Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm so thankful (and honored) to have each of you in my life!  I love all of the children dearly.  They bring joy, laughter and happiness into my home.  It's so much fun to be a part of their lives and be able to watch them grow up!  Thank you for allowing me that privilege.

Alex and Shelby enjoying one of the last of the warm days we had. 

Well, our unusually warm Fall weather ended abruptly and instantly it began to feel like winter!  It was nice while it lasted but now it's back to reality-Minnesota style!  Time to pull out those winter coats, boots, hats and scarves once again!

The children have been having fun here getting ready for Thanksgiving.  We have had visits from Shelby, Drew and Luke, my nieces Norah and Aleena, and even a visit from Rocco!  Here are a few pictures of the children with their Thanksgiving turkey crafts.

Norah, Aleena and Alex

Luke and Drew

Jackson proudly shows his turkey craft!

Jackson just loves Parker!  She really seems to enjoy when he is here too and wants to be right near whatever it is that he is doing.


Story time!

"Hello, Jackson?"

"Oh, hello Parker!"

What a cutie!!!

I always love the days when Drew and Luke come over.  They are such good boys.

Fun with the flannel boards.

Drew and Luke had a blast playing with the dress-up outfits.  They had a lot of fun (as you can see)!

The construction worker and astronaut.

The pirate and the...cheerleader???

Parker has become very interested in books.  It was so cute to watch her as Andrew read to her.

 Mr. Roy was off from work on Tuesday and so he got to see Parker for a little while too!

Parker and "Mr. Roy"

 Finally, yesterday we had a pre-Thanksgiving party here with Andrew, Alex and Rocco!  Everyone had a great time!  We played Stuff the Turkey, baked cookies (in the new oven!!!), read Thanksgiving stories, colored Thanksgiving pictures, and made cool Turkey headbands.  The headbands looked hilarious on the boys!

Annual reading of the children's favorite: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie!

Alex shows off his coloring skills.

Although I didn't get a picture of them actually playing, the Stuff the Turkey game was a big hit!

Hope your Thanksgiving is filled with lots of love, laughter, family and of course, good food!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Update! (finally)

I'm sorry that I'm so late in this update.  There are lots and lots of pictures to share with you of all the fun we've had around here so I'll get right to it!
 

Parker in her adorable jammies!  So cute!

Jackson has reached a big mile stone with potty training.  He has caught on remarkably fast for a boy his age and I'm so proud of him!

Jackson proudly shows off his reward stickers.

Back in October, during MEA weekend, we had visits from Shelby, Madi and also some of my nieces and nephews.

Nephews David and Anthony in the reading corner.

Clare, Shelby and Alex play dress-up.

Andrew and Katherine

We had some beautiful weather that week and were able to take advantage of it by playing outside.

Madi, Shelby and Clare having fun.

It's another Vikings / Saints re-match! 

On your marks, get set, go!

Friday's warm weather found us at French Park!

The end of October was a little quiet around here.  Most days it was just Parker and/or Alex here.  Parker has been getting faster with her crawling and is now pulling herself up on most of the furniture now.  She is really showing interest with the toys in the toy bin now and is curious about what each toy does.

Parker loves her baby doll!

Parker loves it when Andrew plays with her.

Alex has been enjoying playing both inside and outside, reading stories and doing arts & crafts.  He loves to color and especially loves using the colored pencils I bought for him!

Alex enjoys reading the Power Touch book.

 

Alex proudly shows his pumpkin craft!

   The Friday before Halloween, Parker came dressed in the cutest outfit.  I had to take a picture of her to share on here!  Caden stopped by to say hello also and show off his cool Halloween teeth!

Parker's 1st Halloween!

Cool teeth Caden!

November has finally arrived.  The days are getting colder now, but we have also enjoyed a few bonus days of warmer weather and we really can't complain, right?  We had a visit from Madi one day and Drew & Luke were able to come over to play with Alex for an afternoon too!

Jackson enjoys reading the books.

Madi shows off her dance moves!

Alex, Drew and Luke enjoy an afternoon at the park.

Alex shows his Autumn Basket craft.

Parker busy exploring!

Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!