Tuesday, November 27

giving thanks.


(this is the closest i got to a family picture on thanksgiving.)


we gave thanks last week for our beautiful life.
daddy had the long weekend, so we played hard - and didn't internet much at all.
that's why all of this is late in coming.

we enjoyed the afternoon with family at my sister-in-law's parents' house. it was hard to believe that it was only three years ago that we were there for thanksgiving 2009 - and that i was just a big, pregnant lady back then!

(the cousins having a shirtless meal)

(poppy's first real thanksgiving - she perfected it! 
her recipe: put roll on fork, stir roll in all the foods, enjoy.)

(had a hard time getting a smile out of ellie, she was too busy having fun.)

i'm thankful for the big stuff:

my girls
my husband
God and Jesus Christ
a warm, comfortable home
family near and far
delicious food
faith, hope & charity
modern technology
friendship
freedom
health
the beauty of the earth
one fat dog

i'm also thankful for the little stuff:

sweatpants
coupons
cheddar cheese
cake
diet soda
little people toys
my phone
christmas music
leaves
glitter nail polish
books
target
shopping carts for two kids
hulu plus
moccasins

and that doesn't even put a dent in it.

we have a great life!

stay tuned. i've got a lot more to say about our weekend and our little ONE-YEAR-OLD.
can you believe it?



(they were dressed cute but wouldn't allow me a good picture. i need a professional.)






Thursday, November 15

500 what?

my last post was my 500th.
we're also coming up on our fifth anniversary and this will be our fifth holiday season in georgia.
i started this blog when we moved away to keep in touch (in a broad way) with family and friends and i'm so glad i did and that i've kept it up. 

last night i was talking with some very-newly-weds and somehow in the conversation they said to me, "but you've been married a LOT longer than us!"
i can't stop thinking about it. it hasn't been long at all. five years?
on the other hand, a lot has happened in that five years.





i guess kind of a lot of things have happened, including several beards and haircuts, lots of fun holidays and two incredible (and incredibly beautiful) girls!
what do ya'll thing? five more years?

five more years! five more years! 
and maybe 500 more posts.


Monday, November 12

because it's fall!




ellie loves fall.
maybe because she watched yo gabba gabba sing about it a million times, but still.
i love it, too. especially here. it's cool but not cold, it's beautiful and it seems to last forever.
two years ago i was dreaming of a brand new baby born in the fall and last year we brought that baby home. can you believe little penelope's birthday is in less than two weeks?! me either.

our power went out the other day due to winds from hurricane sandy (no complaints about it, that was the worst we had). it happened to be just when daddy got home. it was only out an hour or so, but it was the perfect excuse to run and play in the leaves. ellie always wants to "crunch" them and poppy just wants to be outside all the time (she brings her shoes to me and waits by the door).

you guys, i busted out the real camera for this one.

but then it was too fun so i started to play. so here's what i got before that. 




Monday, November 5

bean & boo report: halloween.



we are so blessed to have great friends and lots of fun activities for our kids. 
halloween pretty much lasted all month for them! 
ellie did the cutest crafts and had plenty of chances to enjoy "spooky stuff" (seriously, we had to go down the halloween aisle of every store so she could see it).


ellie begged to watch the halloween episode of yo gabba gabba over and over and studied it carefully, so when the time came she was a professional trick-or-treater. she kept yelling to her friends "come on guys, let's go get some candy!" she taught poppy well, and they both carried around their little buckets for weeks in anticipation. the days before, ellie would play trick-or-treat in her room and practice knocking on doors. 


we went to the church trunk-or-treat, but i only got two pictures on my phone. they had a lot of fun. mostly ellie just wanted to run from one end of the gym to the other. she even wanted to come back inside after we got candy and run more. poppy bopped around and wouldn't even hold my hand. she thinks she's so big. 


ellie decided that she wanted to be a white cat like thomas, grammie and pop-pop's cat (who, unfortunately, ended up resting in peace this month - ellie doesn't know yet). she wanted poppy to be a black cat. luckily she didn't change her mind at the last minute! i dressed as a cat lady at the trunk-or-treat but i didn't even get a picture! it was pretty good. ellie really wanted me to be a witch, though.

(daddy and his twin/biggest fan & poppy looks spooked!)


(white kitty)

on the actual halloween we were able to go to an amazing (clean and friendly and safe) neighborhood again this year and it didn't disappoint. ellie loved yelling "trick-or-treat!" even when there was just a bucket of candy on the porch and i heard her say "thank you" at almost every house. she picked up on which houses she shouldn't visit ("that light isn't on, mommy!") and was pretty brave (but confused) when she saw some kids with scream masks on ("uh...those guys are spooky ghosts?"). my favorite was when she would say "happy halloweeeeeeeen!" in her spooky voice. when we were leaving the party, she said "i had so much fun trick-or-treating with my friends! i got so much candy!"

 (the first one reminds me of last halloween's mugshot pic)
 

 (the bffs and cute captain america!)

(she's off, following behind a cheerleader. go dawgs!)

i think she may have a favorite holiday, but we'll just have to wait for christmas to determine that.

(these guys and their mugshot faces...) 

poppy liked the idea of halloween, but trick-or-treating wasn't for her - yet. she wanted to walk by herself, but she was a little too slow. i dressed as a witch (per ellie's request) so i had my little black cat when i carried her. at one point she ripped off her ears and started shaking her head "no" (her latest thing). it was getting cold and her hands were wet from being in her mouth... i guess any event past a baby's bedtime isn't going to be a complete hit.

she loved the costumes, though, and of course the food. she also liked growling at anything scary. she might possibly be more fearless than her sister - !!!! what am i going to do with them?

 (the aftermath. i think poppy hit him then bit him. bad kitty!)

thanks to everyone for the spooky good time! 
i feel like we have a lot to live up to for thanksgiving. 



p.s. - special thanks to my grandma jo-jo, the kids' grandma-great, for the gift card to joann's. i made some pretty cute kitties with the help of that card!

p.p.s - happy birthday to grammie p! we love you!