Thanksgiving 09

We had a usual, but always wonderful Thanksgiving this year over at my parents' house in Coppell. Avery was excited to have our "Thanksgiving feast" as she kept calling it, but then when we were done eating she asked, "When are we going to have our feast?" I don't think she ate as much as the rest of us. And I know Kendall surely didn't! She stayed true to her picky eaters' menu and had raisins, a couple bites of a roll and some wheat thins for her Thanksgiving "feast"--yum! The girls had fun playing with my parents' new cat, Miss Kitty, that they recently adopted while the rest of us napped, watched the Cowboys and visited.

giving Miss Kitty her food (notice the necklace they gave her while they were playing dress-up)

Kendall and Mimi looking at pictures on the fridge

Avery loving on Miss Kitty

Kendall got some Mommy snuggles when she woke up from her nap

Avery enjoyed some popcorn and visiting with Aunt Amy while we watched the football game

After lunch we went out to Grapevine Springs Park to take some pictures for my parents' Christmas card. It is such a pretty little park. We couldn't resist doing a little exploring on some of the nature trails while we were there. The girls really enjoyed looking around and it was a great way to walk off a little of that huge meal.

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful this year for the blessings of health, family, friends and our faithful, merciful Savior that freely provides them!

21 months

In Kendall's 2nd year of life, I have tried to post something specific about her every 3 months, and that time has come around once again. She is now 21 months old and I am slowly adjusting to thinking of her as an almost-two-yr-old instead of wobbly toddler. It helps that she is now talking in sentences, going to school, and as always, doing her best to keep up with Avery. She's also starting some of those "terrible two" behaviors and finding herself in time-out for throwing fits when she doesn't get her way. Ah, growing pains! Despite it all, she is still such a sweet little girl at heart. Thankfully, she is usually pretty good in public and never seems to get in trouble at school or church. I guess she saves up all her bad behavior for Scott and I! She is like a little sponge, just soaking everything up that she can and often surprising us with the things she knows and picks up on. She sings along with songs now and sings a few on her own like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and ABC's, she counts to 12, knows a few colors, and knows her shapes (except rectangle). She still LOVES reading books and spends literally hours every day either "reading" books on her own or bringing book after book to me to read to her. She also loves dancing to music on the keyboard that we got from one of Scott's dental assistants, watching Barney, and playing with Avery. I also wanted to record some of her Kendall-isms at 21 months:

"My ovey's (lovey's) good to me!"
"I'm a jawa!" (Scott has poisoned both their minds with Star Wars jargon)
"It's good Mommy. I love cum-a-cums!" (golden grahams)
"Uh-huh, I do" (instead of answering yes to questions)-- funny that this was one of Avery's favorite phrases too at this age
"How 'bout. . . dis one Mommy?"
" I want si-nacks" (fruit snacks, which she asks for EVERY day without fail) or
" I want jabies" (strawberries, also asks for every day)
"I want my bish-bush" (toothbrush)

So that's my little Kendall! We are proud of her and love her so much!

dancing to music on the keyboard

Avery and Kendall playing out back. I can't hardly take a picture of one w/out the other in it too. They are thick as thieves these days, although there are plenty of squables and fighting.

checking out a grasshopper

The Halloween Happenings of Minnie Mouse and Princess Leia

Minnie Mouse and Princess Leia started off their "Halloween happenings" this year with a costume day and pumpkin patch at school last Thursday. They were both really excited to wear their costumes. In fact, Princess Leia's teachers said she even wore her wig (or "twig" as Avery called it) most of the day, and Minnie Mouse did not want to take her costume off at nap time even though I sent an extra outfit that would be more comfy.

Leia and Minnie's sassy poses for the camera

On Halloween Day, Leia and Minnie helped me carve their pumpkins from the school pumpkin patch. That evening we stopped by Sonic for some 50 cent corn dogs and then went to our little church carnival for awhile. They had games, face painting, clowns making balloon animals, and a Disney princess bounce house, which Leia and Minnie LOVED. After doing all the activities there, we came back to the neighborhood and trick-or-treated for awhile. After going around the block, Leia and Minnie's buckets were full and they were getting tired, so we headed home for a little pre-bedtime sugar. They barely made it in the door before plopping down to pick out the handful of treats they wanted to eat. Judging by the bowl full of treats on my counter, Minnie Mouse and Princess Leia had a sweet and successful Halloween!

Leia posing by the jack-o-lanterns

Minnie was being a little stubborn and would NOT stand by the jack-o-lanterns

jumping in the Princess bounce house (it was hard to get a good shot through the netting)

Leia and Minnie enjoying the spoils

poor Josie was hoping to get in on the Halloween action too