Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are all having a Happy Thanksgiving, we are enjoying our family time and looking forward to some good food this afternoon. I wanted to share Addie's project from school last week.

The bottom part of the picture was dictated to her teachers, it says
"How to Cook a Turkey by Addie"
1. Find a good turkey at the beach.
2. Put sparkles on it and microwave it for 3 minutes.
3. Serve it with ketchup to dip in, cheetos, and grapes.
4. Enjoy it with Grandma, Pawpaw, Haley, Gracie, Ansley, and Josiah.

This made me laugh so hard I cried the first time I read it, it is so representative of Addie's personality right now.

Have a Happy Turkey Day!

Going to the Zoo

We were so lucky this week to get a visit from our friends Keri and Skylar. Keri and I have known each other a long time, our husbands were both stationed at Fort Carson when they were just beginning their Army careers. Keri and her little girl Skylar were doing a little tour through Texas and they made a special trip to Houston to spend a couple of days with us.
Here are all the kiddos watching a movie, no one wanted to take a nap, but they were all pretty tired.


On Friday we headed out to the Houston Zoo. Addie and Skylar had so much fun looking at all of the animals.

The highlight of the zoo for the girls was the petting zoo. They have a pen full of very gentle goats and a basket of brushes that you can use to groom them.

Ben was walking through the petting zoo when a goat snuck up on him. He seems okay in this picture, but it is just because he didn't realize that the goat was so close to him.

This is what he looked like when he realized the goat was so close to him.





Ben liked the view from up high the best.


Addie and Skylar loved on all the goats.


Ben just wanted to be picked up.

Here is Ben giving the goat some love.










The girls had so much fun looking at all of the animals, Ben had fun looking at the animals too , he was just content to sit in the stroller most of the time.

We had so much fun visiting with our friends! Thanks for coming to visit us.

Go Gamecocks!!!

Go Gamecocks!!! Today is the one day that Jon and I are really at odds during the football season. He is a Florida Gators fan and I am a University of South Carolina fan. The biggest difference is that I went to USC while Jon only grew up in Florida. This morning I took advantage of Jon being busy vacuuming the house and I got the kids dressed. We were all dolled up in our Carolina gear for our weekly trip to Chick Fil A. I had both kids saying Go Gamecocks too. We will see how the game goes.

These pictures are from the other day, I was working outside and the kids were very interested in all the tools I had out, the step stool and the staple gun. They were being silly and it was a lot of fun.

Veteran's Day Cuties

I love to dress the kids so that their outfits coordinate, but it has gotten harder as they have both gotten older, I don't know how I will do it with three. But in honor of Veteran's Day I wanted the kids in patriotc colors. Addie informed me when we were in the van that she doesn't like red, but once I told her that she was wearing the colors of the flag she was okay with it.
Here is Addie on our back porch. The weather has been so nice here lately, we have been trying to spend more time outside.

Addie and Ben playing with their car.

It was Ben's turn to take a look under the hood. We had to disconnect the battery in his car because we were afraid that Addie was going to drive it through the screens. Both of the kids are very concerned that it is not 'working' any more.

I love pictures from behind of the kids, mostly because you don't have to worry about where the kids are looking or if they are smiling.


Addie is great about hugging and kissing on cue for the camera. Ben never knows what to think of all the attention.



After nap time yesterday the kids were so sweet. I had a tv show on and a snack that they shared. They are starting to get along in a new way that is so much fun to watch. They definitely still have their moments, but it is so much fun to see them becoming friends.


Last night we took advantage of the Outback Veteran's Day special and met Jon for dinner. The kids miss their daddy everyday while he is at work and it is so much fun to see them get so excited at the end of the day.
We had a great dinner and a very fun Veteran's Day, thank you to all of our friends and family that have served our country over the years.

Happy Helpers

Addie and Ben are such good helpers around the house. Yesterday they were helping me do laundry.

Tonight I watched as Jon let the kids help him do the dishes. Addie used to push the chair over to the sink so she could reach to help. Tonight Ben pushed the chair all by himself because he wanted to help. Both kids ended up perched on the chair while Jon reached around them to try and get the dishes clean. These days as it seems like I have no patience left Jon is so good with the kids.
Here are all my happy helpers.