Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day started out peacefully in our home! We slept in and relaxed for the first half of the day, then got ready to head over to Grandma Crabb's house. Lee and I have yet to actually cook a Thanksgiving Dinner...well, at least ON Thanksgiving! (We usually buy and whip up a turkey dinner during the week after...I think we both miss leftovers!) We've been married 13 years, and love being close enough to our families to take turns seeing them every other year. Despite the differences (Lee can't believe my mom puts the giblets into the gravy!...And Thanksgiving without his mom's pie?!) it's a great day no matter where we are!

We started out at Grandma's with some sledding! Cody had spent part of the day before building a fort with his friend. The kids were so excited to check it out! Also, Jen convinced Grandma to buy something they kept calling "Butt Shovels"...They used them as sleds, but they looked like giant shoe horns to me!

Please enjoy the following photos of children careening down Grandma's very steep, icy driveway:

So while Cody and the kids (he was such a trouper, hanging in there in the freezing cold so he could keep playing with the kids!) were outside, there was cooking going on. I'm not really sure how it started, but it is Lee's job every year to "scuplt" the mashed potatoes. This year he did one better:

He added food coloring. :D I sure love this funny guy!

He tried leaving off the Jack-O-Lantern face (what is this, Halloween?) but mom was pretty persistant, and he finally cracked. Nevermind the laughing about how mom bought a Sam's Club sized bag of potatoes and Jen and Cody peeled them ALL...and the jokes about how we'll probably be eating THESE potatoes until NEXT Thanksgiving! Hee-Hee...Good times!

All in all, it was a fantastic day well spent. I love hanging with our family and refilling my laugh-gauge. I am so thankful for LOVE, for LAUGHTER, for MESSY KID FINGER-PRINTS on shirts, for the MOMENTS, and the MEMORIES!

Hope you enjoyed yours as much as I did mine! :D

So at the end of the day, I leave you with this photo. It's just a little something Cody calls "Dinosaur Tongue", and the picture doesn't do it justice. He is somehow able to cause his tongue to SWELL until it fills his entire mouth. It is both disgusting and inspiring all at the same time. I'm reduced to a puddle of giggle-goo when he does it...It's just so crazy!

Enjoy!

Michael's 5th Birthday!

Michael turned 5! He was super excited about all his presents. I think he woke us up at 6:30...Yawn! :D I think he got everything he could possibly want...that's a seriously spoiled kiddo!

He's into anything that rolls, really! He wanted a Thomas train set, and he asked for Chuch the talking Dump Truck. Well, he asked for everything he saw on TV, but these are the two we decided to oblige on! He would sit there, and with every commercial that came on TV I would hear "I want that!". So I finally started saying, in response, "You want everything!"

"No." He would say "Not girl stuff."

Funny!

We opened presents, and then we all got ready for the day. We told Michael he could choose: We could take the family to see "Megamind", or he could pick to go to the Build-a-Bear store and make a new friend. We thought he'd pick the movie...he's been so excited about it! But nope...He wanted to go make a new friend. So dad, the big softy, said we'd do both! (I loved Megamind, by the way...That Will Farrell is at his best in cartoon form!) Anyway, after the movie we headed to the mall and Michael "made" himself a monkey named Oso. (I also got me a Apple Pie Carameled Apple from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory! Yay! Everybody wins!)


Then off to birthday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They asked what he wanted for dinner, and he picked:

Macaroni and Cheese, Chicken Nuggets, and Bananas.

Yep. He's Five!

Thanks to all the generous gift givers in the family! He is definitely well loved!l

Oh, The Shame!!

I am so ashamed!

This morning before school I was helping Spencer pack his lunch. Then as he was finishing putting his food in the lunch box and zipping it up, he turns to me with a bit of a stomp.

Spencer: "How come you don't ever put a note in my lunch?"
Me: "What kind of a note?"
Spencer: "You know, like a love note."
Me: "Oh. Who is getting notes?"
Spencer: "Everyone...except that don't bring a home lunch!"

I guess every day all his little friends are getting love notes from their moms. But not him. Sad!

Oh, the shame...

Why...Oh, Why?

Why is it that on the weeks where I forgot to take the recycle can to the curb, I end up with the very most recyclables to dispose of? When the can is already full? And the city only picks up the recyclables every OTHER week...

Blast.

Then I war with myself...Do I just throw it in the regular trash so as not to store the garbage for a whole week? Can I live with myself if I don't recycle?

What to do, what to do...

Adoption Day!

Four years ago today, our little family met downtown at the court house to be made a little bit bigger! Michael was almost 1...3 days before his first birthday. Megan was about 5 1/2 years old.

