Happy Thanksgiving!!

One of the perks of having a school teacher for a husband is that we got him home for the WHOLE week!!! Now that's a happy holiday! Dan and I had lots of things we wanted to get done this week - he got all of his done - I got about half way through mine.... We didn't "go anywhere" for the holidays - traveling with 4 young kids is not something we are willing to put ourselves through very often - especially now that any trips need to be driving for cost sake! We spent Thanksgiving Day at my parents house down in Plano with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law. We had a great time! The food was great and the company was great! Our kids just LOVE their grandparents and aunt and uncle! Of course I brought the camera to this family holiday... and of course I forgot to get it out..... :)

Saturday we took our annual trip up to the Christmas Tree farm to get our Christmas Tree. We brought some Christmas movies for the kids to watch and then had fun running around playing in the leaves looking at trees and taking a ride behind the tractor.

Today in the car as we headed to church, I had gotten very tired of Eileen's grumpy attitude, so we decided to play a little game called the Thankful game. we each took turns telling things that we are grateful for. Eileen passed her first too turns because she was too grumpy to come up with anything. Anna REALLY got into it and was very sweet. Eileen finally dispelled her gloomy cloud and got into it too. I'm thankful for so many things - and topping the list are the 5 people I see everyday!

YEY!!!!!!!!!

Well we survived to Dan's first big break - I'm really starting to wonder where this year has gone! This week has been mostly uneventful - we haven't gone too many places since the kids have been a bit sick this week. Monday we went for Evie's 2 month old check up. I'm really not sure where the last 2 months have gone - yet I can't imagine our family with out her!! She is such a sweetie. She is growing well and developing normally!

After we went to get her pictures taken - I forgot to bring her dress for pictures, so we glanced at what J.C. Penny's had on sale, and found this darling little dress!! She just looked like a little angel in it! Unfortunately on the way from the lobby to the picture studio - she pooped all over the dress, the floor and me... Thankfully they had Shout wipes and the photographer was able to hide the stained part.... :) She was soo sweet - but a bit cranky after all the cleaning up and bouncing around! Still we got some very sweet shots!

Eileen making funny faces after baths
Anna holding Evie - such a sweet big sister!!
Aaron learned to play with his food from his sisters....

Thankfully we are all feeling a bit better and are looking forward to having Dan home all next week - so much so that Dan and I have each made ourselves lists of what we want to get done... hopefully we get it all done with out exhausting ourselves!! :)

It has begun.....

What is it? - well 'it' could probably be many things - but the 'it' I'm talking about here is Wrestling Season. For those of you who don't know, that means that my sweet hubby is going to be gone every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night for his calling or for wrestling (except holidays) until March. The best that can be said of this is that it reminds all of us (as if we really needed a reminder) of what an amazing husband and father Dan is!! If you want proof - just listen to this conversation that Eileen and Dan had this afternoon -

Eileen: Lets play married daddy!
Dan: I'm already married.
Eileen: no just pretend daddy!!
Dan: ok so are you going to cook and clean?
Eileen: no that's what you do!
Dan: what do you do?
Eileen: I just sit and feed the baby

LOL - I am soo blessed to have a hubby who can make dinner while I worry about Evie.

We also took Eileen in for her 5 year old check up and everything is great! She is doing well socially and academically - and she is in the 50th percentileon her stats - so she is average size. In mommy terms that means she is beautiful, brilliant, gregarious and sweet!
Want proof? These are from her little photo session at J.C. Penny's
In other news - Aaron got his stitches out and has been picking at it ever since - so it's been bleeding all week. But life is good!

Events

Well this has been an eventful week for us. We had two big family events this week. Eileen's 5th Birthday was on Monday. I can't believe my little girl is 5 years old. She is such an amazing little girl and I feel so blessed to have her as part of our family. She is so sweet and creative and energetic and fun. She got to celebrate her birthday with her favorite dinner (Dutch Babies - kinda like pancakes....) and making cake with Daddy. (Haha - if you can't tell, there are two candles on that cupcake - a '2' and a '3' to make 5...)


Then she had a small party with some of her friends on Saturday. We played duck duck goose, hide and seek, and anything else we could come up with. Then since the weather has been beautiful, we sent them outside to play while we made pizzas for lunch. Each of these kids mothers is a friend of mine and I'm amazed at the talented women I am friends with!! Eileen got a beautiful hand made necklace which matches one that I got for my birthday (from the same friend.) She got an adorable crocheted hat and sewn apron from another friend and a cute little hair clip holder to hang up on her wall. Her final gift was a set of GIANT coloring princess pictures. She and Anna spent the entire rest of the day coloring those!!

Her final celebration was this evening at my parents house. We all got together for dinner, cake, ice cream and presents. Eileen got lots of cute clothes and some fun toys. It's so funny to see how excited she gets about the clothes!

Also today we blessed Evelyn. My Dad and Jon and Sandi came up to participate. The blessing was beautiful. As I listened (or tried to with the three other kids climbing all over me!) I was struck by the feeling that this sweet baby has been placed in our home and our family for a reason. That she belongs here - with us - now. Some people think I'm crazy having 4 kids in 5 years, and maybe I am - but there is nothing I would change!! Here are some pictures from after the blessing. The dress is one that I made - it's a good thing we didn't wait any longer to do the blessing - it barely fit!!!

Our big happy family!!

And Pours.....

This happened shortly before we were supposed to leave to go pick up Dan from the airport....
He was really good while they stitched him up - sat very still - the doctor and nurses were very impressed.... too bad he can't sit still any other time.... :P

When it Rains....

It Pours!!!! And for once, I'm not talking about the weather. The weather here has actually been really nice the last few days or so. Cool, sunny and perfect for being outside! Unfortunately I've been too sick to want to leave my bed, let alone the house. Despite this cold, I sent my sweet hubby off this weekend to go to his Grandmother's funeral. She was an amazing woman who left this world at peace and having left a legacy of love, hard work, faith, and a sense of humor. Though we couldn't afford for the whole family to go, we found an inexpensive ticket so Dan could. The day he left, my mom, the kids and I all made a quick run to Wal-Mart. When we got out, our new van wouldn't start.... With the help of my mom and some wonderful neighbors, we were able to get all of us home in two trips and then the dealership sent a tow truck to get the van. That night, we bundled the kids up in their costumes for a Trunk or Treat with our ward.

The next day I had to try and find some way to pick up my van - thankfully I have family near by who are able to help out, and my dad was able to come up while I was picked up in a stinky shuttle to go get it. Then after searching for a pumpkin he helped carve pumpkins with the kids.
Here are my adorable little butterfly, cow girl and pirate!
And of course can't forget my sweet little flower!
Now I'm afraid that Evie has caught the cold that I still haven't managed to get rid of!! All that has meant so far is a small fever and more snuggle time for me since she is a bit cranky, so hopefully this is as bad as it gets!

Dan comes home tomorrow - I'm glad he had the chance to go, but we've missed him and can't wait to have him back!!!