorn
favorite song?...Keep Me In Mind
favorite book?....Ariel
favorite cereal?...Cinnamon Toast Crunch
favorite thing to do outside?...swim
favorite drink?...chocolate milk
favorite holiday?...Thanksgiving
favorite thing to eat for breakfast?...cereal
Who are your best friends?...Addyson and Katie Lynn
What do you like to take to bed at night?...dolphin, cow, and Lambie
What do you want for dinner on your birthday?...cupcakes
What do you want to be when you grow up?...house cleaner

Leah, you are an amazing and wonderful little girl!  We love you!  Happy birthday!

Fourth Birthday Art Party

We celebrated Leah's birthday a day early this year with a fun art party!  It was a rainbow-themed painting extravaganza!

 Her awesome cake!  It was as tasty as it was gorgeous!

 

 Waiting for her friends to arrive

 

Three best friends!  I'm not sure what face Leah is making in this picture though...

 

We started off with some doodling on the tables.  All of the kids thought it was pretty fun to have the whole table to color on!  After all the guests arrived, we moved on to painting canvases.  Each friend got a canvas to paint however they wanted!

 

 

It's painting time!

 

 Artists at work!

 

I love how they both have their bottom lip sticking out!  It helps you concentrate, don't you know!

 

Sweet Charlotte!  She had more paint on her and mommy than on her canvas, and was tickled to be painting her arms and face!

 

 

The finished masterpieces

 

Singing happy birthday

 

Leah blew out her candles with one blow!  She reminded us about last year when she needed help to blow out her candles, and assured us that she would be able to do it on her own this time.

Yummy cake!  It was the quietest those 8 girls were the entire time.

 

Opening presents!

 



 

Lots of Barbies!

 

Close your eyes for the big present from Mommy and Daddy!

 

Her brand new big girl bike!  She couldn't wait to get on it, and spent the rest of the party riding it while everyone else cleaned up.  I think it was a hit!

 

Another birthday party in the books!  We had a lot of fun celebrating with our closest friends, and we love everyone who was able to make it!  Happy birthday Leah!

Fall Festival

Leah's school had a fall festival last week, and Leah was so excited to wear her Halloween costume and go to school at night!  Leah is Izzy from Jake and the Neverland Pirates this year...along with her two best friends.  I reminder her that Katie Lynn and Addyson were also going to be Izzy, thinking that might ease her into changing her mind, and she said, "I know, Mom!  I don't care!"  So, Izzy it was!

 Leah, Addyson, and Katie Lynn

 

 There were games set up in each classroom.  Leah tried her best at ring toss.

 

 Working hard on her ghost craft, which promptly got put in our window when we got home!

 

What's a festival without a cake walk?  Leah won a yummy cupcake!

 

This was our first time at the fall festival, and we will definitely go back next year!

State Fair of Texas

It's October in Texas, and that means State Fair time!  I took the afternoon off work on Friday so we could head down and enjoy everything before it got too crowded.  We were excited to spend the afternoon with Leah and have fun as a family!

 

 

As we were walking around, I heard an announcement being made about a Pee Wee Stampede starting.  I asked Leah if she wanted to do it, and she said yes!  She got suited up in her hat, and her number pinned to her back.

 

 

She "rode" her horse around the arena, and her event was calf roping.  Basically, she ran out to the middle and knocked over a pretend calf.

 

 

Leah got a ribbon for participating.  Can you tell it must have been hot, hard work roping that calf?

 

 

After the rodeo, we went to feed the animals at the petting zoo.  Always fun!  They had two goats who delivered babies the day before...one single and a set of twins!  It was neat to see the baby goats just a day after being born.

 

 

Every year, Eric and Leah take a picture with Big Tex.

 

 

Of course, we had to get a Fletcher's corn dog while we were there!  I tried to get Leah to smile with it, but she said "Mom, I'm busy eating!"

 

 

Elsie the Cow

 

 

At the end, Leah rode the rides.  She picked the airplanes again, plus two new rides...the flying elephants and the racecars!

 

 

We had an awesome afternoon at the fair, and I wish I had taken a picture of Leah about 5 minutes after getting in the car...completely zonked out!  See you next year, Big Tex!

First Day of School 2012

If that's not the face of an excited preschooler, I don't know what is!

 

Leah is now officially in preschool, and she loves everything about it!  Her teacher, Ms. Tanya, is amazing!  Since starting school, Leah now talks about vowels, uppercase and lowercase letters, and asks about upstairs, downstairs, and basement letters.  They are working hard on writing lowercase letters...and as a kindergarten teacher, I just love it!  She also spent a week learning about rainforests, and brought home a map of Africa.  Not only could Leah tell me that it was Africa, she also told me the different land areas on the map (desert, rainforest, and grassland). 

 

We are so incredibly proud of our preschooler, and we hope this is the best year yet!

End of the Summer

Here is a quick look at how we spent the last month of summer in pictures!

Princess Camp

Over the summer, Leah and her best friend Addyson went to Princess Camp together.  It was a dance camp, where they learned a ballet, tap, and jazz dance!  They also had craft time, making props for their dances.  These two girls had the best time!

 

The camp was a week long, and on the last day, everyone performed a little recital for the parents.  The girls got to wear a princess dress for each dance.

We got the girls flowers for after the recital...they both did a fantastic job!