Busy weekend and Fantasy of Trees

Our Thanksgiving weekend ended up being packed with all kinds of fun things! It was quite unintentional but we filled up every bit of our 4 day weekend. On Friday, Drew, Anna Kate, and I picked up DotDot after breakfast and went to the Carter's sale in Turkey Creek.  The traffic was way down and we got in and out pretty quickly.  They made out like bandits and got lots of new, cute things. We hit Chick-fil-A for lunch and went to Aunt Ashley's house to visit after we finished shopping. We laugh because AK & D think Aunt Ashley lives at DotDot and Grandaddy's house (or the Convention Center... they said that was her house after we went to see her there for Tinsel & Treasure).  So, they got to see her real house. They also moved all of her stuff around and probably got ketchup all over everything. But they had fun doing it.  Friday was Uncle Aaron's birthday so after we went home and had naps, we went to Mamaw & Papaw's house for birthday dinner.  Megan was there also and you know how much they love Megan. 
We went to the UT football game on Saturday so Drew and Anna Kate stayed with DotDot and Grandaddy.  From what I hear, they napped most of the time.  They had been quite busy. Aunt Teresa mentioned that Drew and Anna Kate might enjoy the Fantasy of Trees since they have been enjoying seeing all of the "Chrisom" lights so we decided at last minute to go there after Mamaw Katherine and I got done at a baby shower on Saturday afternoon.  It was kind of late when we got over there but they had a great time.  The crowd wasn't bad and they really enjoyed looking at all of the pretty trees.  They also really liked riding the carousel.  On Sunday we had lunch at Mamaw & Papaw's house and ended our super busy weekend with Ty's birthday party. Anna Kate and Drew really seemed to enjoy themselves during all of our fun activities this weekend but it may take them a week to catch up on their rest!

 Of course, they really wanted to touch everything. Their Daddy and I held our breath the entire time hoping they didn't knock a tree over!

 So excited! She had to get her hair out of her eyes so she could take it all in.

 Checking out the baby dolls.  It blinked it's eyes, drank a bottle, and cried.  Drew's sweet little self started patting her when she started crying.  Anna Kate wasn't real sure what to think about her.

 Petting the "moo-cows".

 Little stinkers are intentionally uncooperative for me!  They would pose and smile so nicely for Aunt Teresa.  There were some ladies that even stopped and laughed at how rotten they were being.

 Anna Kate wasn't so sure about the carousel the first time but absolutely loved it the second time. She didn't want to get off and had a toddler melt down when I made her.

 He really loved it to. I'm not sure what the serious look was about. He kept looking up to study how the gears were working to make the horses go up and down.

 In reference to the aforementioned toddler fit, we got cookies as a consolation prize.  She stopped and posed very sweetly with her cookie in front of this pretty pink tree when her Aunt Teresa requested to get her picture. I got my camera out and got this. And then she took off.

Enjoying his cookie too!

On the way to the car. Drew was completely wound up so I'm not real sure why he laid over like he was sleepy when I said they were snug as bugs. Silly goose! He chattered the entire way home and every time we drove up on lights of any sort (Christmas lights, street lights, lights on a restaurant), he would scream, "I SEE CHRISOM LIGHTS!".

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving 2012 was a bit of a marathon but an awesome day! The weather was good, the food was good, and the company was great!
We started the day with breakfast at Pepaw and Ann's house. Drew and Anna Kate enjoyed spending time with the Garners. They particularly enjoyed Pepaw & Ann's dog, Barney.  Poor Barney spent most of the morning trying to get away from tiny hands. The weather was very nice and warm so after breakfast we got to spend some time outside digging through Pepaw's shed and swinging. Whenever there is a swing involved, it is a good day!

 Breakfast time!

 Smelling the flowers. We had to work to keep them out of the rose bushes.

Just swinging.  It was so warm that they were actually hot in their cute little corduroy outfits.

 

We got to spend a couple of hours at Pepaw & Ann's but then had to keep the train moving.  Aunt Teresa's house was our next stop. They weren't hungry when we got there so they hung out on the back porch with Tami and Papaw Tim for a while. After a quick and small lunch, they got right back to play time outside. 

 Anna Kate raided Mamaw's purse and of course, she found some "monies". She has the uncanny ability to come away with lots of "monies" when there are family events. I think between the two of them, they racked up over $10!

