Thanksgiving Break

We had all last week off, which was sooooooo nice.  Thank heavens, the kids weren't sick, so I was able to get a lot accomplished.

We are all decorated.  But, what doesn't belong?

The Friday before Thanksgiving, we got a new car!  We traded in one of our SUVs and got a Nissan Leaf, which is all electric.  The awesome pro of the car- (obviously) no gas required.  The downside- only 2 kids fit comfortably.  We can squeeze three in if we take the backs off the boosters for the girls.  We'll only be using that if it's our only option.  So, Stephen and I have to be really diligent with planning who takes the car when.  But, I'm looking forward to seeing how much $$ we'll save without paying for gas.  Oh, and it'll be pretty cool to help the environment, too.  Always a plus.

Saturday, I took the girls and we went up to my mom's church for their annual holiday bazaar!  I got some cute holiday decorations, and we got to hang out with Grandmom and DeeDad.

Sunday, after church and our small group end-of-the-semester party, I took Taylor to Athens for a friend's birthday party.  It was at a jumpy place and Taylor had SO much fun.

Taylor and her friend, Lena.

Monday, I took all three kiddos to daycare and got all of my Christmas shopping finished up.  Tuesday, I took Thing 2 and Thing 3 to daycare, while keeping Sydney with me.  I had a doctor's appointment that morning and me, Sydney, and Stephen met my sister and niece for lunch.  After that, we got Taylor from daycare and she and Sydney got haircuts!  Taylor cried at first (she was dreading a haircut!) but after about 5 minutes, she was fine.

She got a lollipop for her efforts.

Wednesday, we woke up really early and headed to south GA for Thanksgiving.  We stayed there until Friday.  When we got home, the girls noticed that an old friend came back... Mr. Elf!  He left a note on the door and the girls had to go find him (he was hiding on the tree).  They were SO excited.  That night, I went to Atlanta to see my BFF and her hubby, who were in town from California.  They're building a house in Atlanta (YAYY!) so we went to see the progress.  We also grabbed dinner and chatted for hours.

there he is!

Saturday, Stephen took Parker to Roswell to watch the UGA/GT game with his friend, and I took the girls to a birthday party at The Little Gym.  They had a blast.

Lena's birthday party!  

On Sunday, we went to church and then got ready for Taylor's birthday party!  After that, we met my family at the Mall of GA for her birthday dinner.

Parker hugging Alexandra at church.

The next week, back to work, was absolutely exhausting, and I'm not sure why.  Every night, I went to bed around 8:30 and it was so hard to roll myself out of bed each morning.

2 more weeks until Christmas break!!!  Woohoo!

Joy

Oh my... how they've grown!

2012

2013

2014

Taylor is 4!

My sweet Taylor is 4!!  So hard to believe that, 4 years ago today, a 10 pound bundle of joy came into this world.  And our lives have been immensely enriched since!  Taylor is the sweetest, funniest, most tender-hearted little girl I know.  She takes the time to remember peoples' names, her little friends are all drawn to her, and she is the peacekeeper between her siblings.

We had her Frozen birthday party at the froyo place yesterday.  Her 4 best friends, along with Sydney's best friend, and her brother and sister came!  We played games, did activities (thanks, Pinterest, for all the stolen ideas) and ate lots and lots of sugar.

Olaf noses.

The mad rush for yogurt!

Cupcake time.

Parker looks so big!

Sharing stickers.

That night, we met my family at a restaurant by the Mall of GA to celebrate again!  We had a long table in a sectioned-off area... heh heh.  I think they spotted the 5 kids and separated us from the other customers.  ;)

Today, Taylor woke up and started her birthday off right!  I fixed her breakfast, she watched Doc McStuffins, then got ready for school.  Mr. Elf left her a birthday message, one on him and the other on her fan in her room.  At school, I brought cupcakes for her friends and teachers.  She said that everyone sang to her.

Mr. Elf, sporting a hair extension from T's goodie bag.

With her new favorite boots from Grandmom and DeeDad!

Tonight, we ate dinner, sang to Taylor, and she got to open her presents!  From us, she got a new outfit and a new bike!  She was very excited.

Stephen told her to hide and close her eyes.

I think turning 4 has come in with a bang.

Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Thanksgiving 2014

Our Thanksgiving this year was full of family time and food.  It's a wonder my pants can still button.  We headed down to south GA on Wednesday to see Stephen's dad.  It's a 5-hour trip, excluding stops...which can always be trying, as you can probably imagine.  On top of the length of the trip, Parker has started this screaming/crying fit whenever he sees gum/candy/food or even hears someone mention one of those items.  That happened a few times on this trip!  Goooood stuff.

Anyways, when we arrived in south GA, we were met by the delicious aroma of lunch.  And I'm talking, a gourmet feast.  Home-baked turkey, two types of beans, rice, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, cut up fresh vegetables, roasted potatoes/carrots, cranberry sauce, rolls, and sweet tea.  Holy cow.  We stuffed ourselves completely.  Luckily, we went to the park that afternoon to run off some of that food.  For dinner, we had leftovers from lunch.  We hung around with his dad the rest of that day and crashed pretty hard.

Enjoying dinner.

The next day (Thanksgiving!), we woke up to a gourmet breakfast.  Then, we headed over to Stephen's cousin's house to hang out with him and his wife, jump on their trampoline, play with toys, and catch up.  His other cousin & his wife both had the flu (the wife was in the hospital with the flu and kidney stones and is pregnant!  uggh!) , their daughter was being quarantined at the other grandparents' house, and his aunt was sick with a fever, too.  It was a rough week for them!  So, we unfortunately didn't get to see as many people as we would've liked.  We all (healthy cousins included) went back to Stephen's dad's house for another big home-cooked meal.  This time, it was ham and lots of other vegetables.  Again, stuffed.  I even took an hour nap after lunch!  We hung out the rest of the night, watched tv, and called it a night.

attempting a sleepover with all three!

20 minutes later, the only one still up was P-man.

ahhh, success!

We woke up Friday morning, ate a bite, and then hit the road.  Luckily, we didn't hit any traffic- though we did pass about 15 police cars.  Very glad we got home safely.

I have so much to be thankful for.  It's so easy to take things for granted, but I try to treasure and thank God every day for my dearest blessings.  Happy Thanksgiving to everybody!!!

There was a note on our door when we got home.

Mr. Elf is back!

Teaching her baby bro all about the elf.