We are SO Thankful!!

I don't know about you but we had a great Thanksgiving. We spent the afternoon and evening with Ryan's Mom's side of the family. We all met at his Aunt Beth's house for some yummy food and some good company! Here are just some of the things we were thankful for yesterday!!

A sweet baby with a killer smile. Nothing beats that. Have you ever tried to not smile when you see a baby smile? I don't think it can be done!!

We are thankful for finger food, well really all the yummy food that we had to eat. It was delicious I tell ya. Lauryn loved the olives the most I think!!

Ayden is thankful to have lost the tooth that was flappin' in the wind for the last week so he could eat somewhat normal. I guess if you can with no teeth. He really does want his two front teeth for Christmas!!

Meysa is thankful for her new rain coat and boots, that happens to be pink with horses on it. Her Grandma Margaret was going to come up last week for Meysa's birthday but ended up getting the flu so Meysa got to open her present yesterday. She loved it!!!
The kids were thankful for the fun little games that Aunt Beth had out for them to play with. I guess so were Ryan and I, because it kept the kids occupied!!

Lauryn loved the dinosuars and for some reason the dog toys!! Strange girl!

Ayden was etch-a-sketching some helicopters and Star Wars ships. Lots of fun!!

I am thankful that my one assignment for dinner turned out. The pies were tasty especially with fresh whipped cream on top. Yummy!!

I am thankful for a hardworking husband that is one of a kind!! I am one lucky girl!!

But mostly I am thankful for my little family. I have a great husband and wonderful kids. The Lord blesses me each and everyday with so much. Hope your Thanksgiving was just as great as mine.

Random Happenings

So I thought I would share some randome pics that don't really need their own post. These next pictures are ones the kids took on Sunday Morning. Ayden has had this elephant since he was a baby and he wanted to share with Wyatt. Well that obviously called for photos to document the occasion!!

I love the look on Lauryn and Wyatt's faces. I don't think they get the significance of the occasion.

These pics of Lauryn were taken when we were at a friends house a few weekends a go. She walked around with Ayden's hat on and thought maybe she would get into the Wii game. I think she looks so old in these pictures!! The people in the background are Lawrence and Melissa Grant. Ryan works with Melissa and Lauryn thought Lawrence was pretty funny!!

Ok, so I bet you can guess what happened here. It was a dark night on a bunk bed and Meysa picked a fight with the railing....the railing won!! She said she was trying to do belly flops on her bed and she missed the middle of the bed and landed on the railing. She put her tooth right through her lip. Lots of blood and tears, but all I could think of was thank heavens we already did family pictures!!

Happy Birthday Meysa!

Ok, I know this is late but at least I am posting it(her birthday was the 19th). I just haven't been in a very bloggy mood as of late. But I couldn't not post about my Meysa's birthday. She has been waiting very impatiently for this day to come. I think she is the last one of her friends to turn the BIG 5 and boy was she ready to join that elite club! (disclaimer: blogger is retarded, the pictures don't upload in the order you want them to, so the pics are out of order) I guess we will start at the end here. The one thing Meysa wanted was yes, you guessed it, a HORSE. Not much has changed in a year with this girl. She is still in love with horses. So we got her a horse, granted it is a much smaller version and a lot less hassle to keep. She loves it and so does Lauryn as you can tell in the picture. Lauryn had a melt down when we told her that it was in fact not her horse but Meysa's. It is so hard to be a two year old.

The smile of pure joy, she knew what was in that big box!!!

We made her open up a few smaller gifts before giving her the horse. Just some brain quest flash cards and a workbook. Trying to get a head start on Kindergarten!!

I bet I can guess what her wish was, how about you? I think it starts with a H and ends with a neigh!!!

Meysa of course wanted once again a horse cake. I thought I would change it up and do a horse this way. I am telling you if she wants one again next year I am not sure what I will do. It was a fun day for her. She got to take cupcakes to preschool and share with her class, which was a big deal to her. I can't believe that she is 5 already. It really does seem like yesterday that I had her. She is such a delight to have in our family. She has a wonderful personality, she loves to pretend and imagine all the time. She loves to make up songs and stories to tell to her little sister. I love being her mother, for she has taught me volumes already!!
On a side note, I think Wyatt has hit the "I don't want anyone but my Mom stage"!! Nana and Papa came to have cake and ice cream with us and this is what he did when Papa got a hold of him. Not happy!!

And he did the same thing for Dad. I think he was hungry so that probably made it worse. Neither of those guys smelled like milk!!

A shot with Papa Ralph!! Thanks for coming to celebrate with us Nana and Papa!! And thanks to all our other grandparents that called and wished Meysa a Happy Birthday!!

Brother and Sister

Lauryn was playing the other night that she was putting Wyatt to bed and then she decided to lay down next to him and pretend to be sleeping too. I just thought these pics were super cute of my two youngest!! Wyatt is sure getting big and Lauryn is too for that matter!

Free Tutorial

Wyatt here, I am trying my hand at this blogging thing. I thought you guys out there might like a free tutorial on how to really get a good smile to impress all the ladies (pay attention Colton). Yeah my mom says I am a pro at it now!! I have to thank my mom for taking the pictures. I am a visual kid so I thought it might be easier to show you, rather than just tell you. Ok, are you ready, pay attention now!! Step #1: Letting a little slobber go is ok, just not too much or the ladies think you are kinda gross!! Now just slightly turn the corners of your mouth up, yeah just like that. Good, ok onto...

