Pottery

Wow. I have been behind on my blogging. For now, here are some pictures of pottery I painted during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving week

WOW... I'm just starting to get some energy back from our Thanksgiving week. Tuesday, Dad, Grammie and Marla came in town and we were so thankful that they could be in town again this year. Wednesday the rest of the gang came... Grandma, Grandpa, Mike and Jane, Megan, Mark and the girls, and Dan, Alicia and Josh!! Wednesday afternoon, my brother Eric called me to tell me I was missing some shingles on my roof... Every year I think he is going to come and surprise me, and I'm sadly mistaken. Wah wah. So this year when my phone rang, I looked around the room and asked if Eric was coming. Dad ran to the front door and there was Eric and Sara, just chillin' on the sidewalk!! I haven't cried that much in awhile- I was shocked and so excited that everyone could be together for Thanksgiving!

Thursday was a tough day for my feet... We started preparing our dinner before 9 a.m. and didn't sit down for dinner until 6! We bought a smoker this year for the turkey to have some oven space and avoid another grease fire! It was sooooo good! Everything turned out delicious and I was so proud of our meal.

On Friday we had family pictures with Emily Mulkey at the Shops at Legacy. I'm excited to see how they turn out... Kaden wasn't very cooperative!

On Saturday we went to the Gaylord Texan for the Grinch Ice Show. We were so mad we forgot our camera but I'll get pictures from Megan and Robin and post them soon. It was freezing!! 9 degrees inside but so amazing what they can do with ice. Lilly loved going down the ice slides but Kaden sure wasn't going to do that!

On Sunday, Eric, Sara and my mom took Kaden to the park while I worked a couple of hours. They had a blast and Kaden is definitely getting more brave each time he goes. After everyone left, we went to play with some friends- Kate, Matt and Wyatt, Kate, Bobby, Rosemary and Rigney, and Misty and Rob. Kaden actually posed for the camera... and loved petting Wyatt's hair and giving him kisses.

I am so thankful for my wonderful family and friends. It is difficult to describe in words how happy they make me and how lucky I feel to have each one of them in my life. Nic, you are truly the greatest husband and I can't thank you enough for all of your love, thoughtfulness and support every day.

Hope everyone had as great of a Thanksgiving as we did!


















s

Boo the Book Worn

Kaden reads a lot during the day. Lately he will take a book and sit on the couch by himself and name the things in the pictures and flip through the pages.

This morning he took Hop on Pop, opened it to the first page and said, "Up, Pup, Pup Pup, Up." The first page says Up Pup, Pup is up.

I love that he enjoys reading so much and really listens to us when we read!

Thanksgiving Platters

Thanksgiving is right around the corner- Here are some pictures of a Thanksgiving platter I did as a sample for Be-dazzled!

Please let me know if you are interested in Thanksgiving plates for this year! We can do any design, with or without hand/foot prints. Holiday plate samples will be up soon.

New phrases

Kaden has a couple of new phrases that crack me up:

*"Read it"- as he hands you a book

*"Dip it"- Ketchup is dip it. However, the other day he came and got me from the bedroom saying "dip it tots." I can usually pick up on what he's saying, but after a blank stare, he took my hand, brought me to the fridge and made me open it. Then he pointed to the strawberry preserves that I had put on his toast the day before and said "dip it tots." Smart cookie.

*"____ are you?"- When he can't find something (for example, today he was looking for the computer mouse that he plays with) he goes around the house singing "Mahs, are you?"

*"Oh geez." I know he picked that up from me but randomly throughout the day he says it.

*"Hi ____" He loves to say hi to everybody in the house including the dogs and cat.

Kaden has also really impressed me lately with his knowledge of songs. We sing wheels on the bus and he fills in all the repetitive parts like round and round, beep beep beep, ding ding ding, etc. My favorite is when he tries to say move on back! He loves to sing itsy bitsy "pidey" and twinkle twinkle little "tah" and he can fill in the blanks at the end of each line! I'm not sure where this came but all of a sudden I stop to let him sing and he knows the word!

The other day he was helping us with something around the house and I asked him "who's my big helper" and he looked at me, put his hands on his chest and said, "me!"

Our annual October trip to Omaha

Kaden and I flew to Omaha on a Wednesday and Nic met us there on Friday... and let me just say, I will never fly with Kaden by myself again! I'm not going to get into the details too much, but everything went very well at the airport and when we got onto the plane. It was when we started pulling away from the gate that he began to get nervous... and screamed "out," kicked, arched his back, kicked the seat in front of us and swung his arms around for about 45 minutes.

Other than that, our trip was fabulous! We love going to Omaha in October during pumpkin season. We go to Vallas every year, which is the most incredible pumpkin patch I have been! Kaden was a social little bug the whole time we were there and interacted with everyone- from rolling buses and trucks to reading books. He loved to play with grandpa's telescope and place the lens inside the telescope. I think his favorite part was getting down to "Purple People Eater." He danced... and danced... and danced... till he fell down- literally! We had to opportunity to spend a lot of time with my family and I'm very grateful for that. We miss you guys already!!

The trip home was much better, thank G-d for Nic. Kaden wants Nic when he is scared and it was evident on the plane ride home!


Watching the airplanes at the airport


Stackin' blocks with Grandpa


G-ma and G-pa


Having a blast!


Nic... and a camel


Uncle Ben and Dr. Sara


Everyone on the bus!


We love buses... can you tell??


and "bumpkins"...


Hayride


Picking a pumpkin with Grandpa


Too muddy... watching everyone else pick a pumpkin!


Reading with Grandma


And with Uncle Mike


Playing buses with Auntie Jane


Lovin' Gigi


Watchin' football with Uncle Ben