Oaks, Maples, and Broke Toes...Oh My!

The week before Christmas we had 14, yep that's right 14, trees delivered.  I'm not talking little 4 foot things you can get at Lowe's.  These were 15 to 20 foot 200 to 300 lb trees.  Five Natchez White Crepe Myrtles, 4 River Birch, One Laurel Oak and 4 Maples.  They are all beautiful trees that we got a GREAT deal on from a tree farm in Columbia.  But they arrived the day before we were to have 20 people over to our house for a Christmas party, it was COLD, and it was raining cats and dogs.  Yes, a recipe for disaster!  The tree guy delivered them in a car-type trailer that had pull out ramps.  So they (the tree guy, Andrew and Andrew's Daddy) were rolling the trees down the ramp into place around the property.  About 6 trees in, the ramp fell off the trailer with a tree on top of it as they were rolling it down...right on Andrew's foot.  Believe it or not, they finished unloading the trees.  Then we went to the emergency room.  Big toe broken.  I was a little relieved it wasn't worse.  Andrew has broken a toe before so to him it wasn't that big a deal although it looked horrible.  So the next day he was out in the freezing rain putting those trees in the ground.  Now that's dedication!

Cinnamon Ornaments

I love to do craft projects.  I love to do craft projects with Michael and Mary Ellen.  But I especially love to do craft projects with M&M that they can actually do.  This was definitely a winner!

The recipe is super simple; a cup of applesauce and a cup of cinnamon, roll it out and cut into fun Christmas shapes.

Not only did they help roll out the dough...

But they chose what cookie cutters they wanted and were able to cut them out too!

They were so proud when they saw how many they cut out.

They loved to watch them in the oven...just at their eye-level.  The ornaments take a few hours at a very low temp in the oven so they watched them off and on.  The best part was the AMAZING smell.  Perfect Christmas activity for a cold winter day!

My Little Owl n Puppy

My friend Jen Wood  http://www.etsy.com/shop/jenniferwood917  made these adorable crochet hats for Michael and Mary Ellen.  When they first got them, I swear they must have worn them around the house for  2 days straight.  It is always a special day when they get to wear them out.  Took these cute pictures in the back yard when we were playing one COLD afternoon.  Mary Ellen's is a sleeping owl and Michael's is a puppy dog.  Super cute...thanks Jen!

A Four-Wheeling Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving again this year in Laurens.  Uncle Jamie's family generously hosted all of us again and it has now really become the 4 wheeling Thanksgiving.  That's all the kids want to do...and eat!

Pryce, Mary Ellen and Brygs playing around in the kitchen while waiting to eat.  The last one is so cute...Mary Ellen getting kisses after she bumped her head on the counter above.

Daddy giving M&M a ride on the big 4-wheeler.  These things always freak me out a bit.  Maybe I've read (and known) of too many accidents on these things that end horribly.  Of course, I trust Andrew and he is always very safe.  And Michael and Mary Ellen could stay on it all day!

Beautiful farm.  Beautiful fall day.  Couldn't ask for a better Thanksgiving.

Andrew giving Ryals and Michael a turn.

This little John Deere was the most favorite because they learned how to do it all by themselves.  The best thing was that you could lock the wheel to one side and they just did big loops the whole time.  Contained them a bit.  They still seemed to love it every bit as much.  Micheal was so funny how he was reclined way back with his gun in his hand...Joe cool!

Gymnastics Fun!

We signed Michael and Mary Ellen up for gymnastics at Miss Libby's Dance Studio.  I was really just going to sign Mary Ellen up for dance but it was Andrew's idea to maybe try and get them both in something this year.  So gymnastics was it.  They really just get to jump around and do lots of physical stuff, although in a much more organized fashion.  And they both love it and look forward to it each week.  With all that said, this will probably be Michael's one and only year at Miss Libby's.  Don't think Daddy will let him join in Mary Ellen's ballet class next year!

Their teacher is awesome!  Miss Angie has the patience of Job!  She has an amazing way of creating a fun atmosphere while setting firm guidelines in an attempt to wrangle the chaos!

Flips are the best!  I have to thank my other gymnastic Mom's who brought their cameras on observation day or else there would be no pictures.  Observation day is once per semester and of course the day came while Andrew was TDY and I was running on empty.  Needless to say I forgot.  Thanks Katie and Raleigh! 

Circle Time!

Stretches!

This one cracks me up!  There is a strip on the ground that they are supposed to line up on.  Why Mary Ellen is facing the opposite way is beyond me!  So cute...she is on the line though!

Happy Birthday Daddy...and Welcome Home...and Congratulations too!

Andrew was TDY for 3 weeks and it just so happened to fall over Halloween and his birthday.  I guess there are bigger things to miss, but I know how much he hates to miss out on things M&M are doing.  And by the way, his last Master's class finished up while he was away too.  So we had his return to celebrate along with his birthday and completing his Masters degree!  So he got a special meal including his favorite triple chocolate cheesecake, presents and lots of hugs and kisses for his return home.  It's always a good day when Daddy's home!

