Our 2012 Family Pictures!

So normally I don't like to share our yearly family pictures with everyone before our Christmas cards arrive because I feel like it ruins part of the fun of receiving the card if you have already gotten to check out the picture, but seeing as how I managed to order the WRONG family picture on our cards this year, I figured it was okay to share the pictures. 

 

 

I bet if I look back to previous year's posts about our family pictures, I will have said the exact same thing that I am about to say.  Sheesh is it difficult to get a decent family photo of the five of us.. that picture perfect one anyway!  At least one of my children and almost always my husband end up getting fed up with the photographer way before she is done (since that photographer is always me).  I did agree if I got an expensive camera, we didn't have to use a professional photographer for pictures anymore, but boy is it hardwork taking and hopping in the picture!  But, I will still struggle with the challenge again next year even though every year I say, "That's it!  Next year I'm paying someone to do this!"

A Day of Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends out there!  I honestly cannot believe that fall has arrived and already it is thanksgiving time!  This year we are staying around Charlotte and having a low-key weekend.  We headed over to Jonathan's parents for dinner and plan on spending the rest of the weekend getting the house somewhat decorated for Christmas. 

 

As a last minute thought, the kids and I decided to make turkey shirts yesterday.  They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Before having dinner, the kids wanted to take Franklin and Mia for a walk.  It is amazing (even for NC) that we could go out for a walk at the end of November without even long-sleeved shirts!

We have been feeling quite crafty lately.  Crafts are actually Katelynn's favorite thing to do and all on her own she made little orange tags with everyone's name on them to put on their seats for dinner.  She did this a day before Turkey Day, and I suggested maybe she could make a craft to attach the nametags too.   We ended up running out of time with food preparation to make them ahead of time so we took all the supplies and she and I got to spend time together making them at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  It was a great afternoon activity while the turkey was cooking.  She did such a cute job on them!  They were supposed to be turkeys, but they are missing their face.  Katelynn made a face on one of them and didn't like it, deciding they looked pretty enough just as they were.  I was pretty proud of her though... I cut out the hands for her (they were her hand traced though) but other than that, she did them all by herself!  She had to make a total of 9!

We also enjoyed watching the Macy's Day Parade at Grandma and Grandpa's.  We don't have cable at home anymore so we asked them to DVR it so the kids could still watch it! 

 

Even Ryan was interested... for a few seconds anyway.

For the most part, we had a quiet Thanksgiving Day.  I enjoyed the afternoon the most... just hanging out and getting to enjoy family!

And because it's Thanksgiving, I can't end this post without a list of "Thankful" for items!!  It is actually pretty cute because the kids did art at school on their own about what they were thankful for.  I didn't even have to ask them!

KATELYNN:  She said she was thankful for:  her teacher, Zachary, friends, family, her own room, the president, Ryan, and Zachary  (And no, I didn't accidentally type Zachary's name twice.. she wrote it TWICE!)

JUSTIN:  He said he was thankful for:  his mom and dad, his grandmas and grandpas, his monster trucks, his mommy's lunches, and his boat.  (Can anyone guess which one made Daddy most happy?  It was pretty exciting to hear the boat made the most thankful list.  Ha,ha)

RYAN:  He is too young to play but just for kicks if you asked him, I would guess milk and balls would be at the top of his list.. at least they are the top of his vocabulary!  I suppose Mum-ma and Da-da are pretty high up there too!

ME (Jessica):  Obviously, I can say the obvious things that I'm thankful for (My family- a hardworking husband who made my dreams come true, who supports us and allows me to be able to stay at home with my kids; three happy and healthy kids; great parents and in-laws that make a huge effort to be a part of our children's lives....), but I can't be thankful for all those things without being thankful for everything that got me to this point in my life.  I'm thankful for all my friends and family who have been there for me throughout my life.  I'm thankful for all the bumps in the road and all the heartache and hard lessons that made me become who I am today.  Obviously going through hard times is never fun, but I honestly believe I wouldn't be where I am today or who I am today without those times (and everyone that got me through those tough times).  There are so many things in life each and every day that can bring you down, but I am trying to just live life looking at the positives and am so thankful for so much my life has brought so far.  I can only hope that the next 30 years can be half as great as these first 30!

(Okay, enough of my ramblings... back to pictures!)  (Oh.. and if you are looking for my husband's list of what he is thankful for... well, keep looking!  He just rolls his eyes when I try to get him to play a game like this!)

Yes, the kids and I got a little picture happy at the end of the night.  Everyone wanted a turn taking a picture when the goal was really supposed to be to just get a family picture.  Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!  We hope everyone enjoyed their day of being thankful!