Megan's smile and enthusiasm for things is adorable. When we change the calendar over to November, she starts to get excited for adoption day...We're so glad she's excited about it! She makes friends so easily, and who doesn't love Megan?

Michael is a sweet heart. Every time he has a treat he shares with me, just comes up and sticks his little sticky "extra" right into my hand. When we sit together to watch TV or anything, he likes to sit his little body right up against mine to be cozy. He's crazy, and wild, but that's normal...He's 4!

I have watched my other kids accept these two without question. Sydney has a sister to play with! Spencer calls Michael his "Bud". Somehow, it just stopped feeling like these two came to our family any differently. We love them all the same, and truly feel like they belong in our family...We're glad they found their way home!

Happy Adoption Day, McAlister Family! :D

Who Knew?

Who knew there was really a flaw to my dog ringing a bell to be let outside?

Yesterday it was nap time. I put Michael down for a nap, and was puttering around cleaning up the kitchen, when I heard the bell ring. I grab the leash and take Luke outside, then stood patiently watching him take care of business.

I opened the door to come back in the house and what do I see? Michael, running full force from the kitchen to the stairs in a desperate attempt to make it back to his room before I came inside.

And why was he in the kitchen you ask? Apparently, the ringing of the bell signals the child to wait inside the bedroom door until he hears me close the front door behind me. Then he BOLTS down the stairs into the pantry, grabs a snack (Yesterday's score?...A Twinkie.), and tries to BOLT back to his room before I can catch him.

Busted. Nice try, bucko.

Boy, that Twinkie was good.

Braces...

Today Sydney had a routine check up at the orthodontist. We don't start school until 9:00, so I usually try for the 8:00 appointment, because most of the time we finish in time to get everyone to school on time...or close to on time!

We were waiting to be seated in the chairs, and one of the assistants was talking with Sydney. (They apparantly have a mutual friend...HER (Aubrey) family is good friends with Syd's friend Ryan's family.) Aubrey was explaining that next time Ryan goes to have HER braces checked, they are going to do a laser treatment to her gums. (I guess it's something they do if your adult teeth aren't growing in fast enough?)

So we went to her chair, and after initial wire removal, the doctor came over to look at her mouth. The proceeds to ask me if we're in a hurry, 'cause he'd like to cut away her gums with a laser! (WHAT?!) Now that he's said it out loud, I feel like we kind of have to do it, or Sydney will be in a panic by the time our next appointment rolls around. Okay...sure. Do what you gotta do.

They numb her mouth. She's got three teeth that are growing down, they just can't seem to break through the gums. The doctor used that laser, and seriously cut a little circle through the outside of the gums where each of those teeth are. Here's the part I was unprepared for...They glued little brackets in each of those holes, and hooked them to her braces. Apparantly, those teeth are coming down whether they want to or not!

She was a trouper! The first one, no problem; the second one, the tears are just weeping from the corner of her eyes...I was holding her hand, ready to knock that stinking laser out of his hand if she needed me to...It's sort of like taking your babies in for shots and letting them get stabbed. They just look at you like you betrayed them...I'm always so sad! But she is tough. And after the fact, was pretty excited to show off the new holes to her siblings.

She REALLY can't wait to show dad. She can't wait to see his "heebie-dance" when looks at her holey gums!

Howdy!

So I posted some older stuff below these last few...I just thought I'd tell you to check so you don't miss them! :D

Have a spectacular day!

Teacher Conference

Can I just tell y'all how smart my kids are? I have such amazing kids! We had teacher conference last night. Aside from the stuff I already know (Really? Spencer doesn't always follow class rules? Shocker...! Homework? They're supposed to turn ALL those in? Hmm.), I heard nice thing after nice thing. About how my kids are friends with everyone. About how they are leaders. About how they help others with classwork when they've finished theirs.

Well done, McAlister kids! I'm so proud of you all!

Happy Birthday to my Big Girl!

Sydney turned 12 today! Can I just tell you, I am unprepared for her to seem so grown up? She's old enough to sit in the front seat of the car...she goes to Young Women...! Before I know it, she'll be dating and driving. **HOLY COW!!**

I thought that to mark such a special birthday, I should do something fun. We pulled up to the school and everyone got out of the car. I just put my hand on Syd's arm (easy to do, because now she sits up front by me...!) and waited until the back door shut. Then we took off...We were playing HOOKIE!!

