What Am I Thankful For???

Happy Thanksgiving! Again this year, I have a lot to be thankful for...first of all, I am thankful for my family! I have such a wonderful family, who brings so much joy to my life...especially my Maddy. She is such a precious gift...and I am thankful each and every day that she is in my life. This year I am also thankful for our expanding family... Maddy's little sister due to arrive March 30th. I am still not feeling as great as I did with Maddy after the first trimester, but at least I am feeling better than I did the miserable weeks 10-16 of this pregnancy...and for that I am thankful. Finally, I am thankful for many friendships. We have some of the best friends...near and far.

I wanted to share a few photos in this post of my two girls in their first photo shoot together...

Miss Maddy and Miss ???

"That's my sister!"

Upclose and personal

Maddy with her sister on her heart

This thanksgiving was much different than any other I have ever experienced. I actually did not travel home or to my sister's this year, which I've done every year since I went to college. This year we decided to stay here together as a family. Usually, I go home to be with my family and Jason stays here to be with his. I really wasn't up for travelling this year and I really wanted to try shopping on Black Friday, which I've never done before. So instead we stayed here and celebrated Thanksgiving with Jason's family. We had some family and friends come down and join us too. My sister-in-law, Nicole, and niece, Jaelyn, made the long trip down with some family friends Chevonne and Tessa. They enjoyed the thanksgiving feast with us in DeWitt on Thursday and then stayed around for the shopping. Nicole, Chevonne, Tessa, and I got up at 1 am to hit the outlet mall on Black Friday. I ended up bringing Chevonne and Tessa home at about 2:30 am because Tessa was tired and grumpy. She's only 11 and can't really appreciate the deals. So Nicole and I stayed out and battled the crowds until about noon on Friday. We had a blast together shopping and got a lot of great deals. We learned a lot about shopping on Black Friday so that next year we will be even more efficient. Watch out! So believe it or not, but pregnant and all I pulled an all-nighter. I only needed one cup of coffee to keep me and the baby kicking. Other than that the adrenaline and excitement kept me going.

Thanksgiving morning mishap

Friday night, we took the kids downtown Howell for the festival of lights parade. What a great time! The kids had a blast and the adults even enjoyed the show too. It was just gorgeous seeing all the lights and hearing the Christmas carols really got us in the holiday spirit. I just love this time of year!

Nicole, Jaelyn, Tessa, Chevonne, Jason, and Maddy at the parade

All bundled up watching the floats

One of our favorites... a gingerbread house bus

Another bus

Here comes Santa

Madagascar Escape 2 Africa

A couple of weekends ago, Jason and I took Maddy to her first movie at the theater. She loves Madagascar and watches it almost every Saturday night so when she saw the sequel advertised on the tv she would say she wanted to see that. So when it came out in Howell we decided to take her to see it. We weren't sure how well she would do, but we were pleasantly surprised. Once the previews were over (she covered her hears the entire time because they were too loud), she settled in and watched the movie. She got a bit antsy for about 5 minutes in the middle but we just let her get up and stand in the aisle. Other than that she was great. She really liked the movie too. When it was over she said, "Watch Again."

MSU Football Game

Last weekend we went to East Lansing to watch the Michigan State vs. Wisconsin football game...in Maddy's head we were going to see the Packers! It was a pretty nice day, so we really lucked out because I was a bit worried about Maddy's willingness to sit through the game if the weather was cold. We met Jason's parents there and tailgated quick before the game with Jason's boss. It took Maddy a little bit to get used to all the people (especially the loud student section, which we sat right next to) and the band. Once she over came the initial fear, she loved it. She watched the game and would cheer and imitate the students. It was great. She wore her MSU cheerleading outfit and thought she was so cool to look like the cheerleaders. In fact she wouldn't wear her coat because she didn't want to cover it up. It was a lot of fun and Maddy did really well. It was a long day though and she crashed in her stroller on the walk back to the car. Jason would like to make it an annual event, which will do for now until we can take her to Lambeau for a Packer game.

Before the game...

During the game...

After the game.

Yes, I am wearing green...I know, I felt guilty about it. In my mind, it was a day early for the Packer game.

