Thanksgiving and Christmas Events

I found a picnic table on Craig's list. I love love love finding good deals. This table is like new and was $10! The kids are loving it. I take it in and out of the house. They read their books, eat, and climb on the table. It's a hit!

I did not take many pictures on Thanksgiving day! Not sure how that happened. I guess I got too busy with preparing the feast. Here is Sophia enjoying the fire on Thanksgiving day - which fell on my momma's birthday. It was nice to have my parents over for the holiday!




Here are Tristan and Sophia enjoying the tree. There is nothing like a real tree! I decided to decorate the tree as usual with the exception of hanging the most valuable ornaments out of reach! The kids have been exceptional. I allow them to touch or kiss the ornaments but they can not remove them from the tree. There have been a few times where the ornaments mysteriously land in their hands. There have also been times where the kids whack the tree with an object (as if it is okay since they are not technically touching the tree). The needles are falling faster than years without kids since they love to walk by the tree or lean in to kiss their ornaments.

Savannah did not want to pose with the tree because she was too busy in the van pretending to drive.

Here is Sophia and Savannah playing at the mall after our visit with Santa.

And here we are at TGIFriday's after Santa!

The decorated tree and the temptation! You can see the Elmo ornament. That is Savannah's second Christmas keepsake. She loves it and yells Elmo every time she spots him!

The traditional Santa photo.

Off to the mall to see Santa. We had no idea what to expect this year. Would the kids cry or would they embrace the white-bearded man?

The answer is Sophia and Savannah did not like him too much. Santa never gave us the chance to torture our kids. He immediately said to us, in his most caring Santa voice, "This needs to be a family picture. We don't want them to cry."

I felt like I was 5 years old again! I had no choice but to obey Santa. Although I really did not want to be in the picture it was nice not to have three screaming kids. I am sure Santa was thankful as well.

Merry Christmas to all!

Precious moments like this...

Precious moments like this
I want to seal with a kiss
Forever tucked away in my mind
Not one single detail left behind
When we are old and grey
We will sit around and say
Thank you God for our life
The blessings, smiles and even the strife
For now we have precious moments like this
How beautiful to reminisce


Sometimes I allow myself to get caught up in the daily routines. You know the ones, cooking, cleaning, brushing teeth, dressing kids, changing diapers, and on and on. Then BOOM WHAM BANG I am knocked out of that state when I witness such pure sweetness. Last night all three kids curled up into Jason's lap. I have so many thoughts about this and I am sure I won't express them all. I can't. I was truly overwhelmed with joy, pride, love and so much more.

Tristan started off with his head on Jason's lap and that was precious. Then the girls came running and wanted in on the action. Tristan dutifully left when they arrived. He knows his sisters do not like to share a lap with him. Jason got the girls settled in and he asked Tristan to return. I just knew Sophia would be unhappy when her brother's head rested on her leg...but...wait...no...she started rubbing his head. Here is a video and a picture.

This my friends is what makes life so sweet! Oh, and for those who know Jason...look he is smiling!

McRib Time and the Alligator Farm

What does the Alligator Farm have to do with a McRib? Answer is: NOT A THING. But the McRib deserves some praise. I love McRibs and they are baaack! My first McRib of the McRib season 2008. Thank you McDonalds for expanding my waistline! Now, now I am not one of those Americans that blames someone else for my woes. It's a joke!

Now to the kids...

The kids and I met up with two twin mommies today at the Alligator Farm. It was a great time! I am often surprised at how well my kids adjust and handle themselves when we are out(sometimes past nap time). We stopped to watch a noon feeding. The caretaker stood on a platform outside of the caged area and threw dead rats. Amazingly, the gators were not that aggressive with getting the rats. I also learned that gators have blind spots because of their long snouts. These alligators were huge! Very interesting. The kids could take it or leave it but giggled when I made the 'chomp' noise (probably because I looked crazy).

There is a glass window there.

X-rated pics here

While we were eating lunch we kept hearing these grunting noises. This was the scene. For the full effect turn up your sound. Yes, I am childish enough to post this. A little girl next to us kept asking what they were doing. It went on throughout our lunch. The keeper said it was a daily event. Good for them!

A few gator pictures.

Yummy Cookie Batter

I came across this wonderful recipe for pumpkin cookies. I will paste it at the end of this post. The great thing about this recipe is the batter does not have raw eggs. I took full advantage and gave the kids a taste. Savannah and Sophia got the beaters and I gave Tristan a wooden spoon. Does it look like they enjoyed it?

Easy Pumpkin Cookies

18-1/2 oz. pkg. yellow cake mix

2t. pumpkin pie spice

1c. canned pumpkin

1/4 cup butter, softened

optional: 1/2 cup raisins

16 oz. container vanilla frosting nutmeg to taste

In large bowl combine mix, spice, pumpkin and butter. Beat together with mixer on med for about 2 min. stir in raisins. drop on cookie sheet, bake at 375 for about 12 min. cool, frost and enjoy!

My first post!

I'm not sure I will be any good at this but I will give it a try. My main goal is to have experiences with my children in writing (so to speak) and to share with family members and friends the latest in the daily events regarding our family. It's your standard "family" blog!