Thanksgiving 2009

So once again, I am a little behind in updating my blog. The last couple months have been busy! :) We were lucky enough to have Ben's parents and his brother's family come down here for Thanksgiving! It was a quick visit but we really enjoyed having them here! My sister was also able to come over for Thanksgiving Day. Everyone brought something for the meal. For dessert, I made a pumpkin pie and these really cute turkey cupcakes.

I also got out the good china. Lila helped me make place cards for the table.

The weather was pretty nice so we walked down to the park in the afternoon.

David enjoyed playing with the wood chips on the ground.

Wyatt thought getting swung around by Daddy was pretty fun!

And everyone liked climbing the big rock, even Uncle Brian!

Aunt Janina helped Wyatt go down the slide.

Wyatt and Aunt Janina (who he now calls "Nina"... he calls ME that sometimes too!)

On the walk home, Rachel and Lila caught a ride. This picture cracks me up because it shows the difference in the girls - Rachel with her arms up & no fear and Lila squeezing Ben's head as tight as she can!

The next day was nice too so we played some in the yard. The girls could really get the glider going high.

What can I say? If it's there, we must taste it.

This Year's Ornament

When Ben and I got married, I decided that each year I would make a Christmas ornament, something to symbolize a significant event that year. The first year was an ornament with our wedding date on it. We have a doggy ornament for the year we got Maggie and Kelsey. I made an ornament for each year the kids were born. A pair of sandals for the year we went to South Padre with college friends. Anyway, I really didn't know what to do for this year. Ben went to Guatemala but the rest of us didn't. I deliberated for awhile but then Ben came up with the idea to do an ornament that looked like a camera. This year we got a DSLR camera which I have loved using. We also had our family picture taken, so it seemed like a camera was a good idea. Now I just had to figure out how to make it! I went to Hobby Lobby and found this musical button for 40 cents (did I mention I made this AFTER Christmas!) That became the lens. When you push on it, it plays "White Christmas" (which is appropriate since this year Ben watched one of my favorite Christmas movies - White Christmas - for the first time). I used a paper-mache box for the body ($1, Hobby Lobby). Everything else (paint, buttons, ribbon) I had already.

For the back, I printed out a picture taken this year of Lila and Wyatt. Hey, it's a digital camera, right? :)

I love looking at these ornaments each year on the tree. It has become a fun Christmas tradition for us.

*Note: I did NOT take these pictures with my DSLR. I used the camera on my phone b/c it was faster :)

Fall, Fun and Family

For the Halloween weekend, we drove up to Wichita to visit the Amey family and had a great time playing with cousins, playing in piles of leaves and trick-or-treating! The boys are still a little young to actually play together, but the girls have lots of fun!

Pam and David

Wyatt with Mommy

One of their favorite activities to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house is to spin in the office chair. You can tell by Lila's hair that they reach some pretty good speeds!

Kaelyn and Lila about to take a turn together

Hang on tight!

Now it's time for Kaelyn and Britton to spin.

Fun times.

Kaelyn and Britton helped make sure Wyatt didn't go too far on the stairs. (He LOVED climbing the stairs!)

We spent at little time at a nearby park, then we went home and piled up the leaves for jumping.

Britton - almost 6 years old!

Kaelyn - almost 4 years old!

Lila, 3 years and 3 months

Rachel, 3 and 1/2 years

Stuffing leaves into a pumpkin-face bag

Wyatt didn't think much of the leaves. He preferred to be held by Grandpa.

That night we went over to Brian and Pam's house for supper and trick-or-treating. While we were waiting for supper, the girls decorated plastic bottles with stickers for pumpkin bowling.

Wyatt found a sit-n-spin toy.

When it got dark, we went trick-or-treating to just a few houses. Britton dressed as a bride, Lila was a mermaid and Kaelyn was Babar the Elephant. Ben and Wyatt dressed up too - and handed out candy at the door.

David was a lion and Rachel was Cinderella.

It was Lila's first time to go trick-or-treating. This was her expression the whole time! I'm not sure she knew what to think. When we got back home, she finally said "trick or treat!" to Ben (she didn't say anything at the other houses).

After trick-or-treating the girls played with some play-doh.

Time to say goodbye.

Halloween 2009

The Jolly Green Giant (Ben), his helper Sprout (Wyatt), the Chicken of the Sea mermaid (Lila) and the Sunmaid Raisin lady (Colette). I put an image of each food mascot below our photos. A huge thank-you to Ben's Mom for her help in making our costumes - we would not have looked half as good without your help!!

Yeehaw, What a Birthday!

We had a great time celebrating Wyatt's one year birthday. We decided to have a western theme to play up Wyatt's name (you know, Wyatt Earp!) We had barbecue pork and turkey sandwiches for supper. And I made a horseshoe shaped cake for dessert. Let me just say I am so thankful I have an understanding husband who realizes that I have to express my creativity... it's just who I am! And I love that I get to unleash it on my kids... and if I can do it myself, it doesn't cost as much either! That said, since I knew we'd have some little kids at the party (one excited 3 year old for sure!), I thought it would be fun to make a little western town they could play in. It was just a passing thought until I was at my sister's and saw she had some wonderful big boxes that she was about to get rid of!! So with a little paint that I already owned and Ben's box cutting skills, we had a saloon, general store, bank and jail that cost $0. Now that's some cheap fun.

One of my favorite things to do when it comes to events is the invitation. Of course, it doesn't hurt that this utilizes my graphic design skills!

Here's Wyatt enjoying the saloon. He was so cute - he didn't realize the doors would swing, so he would crawl under them every time!

Wyatt's birthday cake

Lila "selling" Wyatt a banana at the general store.

Sheriff Wyatt stationed next to the jail!

Wyatt was fascinated by the balloons that Aunt Janina brought to the party... she always brings a really cool balloon. This time it was a big silver "1".

Wyatt didn't really react to the lit candle, but he enjoyed the singing and clapped along with everybody else at the end of "Happy Birthday to You".

He dove right into the cake... his left hand (yep, he might be a lefty!) just went back and forth from cake to mouth as fast as it could!

The one picture I got of him with his birthday hat - he didn't want to keep it on.

All gone!

Once he saw that we were still eating cake, he started fussing.

"Hey, I want more of that stuff!"

Tyler was a Cowboy in more ways than one!

Claire enjoyed serving some time at the local jail!

We had a great time and are so thankful we could share it with family and friends. My parents were in town, and they were such a blessing as we prepared and cleaned up after the party. Thanks Mom and Dad!