Our Thanksgiving...Part Two

I don't know about you...but one Thanksgiving dinner is just not enough:)!! We spent the Saturday after Thanksgiving at my parent's house. It was so nice because my mom is also a good cook and had many yummies for us to eat during the noon hour and beyond. There was no reason for anyone to say they were hungry! Grandma and Grandpa H were there and so was my Grandma R. I enjoyed being around them because it made me feel young again. Throughout the day (inbetween stuffing our faces) we played Paul's Wii. Mallory loves that thing! She bowled quite a few times, played a few of the carnival games, and then Mario Kart. It was fun hearing her giggle as she would fall into the lava or run off the course. During the first four races she always was in 12th (last) place and thought she had won. Finally after the fifth race or so she said, "You mean, I am in last place?" or something equal to that. Melissa and I laughed realizing how devastated she was. It did not stop her from playing. Here is Mallory with Miles "driving".

Besides the Wii we all sat around the table and played Uno Attack (a great game if you do not already own it). Grandma R got into the game too. I love those moments when family comes together for something as simple as a game. I am blessed for them and I guess that makes me thankful.

A Special Kiss

Our tree went up on Friday night. Mallory and Miles were so excited about the ornaments. Mallory was excited with the Rudolph ornaments that we have and Miles was excited about the Grinch ones and the Thomas ones too. They were so much fun! Unfortunatly I was so busy
unwrapping ornaments that I did not get any pictures of them decorating the tree. Oh well...the tree does look really nice! Mallory made sure that all of her princesses were in the same area of the tree and Miles, well...he really did not care that much. I love this picture because all I said was, "Miles, give your sister a kiss." and this happened. Is it not the sweetest thing ever? The rest of the night we continued decorating the house (I still am not finished) and watching White Christmas. You do not mess with tradition!

A Calendar Worthy Shot

Okay...okay...so I add things to my plate every year that sometimes stress me out! For at least four years (I may need to be corrected here) I have made a calendar for my parents and Ryan's parents too. It started out as a stamping adventure and has turned into a "what can Shutterfly do for me?" moment. I am still pleased with the calendars. On Thanksgiving night I found out that Shutterfly (I love that site) was having a major deal on calendars. Needless to say I began the process of making the calendars by uploading my pictures, putting them into calendars, and stuff like that. Part of my rushing included going to the Dollar Tree to purchase these hats for the kids. I love this picture as it is probably one, if not the best picture that has ever been taken of all four together. What can I say? December's picture will be perfect!

Our Thanksgiving...Take One

On Thanksgiving day we headed to Ryan's parents for a yummy lunch (followed by a very yummy snack, yummy snack, well...you get the picture). Ryan's mom loves to cook and always spoils us with lots of great food. Ryan loves to cook too (he gets it very honestly) and added to the meal quite nicely.

Throughout the day Mallory and Miles played with their cousins Rebekah and Ryan. It had been quite a while since they had seen each other. They made a tent in the basement, played games, and so much more. All four of the little people came to our house to spend the night. We had a good time watching Kung Fu Panda and eating my always welcome popcorn (my contribution to the day).

I love this picture of Mallory with my niece, Rebekah. She has grown up so much here lately. Mallory always looks forward to spending time with Rebekah since they have many of the same interests. As you can tell from the other picture, Miles enjoyed giving his cousin a whooping! For some reason he had more than his share of energy and decided that he was going to wrestle Ryan. I must say he gave him a run for his money!

I hope you all had a restful Thanksgiving wherever you were!

A Part of Santa's Sleigh

Today Ryan surprised M & M by bringing home part of Santa's Sleigh. They inspected it for the longest time and were excited that their daddy was fixing it for him. This is the bottom flap from Santa's sleigh and they were happy to have their picture taken with it (multiple times).

As you could probably imagine we are very excited about Christmas being right around the corner. Miles keeps asking when we are going to put our tree up and Mallory chimes right in at that moment. For the time being we are going to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with family and enjoy the food as well. I know I will have lots of pictures (if I am not too full from the yummy turkey and fall asleep) with many stories to tell.

