Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Just family and good food. Tyler gets 3 days off work and there aren't any last minute gift purchases, wrapping, and tons of parties to attend. You can sit back and enjoy your family's company and the days off. Don't get me wrong, Christmas is awesome, too! Thanksgiving is just a great start to the season.

Garyn's and Ansley's preschool does something cool and has a feast that parents and family can come to. The potluck food was so good, too! We also got to hear a couple of cute little songs 

sung by his and another class.

~My tall boy is in the middle with stripes~

~Wish I had been in a different spot cause you can't see him, but its still cute!~

 

~You'll notice Ansley's tongue is sticking out a lot in this post~

~Wasn't sure which I liked best :) ~

The next day, Wednesday, we headed down to my brother's house and hung out with them. They now have a goat farm and have had a lot of babies in the last couple weeks, so it was our own personal petting zoo!

~Ansley has no fear and would run right out in the field with them~

~These were the cutest of all. Great Pyrenees puppies, only a couple weeks old~

~Got to have a lil' tractor driving...sticking her tongue out helps her focus~

~Now for the real ride with cousin Lakelin~

He is becoming quiet the farmer. The goat farm started because he joined his school's FFA and needed to have a project. You can really see he has a passion for it.

Garyn likes being on top of these haystacks and pretending he is sword fighting. He seriously spends most of the time we are outside on these!

Thanksgiving day was spent with the rest of my family. The kids have lots of cousins to play with...

(sorry for poor lighting)

Most of the girl cousins like to flock around Ansley and dress her up...

~Lauren putting cowboy boots on her~

~Kaysie Lee and Sophie giving her sunglasses...she wasn't too sure about this~

~She just wanted to go be a baby in the nursery...we have Thanksgiving at my

 grandpa's church, if your wondering~

~Then she joined in some singing with Grandpa and Uncle Mike~

BTW Garyn was still over in the gym riding in those cars and 4 wheelers from above picture. The boy cousins tend to entertain him, at one point they were pushing him on a small 4 wheeler so fast I thought there was surely going to be a catastrophe. 

I need to go back to Ansley for a minute and attempt to explain what a tornado she can be sometimes. Or maybe I should say accident prone. Thanksgiving day alone, she sprayed clorox in her face; got acne cream all over her and her shirt; pinched her finger in a guitar case; burned a different finger on a hair straightener; opened the bottle and ate a Children's tylenol, then fell off the back of the couch. Thankfully she survived them all and didn't have to go to the doctor for any of them. When at other family's non-baby proofed house, well even our own for that matter, she needs constant supervision since she's so curious and well coordinated to do things. The very next day we went to Tyler's family's gathering were she only added to the list.

She got into Rachel's , our 11 yr old cousin, make up bag and decided she needed some mascara. In order to do that she climbed onto the bed, unzipped the bag and opened the mascara. I knew she was in that room where Rachel had been putting on her makeup, but didn't realize Rachel had left and didn't take the makeup with her. Once again, no harm and she thankfully only had it on her and not the bed or carpet. You can see she was pretty pleased with her end result!

~We got to see lots of Emma or "Mema" as Ansley says~

~Ansley loves her but likes to express it by taking things from her!~

~Spunky Monkey!~

~And here she is with Rachel. She isn't looking because she is wanting the candy on the counter~

Well, now its time to get ready for Christmas! We were giving thanks all week and weekend for our family and blessings. Now, we need to focus on our greatest blessing; baby Jesus!

"Bye Y'all"

Kids really do say the darnest things. My two have been saying some of the cutest words/ phrases lately that deserve their own post!

The latest, as of yesterday on Thanksgiving, Ansley started saying "Bye Y'all!" Everyone in the family was told this repeatedly when leaving or if she was just ready to go. :) Guess we say this more than we thought!

Garyn has also been using funny tenses to words. He says "Its broke-ed" or "I fell-ed." He loves to tell me "Don't ever say that to me again" when I tell him we have to go or do something he appearantly doesn't want to do. He also links things to his feelings a lot, such as saying "You're just making me sad when you tell me that." It breaks your heart sometimes and other times, you think he just needs to get over it.

He is always coming up with these little ideas to get what he wants, too. "Does that sound like a good idea, Momma?" he'll ask. I just chuckle and agree. While talking about his Christmas list, I told him he may not get both Mario Kart K'nex sets. The next morning the first thing he told Tyler was that he had an idea. "Nana can get me one of the K'nex sets!" And of course, she obliged and has it for him for Christmas.