Fall Festival

Halloween finally arrived!  Michael and Mary Ellen were so excited to be cowboys.  So we got dressed and donned our best "Old West" attitude and headed to Alice Drive Baptist Church's Fall Festival.  This is one of my most favorite things our church does all year.  I think our pastor said we had between 3 and 4 thousand people that night at Fall Festival.  In a town the size of ours that is truly amazing!  It is a grand effort to organize but it is tons of fun for the kids in a safe, non-scary, and family-friendly environment.  There were 4 or 5 bounce houses, a petting zoo, about 20 different games to play with prizes, popcorn and snow cones, a full meal of hot dogs, chips, lemonade and "Treat Street" where the kids go trick or treating!  So off we went...and left a bowl of candy on the front step with a "take one please" sign.

Michael and Mary Ellen just finished trick-or-treating on "Treat Street".  They were so cute, they wore the hats all night without complaint.  When we were getting dressed, anticipating having to carry the cowboy hats all night, I told them that they needed to keep the hats on because it was part of their costume...and they did!

Mary Ellen showing off all her candy!  We finally found a free haystack to sit on and Michael was ready to dive into his candy. 

 

M&M with their friend Tyler "the farmer".  They are such good playmates and really seemed to "go-together" that night.

 

The petting zoo was one of the favorites...especially for Mary Ellen.  You guessed it...they had rabbits! About 6 fuzzy rabbits, all black or brown except for one big white one that Mary Ellen would NOT hold.  He was sort of big and scary looking! They were so fuzzy you could barely tell which end was up.  I think Michael talked to the rump-end of one for about 10 minutes.

The duck and chicken were so over-fed by the time we visited them, they wouldn't even take the bread from M&M's hand.  Didn't stop them from trying though.

The best part...the unlimited candy!  I figure it's only one night....so induldge!  I let them have as much as they wanted until we came home and put it away.  What a fun night!  I love the way our church gives so generously to the community and especially to the kids.  Oh, and all the candy in the bowl we left was gone when we got home.  Twenty trick-or-treaters or one, who knows?!

Pumpkin Pickin'

We went to Willard Farms again this year to pick a pumpkin.  This place was so fun last year; we knew we wanted to go again.  They have vastly expanded their farm to accommodate visitors, especially children.  And it was even better this year!  They have a huge, at least 5 acres, agriplex for the kids.  It's like a big playground with a farm theme!

They have these great play sets that are built to look like a jeep and a tractor.  Michael and Mary Ellen loved to climb on them and slide.

The most amazing addition was this big trampoline.  It was a huge trampoline bubble that slopped down to the ground.  Mary Ellen was terrified of it.  But Michael climbed right up and started jumping! I did finally convince Mary Ellen to climb up it and we jumped for about a minute as I held her hand.  Michael didn't want to get off it...my little boy is fearless!

The event they both loved the most was the cow train.  They climbed right in and sat in their own little cow and rode around the agriplex as I stood in wonder on the sidelines.  How did they get so big!  Part of what they liked about it was that they were doing it by themselves. 

When they were on the cow train they spotted the swings in the far corner of the agriplex.  As soon as they were out of their plastic cow they took off running for them.  Mary Ellen got there first, man is she fast! 

The last thing we did was take the hay ride over to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin.  Of course they found several that they liked but finally decided on one to take home, with some guidance from me.  What a fun day and fun place to visit.  Can't wait to go back in the spring for strawberry-pickin!



MOPS Halloween

Our first Halloween event was our MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) costume parade at Memorial Park.  If you haven't figured out, Mary Ellen is OBSESSED with bunnies, specifically pink bunnies.  So she has begged from the time I first mentioned it that she wanted to dress up as a pink bunny.  Michael said a puppy dog but was pretty much game for anything.  My solution was these cute ear, tail and bow tie sets.  They were so cute...wish this picture showed the tails too...super cute!  It was a rainy, yucky day but we had fun at the park and met some new friends!

New Sleeping Bags

We got these new sleeping bags for our trip to Aunt Amy's.  Princesses for Mary Ellen and Cars for Michael.  They've turned out to be great fun!  This was the day we got them and I wanted to try them out to make sure everything was in working order before we went for our visit.  They have a small air mattress on the bottom and it's like a sleeping bag on top.  They LOVED them!  They work for visits where sleeping arrangements are tight and they are fun to just play on while watching Bambi on a rainy afternoon....like in the picture.  Worth every penny!

Pumpkin Faces

No carving this year for the Thornes!  Don't get me wrong, I love the tradition of carving pumpkins.  Love the pumpkin seeds.  Love how they look lit up at night.  But Andrew has been TDY and I just didn't have the energy for the mess and work.  Because at 3 years old M&M wouldn't have been much help with the carving.  To tell the truth, they had a ball with the stick on faces we did instead and they did it almost completely themselves!

There were fives different faces to chose from and Michael chose this goofy smiley face.  Very fitting for his personality I think!

Mary Ellen chose the kitty-cat face, of course.  They loved them and has loved seeing them on our front porch!