My Two Spies

What can I say? Mallory and Miles have big imaginations. This morning they were running around our house dressed as two spies. It sure did make me laugh when they came running around the corner. Of course, I asked them if I could take their picture and they did not have a problem with it. I guess that has something to do with the nickname I have been given "Cyclops Woman" or "Auntie Cyclops". Oh well...I will take that nickname with pride:).

Annual Turkey Bowl

So every year for at least the past five years, our school comes together the day before Thanksgiving Break at 2:00 in the gym for our yearly tradition...the turkey bowl! The students look forward to this event and I believe that most of the teachers, if not all, look forward to it too. Our names are pulled out one by one and we get two chances to knock the pins down...WITH A FROZEN TURKEY!!! Sounds a little crazy...right? My name was pulled out second this year and I ended up knocking down six pins with throw number one and a big zero for throw number two. I have yet to knock all of the pins down! What a disappointment! I want the big prize! Oh well...maybe next year!!!

Unfortunately the gym is not the best place to take pictures. I looked across the gym from where I was and saw something neat...Mallory sitting next to her cousin Sam. It was cool! He is new to our school this year and is in Mallory's classroom.

A few years ago my teaching buddy had back surgery. Since that, she has not bowled. With the creativity of another teacher, she decided that each year a "family member" would visit and bowl for her. Last year was her cousin Earl and this year Grandma Stella from Missouri. As always the students were waiting for her name to be called and see who had come to visit. When she announced Grandma Stella, our principal wheeled her out in a wheelchair. From there "Grandma Stella" took the show over and bowled twice. The second time she put her fanny in the air and bowled through her legs...backwards. A very nice touch! I wonder who will be visiting next year???Mallory's teacher ended winning the face-off (three of the teachers knocked down all the pins with their first two chances). She ran around (as you can see) and high fived all of the students hands that were in the front. At this point...and every moment until this point...it was quite deafening in the gym. It makes me happy to be able to put myself out there for a short moment for the students. It is a fun time!

(Again...sorry for the quality of these pictures. The gym is not the best place for my camera!)

A Blooming Artist

Mallory is my little artist. It is awesome that she has won two high honors at school so far (and she is only in first grade!!). Many who know her see the artist within. She would rather have her art supplies out instead of playing any video game any day. I think that makes her very unique to her peers.

This is a picture of the "765 Engine" that her brother adores (alongside his grandpa). I think it is cute how she has written the number...it sure does make sense! She made this by outlining with the new glitter glue we recently purchased. She thanked me up and down for it. What can I say? She is easily entertained!

Mallory is planning to work the next few days to enter the Christmas card contest the Park Department in town has each year. She is excited because if she wins she could get about "20 bucks"! The great thing about that was I mentioned how that could go into the bank for her when she goes to college and she thought that was a good idea. Yippee!!

My Little "Reductor"

As many of you know, Miles LOVES anything to do with trains. It does not matter if it is a toothbrush with Thomas that plays music everytime he brushes (by the way Amber, we had to buy another one:), one of his many train shirts (he can never have enough of those), books with trains, I think you get the picture. I guess we are thankful to live where we do because he always tells me what kind of train just went by on the tracks and what kind of cars it was pulling. He truly is amazing with his knowledge. One of his favorite things to do is to go back to our bedroom and watch one of the train documentaries he has borrowed from his grandpa.


He is really getting into creating his own train tracks. It does not matter if it is his Thomas track or his GeoTrax, he takes turns and loves them the same. I was impressed with this one since he built it by himself. What a little problem solver!!!

Phew...the Carnival is Over!!!

For being the first carnival I (and the other officers) have ever been a part of, it went very well. We only had three people of ALL the volunteers not able to fulfill their shifts. I was super pleased with that! We ended up going through two big pots of chili and LOTS of prizes. I think the prizes were a huge hit this year.



There was a lot of work that went into the carnival but it was more than rewarding to watch the students and their families enjoying our hard work. Next year we already know there will be much more room and that means more new games! Ryan already has a game idea ready to go!



