One turkey day down...one to go!

We spent the day Saturday at my Dad's house for my family's Thanksgiving - it's not that often these days that we are all together in one place! We had the usual Thanksgiving dinner and wished my sister a Happy 40th Birthday...her birthday is the day before Thanksgiving this year, poor thing hardly ever has a separate celebration. Seems like it's just at Thanksgiving and Christmas that we're all together - which is great that we can spend time together then, it's just so hard for everyone to get together more often through the year. Thank God my parents get along as well as they do being divorced, that means so much to us and makes holidays so much more special and much easier!

Sunday was non-stop at our house with visitors, Amanda in the morning and then The Kratt's came over in the afternoon for dinner - along with Liz and Mary for a QUICK "photo session" of Madelyn in hopes of getting a decent picture for our Christmas card! Liz got some good shots, Madelyn certainly is NOT one to pose...so we really have to act quick with her and hope she cooperates somewhat, like any toddler.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day -- it'll be quiet around here. We're heading to Amelia later in the afternoon to have Thanksgiving dinner with Ben's family. It'll be a fun visit. Off to bed for now...been a crazy week here - that'll have to be another post :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Ponytail or crew-cut?

Yesterday was our appointment at the Perinatal Center, baby is healthy - no problems at all! We almost didn't find out the sex, this little one was being quite stubborn! Right at the end as the nurse was about to give up, swish went the legs and there it was for us to see! :) Sorry everyone...we're keeping a secret for a bit!


Monday night, Madelyn being the big helper she is, decided to put on Mommy's vest and start her own canned food drive, such a humanitarian! She LOVES the pantry...she'll be happy after Christmas because Nana got her her very own kitchen, Auntie Haylie has stocked it with 100 pieces of food (c'mon...she's going to have more food then we do!!) AND Auntie Manda bought her a grocery buggy with groceries! Ben's man room upstairs has slowly been converted to the toy room...now it's official - with two kids it's definitely not his room anymore - sorry Ben, you've got the garage!












This morning we've had snow on and off! I LOVE IT! I hope this winter we have some good snowfall...it's been so long. We quick bundled up and ran outside to enjoy it for a few minutes.

Saturday with Grandpa & Grammy

We spent Saturday at Grandpa & Grammy's house. The weather was strange...warm but really windy, which I think made Madelyn's cold worse - she woke up the next day with an awful cough I've never heard from her before! I think the yucky nose has gone to her chest so we may see about going to see the doctor shortly. But we had a good time anyway -- we took a quick ride to Dave's job so Madelyn could ride on the tractor. She had her usual skeptical look but I know she enjoyed it - she loves cars, trucks and tractors....AND school buses!

Having some tea with Grammy

Sunday the temperature was back in the 50's so we stayed inside most of the day. Madelyn helped Ben in the garage for a little while, she loves to "fix things" and help Ben with anything. And even though sometimes things come up missing, he really does love the extra hands from his little bug.

Ben's firebird is closer to being done! We've had this thing for FOUR years now! Ben has been meticulously restoring it...it's been a labor of love for him! The interior is about done and next will be getting the engine back together. Looks like we'll enjoy it soon and have it through the winter...maybe in the spring we'll have it for sale.

Pudding anyone??

Madelyn & I made pudding Friday, and we enjoyed it for dessert that night after dinner. Here's a video of the messy girl eating it up while singing some songs...ABC's, Lullaby to her milk and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in her Cookie Monster voice!

I HATE BEING SICK!!!

Mommy and Madelyn are SICK, again! This weather is crazy, 75 last Friday - then 50 - just stay one or the other, would ya?? Madelyn's cold is about gone - snotty nose again. I, on the other hand, still feel pretty cruddy, feverish, congestion - the works. Yesterday I was on the couch and had my eyes closed for not even 5 minutes. It got super quiet so I knew little miss was probably doing something she wasn't suppose to be doing...she climbed on the kitchen table and decided to play with my camera! Whoa - that got me up REAL quick!

