Our Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Although we did not travel and get to see family this year, we spent our week with our close friends The Sheets Family. Our holiday started with a sleepover at our house with Gideon. All the kids played together, and then helped make and eat rice krispie treats. After Daisha andNaomi went home, Madison and Gideon watched The Cat In The Hat. We read books, sang songs and said our prayers. It took a little while, but they both fell asleep and stayed asleep all night. In the morning they tiptoed hand in hand into our room to wake us up with their sweet voices. It was a fun night!
After work on Wednesday, Brian surprised me with getting out all of our Christmas decorations, so we decorated our tree real early this year. The kids had a blast decorating it, and Hudson was amazed by it. It was hard for him to get the ornaments to hang on the branches, so when he finally got it, he yelled, "yeah...I did it" and gave me a giant hug.
Thanksgiving day was an eating fest. Brian cooked us all a Grandma Jean style big breakfast. Then we feasted at Debbie's (JR's Mom) house with the Sheets family. It was a laid back day filled with eating, playing games, watching movies, and good conversation.
Friday and Saturday consisted of Brian and I both taking turns going into work, doing a little shopping, and getting in some relaxation as well! I was also able to make Madison's Christmas dress (pictures to come later).
We are definitely enjoying the holiday season so far!
We truly have a lot to be thankful for!

A Little Fall Fun

Today was a beautiful Fall day in Tallahassee filled with football, friends, and Fall leaves. We had some good friends over to watch the FSU game and then spent the afternoon outdoors enjoying our backyard and playing in the leaves. While we were outside we heard the sounds of an ice cream truck driving by. Brian and I were amazed to hear the music coming down our street and quickly grabbed the kids and some money and went to track the truck down. We hadn't had treats from an ice cream truck in years and the kids had never seen one before. They loved it! Now we know that they come through the neighborhood every Thursday and Sunday, so I think there will be many more ice cream truck treats in the future!
Check out the slide show below!

New Robert's Shirt

Last week Annaliese came over to play with Madison since they don't get to see each other as often anymore. She also brought Madison a birthday present that was created by her Mom and my friend, Janay. It was a one of a kind Robert's Elementary shirt that I know Madison will be able to get a lot of use out of. Above is a picture of the big girls showing their school pride wearing their shirts. Thanks Janay for another fabulous creation!

Kindergarten Program

Today at Madison's school all the Kindergarten classes put on a Thanksgiving Program. Each class sang one song and two or three kids from each class said one line. Madison's class was first up and she was the very first speaker of the show. She did a great job saying her line, "After crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard the ship Mayflower..." and performing on stage. My Dad and Denise were in town, so Grandpa got to be in the audience as well. After the show I stayed for lunch with Madison at her school's Thanksgiving feast. You could tell she enjoyed having us all there!

Pillow Case Dresses

Well, I have said for years that I would love to be able to make dresses for Madison. I have had a sewing machine now for almost two years, and I finally did it! I made a pillow case dress. I also made a dress for Madison's doll, Eva, that she got for her birthday. That made it even more exciting for her! She put it on first thing when she woke up...can't you tell by her hair! Hopefully now that I know I am capable of sewing things, there will be more dresses and stuff to come!

Lily is Home!

After a long month in the hospital, Lily finally arrived home on Sunday night. She is completely healed from her surgery and doing great! Like all new babies the first night at home, she kept Bobby and Kim up all night. I'm sure they don't mind though!! We are so excited that she is home and can't wait to make a visit to see her.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Madison is 6!

Another year has flown by and our big girl turned six years old today. Wow, that doesn't even seem possible! She had a fun filled weekend celebrating her birthday along with Halloween. (Pictures are in a previous post) We celebrated today by singing to her as soon as she woke up. Then she happily got ready and we were off to school. She told me that her teacher gives the birthday child a little prize and that she gets to go up to the office as well. I told her that the day would probably be full of surprises. So, I surprised her by bringing her a smoothie and a cookie and joining her for lunch in the cafeteria. I could tell she really felt special having me there. Then after school she got to open all her cards that came in the mail, and counted all the money she was given. She was excited about this!! Then she got to watch a movie. For dinner she requested the same birthday meal as last year...tacos. After tacos she had two sugar cookies with sprinkles and milk. By the time it was bed time, the poor girl had a stomach ache. So, both Brian and I snuggled her in bed until she fell asleep.
Other then the stomach ache, I think she had a great 6th Birthday!
Below is a list of some of her accomplishments during the past year:
*She learned to fully read independently
*She can count pretty much as high as you let her go. She can also count by 5's and 10's.
*She learned to tie her shoes, and enjoys helping her friends tie theirs.
*She rode her first roller coaster, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and loved it! She also rode some big water slides at Blizzard Beach...a few against her will!!
*She most recently learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She's still working on turning though.
*Her favorite singer is Taylor Swift. She was hoping for an I-Pod to listen to her on, but she got a cd instead!
*Her favorite color is currently blue, however this changes constantly.
*Her favorite food is still tacos.
*She loves being in Kindergarten. She is knownby her teacher as a special child who is kind, smart and sincere, with a truly good heart. Wow! You can't ask for much more then that!
*She pretty much has the same interests: dance, gymnastics, art, music and movies.
*In many ways she is so grown up, but in some ways she is still my sweet little girl too! I am holding onto these moments because I know they are fading away.

Happy 6th Birthday Madison!
As always, we are so proud of you.
You are truly one in a million!