Girls Branson Trip

Every year for as long as I can remember, the girls in my family would pack up and drive to Branson for a weekend of shopping. The boys would always head to the duck cabin. It's a tradition that we've carried on even as our family has gotten bigger. We usually get two condo's and all pile in. People sleep on the floor, on the couch, share the beds, and we bring pac n plays for the babies. 

Friday morning we got up and headed to Branson after a quick stop at my grandma's house.

Our first stop in Branson was The Landings. We always go to Belk's first, even though we all have one, then we head down and go in the shops, take in the sights, and do lots of shopping!

This year, they had a little train and Gee let the girls ride.

Gretchen was so excited to get to ride in the front of the train.

Amelia was going to ride with her, but she refused to have the man buckle her seat belt, so she sat with Gee and Meggie. Meggie was too scared to ride by herself, so Gee rode with her.

I love that every time Gretchen gets to ride in something she waves as if she's a princess going by!

After the train ride, we walked down to the Bass Pro Shop. I let the girls color a picture, and I wanted Megan to have a chance to see Santa before we actually took her the next day to see Santa.

Poor Meggie needs to get warmed up to the idea of something before it happens or she freaks out a bit.

After shopping at The Landings, we had dinner at Panera and then checked in to the condo for the night. The girls had a bath and my sister in law and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some necessities. Like wine.

The next day, we headed back to The Landings to have pictures made with Santa…. i'll have to get those posted soon! I'm so pleased with how they turned out! We also lucked out because it was Toys for Tots day, so we each brought a little toy and received a free package of pictures from Bass Pro.

Once our Santa pictures were done, we grabbed lunch and headed to Tanger mall for shopping.

Gee bought Meggie a new doll.

(Gretchen bought a Frozen play set for herself with her spending money.)

We shopped all afternoon, and then around 5, went back to the condo to freshen up for dinner.

My mom and her friend, kept all of the kids and us "younger mom's" went out for a girls night!

We went to Cantina Loredo for dinner and it was so yummy!

Big cousin Hannah came over to help babysit as well, and the kids made reindeer ornaments! We knew they'd be in good hands with a registered nurse and a former preschool teacher taking care of them!

Aunt Jan also got some cuddle time in with Miss Adalyn.

On Sunday, we packed up the cars, and headed to The Grand Village. I wanted to go to their Christmas store to pick up a 1st Christmas ornament for Adalyn.

We had the girls take their picture by the giant wreath.

And Megan and Gretchen had their picture made with Santa again.

We ate lunch and then went back to Tanger mall to pick up a few last minute purchases, and then the girls and I headed back home.

Megan slept for over an hour in the car while Gretchen watched a movie. Addy was an angel and slept too! We stopped in Joplin for a bathroom break, to fill up on gas, and so I could feed Adalyn, and then we finished our drive home!

It was so good to be back and to see DJ again! It also meant that football season was officially over and we could start celebrating Christmas and the five of us would be able to spend lots more time together! It's always a blessing to get daddy back home again!

Oh, and our Elf on the Shelf showed up, so stay tuned for his shenanigans!

By: Unknown On 05.40

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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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Weekend Wrap Up

I have been MIA from the blogging world for so many days! It's this time of year, so crazy and hectic! Is it like that for y'all too?

 

I started work full time about two weeks ago, and since then I feel like I'm in fast forward mode and everything is non-stop. I'm trying to get it all together. Trying being the key word here. I definitely have not reached that "successful" level yet.

 

I got home late Friday night and God bless my neighbors for keeping Gretchen AND for inviting us over for dinner! I had planned on making pancakes and watching Monsters U with the girls (DJ was in Ruston, La for a football game) but when they invited us for dinner and I realized that I did not have to cook- score!

 

Needless to say, by the time we got home at 6:30, I decided we would skip movie night and I would get some sewing done while the girls played and then it was time for bed.

