Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! It's definitely in the top three…. sort of a toss up between Thanksgiving and Easter coming in 2nd place. I was so thankful that my mom let me sleep in Thanksgiving morning!

I think the extra hour of sleep while i'm at my mom's makes me want to drive down there every weekend!

I settled the girls down so we could watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade together. It's one of my favorite traditions to watch the parade, and I hope it will be a fun memory for the girls.

Megan wasn't too interested in hanging around but G and Addy watched it for a while.

This is G's reaction when she found out Santa would be in the parade!

Fun fact: I was invited to dance in the parade when I was a junior in high school. My mom wouldn't let me go, and I remind her of the missed opportunity every year.

The girls got dressed in their matching outfits.

#areyousurprisedtheyhadmatchingoutfits

We attempted to get a picture of all four girls, but if you've ever tried getting four girls to sit still and look at the same camera while smiling, well, then you know it's like herding a pack of wild hogs.

I made shirts for the girls and my mom made their pants. Addy wore leopard leg warmers with pink ruffles.

The girls and I sent this picture to DJ since he couldn't join us for Thanksgiving.

I love this little turkey!

Her first Thanksgiving!

The girls eating their lunch.

Addy and I after lunch.

All the cousins went outside after lunch and spent lots of time jumping on the trampoline and playing outside!

Gretchen loves getting to see her older cousin!

And Meggie just loves her baby dolls!

Most of our company stayed so we could all enjoy leftovers for dinner, and once everyone left, we layed around and watched t.v. My mom and stepdad actually went out to Belk's when they opened at 8 pm, because my grandma insisted that my mom go Christmas shopping and buy grandma's presents for all of her grandchildren. I stayed home with the girls and because they refused to go to sleep, we ended up watching the end of Pitch Perfect. (That movie never gets old.)

It's safe to say that we ate our weight in turkey and casseroles and we had such a fun time!

By: Unknown On 05.45

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The Day Before Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving the girls and I left to Tulsa and headed to my mom's house in Arkansas. It's only a four hour drive, and it wasn't too terrible with the girls. Actually, Gretchen and Adalyn do great in the car- it's always Megan that throws a fit.

Once we arrived at my mom's we went to my sister in law's house where she and my grandma had been cooking pies and preparing the dressing for Thanksgiving.

The girls and I joined in the fun and made the pumpkin pies.

I got to play with my niece Amelia. 

She however was not cooperating and didn't think I was much fun!

I think my mom enjoyed having all of us together!

The entire time my sister in law and I were cooking, my grandma, kept saying things like, "you're not doing it right, you're cooking it too long, there's too much butter, let me do it." She would not give us a break! Poor lady has a hard time letting go of control.

#soundlikeanyoneyouknow

#notme

All of the girls had fun playing with each other, and they all loved being with their Gee!

I feel so blessed to have made these memories with my ladies!

By: Unknown On 05.40

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Thanksgiving Travels!

Hey y'all!!! I'm back.... sort of! I have lots of blog catching up to do, and I'm so ready to get back into a steady swing of blogging. I'm determined to play catch up this week and then get back to regular blog posts next week! I feel like i've left everyone just hanging around. Even though, my life isn't really that interesting!

 

Last Tuesday, Gretchen celebrated her Thanksgiving lunch at kindergarten. She made a little Indian vest, necklace, and headdress and was so excited to show it off! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to her lunch because of my full time work schedule, but DJ was able to go! He actually surprised Gretchen and she was so thrilled!

She has this little boyfriend, Conner, and the first thing she said when she saw her daddy walk in was, "Conner, you need to ask my daddy if you can marry me?!" Apparently, she yelled it loud enough for the entire class to hear, and it not only embarrassed my husband, but Conner's family as well. His dad told him not to talk to DJ for another 30 years.

Tuesday night I headed home to work on laundry and to pack for our trip. Let me tell you, it is a CHORE to pack for four girls for five days! I did get some cuddle time with Addy during the process though!

 

I woke up around 6:30 on Wednesday morning to finish packing. I had packed everyone's clothes but my own. Then I loaded everything into the car and we started our 4 hour journey to Gee's house.

I have so many people tell me that I'm brave to travel with all three girls by myself, but I do it all the time, and aside for maybe an hour total (when Megan decides to cry over a silly reason) the trip isn't bad at all. Adalyn sleeps the entire time. Gretchen watches a movie and plays quietly in the back seat, and Megan, well, she either plays, watches t.v, cries and screams, takes off her shoes, and looks out the window for cows.

 

We typically stop about two hours into the trip so we can take a bathroom break or get something to eat.

And sometimes, Meggie falls asleep.

 

Once she woke up, we finally stopped to eat!

Gretchen had been telling me for an hour that she was hungry, so I tossed her a package of fruit snacks to tie her over. I have a few exits that I try to stop at, and this was not one of them, but there was a McDonald's and the girls were starvin, so we stopped here. I took them to the bathroom and then we ordered Happy Meals and ate.

 

I realized that fast food with three girls is not fast at all. We were there for at least an hour.

Once we got back in the car, the girls watched a movie again, but toward the end Megan was becoming very frustrated that she could not get out of her seat! I sang Feliz Navidad at the top of my lungs to try to entertain her. Obviously, I failed.

 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post and see what happened once we finally arrived!

