November's Random Ramblings

• Andrew and I both have our own bedtime routines for putting Abby to bed.  Andrew always tells Abby to have "sweet dreams of dancing princesses" to which she replies, "Daddy, have sweet dreams of handsome princes!"
• Abby always tells me she knows what Olivia is saying when she is babbling because she is an expert in baby talk.
• Abigail has become pretty good friends with some of the kids in her class.  One day we had a play date with the twins that are in her class.  After we left, she told me how much she likes her new friends but added, "don't worry, I still love my best friend Nolan even though we don't live by him anymore.  I will never forget about him!"
• When I pick the girls up from the play room at the gym Abby will look at me and say, "Mommy I don't want to leave yet, you need to go workout some more."  She also likes to ask what I did for my workout.  After telling her what I did one day she said, "well, that really isn't that much!"  I have also had her tell me how proud she is of me which is very sweet!

So much to be thankful for....

Ah, the holiday season is upon us once again!  Even with the stresses that come along with this time of year, I LOVE it!  I love the decorations, the food, the smells, the sights, the music, the love, the shopping, and most of all the magic.  I have a lot to be thankful for this year so just to name a few...

First and foremost I am thankful for my family.  I am thankful for my 2 healthy, sweet, beautiful girls.  They bring joy to my life every single day and remind me of my purpose in life.  They challenge me, teach me, make me laugh, and love me unconditionally.  I feel like I have hit the jackpot with them!  I am thankful for my husband who is the glue that holds us girls together.  He is such a hard worker, a wonderful husband and the best Daddy in the whole wide world.  He is understanding and compassionate and I am lucky and thankful to have him as a partner in this journey.  I am thankful for my extended family who is ready and willing to help with anything and everything when ever they can.  I am thankful that our families are so close and get along so well, and that they are teaching my girls the joy of having such a loving family surround them even though we are not close in proximity.  I am thankful for my friends that are spread out all over the country.  I am thankful that they have let us into their homes and hearts.  I am thankful for their help, their love, and their support.  I am thankful for the Air Force and all the opportunities it has provided for our family.  We have seen places and met people that otherwise would not be in our lives.  It has afforded me the opportunity to be a stay at home Mom and raise my children, which is the greatest gift I have ever been given.  I am thankful for this and so much more, but there are a couple little turkeys calling my name....Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!!

My Guy and Me

Yesterday was a very special day at school for Abby.  It was My Guy and Me day.  It was a day for the kids to bring a special guy in their lives to school with them.  It could be a Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, ect.  Of course Andrew went with Abby and they had a very good time.  Abby was so excited to show off her Dad and to show Andrew all the fun stuff they do at school.  After school, Andrew was able to go to Spanish class with Abby and get a glimpse of what goes on there as well.  I have to admit, I am a bit jealous that he got to go to school with her...I always wonder what she is doing while she is away.  I will have my chance in March when it is My Gal and Me Day,  I can't wait!

Abby and Daddy all ready for school

Sail boat project

Playing with the sail boats they made

Andrew said Abby LOVES playing with Lincoln Logs....maybe she will get a pink set for Christmas!?!?

This is the project they made before My Guy and Me Day.  They gave it to their special guy at school that day.  It's very sweet and definitely one of the projects that is going to make it into the "must keep" folder.  Andrew also received a very special footprint bookmark.

This is the inside of the above project.  Very sweet!

Pardon the Dust

I am in the process of updating my blog, please bear with me as I make the changes.  I am far from a "computer person" and don't have "mad computer skills" but I am doing my best.  Also, we are in the process of organizing and loading all of our pictures onto our new Mac (desktop).  Our MacBook (laptop) crashed last week which sucked but in the long run it was a good thing because we got a brand new hard drive and more memory for no charge.  Essentially we got a brand new laptop and a brand new desktop...score!!!  

