Thanksgiving Dinner at School

Kiran and Ellery's school had a dinner today to celebrate Thanksgiving. Everyone brought food to share, and it was really nice! What a treat to spend that time together as a family and enjoy time in our children's world for a little while. I think the kids loved us being there. One really sweet moment happened right after Kiran's class came in all decked out in their pilgrim and Native American hats & bonnets & headdresses. Kiran immediately wanted to know where Ms. Jan was. I didn't know that she was going to be able to make it to the event, but he knew and couldn't wait to see her. Ms. Jan, Kiran's teacher, had a heart attack just after the first 6 weeks of school. Kiran has really missed her, and he was delighted to talk with her! She looks great and will be back in the Spring!

We then had fun checking out the place mats Kiran and Ellery had made, which are really sweet and will be lots of fun to use at home now. Kiran ended up wearing his headdress all day, including during a visit to Daddy's office! He loved being Fast Foot!

Then, it was time for lunch! We got everyone's plates and got ready to eat. Well, Kiran has tried to teach Ellery about savoring and waiting for the good stuff, but it hasn't sunk in so far! Ellery could hardly eat a thing as she was eyeing the mound of white icing and sprinkles atop her cupcake dessert! Kiran, on the other hand, has become quite the big eater at our house! He ate every bite of yummy food on his plate before even thinking of touching his cupcake. It's actually really cute how he enjoys his meals and really "savors" every bite, and how he tries to convince Ellery of his ways!

Anyway, it was a special day for us, and we are so thankful Daddy was able to meet us!

Leaves and Things

Just a few fun things to share from this week. First, here is the view from my kitchen window. I'm going to love seeing our neighbors' tree each fall!



So, I've always said I didn't know how I'd be a girls' mom because I really don't do fancy things with hair and wouldn't consider myself up on the latest styles, etc. (Actually, I know they'd be fine either way - I've made it without being fancy all these years!) Well, maybe I'm finally making some progress, and my 2 little girls will have a chance to try some girly ways and decide for themselves what styles suit them best. Here are some photos of my first time braiding Ellery's hair this week. Someone else had put it in french braids recently, and it was just too cute. Plus, I was inspired by having Nat and Addie around for a week! I finally got brave enough to try a new creative side, and I actually had lots of fun! Ellery did great! She is so patient when I work with her hair!










On Sunday, we raked and mowed leaves! The kids had a blast playing in them! So, here are this year's leaf photos.













After fun times in the leaves, both kids were ready to pose for a few fall pictures! It was all very spontaneous which was really fun because I thought they turned out great.












Finally, here is a 25 week belly photo. You can see that our sweet little girl is definitely growing! Last Friday, I went to the doctor and had an ultrasound. Our baby is doing great! She was 1 lb 10 oz. then and is probably around 2 lbs now. She is just the size she needs to be at this stage. She has excellent movements, and everything else looks great, too! I am feeling really well, too!

Fun with Cousins this Fall

We had such a special time with Natalie, Addie and Doak! They came for a visit, and we were thrilled to have them in TN for a whole week! It was so fun to watch the kids playing together. It was also wonderful to spend time with Natalie. We grownups enjoyed our evenings of chai and chocolate ice cream, good movies and tv, and just chatting about all sorts of things! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing sister-in-law! I love every chance she and I get to hang out, and we got lots of good time in this week!

Our week was filled with activities and adventures!



So great to meet this sweet family at the airport! The kids were so excited! They gave such sweet hugs, then they got a little crazy and ran all around downstairs after we got the luggage and waited on Jeff to get the car.


Addie and Doak immediately became friends with Rocky! They were so sweet with him all week, and all the kids took turns feeding him and petting him. Rocky loved all of the attention!




Uncle Jeff takes Addie (and all the kids) for bear rides!



The kids ran all around out front and really used their imaginations going from playing princess and knight one minute to the Scooby Doo Gang the next.









I don't know what it is about this cabinet that is so irresistible, but there must be something really cool about it!



We made yummy Halloween cookies, and all of the kids helped!




Here we are, the whole Scooby Doo Gang! Our kiddos absolutely love Scooby Doo shows. Kiran has been saying for 2 months that he wanted to be Fred. Ellery decided to be Daphne. Jeff and I had talked about being part of the gang, as lots of grownups around here dress up for Halloween, but we were never totally committed. Apparently, we were committed in Kiran's mind, and at the last minute (literally), we were throwing costumes together. (Well, I couldn't find a Velma maternity shirt, but I guess Velma wasn't ever really too focused on style anyway! :)) It was totally worth the crazy time getting dressed because Kiran LOVED us all being in costume! Thanks to Erin and York for allowing Babar to come along with us on Halloween! He was such a sweety! All four kids did great on Halloween! It started raining hard after we went to our town's Halloween gathering, so we didn't get any trick-or-treating in, but we had a really fun night!


What an adorable butterfly and giraffe with Mommy!


The four cousins in costume!



We had a really nice picnic lunch and time seeing animals at a local museum on Sunday.

















Time at the State Park




Fun with riding toys behind our house!




A fun Monday morning at a gymnastics place!













Posing with our cute letter shirts from Cookie and Papa! Of course, we had to have a crazy Daddy with Daphne hair dancing to crazy music to get smiles from all!









More outside fun! We had a beautiful week outdoors with lots of sunshine! We got a wonderful walk in one day, but didn't take the cameras along. The kids picked up lots of leaves, berries and twigs, and they made beautiful craft projects with them when they got home!



Whoa, Addie, you have no fear!



More time with our big kitty!





More than a fair share of Scooby Doo watching this week!



On Wednesday, we went to the Knoxville Zoo!



The kids loved imitating the bird sounds, and here are Addie and Kiran flapping their wings, too!



Okay, so I thought this would be the highlight of the zoo trip until we got to the chimpanzees. The kids LOVED this old truck, and they imagined all kinds of trips in this vehicle - the "trip" that I remember is when Kiran explained they were going on a "safari to California!"





I thought the cheetahs were super cool! We had never seen them out before, and there they were just sunbathing right by the fence! (One of them did have a little tummy troubles while we observed, so that was interesting ;)





So, I think THIS was actually the winner for zoo highlight! The kids really enjoyed seeing the chimps, but when the baby, George started doing tricks for us, swinging right up to the window, we all had a blast!


Fun in the indoor play area at the zoo!

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All of our little mechanics!



Another picnic lunch!








After the zoo, Ellery and Doak slept while we drove to meet Jeff after work for ice cream. First, we played at a park, then went to our favorite ice cream shop! Yum!



Sweet Doak couldn't get enough of his chocolate treat, and he thought it was pretty funny that he got so messy! He was being careful holding his little fingers as far away as he could from the drips, but the treat was just too delicious to stop eating!





A fun last evening together in the leaves! Daddy came home early and made a huge leaf pile! What fun!



Saying goodbye is always hard to do.


Our own little black bears!


So long, sweet family! We already miss you so much! (Rocky misses you, too!) So much laughter and joy! The kids played really well together all week long! Keri, we can't wait to see you next time!

Addie, you have grown so much since this summer! It was fun to see you in action as a princess, little climber and athlete, as a graceful dancer and as a fabulous leaf collector and artist! Doak, our halls have been so quiet the past few days without trucks moving all around! It was fun to see how you have grown and to see you and Kiran bonding this trip with silly faces and songs! You are talking so well, and I love your sweet giggles! We love you all!