For some reason, I didn't get many pictures at Aunt Teresa's. I think it is because they took off outside as soon as we got there and I didn't see them much after that.  Drew really enjoyed playing with his Papaw Tim. I think between the two of them, they drug him all over Aunt Teresa's huge yard. Twice!

 

And again, after a couple of hours there, the train left the station again.  This time headed for DotDot and Grandaddy's house.  The "Jones" crowd this year was the smallest I think it has ever been.  Whitney and her boys were at Disney World and the Alabama/Georgia cousins didn't make the trip. It was still a good time. They fell asleep in the car on the way there. Anna Kate woke up as soon as we got there but Drew napped for about 30 more minutes in the car.  Anna Kate enjoyed some one on one play time with cousin Nathan while Drew napped. She kept petting his hair. I'm still not sure what that was all about.

 The lone rangers. We missed the other cousins!

 We tried to have a Thanksgiving photo shoot after dinner.

 As always, they were super cooperative.

Moving the pumpkins. I guess they didn't like the way we set up the scenery. He is starting to look so grown up.  They both are looking more like little kids these days and not babies.

 

Aunt Ashley spent the night with us so John Clay and I could go shopping late Thursday/early Friday (by the way... never doing that again!!).  Anna Kate & Drew were super excited to have Aunt Ashley come to their house but were pretty exhausted from the whirlwind day so they didn't get much play time with her.  Thanksgiving 2012 sure was a great day! 



"Sissy did it".

 

 

I have been quite the slacker lately about taking pictures. I looked back through my phone and it seems that for the past several weeks, I have only taken pictures on the weekends.  I think because it is getting dark so early now, it seems like I get home and we are immediately taking baths and getting ready for bed.  This week has been fairly quiet. Drew and Anna Kate went to school on Wednesday and will be out of school next week for Thanksgiving. We don't have much on the agenda for this weekend (I have MAJOR house cleaning on my schedule which I am sure will be de-railed by my two little sweeties!). We have lots on the calendar between Thanksgiving and Christmas (family get-togethers, birthday parties, baby showers, going to see Santa!) so I think we will enjoy this weekend of no plans because it may be the last we have for a while.



A funny story to end with.... Drew came up to John Clay last night with only the plug in part of his phone charger and told him it was "broke".  When John Clay asked him why he broke it, Drew said "Sissy did it".  Anna Kate had been getting her hair dried and was no where near the phone charger.  Little stinker was trying to blame things on his "poor" sister!  John Clay had a talk with him and after a few times of asking him if he was sure sissy was the one who did it he finally fessed up. Oh, it has already started!
And to finish up this post that is a little all over the place, I will post some random pictures!

 This was the way I found Anna Kate in her bed a couple of mornings ago.  She was just sitting there quietly with all of her things gathered around. She is a bit of a hoarder and keeps all kinds of stuff in her bed. It takes 10 minutes to get it all ready at night!

And not to be outdone, Drew gathered up his things and covered up. He will lay down and breathe hard when he's trying to be pitiful. I don't think it is pitiful, I think it's funny!

Thanksgiving 2012

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Weekend family fun

We had lots of fun family time this weekend!  We went to DotDot and Grandaddy's house on Saturday to visit with Aunt Ashley.  We have missed our weekend visits with her for the past couple of weeks so it was nice to get back into that routine.
The weather was wonderful this weekend so we decided to take advantage and try to get our pictures for Christmas cards knocked out. Drew and Anna Kate were less than cooperative but they sure had a good time misbehaving. 

 Rotten to the core!

 Drew has started tackling Anna Kate. She takes it pretty well but he is rough!  Here they are rolling around in the field in their pretty Christmas clothes.  Amazingly, Anna Kate's beautiful white dress came out with only one small spot on it!

 DotDot made me a birthday cake and Anna Kate and Drew could not wait to try it.  They spotted it and insisted on eating it immediately after dinner.  They gobbled up their piece and both wanted more.  We told them they had enough so what did they do?........

Mooched off of Grandaddy, of course!

 

They slept late on Sunday so after breakfast, we went out to run a couple of errands.  We came back for lunch and naps and then went to Mamaw and Papaw's house for dinner.  Aunt Teresa and Eli were there and Papaw Tim, Tami, Aaron, and Megan.  This was the second week in a row for a get together like that at Mamaw and Papaw's and they had a great time. 