First stop...Rhoda's house to drop off Michael. Totally not invited to our girl's day out! (Plus, he'd much rather play at Rhoda's house, 'cause she's so much cooler than me!) We went to the hair salon, and when she realized what we were doing, this is the look I got:

Sorry...I took THAT picture with my cell phone to send to dad! Not the best photo quality, but it captures her genuine excitement! She got to look through the color choices herself, and we did an all-over color, with highlights added in after that. (We did highlights once a couple of years ago, but the natural highlights totally blended with the NEW ones, and you couldn't even tell...We wanted to make sure you could tell this time!)

The stylist spent a long time on her hair, and it looked great! It was funny that she wouldn't let Syd see it while she was drying it, she made her wait until she was done for the "Big Reveal". So cute!

We finished there, and headed to the next stop, the Nail Salon, where I took this great shot to show off her cute new hair:

Both of Lee's sisters (who may not be cooler than me but are DEFINITELY girlier than me!) have taken my daughter to the "paint nail" store before for manicures. So when I told the manicurist that we wanted to put a set of nails ON, Syd sort of flipped! (She's bought and tried those "press on nail" types from the store I don't know how many times, and she's always disappointed with how they don't stay on! I thought it'd be fun to let her try the real thing once!) The woman doing her nails (who, by the way, was like 12 months pregnant...She was HUGE...I was just waiting for her water to break right there...!) found out that it was her birthday, and painted her a couple of flowers on her tips for free. So all decked out with fancy hair AND fancy sparkly nails...We...

Well, we headed back to school. I had one more thing planned, but Syd's teacher sent out an email telling us that the kids couldn't miss Nov 2nd because they were doing some testing that day. Seriously? -sigh- So after conferring with her teacher, I got the okay to take her...I just needed to make sure she was back in time for the test in the afternoon. (Actually, the teacher was so cute about it! She offered to make up an excuse to go have Sydney take the test in the morning so I could have her...She was very sweet!)

After school, I took all the kids with me and we went to Nordstroms for a make-up tutorial. (Yeah...The four other kids SO did not love that. Or the people at the make-up counter! She's been trying to wear make-up for years, (Kendra has passed down lots of fun old make-up Syd likes to play around with!) which, aside from the fact that she SO doesn't need it, I really don't mind it. But I thought she could benefit from someone other than her MOM telling her how to put it on, and how much is enough. They did a great job, and recommended just a few basics, especially for now.

Then the party at Grandma and Grandpa McAlisters! Syd picked her favorite meal: Steak...and shrimp...and baked potatoes...and salad! (I think she's the only grand kid to pick a whole MENU, not just the main dish! And it's funny she thinks to throw steak in, for those of us who think shrimp is...well, gross.)

We got her cake at "Nothing Bundt Cakes"...It was so moist and yummy! Plus, totally funked out for the lucky 12-year-old!

In this picure, Sydney is diplaying her exemplary manners as she inhales her cake off the plate. (Actually, I included this picture to show off her new shoes...like grown up shoes!)

Does she look like a teenager to anyone else here? Slighty sullen look on her face, (really, I think she is just super focused on the cake...) with those dang ear buds in?

Sydney's gift from the Richin's Family:

I love that Mia looks as excited about this present as Sydney does!

One of those very cool watches with cool bracelet like bands. I got one for my birthday back in September, and she's been so jealous of me ever since. Yep. I know that deep down, she just wants to be just like me.

See Kendra's face here? She's laughing because Grandma and Grandpa bought Sydney a bedazzler. Okay, it's not an actual bedazzler, but it does the same thing! But unlike Kendra, Syd doesn't think it's funny. She thinks it is awsome! She can't wait to make something all shiny!

This is her present from the Wright Family:

It's a 1-year subscription to Teen Vogue! In the front of the magazine was also a note specifying that mom gets to go through it first and take out things that are inappropriate, or use a sharpie to modify immodest clothes! I'm kind of excited...I've always aspired to be a fashion designer...!

Her last gift from Grandma and Grandpa:

They usually buy her clothes, but they wanted her to be able to shop on her own! They are far too generous! What amazing grandparents! We are so lucky to get to see them so often.

Do you love this priceless expression?!

I wanted to end with this poorly-taken picture, but I think it is so sweet!

We had finished opening up her presents before Dad had to leave for work (see how Syd's hair is done, but she's in her jammies? She was hoping for a new outfit, so she didn't get dressed!), and as he leaned over to kiss her goodbye, she leaned into him ever so slightly, and she's got this sweet smile on her face.

Ah...Here's hopin' she never thinks she's too cool to lean into a kiss goodbye from her daddy, or sit down for a snuggle with her mommy!

Happy Birthday, Sydney! We love you so much!