Ansley has such cute words for things like "pappy" for her pacifier. One of our favorites is how she says "Emma" her new cousins name. On her own she started calling her "Mema." We think it is so cute and have started calling her that as well.

I know there are so many other cute things they have said but I can't really think of anything else right now. Hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving!

Sporting it this fall

Fall is sports filled for us. I think it is only going to get busier as our children age. Garyn has begun his first season as a soccer player. He seems to really like it so I'm sure he will be playing again.

Of course he needs lots more practice! This was more of a team-player learning experience. I was totally worried in the beginning when he was crying because someone took the ball away at practice. He is super competitive and has to win or else! But during the games I think he was a little aloof. He seemed to be in his own little world running back and forth. When we yelled "Go get the ball Garyn," he seemed to be a little more focused. But didn't ever seem to really have the ball much.

(rehydrating after a rainy game)

So although there were no assists or goals made on his part, he understands more about the practicing, coaching and the feeling when you lose. The great part about YMCA soccer is that you don't really talk much about wins and losses. I know his team won some! Ansley didn't care either way, she supported her big bro and loved to sit in his lap while he was on the sidelines.

And we can't forget about Friday nights. Being a coach's wife can be hard! But when Friday nights come around, I love it! The kids really seem to enjoy it, too.

(McKenzie and Brayden with them watching the game.)

 

(Poppa is always our game buddy.)

 

 

 

Friday night also became my exercise! Ms. Ansley ran me ragged around the bleachers. She is a cutie though all dressed in blue and white:

 

My friend Arlene (also the head coach's wife) made matching outfits for our girls.

 

 

Here we are with the Lion and a friend's son. Guess I should add that we had our ten year reunion this fall...and today is my birthday so I am feeling a little old!

And to add to the sentimental-ness of this year, this was also the end of our years at Red Bank football. Tyler decided to step aside just recently. We are still in limbo a little about it all. I still think he may coach a smaller venue especially if he doesn't get an assistant principal job. We just feel God has something else in store for us. Its hard not knowing exactly what that is but we are trusting in His plan.

 

We are looking forward to what's ahead. We know one thing: this spring will include baseball for a little boy!

Halloween Festivities

We are rolling right into this busy Holiday season! As always, it all comes so quickly and passes before you get a chance to soak it up. So here's to documenting Halloween before its New Years and I've forgotten the little details! (Plus, its Thursday and I'm home alone!)

Two weeks ago we went to a pumpkin patch called Old McDonald's Farm in Sale Creek. Its a great place to do lots of typical fall activities, like hayride, corn maze, etc. But you know all that so here's the pictures of the fun we had.

(Emma, Kadie and Philip joined us.)

 

 

                                                                     "Hay maze"

Critter Barn

 

Slide, love that smile and Ansley in the back :)

 

 

"corn pit"

 

Horse back riding ;)

 

 

Emma had the best ride of all

 

                                                          My 2 favorite pumpkins!

and a Hayride to pick real pumpkins.... :)

 

Philip, Kadie and chunky Emma! We laugh because she is catching up to Ansley's weight fast!

Pumpkins make a great seat apparently

 

 

Now that you have been bombarded with pictures...........let me give you some more....

 

Garyn and Ansley had Halloween parties in their classes at school wearing their costumes.

 

 Garyn was Sonic and Ansley was an owl

 

 

She did very well in her costume. Acted as if it wasn't even there; I was a bit surprised but happy. Garyn still doesn't like to leave his own!

 Owl gotta get their energy!

 

Garyn, I mean, Sonic had to get his energy, too, to run super fast. As you can see, he didn't have his complete costume on. I was just glad he wore it when he did! I thought the day was going to be a disaster because he fussed so much about putting it on. Thankfully, once we were there he got excited about everyone else's costumes and did great.

Now for Halloween night:

 

Off to Trunk or Treat at church

 

Garyn and his best bud, Aiden......I mean Spiderman

 

Playing games

 

Ansley had a blast in the toddler area!

 

And lastly we came home and got to see the little lady, Emma

 

Ansley was super thirsty after all that candy! She had to have a piece at every house/trunk. Isn't Emma just adorable!

 

 Well I have had to hide candy from Ansley all day. She is a chocoholic to say the least. Garyn loves it, too, but is easily swayed and deterred.

 

Very fun times ahead as the holiday season begins!