American Girl Doll Adventure

Addie is spoiled- and I wouldn't have it any other way!! All her grandparents make sure she has a special birthday, even though it's so close to Christmas. This year, the year she turned 5 (yikes!), was going to be all about her American Girl Doll. Her NY Grandparents were going to take her into New York City to pick out her very own American Girl Doll that looks just like her. She has been SO excited about this, drooling over the catalogs that seem to always come in the mail.

Finally, the week of Thanksgiving came- she had to survive Monday- and then Tuesday we took off to NY first thing in the morning! Al had to work, but he would come and join us on Thursday.

Tuesday morning, she was SO excited to be going into The City to get HER doll- which she had already named Rosie. Here she is all ready to go- wearing a special outfit with the skyline of NYC on it!

Practicing showing 5 fingers- she seems so grown-up- gulp!!

There are no pics yet of her actual DAY there- they are all on PopPop's camera- but they will come and I will post them! She had a fantastic day and now has life-long memories!!

Back home- here she is with her beloved Rosie-Kyla (had to tack on the 2nd name after her good friend Kyla in NC). Notice the size of that bag behind her!! Other family chipped in money so she could go on a shopping spree- thank you all!!

One purchase was a baby carrier that Gramma Jenny purchased- she loves being able to carry her baby and have her hands free!

Combing Rosie-Kyla's hair while watching TV at the end of the day. She now doesn't complain when I comb tangles out of her hair. Why? Rosie-Kyla doesn't cry when Addie gets tangles out of her hair, so Addie doesn't cry now, either!

What a special and fantastic 5th birthday event- thank you MarMar and PopPop!!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving day dawned clear and cold! We woke-up and enjoyed my pumpkin muffins, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and anxiously awaited Al's arrival!

All dolled up (lol) and watching the parade

Alden was obsessed with the turkey- when he saw it in the fridge, when it was getting prepped for the oven, and all the way to the table where he ate a few bites!

Keeping on eye on PopPop

DADDY!!!! When Alden saw Al drive up, he ran outside to greet him!! Al made it to NY in record time- what a great Dad to drive all the way there, leaving home at 3:45am, just so he could watch the parade with his kids!!

The kids' table

The boys had a blast playing together with the Legos

Silly kiddos!!

Alden discovered a new love- peanuts! He ate a ton of them! I love this pic because you see his pile of shells, his Lego creation and his need of water due to all the peanuts!

The boys had a blast tilting MarMar's chair all the way up until it dumped the other out! The played this game for ages- never getting tired of it.

The girls had fun burning off their turkey dinner by playing Dance Dance Revolution. Addie had a blast playing alongside the grown-ups- and she showed us she really IS learning some good moves in her dance lessons at school!

MarMar and PopPop surprised her with an icecream cake with dessert!

What a sweet girl we have been blessed with!!

By the end of the night, all kids were spent. No naps + hard playing all day + lots of sugar = CRANKY kids. Here, Nate was crying because he had just gotten in trouble, and Addie came over and pulled him onto her lap, which he curled into and just sobbed into her shoulder. She was so sweet comforting him- it just melted my heart!

We had a great time with family- and are thankful for them all!!

Silly Boy...

Alden is 100% boy! These pics just sum-up his vivid imagination and need for adventure....

Sunglasses- check (they are Lady and the Tramp)

Laundry Basket- check

Broom- check

Adventure- ready to row all over the ocean fighting off sharks and pirates!

I love this little guy- he is SO different from Addie, I love it!

Deck the Halls....

I know, I know, it's "too early" to decorate for Christmas, but I just couldn't help myself- everywhere I turned, it's Christmas- Sanat's at the mall, stores are playing Christmas music, everything is decorated..... On Saturday evening, we pulled out all the stops and decorated a full week early this year! To say that the kids were excited is an understatement!

Alden "helping" Daddy put up our tree- he was great at matching the colors at the end of each branch. This poor tree- it was $20, 10 years ago, and is actually starting to shed- guess it's time to look into a new tree....

Al "fluffing" the tree

Wish this wasn't fuzzy- Addie got giddy once the lights were on! And the lights are skimpy- there were 2 strings that worked last year, but didn't last night. If you know me, I wasn't about to stop- we would just make 2 strings of lights work instead of stopping and restarting the next day!

SO excited to have pizza for dinner, in the living room, watching Frosty the Snowman (their choice) and getting ready to put ornaments on the tree! They both told me it was a perfect night!

Let the decorating begin!!

I love them in the Santa hats- an excellent deal I scored last year- they love wearing them, too!

She kept wanting to give me this super-cheesy grin next to the tree! (Side note- Yes, Addie is wearing a band-aid on her nose. A few weeks ago, her nose got a scratch on it and since her glasses constantly rub on it, the sore never got a chance to heal- thus the band-aid!)

I love his cheesy smile- he was SO excited!!

Helping Mommy unpack the Nativity

She was so proud that she knew every character!

Silly boy!

Showing off her new snowman pj's!

Someone was DONE- ready for bed...

The promise of a candy cane if he smiles and sleeps in- yup, that's all it took to get that smile!

Saying good-night to baby Jesus and his friends....

Yes, I know, it's not 74 days til Christmas- but I love this sign and pic from last year.... We will be replacing the Santa pic hopefully next week sometime- the kids can't wait to see him!

Playroom decorated- Addie was devastated Sunday morning when she woke-up and the stockings had NOT been filled!! We need to work a bit more on the concept of the actual day of Christmas- and that it can't be every day....

Alden's tree- we are letting the kids have their own trees in their rooms this year. Alden wanted the red bows and a few of his special ornaments that his MarMar gave him.

Addie's tree- it was actually our first Christmas tree since our apartment was so small! She kept picking big, heavy ornaments to put on it, and then would get upset when it would topple over.... Finally, after some help from Daddy, she achieved her desired result!

We are SO blessed- and are looking forward to enjoying these decorations for a whole month!!

Christmas Card Attempts...

I had the cutest kids on the planet- but I struggle to snap the picture that reflects that.... Someone always seems to look away at the split second the shutter snaps. Or someone decides to be silly and NOT look at the camera.... Sigh....

Since I know that getting the pics I want can easily take time, I have started early. Here is what I have gotten so far....

Old Friends Reunited

This weekend we visited Delaware and spent time with our dear friends- Grayson and Avery (and their amazing parents, too!). While we lived in DE, Grayson and Avery came to our house while their parents worked- so our kids spent lots of time together and LOVE each other. When I told my kids where we were going, they went nuts they were SO excited!!

When we got to their house it was late so it wasn't until the morning that the kids saw each other, and when they did, there was approximately 30 seconds of just staring at each other. After that, they were playing together just like no time had passed- the best part was that there was no fighting!! They played together so sweetly- just happy to be back together!!

Us adults also had fun chatting- the men played golf and April and I even scored a few deals at the local Thrift Stores! It was a short visit, but SO worth it! I can't believe the next time we visit them, they will have had their new baby!

The boys pulled out the legos and played with them the entire weekend!

Addie and Avery played too, but the were more interested in the dolls.

The crew getting ready to check out the new playground in G and A's neighborhood! It was COLD- and in true DE fashion, super windy!

G and A on the see-saw- love the old-school charm that this playground had!!

Everyone loves technology!

A future snapshot, perhaps??

True men- fixing the kitchen!!

We had a great time- and look forward to meeting their new addition due soon!