Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving was really fun this year. Lee's brother Jarett, and his wife Shannon, and their kids came to visit from NY. They were able to spend a few days with us, and we loved having them. We had a grand feast, and for some reason I took no pictures of it. :) We went to Micheal's later that evening, since they were open, and grabbed some things we wanted.

Shannon and I decided to try and go shopping on Black Friday. I am usually not one to undertake such chaos, but I thought I would try it this year. We had looked at the ads and had discovered that Toys R Us was going to open at midnight. I thought I would rather stay up late than try to get up early. We arrived at the store close to midnight, and soon realized that we were not going to stay! There were so many people that the line went around the building and through the parking lot up to the street. I value my life more than I value a good deal. I am glad we left because later we heard that there was a riot there, and the police were called. Crazy!

We did go the next day in the late morning and actually got most of what we had wanted anyway. I am actually excited about what I found for the kiddos. They waited in the car with their Dad's while we went into one store since we didn't want them to see. They went with us into Costco, and Kmart, and they did great. I was surprised by how the late morning shoppers weren't frenzied, like the early morning shoppers. It was actually not bad, I might try it again next year!

Mara was a leaf in the Thanksgiving Assembly at her school this year! She did great and was so excited to be chosen to dance. Only 7 kids in her class were picked to dance up in front of the entire school! She wasn't even nervous. She was awesome.
We took all the kids for a walk when the weather permitted it. They loved being outside and running around. My kids really has so much fun with their cousins. They were so happy to see them and spend time with them. They had buddies to play with for days, and got along so well. Thanks for coming Bartholomew Family! We loved having you come, and we hope you come back to visit real soon!

Holiday Parade

Our town had their big Holiday Parade on Saturday. It was really fun! It lasted almost 2 hours. Whew! The kids loved it. I think they gathered more candy from the parade than they got from Halloween. Really. They had many great things to see. It was really nice weather, and Santa even made an appearance at the end. Unicycles. Wow, when is the last time you saw this in a parade? It is amazing they can even stay balanced.

They had many local marching bands. It was really fun to hear them play. They do a great job.

A funny entry. It was a replica of a outhouse. If you notice, it has a satellite on the top. :)

The kids enjoyed the whole parade. They didn't complain once on how long it lasted. They really had a fun time.

Belated Good News

Remember the DVD's that got "lost" on top of my car. Blockbuster notified me that the "lost" DVD's made their way back home. They were turned in by someone! My faith has been restored in man-kind. Thank you whoever you are. You have officially made my day! Now I can show my face in Blockbuster again.

Our little cook

This was our day on Saturday. We went on a lovely walk around Oak Openings, and the weather was great! 64 degrees. I love it! Before we left that morning, Carson make breakfast. Carson has been making pancakes by himself for awhile. He found a new recipe he wanted to try and he was very excited with the results. They were apple pancakes with ice cream. I little different, but everyone liked them. Carson really likes to cook, and help in the kitchen. He will make a great husband someday.

Happy Birthday Mara!

Mara turned 7 years old today! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. She is a great addition to our family. We are so glad we have her. She was born Nov. 8th, 2002 at 7:16pm. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces, and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was born on her due date! We love you Mara!

Princess Ball

Mara went to the Princess Ball tonight with her Daddy. It was held at BGSU and was for girls 6-12. They all had an escort. Mara has been talking about this for weeks. We told her she could go as part of her birthday celebration. She got a new dress, tiara, and clip on earrings for the event, and her birthday. I admit that I had fun dressing her up, and doing her hair. She is my only girl.:) This is Mara and one of her friends from school dancing it up at the ball.

She was so happy with how she looked, and all her accessories. I even put a little makeup on her for final touches. They really made it nice for the girls. They had activities, and dancing. Slow songs, fast songs, and even group songs, and line dancing.

Mara was really excited to bring her dad as her date. They make a great couple, and look fantastic!

She is so beautiful. I know that I am biased. LOL. She is really lucky to have gorgeous hair, and great big eyes. I really didn't have to do much to make her more lovely than she already is.

Halloween 2009

We had a great Halloween this year. The weather was fair, just a little chilly. The kids had a great time Trick-or-Treating. This neighborhood is filled with children on Halloween. We actually ran out of candy by 7:30pm. I actually ended up sitting outside on my porch, like everyone else in the neighborhood, to pass out candy. It was incredible how many children were out. I have never seen anything like it. In the past, we have always lived in pretty quiet neighborhoods, so this was really different, but really fun as well! Lee had a great time walking around with the kids, they had fun seeing all the different costumes and of course getting the candy. These are 3 of our pumpkins this year.

Lee enjoyed dressing up this year with the kids. Any guesses on what you think he dressed up as?

Carson was our Special Forces Agent. He was ready to protect as a moments notice.

Mara was our beautiful Japanese Princess. She loves the pretty costumes. Nothing scary for her!

Kale was our fearless Knight. He loved having a sword, and helmet. He thought getting candy so easily was the best thing ever, besides eating it!