 

By: Unknown On 10.01

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Woo-Hoo Fall Break!

The girls and I headed to Arkansas to spend Fall Break with my family! We weren't for certain until late Tuesday night that we were going, but I was excited that we had the chance to go! We headed down Wednesday after school and had such a fantastic time!

On Thursday, we loaded up the girls, plus my niece and went to visit my grandmother.

She made a breakfast casserole and homemade biscuits for lunch.

I love my grandma's cooking!

After lunch I took the girls outside to run and play. My grandmother lives in a nothing of a town in Arkansas, on acres upon acres of land. The girls could explore for hours if we let them!

My mom want's a photo phone case for Christmas this year, so I thought it would be a good time to get a picture of all of the girls together. But, it was too cold for Adalyn to go outside, so I attempted some pictures of the big girls.

I ended up getting fantastic pictures but not one good picture of all three girls together.

This picture cracks me up. It shows their true personalities. Gretchen is my little diva and Meggie is my shy, timid one.

All of the girls fell asleep on the way home! Success.

So, to buy some time, my mom and I drove around Conway and looked at houses.

My mom got out the bouncy seat for Adalyn, and I was surprised at how much she enjoyed it! I think after three girls and five + years, our bouncy seat just doesn't cut it anymore. I almost brought hers home with me!

Meggie wanted her picture made with Addy.

On Friday, my mom went to physical therapy, and my brother and I hung out and took care of all the girls. They got dressed and went outside to play.

I love Gretchen's sense of style!

T-shirt- Crazy 8

Skirt- Lolly Wolly Doodle

Rain boots- Hand Me Downs

Addy hung out in her pj's all day, and on Friday night DJ drove down after work and joined us for the remainder of the weekend!

Miss Addy is going to be our little thumb sucker.

Saturday morning, my sister in law had a house warming party.

Afterwards, we loaded up and drove to Scott, Ar to a pumpkin patch owned by my stepdad's friend. He grows pumpkins and then sells to patches and stores, but toward the end of the season, he let's my family go out and pick all the pumpkins our hearts desire.

Gretchen has never seen cotton before, so we showed it to her up close and then my mom told her about how it's used for clothes, and we let her pick a little piece to bring back home.

We loaded up my brother's truck full of pumpkins. We had so much fun having a free for all in the pumpkin patch and we may have gotten a little carried away.

We ate dinner at a little dive in Scott, and then drove home to divide out our pumpkins.

These were the ones left over after my mom, sister in law, and I all grabbed what we wanted!

Sunday, we drove home and I wrapped up the weekend doing laundry. I know, you're all jealous!

I love being close to my family so we can go home for a long weekend! It was so relaxing and the perfect way to spend our fall break!

By: Unknown On 06.00

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Just Stopping By

The girls and I headed down last night to my parents house in Arkansas. Gretchen is on fall break, and I couldn't get out of town fast enough! My poor hubby has a bye weekend this weekend, and he'll likely be home by himself on Saturday, unless I can convince him to join us in Conway; even though he'll have a very quick trip.

 

Anyway, Monday was a work day for me, and then I was so excited to have Tuesday off again!

I think this picture was taken Monday night. Addy Pearl has a cold, and sleep has been far from perfect and I just feel awful that she's all congested. Her cry is so muffled right now, and you can tell that her cold is just draining making her voice weak.

 

She took a really good nap Monday afternoon, and then after we got the big girls in bed, DJ and I made Addy have some tummy time because she may or may not be rolling over. I'm in denial. And am convinced that all the times she has rolled over have been accidental.

She still wasn't feeling well on Tuesday, but we headed off to Bible study anyway. Then we ran tons and tons of errands and I know that she would've rather been home in her own bed.

I guess I was in fall break mode, even though I had to work a half day on Wednesday, because we put the girls to bed late Tuesday night. I'll tell myself that I wanted them to see their daddy, but honestly, I was probably just too lazy and unconvinced to actually tuck the girls in.

 

Since we waited until DJ got home, we all said prayers together in Megan's bed. The girls were just being so sweet to each other and had played so well together and honestly were wound up, but they both fell fast asleep once they were in their own beds.

 

Too bad Addy had other plans. I tried putting her to sleep at 8:30, and around 10, she still was not asleep. So, I fed her again, and she finally fell asleep, but was up again from 12:30-2, then again from 3-4:30, and my alarm went off by 5:30. Thankfully, I had a burst of energy to get through the day, sat through my training, and then I picked Adalyn up from daycare, and met DJ and Gretchen at Pei Wei for lunch. Gretchen is not a Pei Wei fan, so I brought her a wacky pack from Sonic.

 

After lunch, we went home and packed, and then ran back by daycare to pick Megan up so we could drive to my parent's house.

 

I should never leave after nap time again, because Megan was so cranky and just wanted out of her carseat! Adalyn did great, and Gretchen even took a nap, which delayed dinner and made Megan even more fussy than she already was.

 

We finally stopped at Wendy's and I let the girls have Frosty's with their kids meals and then we drove the rest of the way to my parents house and made it about 8:30 Wednesday night.

 

So, I just wanted to stop by, say hi, and wish you all a great weekend! I won't be blogging again until next week some time! I'm thankful for a few days of rest and relaxation!

By: Unknown On 14.38

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