 We are going to be putting our house up for sale so we bought a sign at Lowes. Drew was a big helper.

 They could have spent hours at Lowes just looking at all of the inflatables and lights! (Notice she is on her toes? She said she was going to touch it! Ha!)

 We had a hard time getting them to leave these. They just kept hugging and kissing them.

 



These two love cake.  Drew helped himself before we even had a chance to get the plates out.

 Despite it being windy it was a very warm night so they got to go outside for a while. They loved being out there with everyone while they played corn hole.

 Drew liked getting on the boards and then jumping off.  My little daredevil!

 He gets so excited when Megan comes in. He is shy and hides at first (I think that is his way of flirting) but then he sticks to her like glue.

He loves to get this walker out and push it around and climb and swing on it. I guess he thinks its an indoor jungle gym.



It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

It just doesn't seem natural that my last post, titled "Halloween", is being directly followed with a post about Christmas. But, here it is.
I don't know if I just never took note when I was younger but it seems like Christmas comes earlier every year. You even see Christmas things out before Halloween in some places. I love me some Christmas but I also love Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time, people! Anyway, this weekend was the Junior League's Tinsel & Treasure.  Aunt Ashley had the lucky fortune (read: sarcasm) of being the chairperson for the event this year so she has been busy, busy trying to get everything ready.  This was Drew and Anna Kate's third time to attend the event. They aren't super great shoppers yet but we were able to keep them under control without tearing down every booth in the place.  We saw lots of our favorite people there... Aunt Teresa, Mamaw Katherine, Mimi Jo, Whitney, & Aunt Phyllis! Good times! And seeing all of the pretty decorations really helps to put you in the mood for Christmas. I think I'm ready... in a couple of weeks!
I think we are finally on the upswing of Nasty Cold round 2. We didn't do much on Saturday but Anna Kate and Drew did get to go visit their Mamaw & Papaw for a little while so John Clay and I could go to a surprise birthday party.  Yesterday, we ate lunch at DotDot's and then headed down the highway for Christmas cheer.  Anna Kate was up most of the night Saturday night (she coughed a little but otherwise, I'm not real sure why she was up) and we were all dragging but everyone seemed to be in good spirits.  Poor Drew fell asleep about 10 minutes before we pulled in the parking lot but was his sweet, happy self despite the nap tease.  We went to see Santa first thing when we got there. They weren't even entertaining the thought of sitting on his lap. They really didn't even want to get close to him until he offered them a candy cane. They snatched the candy cane then backed up to their safe distance. So... no pictures with Santa were made.  We did a little shopping next and then the natives got restless. Aunt Ashley whisked them away to a room that overlooked the shopping floor so they could get out of the stroller and move around and DotDot and I finished up some shopping. We had a dinner date at Mamaw & Papaw's house that evening so we dropped DotDot off, picked up Daddy, and headed to their house. They each got a small nap in the car but were in great spirits and had a wonderful time. They got to see the rest of their favorite people there.  Aaron and Megan were there, Papaw Tim came, and Tami. Papaw Hubert had already given Drew and Anna Kate a truck and a baby that were supposed to be for Christmas and then Papaw Tim came in with a bunch of gifts.  Like they needed a single thing. I really think Christmas is going to put us over the edge and our house is going to bust at the seams.  All in all, it was a wonderful day and Anna Kate and Drew would probably tell you it was one of the best days ever.

Anna Kate ran up to me Saturday morning and told me "Dew stink." Then she went back to check his diaper the way we do. Haha! She's such a little mother.

 On our way in. Can you tell by his clapping that Drew was excited?

 In their penalty box.  They were dancing (by the way, Aunt Ashley said there wasn't any music on) and swinging from that cross bar and having a grand time. You should have seen all the hand prints on the glass. I'd say the maintenance people cursed our name.

 A sweet lady offered to take our picture on the way out. Anna Kate was tired and feeling a little uncooperative (like she's cooperative when she isn't tired!).

 Playing with her new babies at Mamaw & Papaw's. One baby had a paci & a bottle so she was trying the paci out.  The other baby kicked it's feet and laughed hysterically and loudly. I convinced her that Papaw needed to keep that baby at his house! :)

Drew got a microphone with a speaker attached. He wouldn't sing or talk in it but would put his mouth on it and breath loudly.