Hiking at Hole-in-the-Rock

One of the days that we had family in town we decided to go on a small hike. We went to Papago Park and climbed up to the hole-in-the-rock. We happened to get there right around sunset and it was absolutely gorgeous! Here are a few pictures:

This is looking out over the city from the hole in the rock

Andrew's Brother Josh and our nephew Tyler

Olivia enjoyed climbing around on the rocks

The Hole-in-the-Rock

You can see the hole in the rock to the right of Abby

Trick or Treat

Halloween was lots of fun this year. Andrew's brother Josh, his wife Laura, and their 5 1/2 month old son Tyler came to visit as well as Grammy Susan. The girls were thrilled to meet their baby cousin (whom Abby has been asking for since she could talk) for the first time and I think Susan was in Grammy heaven having all of her grandchildren under one roof! We spent the day carving pumpkins (see prior post), enjoying the outdoors, and of course trick-or-treating. Abby was so excited to go trick or treating this year. We dressed up all the kiddos and headed out around the neighborhood. We did a nice little loop around the neighborhood and it was just the perfect amount of trick-or-treating, Olivia even got in on the action this year (see below). We ended the night with some yummy pizza and candy sorting!

I thought this was very appropriate for out Halloween in Arizona!

Baby Tyler the Lobster and Olivia the fishy. (I love the fishy lips!)

My beautiful mermaid princess with her sea creatures

My girlies

Getting ready to head out!

So, Olivia started out the night in the stroller. She was content for a little while, then the whining started. I tried giving her snacks, I tried giving her something to drink, I tried giving her her paci all to no avail. I finally gave in and got her out of the stroller thinking I was going to have to carry her home. Instead, she insisted on getting down and holding her pumpkin and actually trick or treating with Abby. All of a sudden she was as happy as a clam (or fish)! She would walk right up to the door and when the people would answer she would say "boo" and hold out her pumpkin, then she would flash a huge smile and walk away on to the next house. If anyone tried to hold her or help her with her pumpkin she would let you know (loudly) that she could do it all by herself. It was so funny and absolutely adorable and Abby was of course as sweet as pie to her little sister!

Abby was almost as excited to hand out candy as she was to get it. This is her sitting by the door after we got home waiting for the door bell to ring. By the time we got home we only had a few more trick or treaters much to Abby's disappointment. At one point she came into the kitchen and told me that since there were no trick-or-treaters they must be a myth....where does she come up with this stuff?!?!

Carving Pumpkins

The girls really enjoyed carving pumpkins this year. It was a gorgeous day so we decided to take the mess out in the backyard.

Pumpkin Guts!

Olivia is concentrating hard on getting out all the guts

"Can I get in there too?"

The finished products

Our sister-in-law Laura, and our nephew Tyler

Schnepf Farms Pumpkin Patch

The weekend before Halloween we headed to the local Pumpkin Patch, think Rollof Farm from TLC's Little People Big World Show. This was no pumpkin stand, it was the whole shebang! In addition to the actual pumpkin patch they had rides, a playground, a corn maze, a hay-ride, a petting zoo, candle making, putt-putt golf, and of course goodies to eat. We were there for over 4 hours didn't even get to experience everything they had to offer! It was a wonderful afternoon, I just LOVE stuff like this and seeing the girls have such a good time is heartwarming!

This is the ditch of the fallen pumpkins...all the broken/rotten ones eventually ended up here.

Abby playing on the haystack

The playground. Abby would have stayed there all day if we let her!

They had little John Deer tricycles. Both the girls enjoyed playing with them!

Daddy and Olivia

This is outside one of the regular mazes.

At the petting zoo. Abby LOVED feeding the goats this year and Olivia was very excited to see all the animals, she just kept squealing!

Mommy and Abby on the Bee ride. We got away with only going on one ride while were there which was a good thing because the lines were somewhat long.

Abby in the corn maze

It was not the most stroller friendly maze as the ground was very bumpy. Olivia was being jostled all over the place, but she didn't seem to mind.

Abigail at the pumpkin patch

Checking out the pumpkins

Olivia LOVED the pumpkins, she played in there forever and got very dirty!!

Family shot on the hay ride. We saw deer during the ride, it was cool!

Abby making her candle

Time for a little ice cream! It was cotton candy flavor, gross! Abby liked it though!