Thanksgiving 2014

This is our 3^rd year to boycott travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. While I miss spending time with extended family I absolutely love the comfort and relaxation that ensues by staying home. This year 3 other families (neighbors and good friends) joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. We had amazing food and a really fun time.

 

We ran the Sheepdog Turkey trot for the 3^rd year. We let the girls run for a few moments in the middle of it and let Reese run through the finish line with us, Ella had no interest.

 

 

I am so incredibly thankful for my precious family.

 

 

These people are all pretty special.

 

I love this time of the year and look forward to spending Christmas in Houston this year.

Random updates on a Monday

1. (I know it is Tuesday but I tried uploading this yesterday and just noticed it failed) Star Student- Being the star student at the girls’ school is a really big deal! Ella was star student a couple of weeks ago and was beyond thrilled. She got to bring her favorite book, toy and a treat for her friends. She took an Elsa doll that she got for her birthday, a princess book and I went up to the school to have lunch with her one day and brought cookies for her and her friends, Reese joined us for lunch that day. Ella ate it all up and would remind us through the week that she was star student if she wasn’t getting her way, she thought it was good leverage.

2. Frozen sing along- the girls went to a Frozen sing along/princess experience a few weeks ago and had a ball. It is an event put on by a local group that raises money for Christmas presents for needy kids in the area. They were able to watch the sing along version of the movie at our theatre, eat chick fil a for lunch, get their hair, nails and make up done, play all sorts of games, have a tea party and make a wand and ornament. The event is so well done and the girls thought it was amazing.

3. Hair styling- Reese wanted to do my hair the other day and I let her. This was the result.

4. Board games- We are all loving playing board games lately and it is so much fun that they are at an age to sit and play. Our favorite right now is Sequence for kids.

5. Figuring obsession- Ella is obsessed with little figurines, especially princesses. She carries them all around in a Minnie bag, takes them out, lines them up, plays with them and then packs them back up. It is so funny and cute.

6. Bears- both girls are afraid of bears all of a sudden. They are concerned that they may be in their room or could come in at night. When Neal recently went to China Reese sent him a video telling him that she loved him and if there were any bears he could call her. Ella sat under this blanket for a good 5 minutes in the living room the other night because she thought there may be a bear.

7. At home date night- the night before Neal left for China he didn’t want to be away from the girls but we did want to have some sort of date night before he left. We decided on an at home date night after the girls went to bed. We picked up take out and watched the Razorback game. It was really fun to eat good food in our own living room and just relax as we ate and watched the Hogs play, AND WIN.

8. Mini me- I got Reese some printed leggings and a piko top, she looks like my little mini me. I’m not sure about what she is doing here but I think she is pretty adorable.

9. J2J- I have wanted to do Junk 2 Jewels for months and finally got a chance to do it. I had a lot of fun and am so glad my good friend Jill was able to do it with me. I think our door hangers turned out great!

10. Lights- Neal never had lights at Christmas time growing up and is determined to provide the best light related memories for his girls. The men on our culdesac rented this enormous cherry picker for the second year a couple of weeks ago. I love that our culdesac is all lit up this year and that Neal is so into it. I didn't get a photo of Neal on it but stole this photo from Robb.

Ella's 1st hair cut

Ella’s hair has been slow growing. Reese and Ella have very similar hair but Ella’s has taken a bit longer to grow. We got Reese’s hair cut the weekend of her 3^rdbirthday and it was about time to get a trim and for some evening up. By Ella’s 3^rd birthday a haircut wasn’t really needed. We recently went to get Reese a trim and Ella was interested in getting her hair cut. Neal wasn’t with us at the time so we couldn’t get it trimmed that day but we made plans to come back with Daddy. The weekend before Thanksgiving Gigi and Gi-Pop always come up so we thought that would be a good time to get her 1^st trim and they would be able to join us. Unfortunately, Reese wasn’t feeling well that Saturday that we set out to go so Gigi and Gi-Pop stayed home with her while Neal and I took Ella for a trim. Ella felt like such a big girl. When the stylist asked her how she wanted it cut her response was “like Punzel, to the ground”. So we told her that we would just trim it a little to kick start growth and before she knows it she will have long hair…we will see. I love this sweet little girl.

Just before the cut:

Halloween 2014

This year the girls dressed as Elsa and Anna from Frozen, just like most other little girls in the US. We had multiple Halloween events to attend this year starting with our friend’s annual party, which is always a blast. 

 

Halloween fell on a Friday this year. Halloween morning we joined some other mom’s and their kids at our local hospital and handed out goody bags to kids that are too sick to get to go trick or treating. I am so glad that we did this as it was really impactful for the girls. 

 

Later that night we went trick or treating in the freezing cold. Neal and I dressed up as Sven and Kristoff and Barkley as Olaf. 

 

Our neighbors had a post Halloween party complete with a piñata and bobbing for apples. Look at the grossly realistic finger food I made :). Fun was had by all and we all slept in a little on Saturday.

Ella 3 year stats

Ella turned 3 a few weeks ago. Last Monday Reese and I took her to the doctor for her yearly check up. I'm thankful that my girls enjoy going to the doctor and that she didn't have to get any shots at this visit.

Ella now weighs 31.8 lbs (50th percentile) and is 38.19 in. tall (75th percentile). She is a tall girl but not quite as super tall as her big sister has always been. I just love this girl.

Ella's 3rd birthday party

We had a weekend full of celebrating Ella! Her birthday fell on a Friday this year. My Mom and Aunt Maureen came in Thursday evening and Neal's parents came in Friday morning. We started the day Friday with donuts per Ella's request and then headed to the toy store that we go to for every birthday, Dilly Dally's. We had lunch at Chick-fil-a per Ella's request. Friday evening we had a few family and friends over for a birthday dinner complete with an Anna cake made by Reese and Ella.

I have been so excited to have Ella's party this year at Farmland Adventures. It was a bit of a madhouse but we had a lot of fun. By the end of the weekend Ella and Reese were really worn out but I think a lot of fun was had by all. Ella is such a big girl now and not so much a baby anymore which makes me so sad. She has such a tender heart and is so sweet. We love her more than she will ever know!