I was in charge of the photo spot for part of the night. It was fun watching the students come for a picture and who they chose to be with and how they posed. Lots of fun! One of my highlights of the evening was when one of my former "friends" (that is what I refer to past students as) who is now in middle school (I think eighth grade) came over to get his picture taken. He put his tickets into the box and said, "I want to get my picture taken. With you!" I almost cried! I was so honored at that moment. A few years back he wanted to apply for a certain program in Australia and asked me to write a letter of recommendation for him. I told him that I would as long as he promised to hold a koala bear for me once he made it there. He ended up being chosen and did hold a koala bear for me. That was so cool to see that picture in my inbox one day! But, it was even neater when he came back Friday night and asked for this picture. This one is going into a special place:).

Fall Carnival

This week is finally our school's fall carnival. I have been fortunate enough to work alongside two fantastic moms who have given all they have into this carnival. It has become our life! We have been planning this day since we first met in August and boy has it ever been a lot of work! Not one of us has worked closely at past carnivals and we sometimes feel like we are the blind leading the blind. There is something to be said for being 'green' in a situation like this...we are all open to new things. There are new games, including a Plinko board, pickle walk, corn hole, a picture spot (thank you Roger for your help on that one), and so much more. The families that come should have a great time.

Tomorrow we meet to set up for our big night and cross our fingers that everything goes according to the way we have planned. Hats off to Tiffany and Julie for being such wonderful people to work with throughout this process. I have had many second-guess my decision to be the vice president of the group (including myself at times) but I am extremely pleased with the way things have turned out. Things will be much easier after our carnival night. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

Sibling Love

On Saturday we went back up to Amish country to relax and enjoy the surroundings. We made a few stops on the thoroughfare and ate at the Breadbox (sandwiches and soup). Then we were off to the Mercantile. Mallory and Miles rode the carousel two times with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed going into the "Thomas Store" as Miles calls it. It was a dreary day and thank goodness we were making the best of it. I took this picture as we were waiting for Ryan to bring back our pretzels. It always amazes me how long people will wait in line for a pretzel. Granted, they are good, but we waited for at least ten minutes for ours to get to us. They were yummy! From there we went to the meat and cheese store. Mallory and Miles enjoy going in there because they usually say, "I'm hungry!" There are many places where you grab a toothpick to sample cheese or meat. That is always a highlight for them. It was a relaxing day...and believe me...it was appreciated by me!

A Snoopy Pose

Tonight I caught my little man acting like Snoopy on the back of this chair. I was so thankful to have my camera right next to me. Yes...he posed when I told him I wanted to take a picture. But isn't he just the cutest in his dinosaur jammies? He is my little lovebug and I could not love him any more. I think he missed me tonight because he came over after I came home from Mallory's swim lesson (boy can that girl swim!!!) to smell me. Then he had to climb on my lap after that.

Amish Light Parade

Yesterday Ryan, Mallory, Miles, and I headed up to the Blue Gate Restaurant. It is one of our favorite places to eat. Mallory LOVES their noodles and Miles LOVES to see the fish swimming out front of the restaurant.


The main reason for us traveling up to one of our favorite restaurants was to check out the light parade and yes, the lighting of the Christmas lights. I know, I know, we can argue that it is too early for such things to happen, but you cannot mess with a town's tradition!



It was raining most of the night (these pictures are from a few years ago) so my camera never left the van. We went to the mercantile where Mallory, Miles, and I enjoyed a carousel ride and had to go to the "Thomas store" as Miles refers to it. The shops were open later due to the special lighting ceremony that was going to take place.

When the time came closer we went outside and waited for the parade to come our way. Once it did, it was so nice (we had never experienced it before and I think we may have stumbled across a new family tradition). There is just something about horses pulling wagons with lights on them that makes you smile:). At one point (you will learn that I am a HUGE sap) a trolley with about 15 Amish children stopped in front of us. They were singing "O Holy Night" and tears filled my eyes. There is just something about hearing little angels singing Christmas songs that makes my eyes water. It was so beautiful! Santa was the last one in the parade in his sleigh and Mallory and Miles were super excited to see him (I think Miles is beginning to understand this whole Christmas thing). Then everyone filled the street and listened to this singing group sing a new song I had not heard about the Star of Bethlehem (then the star on the HUGE tree lit up). The next song was "Away in a Manger" (then the living nativity lit up), and then it was time for the candle lighting that everyone was supposed to participate in. With the wind whipping up it was impossible for this to happen although some determined people tried their best. The announcer (an Amishman) told the crowd that it was too windy for candles this year and if they could use their cell phones instead that would be great. I found that to be funny! Then we sang "Silent Night", said a prayer, and counted down together to have the lights come on. Mallory and Miles counted as loudly as they could. Once the lights came on it was so beautiful! We marveled in the Christmas spirit surrounding us and quickly headed for the van to defrost. Mallory fell asleep on the way home and Miles talked the entire time. He sure does have a lot to say:). I know I will have some recent pictures from our next trip up to our favorite restaurant to share before long.