We didn't go anywhere yesterday since we were both sick - we made cookies and stayed in our pjs all day. It was nice, although Ben had a fit when he got home that his daughter wasn't dressed!!??? OK - he got home at 5 and immediately insisted that she get dressed, only so that in 2 hours she can put her jammies back on? He made me feel like a lazy housewife who doesn't take care of her kids or something, weirdo! Well, OK so maybe the truth is out now :) So maybe we did sit around and eat cookie dough and watch soap operas....NO - NEVER!! haha

Last week we went to the Children's Museum with Erica and Peyton - that was a great time! (Kim we should do that one day, the boys would have so much fun!!) I can imagine ALL the germs in that gross place, wish I could blame that but I think her nose was runny before we went there. But the girls had a good time playing in the water table and climbing up and down all the obstacles. Madelyn loved the pretend kitchen and driving the car, she even worked in the auto shop for a little while!

A quiet weekend at the Jones' house

We had a quiet weekend around the house...no squeals, no ABC's, no ELMO, no toys...and we even slept in! No, Madelyn wasn't grounded to her room for sneaking out...she spent the weekend with my Mom in Stafford. We packed her up and she headed up Friday afternoon, she was eager to go and had no problems waving bye to us - she even said "I wuv oo momma" and "I wuv oo dadda" It was bittersweet. We met Nana halfway this afternoon for the "pick up" and things are back to normal here in our home!

Ben & I had plans to work on the new nursery, do some painting and maybe get another crib. HOWEVER....since we didn't find out the sex of the baby Friday like we were suppose to, things changed little! Yes, I have become quite absent minded these days. I have never missed any appointment in my life - I write them down on everything I can and even call to confirm. WHY I didn't call this time, I don't know....Anyway, my ultrasound was scheduled for 9AM and I swore it was at 3. So we missed it completely. Now we have to wait another week. I was so upset with myself! But hey, we've waited 19 weeks so far, whats another???

We did do some price comparing on cribs -- got some ideas of what we like. We ate out and enjoyed adult conversations without interuptions like "MILK" or "MOMMY" or "BUBBA" or "ELMO" or "ALL DONE" --- aaahhh, it was nice. We got some yard work done, washed the cars, even painted our bathroom which I've been wanting to do since we moved in 4 years ago!

It was a good weekend, we needed this time to reconnect with one another. We picked up our bug and she welcomed us with big hugs and smiles...it was a great feeling! We looked forward to this weekend so we could enjoy each other's company and have some quiet, but also to appreciate all those interuptions that we so quickly take for granted!

BOOO!

Happy Halloween! We had a fun Halloween, headed out to the Radford's for a little party for the girls...Petyon, Ava & Madelyn. Peyton was a fairy, Ava a chicken and Madelyn a pumpkin. I made her costume again this year - just a tutu with a jack-o-lantern shirt. I had been wanting to make a tutu for a while now, and now I know what I'll do differently for the next one. It was pretty simple - but I'll do it better next time.

The girls were a trip to watch, we only went to a few houses since they don't quite know what its all about yet...but they had a fun time together. The Radford's had about 350 trick-or-treaters that night! It brought back memories of my neighborhood where I grew up. It's just not like that anymore, sad that parents have to be so cautious with their kids these days.

Saturday night we headed out to a party for some friends who are getting married next year. It was great to get out all dressed up, WISH we had someone take our picture since we don't get dressed up that often anymore. We asked Grammy (Ben's Mom) to watch Madelyn that night and we had the whole Jones family over for the "babysitting extravaganza." I'm sure she kept everyone entertained through the night.

Today is election day - this is sure to be one of the most historical elections ever. Soon, we'll all be glued to the TV to see who will be our next president. What a great thing we as Americans have the privilege to do. We are within walking distance from our voting location, I had plans to walk up with my neighbor and the kiddos but it has been a raining ALL day here. Ben got there at 6am and people had been in line to vote since 4am! He was finally out of there almost 3 hours later!

Friday is a big day for us - we find out the sex of this little baby! Can't wait to finally know so we can get planning, it's killing me!! Look for something soon after :)