October Festivities

This October we spent most of the month celebrating Halloween in many different ways. The first festivities included the pumpkin carving contest we had up north with my family, which I've already posted. The remaining festivities included the pumpkin patch, the Legend of Sleepy Howell, the Boo at the Zoo, costume dress-up at gymnastics, and then finally trick-or-treating. We definitely got use out of Maddy's costume this year.

Pumpkin Patch

Every year we try to get to the Spicer's Apple Orchard with the neighbors to take pictures of the kids in their halloween costumes in the pumpkin patch. For some reason it never goes as smoothly as we hope. The kids only lasted for a few pictures and they were done with that and ready to go see the animals. After a short visit with the animals the kids wanted to play. The weather was great so we let them run around in the hay maze for about an hour. So we didn't get any good pictures of the kids in their costumes together but the kids had fun playing afterwards so maybe next year we can use that to bribe them during the photo shoot.

Why do I have to sit on the pumpkin?
I'll sit on it but, I'm not smiling.

Ben (silly monster), Maddy (elephant), Kendal (poodle), Olivia (witch), Brendon (power ranger)

The baby chickens join the crew

Aren't they cute?
(Josie and Hayden)

I'm tired of this.

The Legend of Sleepy Howell

Howell has a big trick-or-treating event for the kids downtown the weekend before Halloween called the Legend of Sleepy Howell. Its a terrific evening to spend with the family. They decorate the downtown and have all sorts of different events going on for the kids. We spent about 3 hours down there. It was a little cold but Maddy was having a blast so we stayed until the bitter end. She even got her picture taken for the newspaper.

Going for a ride on a crazy golf cart trailer

Mommy and Maddy on a hayride

Daddy came too

Roasting marshmallows at the campfire

The Boo at the Zoo

The next day, we spent a nice afternoon at Potter's Park in Lansing for the Boo at the Zoo. We met Jason's mom, Grandma Nancy, for lunch and then she came with us to the zoo. We were worried about the weather as it was pouring on the way there but by the time we finish lunch the sun came out and stayed out for long enough for us to enjoy an afternoon at the zoo. Maddy loved seeing the animals and getting some candy was a bonus.

Grandma and Maddy

"HI turtle...do you like my sunglasses?"
Dress-up for Gymnastics

Ever see an elephant do gymnastics? If not, we have the pictures to prove that one can. Maddy's gymnastics class had dress-up this week, where the kids could wear their costumes if they wanted. Maddy wore her elephant costume all but the last 5 minutes. It was adorable! Jason came to class to see her, which is such a treat for her. She loves it when daddy comes.

Climbing a hill is a hard task for an elephant

Almost there

Hop-Scotch

Crawling through the tunnel to a balance beam full of spiders

Jumping Elephant

Trick-or-Treating

Friday night, Halloween was finally here. We had a great night! The evening started off with a delicious mexican fajita dinner at the Abbotts. Filling our bellies with a good meal before trick-or-treating was supposed to stop us from eating too much candy, unfortunately it didn't seem to work. The weather was absolutely gorgeous...in fact, it was too hot for Maddy in her elephant costume. She didn't want to take it off though. We spent about an hour trick-or-treating with the kids and then finished handing out candy. Maddy did pretty good, but she is definitely a scaredy cat. She would not go up to any house that was decorated scary and she freeze the moment she saw a kid with a scary mask. I had to ask one kid to turn around so that I could get her off of someone's porch. She was definitely more into people watching, then actually trick-or-treating. Funny story...Howell was hosting a playoff football game during trick-or-treating that Maddy was very interested in since we can see the lights from the field and hear the crowd from our sub-division. She keep saying football or Packer game, mommy while we were walking. We got up to one of the house and before I let Maddy put her hand in the bowl to grab a piece of candy that a woman was offering, I said, "Maddy what do you say?" She shouted, "GO PACKERS!" (10 times louder than she said trick-or-treat all night long) Everyone was laughing, it was hilarious. Anyway, it was a great Halloween!

Trick-or-Treat
(Kendal, Ben, and Maddy)

Kendal and Maddy enjoying their suckers