 

Saturday morning the girls were up by 7, and after breakfast I turned on Monsters U for the girls then I drug out boxes after boxes of Christmas decorations.

 

After the movie, the girls helped me clean up and put away our fall decorations, and we spent the rest of the day decorating for Christmas. I kid you not, at 10:30 pm I was still working on the finishing touches!

Here's a sneak peek at our fire place. I have ordered Adalyn's stocking (as of last Thursday).

 

Saturday started off well, until I decided to keep Gretchen busy with getting the nativity out of the box, and Megan decided the styrofoam box would be so much fun to play in and rip to shreds. We had "snow" all over the house! It was in their hair, on their clothes, and I laughed and tried to play off my mini-heart attack all at the same time!

 

 Later that afternoon  we sat down together to decorate the girls' Christmas tree, Megan decided she was hungry and she bit into a small glass ornament. Her excuse, "candy!" Um, no, it's not candy! I hurried her over to the sink and sprayed her mouth out with water, then called my mom to figure out if I should take her to the emergency room. She told me to give her some milk because that would help coat the stomach, and then to watch her for throwing up or pooping blood. Thankfully, none of that has happened, and she seems to be okay.

 

After dinner, I let Gretchen have gum and it got caught in her hair, which meant trying to get it out with peanut butter and then giving her a bath. By this time, Adalyn just wanted to be held, so I called our neighbor and invited her over to hold a baby!

I think morning time with Adalyn was the calmest part of my day.

DJ made me check on Megan before I went to bed Saturday night. He was totally freaked out that she ate glass, even to where he told me I needed to sleep with her, and that if I ddin't, he would when he got home.

 

On Sunday, I went through boxes of clothes, that I've kept from each girls. Addy is needing warmer clothes and I could have sworn we had a carseat blanket and a hat for her, but after spending the morning looking through boxes and cleaning out her closet, I found neither.

 

I did find a few clothes for Megan though:

I went through Gretchen's closets as well, and she has plenty of clothes for this spring! I hope the weather warms up fast because I don't think she'll get to wear all that she has! My mom may have overshopped.

 

I took a little nap Sunday afternoon, during the 40 minutes that Megan took hers. (Addy has not been sleeping well at night and I think Megs crawled in bed with me at one point.)

 

Then, I finished a few sewing projects.... I swear y'all I'm working as fast as I can to get your orders completed, photographed, and shipped! Please give me some grace as I continue to finish up orders!

 

DJ came home early last night so I could go to the grocery store, and that didn't happen thanks to laundry and my lack of a shower. Plus, it was freezing and I did not want to go outside anyway! We were also afraid that Megan had a little temperature, but our thermometers stink and by this morning we were in the clear. That's not to say that at one point last night I had four bodies in my bed. #weneedabiggerbed

 

I am so thankful that I can put Gretchen on the bus in the mornings, and everyone else is out the door by 7:20. It gives me some extra time to do a little picking up and then I get to take this girl to the bus stop!

I'm so thankful for a two day work week this week!

#ineedabreak

By: Unknown On 10.04

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Tooth Fairy, Veteran's Day, & a Few More Pics

It's Monday, which means, it's my first day back to full time employment. I'm praying that I can handle this week! DJ is going to be going to work early and coming home late because TU plays a home game on Thursday. At this point, I'm still debating even going to the game, because that means a babysitter and a late night for me. On the bright side, it means that he could be home Saturday, which would be amazing!

Because we lost our game over the weekend, TU is not bowl eligible this year. It's bittersweet. I hate it for the coaches and players, but i'm also grateful because that means we have three more weeks of football and our December and Christmas can be "normal" for us this year. I am so, so ready to have DJ home!

Here's a few pics from last week:

I absolutely love that I have an embroidery machine. I found this cute little dress at Old Navy. It's pink and orange stripe, and then I found leggings that are orange with pink stripe. I bought it for Addy Pearl, and then monogrammed an "A" on the top of the dress. 

