Turkey Time

I love this time of year! I love getting together with our families and just relaxing- Avery was so excited on Tuesday night for the arrival of her cousins that she could hardly stand it. She stood at the front door WAITING on them to pull in to Grandma's driveway! As always, our time with Brett's brother and his family was great and just went by way too fast. The kids are getting to an age that they are slightly more independent and so the grownups get a bit more time to catch up while the kids play on their own. The kids are really SO cute together. Here are a few pics from a truly wonderful Thanksgiving week...

The girls made play dough cookies after dinner with some Grandma help!

Whew, it was a long day for everyone and the girls retreated to grandma's room to watch Little People before we called it a night. I'm sure it won't be cute forever- but right now its pretty sweet to see both little girls with their little left thumbs inserted into their mouth when they are sleepy.

Tiff brought the cutest little gingerbread house kit with her for the kids to work on. So after a day of playing on Wednesday they pulled it out. The girls lasted longer than I expected and they sure had fun doing their own little cookies. And Gage was an expert...he and Tiff really did it, as most of you know I'm artistically challenged so I contributed very little but I tried....

After the girls got finished with the gingerbread house they headed for new activities. They started it off with a BIG hug for Dad/Uncle Brett. Then they played a quick game of "slap queen" or as most people know it "slap Jack" with PaPa and Grandma Becky. Finally, they moved upstairs for their favorite game of the week- poopy diapers for their babies. They took out every diaper and just about every wipe in the packages to "change" their babies diapers. It was pretty funny!

By Thanksgiving morning, Avery was pretty worn out from all her playing and the lack of sleep was catching up. She started the morning in Grandma's room with a movie and some "alone time" playing babies with her Cabbage Patch doll, Jaycee. The kids sat down to eat Thanksgiving together- with the grownups- but they didn't last long. They were ready to play and "not hungry..." SO once again, they had some quiet time watching Strawberry Shortcake. They were tired, despite their lack of turkey.

Of course, that didn't last long either and they all insisted that they needed to play outside. We bundled them up with what we had and let them go! They raked leaves, jumped in the leaves and played on the rocks as long as they could stand it!

After a long day and no naps- it was just about time to call it a day. BUT not before the girls had a Cheerios picnic in Grandma's kitchen!

We had a great visit- Tiffany and I even braved a few stores this morning. We weren't that successful- the lines just weren't worth fighting but it was fun to get out in the craziness for a short time, at least! Avery has asked about her cousins several times tonight so we know she is missing them already. We are so thankful that God has blessed us with such a fabulous family! My parents and Johnny will be headed our way in the morning since I can't travel to Bentonville to see them and we are looking forward to another fun couple of days! THEN..let the Christmas madness begin!