Christmas Ornament Playdate & Some Christmas Fun

Today we went to another mommies house to make Christmas ornaments. Of course, Carter would rather play with trucks and Peyton was too young to do it, although she tried. She had more fun hogging all the markers! LOL! Carter did color one a little bit, then we had snack, played some more and then headed home. It was nice to get out since we have strayed away from the playgroups lately due to my work schedule. I needed women/mommy time and it was fun! Afterwards, I took Carter and Peyton to the Coliseum area since it was such a nice mild day. They have this ginormous Christmas tree and the ornaments are as big as Peytons head! They had fun running around and touching the tree!

Christmas Pictures

We had our annual Christmas photos done today! I was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out, although I am sure the lollipop bribing helped. I had very low expectations since kids this age can be hard to photograph, but they came out just as I had wished. Not to mention they looked so cute! I feel so blessed to have one of each so I can dress up Carter so handsome and Peyton so beautiful (can you believe I paid $1.99 for her dress on sale last winter for Osh Kosh!)! We went to JC Penny and luckily since we went during the week, we were in and out in an hour! Not bad at all! Afterwards I had my first "Five Guys" experience. Sooooooo good! We had a really good day today!

Thanksgiving Pictures

We had a good Thanksgiving with my family this year. We hung out most of the day. I baked snickerdoodle cookies from scratch and prepped my sweet potatoes. We headed over to my moms house around 3. Dinner was delicious and of course, no family get together would be complete without a little bit of chaos. And with one six year old and four children two and under, what more can you expect!

My three blessings everyday!

The most beautiful girl I know!


The most handsome man I know!

The kids playing at their table before we ate.


Fall Flowers

My moms spread! So delish!

Waiting to eat!

Didnt hear a peep from anyone while they were eating! Must have been good!

Carter and Peyton with Yaya

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today I am most thankful for my beautiful children. They are truly the most important thing in my life. I never knew how much you could love another person until I became I mother. Being a mother has changed me in countless ways. Carter and Peyton are such blessings my life. I love them beyond what words can describe.

Today I Am Thankful For...

Today I am thankful for my hardworking husband. Because of Mark working hard for our family, I am able to stay home with Carter and Peyton and raise them as opposed to having to put the in daycare. I never invisioned being a stay at home mother, but once I had Carter, I just could not leave him. It is a sacrifice financially to stay home, but I dont regret it one bit. Mark gets up and goes to work everyday to provide for us and I am thankful for him.

Today I Am Thankful For...

Today I am thankful for all of the necessities in life. I am thankful for food, shelter, clean water and clothing. There are many countries that dont have these simple staples that you need to survive. People are desperate for the things that middle America have at their finger tips. I am thankful to live in a thriving country. Every Thanksgiving, the average family has more food than they need and in other countries, children are starving. I challenge you do to something to help the less fortunate this Thanksgiving. Go without one box of stuffing and donate it to a food bank instead. What will you sacrifice to help others?

The Cooleys Visit

Marks long time navy friend, Matt and his family came to visit us from Ohio over the weekend. Matt and Katie have two beautiful girls, Leah, 4, and Alexis, 11m. They arrived Friday afternoon and left early Sunday morning. Friday we grilled out burgers and the kids baked cookies. Saturday we all headed over to Colonial Williamsburg. It was fun but a lot of walking! We ate lunch at the yummy Cheese Shop! Afterwards, we drove home on the Colonial Parkway but we had missed the fall foliage as there were just bare tree branches. However the Colonial Parkway is always a nice drive! That evening the guys got a bunch of oysters and steaks and grilled out again. We had a really good time hanging out and letting the kids play. Baby Lexi is the happiest most content baby I have ever seen. I tell people how good Peyton was, but Lexi was just smiles. I think she cried twice all weekend and the tears didnt last long. It was a short but fun visit! Here are some pictures I took during their visit.

Mark and Matt grilling burgers, hotdogs and shrimp!


The kids playing outback


The kids table


Leah


The kids baking cookies (dont you love the spacing? LOL!)

Leah pushing Carter on the swing

Alexis (Baby Lexi as I called her!)

Leah

Beautiful fall foliage

Alexis and Peyton in the bookstore

Waiting for lunch at The Cheese Shop! The chix salad was so yummy!


Carter at Yorktown Beach

He is so handsome!

Mark and Peyton with her very first lollipop (other than licks of Carters, this was her first VERY OWN!). She was so excited!

Our Family

The Cooley Family

My Happy Girl!

Mark and Matt

A deer eating in the field, I was so surprised it didnt run off.

Peyton trying to help with the dishes!

I built a fort for the kids. Not the best, but they enjoyed it!

She is such a sweet girl!