 

Despite not being ready I really am looking forward to Christmas this year.  Drew and Anna Kate are going to love all the lights and decorations!

Halloween

Despite being a little under the weather, Drew and Anna Kate made the best of Halloween 2012.  We skipped school on Wednesday so they started the day off with DotDot.  It was planned all along that they would not go to school on Wednesday this week.  We were going to send them on Monday instead because we knew we had a busy night for Halloween and they do not get a very good nap on the days they go to school.  Since they were sick on Monday, they ended up missing school all week (for the record, they probably wouldn't have been well enough to go on Wednesday either!).  I think they have been missing it and talk about it a lot.  I know they will be excited to go back next week although I told John Clay this morning that if they don't quit getting sick, I am putting them back in isolation! Ha!
But, I digress... back to Halloween!  This year's costume was Raggedy Ann & Andy. Drew and Anna Kate have no idea who they are but that is okay because for now, we can still get by with things like that.  We decided on these costumes while we were looking through closets at DotDot's house a couple of months ago.  Ashley and I both wore a Raggedy Ann costume made by DotDot when we were around their age and lucky for us, DotDot held on to it for all these years (we always kid her about being a pack rat but we have been able to have some really neat things for Anna Kate and Drew that were mine and Ashley's because of it.).  We just needed an Andy costume and they would be a perfect pair.  We originally were just going to use some of the clothes he has in his closet and buy him a hat.  Well, according to DotDot, Drew seemed a little jealous that Anna Kate had a "costume" and he didn't so she made it her mission to make him one also.  The end result was absolutely precious but I think it was a bit more of an undertaking than she had bargained for.  She worked on it up until the day of Halloween and it was perfect!
I left work a little early and went to pick them up so we could go by Aunt Teresa's house for our first stop of the evening. I have concluded Halloween should always be a weekend occasion. You need all day to get ready and go everywhere you need to.  We were a little behind the schedule we had set for ourselves so we weren't able to stay at Aunt Teresa's for long but Drew and Anna Kate sure did rack up while they were there.  Mamaw and Papaw met us there also and they got them toys, movies, snacks, etc... Aunt Teresa also spoiled them with toys, coloring books & crayons, and lots of snacks.  They were happy and we could have been done there but had to keep the wagon moving. We went to Whitney's house next for some cousin time and trick-or-treating.  Since it was chilly and starting to get dark we took a few pictures then headed out to trick-or-treat.  AK & D are still a little young to fully grasp the concept but they were excited to ride around the neighborhood with Price & Hayes in the wagon and check all the other people out.  I think we only ended up going up to two doors and at the second door they got Dum-Dums.  That was all the candy they needed so we watched Price & Hayes for the rest of the trip. We went back to the Davis' for dinner and to enjoy more cousin time.  Price, Hayes, Drew, and Anna Kate enjoyed helping hand out candy to all the trick-or-treaters. Our whirl-wind evening was closed out by a visit from Granny Lisa when we got home and then it was baths and bed (way later than normal).  It was a great time and I know next year will be completely different because they will understand more what it is all about. 

 Checking out the new loot! Anna Kate got a new doll from Mamaw & Papaw and a new purse from Aunt Teresa.  It seems Halloween & Christmas may be similar for my kids!

 We could have packed it up and gone home after this and Drew would have been okay. He LOVES to haul things so Mamaw & Papaw hit the jackpot when they found this truck and "trawer". He will just sit or lay in floor and pull it back and forth. He is fascinated.

 Smooches for Aunt Teresa for her Halloween goodies!

 The best picture I managed to get of them. I tried very hard to get one of them standing up. You can't really get the full effect of the cuteness without seeing the entire ensemble.

 Itsy bitsy spider with Papaw and Aunt Teresa

 Bye kisses from Mamaw

4 kids under 3 and one cooperative six year old nets a picture like this (or 20 pictures similar to this).

 This is what happened when I tried to get a picture of them standing together.

 Their rides for trick-or-treating. Not too shabby!

 I hate that this picture is blurry. There was a police officer on a motorcycle on the street and Drew and Hayes were enthralled. These two are all boy and very similar. Drew and Anna Kate really love Hayes.

 They also really look up to Price. He is a good big cousin.

 Drew tried to lift the most important part of train conductor Nathan's costume.

Sweet girl!