Merry (early) Christmas!

Last night Aunt Jenn and Uncle James came over for dinner.  They came with a gift for Hannah, which is not unusual.  Since they don't have children of their own yet, they spoil Hannah like crazy.  But this was different because it was wrapped and was clearly a Christmas present for Hannah. 

It was 2 huge bags (100 in each bag) of play balls!! To say Hannah loved it is a huge understatement.  She loved for us to put her in the box with all the balls and then she would throw them all out for us to chase after. Jenn and James got this "toy" approved by us before giving it to her since there are so many balls included. I said yes because I knew she'd love it, but I'm having my doubts now that I see balls EVERYWHERE! Ha!

Jenn and James were smart to give it to her early, and I'm sure Nana and Grandpa will appreciate the mess not  being at their house on Christmas morning!

Thanks Aunt Jenn & Uncle James!

Thanksgiving

I'm finally getting around to posting about Thanksgiving, and unfortunately, (as always) I didn't take many pictures at all! 

We spent the first half of our holiday with my family. My mom did a huge meal, complete with a Greenburg turkey (YUMMMM). It was so great and we were all super stuffed. I love being pregnant at Thanksgiving time! I've been pregnant at Thanksgiving for both my pregnancies and that just makes the food taste even better!! We were all sleepy after such a yummy meal.

One thing we tried at Granna's house was sidewalk chalk. Hannah has tried this before, but didn't really understand. Big Cousin, London, was there to help her this time.

The only problem is that Hannah thought that the chalk was also meant to color all over herself with. 

She was covered in chalk when she got done. I had to take her right to the bath. She loved it, though.  Wes came out and started drawing pictures of ducks and puppies and she would lay flat on her stomach and kiss the concrete to give all the animals kisses. Melted my heart!

Our last adventure at Granna and PawPaw's house was taking pictures for their Christmas card.  The more kids we add to the mix, the more difficult it becomes. I won't give away the picture, but here's one of the many out takes.

Getting 5 kids to be still and three of them being 18 months and younger is a challenge! 

After all our festivities at my parents house, we headed to Wesley's parents house. Can you believe that I didn't get my camera out one time the entire time we were there?! Probably because I was SO SICK. Oh, I was so miserable and felt like such a bum. 

I did happen to have my phone with me and was able to capture one picture. Hannah has learned so many animal noises lately.  She likes to act like a monkey, quack like a duck and most recently, moo like a cow.  Lucky us, Wesley's grandparents raise cows on their land, so we were able to show Hannah some REAL live cows.

While we were there we ate some yummy roast, brisket and ham that Wesley's dad smoked all day in his smoker. It was so yummmy! We got so spoiled on really good food.  We also enjoyed getting to see everyone. I think they were all happy to see Hannah, too!

We made some good Thanksgiving memories and are so thankful to have wonderful families. 

Playdoh!

I'm always looking for new activities to do with Hannah.  Sometimes I think I try things a little too soon. But, it's always a fun experience and even though it makes a mess sometimes, I have a happy girl! 

I love how she's sitting. 

Silly girl!

Because she's cute!

Birthday fun!

Saturday was my nieces 4th birthday! I can not believe how fast the past 4 years have gone!  Friday night she had a tinkerbell party at Piddlin' Pottery. She had so much fun!

All the kids loved painting and London really loved painting her princess!

Hannah painted a little Christmas ornament - it was a complete disaster! She loved it, but I think more paint ended up on her than it did on the actual ornament. Oh, what fun!

I sure love my London, girl!

Happy Birthday, Princess! 

A work in progress

Over the years of our marriage, Wes has collected a TON of....stuff. Lots of tools and little odd and end stuff. He doesn't throw things away. EVER!  This is so opposite of my personality. So where does this stuff end up? Our garage.  We aren't those people who can't open our garage because we're scared of what might fall out. FAR from it. Both of our cars fit nicely into our garage, but we have things hung on the walls, lined up against the walls and stuffed in cabinets.  So after lots of planning & saving, we've arrived to our solution!

Let the work begin!

Daddy's helper.

A HUGE, HUGE thank you to my dad and my father-in-law who came to help out. There's no way we could have completed so much without you two!

And to our awesome friends who came and helped!

And I have to say thanks to these jokers, too. Jason & Justin. This is the only time you'll see Mazingo with any type of tool in his hand, and Justin seems to disappear anytime we have a project going on. Just kidding! They were a huge help as well, but I always have to give these 2 a hard time.

And here's about what it looks like today.

So as I sit here and type this blog entry, the sound of the saw is ringing outside my window. I think I'll be hearing that sound for several weeks to come.

I'm so proud of all these boys. What talent they all have!! Thanks, everyone! 

A busy morning!

Hannah is at an age right now that mommy is no fun.  She seems so much happier when other people are around or if we're out and about.  So, when she woke up cranky this morning, we decided to head out for some fun.

Not to mention that ever since the time change, my little late sleeper that would usually sleep until 8:30 to 9:00 now wakes up at 6:00 or 6:30. WHAT?!

Our first stop was Barnes and Noble to read some books.

Then we headed to eat an early lunch with Mrs. Ashley. I was too busy eating to get any pictures of our fun. 

Then we headed to marble slab for some dessert. YUMM!!

Here we are waiting on the goodness.

Then we headed home for naps.  What a wonderful morning. Now if we can survive a trip to Wal-Mart this afternoon, we'll be in good shape!