2012 School Pictures

 

We finally got both Katelynn and Justin's school pictures back!  Justin's have been back since October, but I have been waiting to get Katelynn's back to post.  Of course in elementary, they don't take as many as preschool but I was surprised they got a smile out of Katelynn in the one shot they took...even if it is a small one!

Fall Outdoor Playtime

As usual, we can't get enough of the outdoors in the fall!  We have learned one thing:  Ryan hates the leaves.  Katelynn and Justin have been having a blast in the huge pile of leaves Daddy put behind the shed, but the one time we put Ryan in them, he was mad about the leaves stuck on him for the rest of the time outdoors! 

 

Justin is still very insistant on trying to ride his bike without training wheels.  We keep putting his trainers on and back off.  He really wants to ride without them like his big sister.  I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the hang of it really soon.  He just has to get a little better at balancing!

Playing in the leaves might just be one of Katelynn's favorite fall activities.  She can jump and dance around in them, which is what she loves doing best of all!

Riding that BIG, Yellow BUS!!

When the school year started this year, I had ZERO intentions of sending Katelynn on the schoolbus this year.  It's just too darn scary for me... or at least I thought so.  I know plenty of people use the school bus, but I just don't feel like it's as safe as it used to be.  I have a very hard time trusting people to drive my children around in a vehicle and that's even people I know.  The thought of a stranger driving my oldest child on a bus with no seatbelt.. well, it's a hard concept for me.  Even now that we have done it, it's still scary to me. 

 

That being said, I was talked into giving in and letting Katelynn ride the bus.  Her friend from school that we discovered lives in our neighborhood rides the bus, and ever since Katelynn discovered that, she has been begging to ride.  That with the 45-minute wait my boys had to suffer through each day in the carpool line for pickup were enough to convince me to finally give it a try.  It's still not my favorite option, but the kids are all loving it so I guess we'll give it a try for now. 

 

Today was the first day, and Justin just might have been more excited than Katelynn about her riding the bus.  Her bus comes at 3:45 pm and Justin was sitting by the garage door equipped with Katelynn's favorite doll and a bag with a treat for her at 2:00 pm.  It took a lot of convincing to get him to understand that he might as well play for a while longer before we head to the bus stop!

Somehow Katelynn skipped being 6-years old and she has went straight to being 16.  She was less than happy that I was at the bus stop waiting for her when she arrived home.  She wants to be able to walk home by herself.  And of course I made it just a tiny bit worse by having my camera by my side to snap a picture of her very first bus ride!

Around Every Corner...

... is a mess.  It has just been one of THOSE days... or maybe weeks.. or maybe even an entire month.  It's those curious toddler years.  Toys.. eh, toys are no longer any enjoyment at all to Ryan.  Water, Garbage, and toliets are where all the fun is at.  It seems like I can't cook a single meal without turning around and seeing a gigantic mess in front of me.

 

This week's latest fun is that Ryan can reach to turn on the water in the bathroom sink.  Just barely.. his feet don't touch the stool when he reaches the faucet.  In fact, Daddy is going to love that the faucet actually needs to be fixed now that it has been pulled on so many times by someone a little too small to be turning it on and is now loose.  And of course no one remembers to shut the bathroom door to avoid this happening 10 times a day!  One day this will make me laugh though, right? 

This one actually made me laugh out loud today.  I was trying to cook dinner and Ryan was trying to use my pans to get a front row seat watching the cooking action.  Who thought a pot could make such a great seat?

Some Times You Just Gotta Laugh

As much as I love taking pictures of my kids, it can be exhausting when you are trying to get a good picture of all three of them at the same time.  Sure, I don't have to have pictures of all three together, but I love a good picture that has all three of my babies in it at once!

Today I heard of a free holiday card offer- 10 free cards including free shipping.  You know I love a good deal when I see one.  I couldn't pass it up!  BUT.. I also don't have our family Christmas card photo.  We haven't even taken it yet!  So... I ran to the store during preschool and grabbed Christmas jammies for all three of my littles.  We attempted a photo shoot after Katelynn got home from school, and I bribed the big kids with Chik-fil-a for dinner (yeah, yeah... no judging me on that one.  Sometimes we make some crazy choices for some crazy things that just happen to be important to us.)  Well, of course Ryan decided to give me ONE good smile before he was pretty much not having his picture taken.  Needless to say, it wasn't my most successful photo shoot, but hey, my kids always look pretty darn cute even if the pictures are mostly outtakes.... :)