Thanksgiving 2010

We are so blessed to have both sides of family in town. Usually we cram 2 Thanksgivings in to one day but this year we had the pleasure of Thursday and Saturday celebrations. Both involved lots of family, delicious food, kids playing, adults relaxing and football. Can we do it all over again next weekend, please?

The only picture I took the entire time at my in laws. Whoops. It was delicious though. 

Football with the cousins:

A little zhu zhu love:

 Fried turkey drama: no injuries thankfully. Yummy regardless. 

I must note that if you have not eaten Paula Dean's Mac 'n Cheese, make it. Tonight. I made it for the first time and it will forever be a part of our Thanksgiving dinners from here on out!

It's beginning to (feel) a lot like Christmas...

I ran in to Hobby Lobby today to grab some items for a project (more on that later). Holy smokes has Christmas taken over. I've got to admit I'm a little giddy about decorating this weekend!! I started thinking/panicking about Christmas cards because I've taken everyone's pictures and neglected to take our's and it's now freeeezing in good ole' Nebraska. Shoot. My bad. Regardless, I'll try to pin down the hyper munchkin dressed in something cute and use that for a card. For printing and a creative push, I have used Shutterfly 3 times and always loved their designs.

Check out their HUGE selection of cards this year. I'm considering this homemade calendar this year. Such a great idea! And, to add that extra special touch, aren't these personalized gift tags too cute?

I'm so excited to receive 50 FREE cards of my choice from Shutterfly!!! Guess what?! You can too!!! If you're a blogger, check this out!

National Adoption Day

Today, National Adoption Day, I celebrate. I celebrate birth parents that made the hardest and most selfless decision ever. I celebrate family members and friends who are touched by adoption. I celebrate and pray for our future adopted children. More than all, I celebrate the precious boy that calls me mommy.

Declan, 1 day old.

Girlfriends.

girlfriends I've known for many years.

yummy thai food.

great night.

blessed.

Big Boy

Tonight we had some errands to run at the mall and decided to grab a bite to eat. At the sight of the highchair, Decs said "I don't want it. I need big chair." Okey doke. Big chair it is. When Mark walked up with the food he said he looked like such a big boy and that he'll be driving any day now. Ha! Hope not!

The big 3-0.

My husband turned 30 on Thursday. For a mixed bag of reasons (mostly work/economy related), 30 feels like a welcomed fresh page in a still blessed book. I made as big of a deal as a laid back person would let me make. Thursday we took him to lunch and I *surprised him with this sinfully delicious cookie at life group.

*The cookie was a surprise until a not-to-be-named 2 year old told him about it at the before mentioned b.day lunch. I made him wait until life group to see the design.

The grand finale was tonight's big bash with both sides of our families. The menu consisted of spaghetti and meatballs, manicotti, garlic bread and salad. YUM. Though a zoo, it is always such fun to get our big family together and Mark is a great reason to do so!

The cake. Hubs loves his xbox. 'Nough said. And, no, I didn't make it. I'm not nearly that talented.

 Such a sweet moment with Decs and his daddy. In full disclosure, this was right before Declan grabbed a lit candle. We all screamed "NO" at the same time. Tears ensued. 

 Mark, 30 is already sooo good on you. I'm such a lucky girl.

Bottle it up.

There are so many moments in life I want to bottle up.

Declan still not sleeping at nearly 11pm is not one of them.

Regardless, the exchange I just had with him is for sure a bottler.

As I was rocking my nearly 27 month-er and humming "Revelation Song", I thought I had helped him fall asleep. Until his laughing started. It was definitely delirious laughing. Hysterical, delirious laughing. It was contagious and, before I knew it, we were both laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face. It's bottled up, my love. Now please go to sleep.

{As I publish this, I hear the 1920s squeaky wood floor- sounds like daddy is taking a turn at rocking. We'll see how that goes!}

Oh baby, baby...

Declan has briefly lessened his ball obsession to focus on his love for babies.

He likes to make sure we remember he's still all boy:

Why is the rug so messed up? Well, because this little ball of energy (minus nap even) ran around like this for 30 minutes:

Cousins

I love love LOVE that all of Declan's cousins live in our same city. As they get older, they play and laugh hard together. Seems like an every day occurrence for Declan to say "I need Ella", "where's Asher?, "baby Evie!!", "kick ball- Shauny!!" Can't wait for more yummy cousin time in these coming holidays!

I think we are a little obsessed.

Remember the amazing chicken tacos? We still eat them about every other week. They are that good. My best friend is excessively in love with all things pumpkin and told me about our latest obsession. Get a pen handy, these muffins are complex:

Yummy Moist Pumpkin Muffins

1 box of yellow cake mix (only the mix- not the water, oil, etc)

1 can pumpkin (smaller one)

1-2 tsp cinnamon (to your taste)

Mix together (batter is thick) and cook at 400 for about 17-18 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen delicious muffins. My bestie makes mini muffins too. She also adds walnuts but my hubby likes them sans walnuts so that's how I do it. 

Husband and 2 year old approved. Happy Fall.