DJ made it home last Wednesday night before the girls went to bed and we watched a little bit of the CMA's together as a family. At one point, he had all the girls and they were happy, so we had to get a picture.

On Thursday, I made the girls wear their matching apron skirts and shirts that I made them, although getting a picture of the two of them both smiling and looking at the camera is next to impossible. Especially when they're figuring out which pumpkin to sit on. (Gretchen's idea.) 

Thursday night I came home and slipped on my pj's and this Ball State shirt. I thought to myself, that it was a good thing I wore this Thursday night, because it would've been bad to pack it for the wives trip over the weekend. Little did I know that BSU was also playing Thursday night. They're having a spectacular season.

Addy fell asleep on the floor one night, and Megan went over, lifted her head and put a pillow underneath, and then covered her up with a blanket. It was so sweet.

I picked the girls up from school on Thursday and we headed to Target. We got home and I sent Gretchen upstairs to clean her room when she yelled, "Mom, there's something wrong with my mouth!" I could tell that she was a little freaked out, so I had her come downstairs so I could see. Admittedly, I sometimes brush off her little concerns, but I could tell in her voice, that something was wrong. She came downstairs and I noticed that she was bleeding, so I took a look in her mouth and lo and behold, her tooth was missing!

When I told her she squealed with excitement and we went upstairs to look for the missing tooth. We couldn't find it. As I was looking for her tooth, she pulled her tooth box down from her chest of drawers and said that we could put her tooth in it until it was time for bed and time to put her tooth in her tooth fairy pillow. At that time, I had to explain the tooth was missing, and wouldn't be able to go in her pillow and she began to cry. I assured her that the tooth fairy would still come and visit her that night. She asked how I knew, and I just explained that the tooth fairy was magic and she just knew.

We were all shocked that the tooth went missing because we didn't even know it was loose. I had just checked her teeth a few weeks ago, and there was no wiggle to any of them. Later that night we learned that she had hit her mouth on the monkey bars at school, so I'm guessing that the monkey bars knocked her tooth loose and when we got home it finally fell out. My best guess is that she swallowed her tooth. She said that she felt that her tooth was crooked, and then I think that's when she yelled for me.

I remember loosing my first tooth and my dad pulling it at our kitchen table. I think it fell on the floor and I was scared to death. My mom has it video taped and it was such a tragic event for me. I'm kind of sad that we didn't get to experience the wiggle of the tooth or trying to pull it out, but I'm also glad that it was an easy experience, and she has a mouth full of baby teeth that will eventually fall out.

My mom also has my first tooth taped in my baby book, and i'm sad that I won't have Gretchen's first tooth.

That night, she wrote a letter to the tooth fairy, and went straight to bed.

She was just so excited!

Here she is pretending to sleep.

About 45 minutes after going to bed, she came downstairs and was disappointed that the tooth fairy hadn't visited. I told her she hadn't been asleep long enough.

I was totally unprepared for her to be loosing a tooth, so I had to call our neighbor, whose daughter is the same age as Gretchen and had just lost her first tooth a few weeks ago. Thankfully, she had sparkle hair spray to spray on the money, to make it look like fairy dust. I really wanted to sprinkle glitter around, but I didn't have any, and none of our neighbors did either. I also wanted to print out a little tooth certificate from Pinterest, but our printer was out of ink. I was totally unprepared.

Around 11:15 that night, Gretchen woke up and discovered that the tooth fairy had left her money and had written her a letter back.

Friday, was Gretchen's Veteran's day parade at school. She wore her 4th of July dress that I made her, and her 4th of July chunky necklace and a red hair bow.

She made the flag picture a few weeks ago.

Thank you to all of the veterans that have served our country. My father in law, my sister, and her husband, my grandfather….. thank you to every single one of you that has risked their life in order for our country to maintain it's freedom.

I hope you all have a blessed day!

Be sure to check out my Facebook page and enter the giveaway!

By: Unknown On 06.15

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