Step #2: Pull those corners up a little farther and let a little gum show, the ladies like that!!!

Step #3: Throw your head back a little and keep the gum showing. Make some gurgling noises too. Almost like you are laughing but not yet that is in a later step!!

Step#4: Ok, now the arms come into play!! Loosen the smile and insert your fist into your mouth. Keep your eyes smiling though, always keep your eyes "smiling"!!

Step #5: The clincher!! This step is really important. Make a lot of squealing noises and curl up into a ball. Keep that fist in your mouth and forget about the eyes, close them, don't need them anymore!!

Now I can guarantee that if you do this, the ladies will love it. You'll get lots of kisses and "oh, aren't you just cute", and not necessarily my favorite, the cheek pinch. Ladies can't resist a smile like this!!! Hope this tutorial has been informative and thanks again to my mom for helping with the technical side of things!!

-Wyatt, over and out!!

Hair, Hair, Beautiful Hair

I couldn't stand it any longer. I fix her hair and 10 minutes later she looks like this (well this is actually the morning after bedhead, but you get the idea). Lauryn hasn't had a hair cut yet in her life and so I thought right before we take family pictures I had to do something with her mop!! Her hair is still uneven from growing in so I bobbed it to where her bangs are at. She was a booger to get to sit still, I am actually suprised that it turned out and that I didn't take a chunk where I wasn't suppose to. I think she looks much better!!! Before - don't mind the ketchup on her face. It just adds to the ragmuffin look we were going for!!

After- much better (and no ketchup either!!)

This is what Meysa has to do to get the long flowing locks that she desires!! She has decided that she wants to grow her hair to "her back", much to her Daddy's dismay. Funny girl!!

Halloween

Our Halloween Day started at 6:20 AM with Ayden trying to reorganize the playroom. He had the hall light on and wasn't the necessarily the quietest about it, as he was hucking the toys out of the toy boxes. Not that I minded his intentions, just his timing. The kids knew that if the play room wasn't cleaned up, and by cleaned up I mean everything out of the toy boxes and put in the right totes, there would be NO Halloween for them. So I sent Ayden back to his room to do something quieter and asked, no pleaded for him to not wake up his sisters. I guess I didn't plead hard enough because about 10 minutes later Lauryn was at my bedside needing to go potty (yes, she is potty trained, Hallelujah). So off to the potty we go and then into the kitchen for breakfast. I throw some cereal in front of her and head back to bed. In my mind I am thinking today is going to be a doosy!! We had to gut the playroom, make sugar cookies to take to a Halloween party after trunk or treat, but the first thing we had to do was get the girls' hair into sponge curlers so they would look like real princesses for the big trunk or treat at the church. So while watching a good disney movie we rolled their lovely locks into curlers. I love seeing my girls with them in their hair. It reminds me of when I was little and my older sister put them in my hair. I always came out looking like Shirley Temple, and not in a good way. But I digress.

SOOO cute in their rollers!! All they need now is a housecoat and they are ready to hit the town.

Ayden wanted at first to be a pirate for Halloween, but when he saw the swords that went with the Ninja costume he changed his mind pretty quick. A man has his priorities right!! He was pretty excited to get all dressed up. He kept counting down the hour until it was time to get ready!!

One of these kids is not like the others.... Lauryn remember has been up since around 6:30 this morning so she is hitting her "I don't want to do anything you tell me to". She did not want to stand and get her picture taken with the other kids at all. I put her next to Ayden and she lost it. So needless to say she didn't get her individual shot and I had to throw her over my shoulder to get her in the car. (Ryan thinks Ayden looks like a terrorist in this picture, especially with the look in his eyes!!)

Lauryn was such a beautiful Aurora, with her red face, and her tears and her lopsided hair (she had tried to pull it out)!! I know I will look back on these pictures in 5 years or maybe 10 and laugh. But after a long day of cleaning and baking and refereeing fights, I was done. I wasn't laughing at all. I know you are also thinking hey there are two sleeping beauties and yes there are. That was another of Lauryn's finer moments when she insisted on being Aurora because that happened to be the first princess costume we came upon. Well Meysa had already chosen to be that princess and Lauryn had chosen to be Cinderella (this was all agreed upon before leaving the house). That was not to be the case any longer. So at least we had two different Aurora dresses.

Little Wyatt, our little pumpkin patch as Lauryn called him. He was pretty cute. The kids were trying to get him to laugh and I was trying to catch it on film, not a great combo!!

"What you talkin' about Willis"? He is so dang cute!!

This is the HAPPY Aurora!! She was so beautiful and I decided after putting the slightest amount of mascara on her eyelashes that I am pushing back the age that she gets to wear makeup. Holy Cow!!

Well we went to the church for the annual Trunk or Treat and when we got there these were the only two kids that were not sacked out. They had fun going from trunk to trunk all by themselves.

And this is our cranky Aurora. She was asleep about 5 minutes after we left our house. Ryan came by the church and took her home, while Ayden, Meysa, Wyatt and I went to a friends house for a Halloween party. Ryan said she came home and went right to sleep. What a bummer Halloween for Lauryn. There is always next year though!!!