Warm Fall Weather

What great weather we had today! Today at recess the students were not wearing jackets and the sun was warm and beautiful.

All good things must come to an end. Ahhhhh....the thermometer is about to go south on us. You will not hear me complaining about this beautiful day.

We decided to get out and enjoy the last of this weather before the frigid temperatures hit. Mallory and Miles had fun raking some leaves and of course, jumping in them:). That is always something to look forward to.

The pictures of Mallory are precious. With a little help, she climbed one of the trees in our front yard and was proud of herself (although she appeared to be a little scared once she was up there).

I know I am biased, but she sure is a beautiful girl! Today after school she found a dollar in the hallway and took it to the office. She found out that it belonged to the secretary. Mallory was so proud of herself for doing the right thing. She told me, "Mommy that was caring." (We are really talking about the six pillars of character at home: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship). I made sure she knew how great her deed was. Yea!!! Go Mallory!!!

Funny Politics

I don't know about you...but I am ready to get out tomorrow and VOTE! I have done my best to educate myself by watching all channels, reading the information on the internet (from trusted sources), listening to the debates, and whatever else I can do to make the best decision I feel is best for me, my children's futures, and so much more. There is so much at stake!!

The students are buzzing about the election and the candidates as well. I do not remember this much excitement with the last presidential election. Tomorrow the students get to vote and I have this feeling it is going to be a little tense until the winner is announced at the end of the day. Today I had one arguing for John McCain and the other for Barack Obama when they were supposed to be lining up! YIKES!!! Please vote already!!! It is exciting to see them understanding what is going on in the United States right now.

For almost two weeks I have known what my picture was going to be for this post (I hope you enjoy it). The fifth graders made beautiful posters for the candidates and they are posted throughout the school (they really are outstanding). Today the two "candidates" visited each classroom and did a really nice job portraying each. It was so cute! At one point "John McCain" asked my students if they had any questions, and then answered to the best of her ability. I was impressed by both.

Tonight at the dinner table Ryan, Mallory, Miles, and I talked about what Mallory had seen at school. She said, "Today Bak Obama and John McCain came to visit us." It was so cute! Needless to say, neither Ryan or myself corrected her. Such an innocent thing!

This picture has been hanging in the main hallway and makes me giggle everytime I walk past it. Cute...cute...cute!!!

Get out an vote everyone!!!

Our Beautiful Princess

This afternoon Mallory went to her friend, Mikayla's, tea party. We went to Walmart before the party to get a little thank you gift for Mikayla (Mallory chose hair clips for Mikayla's hair now that it is growing back and some decals for her nails).

From the moment we went downstairs it was obvious this was not your normal tea party. Sleeping Beauty was there and brought dresses, shoes, tiaras, and make-up for each of the girls to wear. They played games like hot potato with a slipper, kiss the frog (instead of pin the tail on the donkey), made bracelets, decorated a mirror, had a story read to them, and enjoyed tea together. It was fun to watch the girls having so much fun together. Mallory looked beautiful all dressed up and was excited to be a part of the group. I did not see much beyond this point because Mallory was ready for me to go (I think she wanted to be herself...I guess).

This was a day to celebrate because Mallory's friend, Mikayla, was diagnosed with a brain tumor a year ago. Mikayla is now on the road to recovery and is doing so much better. Through it all she has been an amazing little girl for Mallory and others to be around. Her family has endured a lot this past year and are stronger now than ever. They are truly an inspiration to all. Thank you to Mikayla for a wonderful day. Keep on fighting girl!!