Thanksgiving Weekend and 1st Report Card!!!

**I am behind on blogging because I'm having major computer issues. I am in the process of getting it fixed, but in the mean time I was able to figure out a way to finally get some pictures on here!**

We really enjoyed the rest of our Thanksgiving weekend.  I was able to get our house decorated for Christmas, which we just all love.  We got our tree on Friday and so far, we've only had one ornament mishap.  For the most part, Hudson has been leaving it alone though.  The kids all had fun decorating it and checking out all of their hand-made ornaments.  Elfie, our elf, has been doing some pretty funny things, too.

I have a big basket that I put all of the Christmas books in for the kids to read and that basket has kept them entertained for way longer than I would have expected.  All three of them spent most mornings snuggled on the couch together "reading" the books.  Even Hudson loves books and would happily sit with the girls and flip the pages.

We had planned to take the girls to the UGA/GT game on Saturday, but our plans fell through.  I was a little disappointed and Robby knew that so he found a way to cheer us all up.  He drove up after work on Friday with some big reindeer in the back of his truck!  They sell them at a local gift shop we pass everyday on the way to and from school.  I've been wanting these for years and the girls always notice them, too.  Robby had said he could make them himself, but just never got around to it.  They are the perfect addition to our outdoor decorations and made us all smile.  We even had some fun taking picture with them over the weekend. :-)

You can tell Hudson wasn't a thrilled with this idea as we were! Ha!

Lastly, one big milestone for our family was Handley getting her very first REPORT CARD yesterday.  When the teacher passed them out after school I was so excited and couldn't believe she was big/old enough to be getting a report card.  She had a glowing report and the sweetest note from her teacher inside.  We are so proud of her and plan to do a fun treat this weekend to celebrate her hard work!

Thanksgiving 2012

***I just tried to download the cute pictures from my camera that I took of the kids today in their turkey attire and as I deleted them off my camera the photo program on my computer froze and I lost all of them. I'm so disappointed right now because they were all so cute and we had a rare opportunity to have some family shots, too. :-(  Thank goodness for my camera phone so I at least have a few to share from today, even if the quality isn't good.***

I have loved having the kids home from school this week. Yesterday we went to the zoo and the kids had so much fun running around with their maps and pointing us in the right direction.  Hudson seemed in awe of all of the animals. He loves animals and loves reading about them everyday in his books.  I could see him making the connection between the pictures in his books and the real live animals.  The petting zoo was by far his favorite part of the day.  He LOVED getting to get up close and personal.  He would run from one group of animals to the next, point at them, look at me and smile before heading to the next group.

Roaring like the lions. 

After the zoo I took the girls up to Gigi and Papa's house for a sleep over.  They got to go to the mall yesterday afternoon and somehow talked Gigi into letting them create a teddy bear at Build-a-Bear and they also rode the train, the carousel and made notes in the American Girl store for things they would like to add to their Christmas list.

We spent most of our Thanksgiving day at Gigi and Papa's house and enjoyed a delicious meal.  Handley had been referring to our Thanksgiving meal as a feast all week so she was excited when it was finally time for us to feast.  It wouldn't be a holiday without some sort of excitement.  Hudson was sure to provide that to us when he pushed the baby gate loose that was at the top of the steps on the deck.  We were all out there while the kids played and next thing I knew he was falling down the steps.  I don't think I've ever moved so fast as I ran to get to him.  Thank goodness it's only about 5-6 steps from the top to the bottom or it could have been a lot worse.  He had a huge goose egg on his forehead, but as the day went on, it went down and he seemed to be feeling fine.

Tonight we made our way to Macy's at Lenox for the lighting of the Christmas tree. I love traditions and this is such a fun one we do.  They have performers, singers, they light the giant tree and end it with a big firework show.  We met Jen/Justen/Parker and Trey/Stefanie there, too.  The "Macy's cheerleaders" opened the show and the girls were loving seeing all of the flips, twists, and stunts.  Next, were a few singers, including the country star, Trace Atkins, and Santa himself even made an appearance.  Harper had been asking me if Santa would be there and I told her no.  Well, seeing him took her off guard because as Handley was screaming, "THERE IS SANTA!!!!" Harper was bursting into tears.  I'm really hoping that when we go see him in a few weeks she will warm up to the idea of sitting on his lap.  Hudson was in awe of the fireworks (his first time seeing them) and kept saying, "more, more" as soon as they were over.

As if all of that excitement wasn't enough, when we got home we discovered that Elfie, our Elf on the Shelf, was back.  :-)  Let the Christmas season begin!

Coloring contest

Yesterday I was in the middle of getting my hair done, the house was a wreck with toys everywhere and I got a call that someone wanted to show the house in about 30 mins-1 hour. I told them if it was closer to an hour I could have us out of here.  Tricia finished up my highlights quickly, Handley and Harper cleaned up the upstairs and Jen helped me get the downstairs in order. We quarantined all of the kids on the back porch while I washed out my hair and got dressed and then we were out of here, just in the nick of time.  I'm not in a hurry to have to pack up and move out of our home, but I will be happy when all of these showings are behind us.

Since the showing was right a lunch time Jen and I decided to take the kids to Stevie B's.  Not only did we get to eat lunch and play the arcade games, but they also had a coloring contest game going on. I remember taking part in many coloring contests at local restaurants as a kid.  This was the girls' first one and Handley got really into it!  She worked so hard on her picture and was proud when they taped it up on the wall.  The sweet employee told her she might be the winner and that they would call the winner's mom that night.  The winner would get 25 free tokens to come back and play games with.  Last night and several times today Handley kept asking me if I had gotten a call yet, because she really, really, really hoped they picked her picture as the winner. :-)

Hudson and Parker got into the contest, too.  They weren't about to be left out.  Their pictures were also  taped up on the wall, which got me so ticked, for some reason.

They racked up on tickets and chose candy as most of their prizes.  The boys were both really unhappy when it was time to leave because they just loved pushing the buttons on the games and throwing the skee ball balls.

Turkey Cookies

I found a cute idea for decorating cookies to look like turkeys and promised the girls we could do it today.  While Hudson napped we got to decorating.  They had so much fun and loved our little baking project.  

After we were done we delivered a few to some neighbors so they wouldn't all be eaten by us and they girls had just as much fun delivering them as they did decorating them.

Earlier today Robby took Handley's training wheels off her bike and tried to teach her to ride without them.  I have a feeling she is going to need a lot more training sessions before she gets the hang of it, but she was happy to be trying.  

This evening during a family outing to Costco, we got the kids an ice cream after their pizza dinner.  Hudson was not interested in me feeding it to him, but when I let him feed himself he was happy as a clam.  Everyday I'm shocked by how much of a toddler he's becoming.  I asked him for a bite and he just shook his head, said "no, no" and took another bite. 

When we got home he saw the tennis racquets in the garage and immediately grabbed hold of both of them. He is so funny about finding particular things and fixating on them.  He discovered the racquets yesterday and has been obsessed with them ever since.  If he has a ball to whack with it, that's great, but he is equally as happy to just carry them around and hold onto them with a death grip.  Getting them away from him yesterday when I needed to buckle him in the car seat wasn't pretty and we had a similar performance tonight when it was time to put them away before bedtime. 

Thanksgiving program and sickness

We have been dealing with the stomach bug in our house this week and somehow I am the only one who has escaped it in the course of a week.  My washing machine has been going NON-STOP and anything that can't fit into my my washer has been thoroughly doused in Lysol.  Thankfully everyone's run with it has been short lived and they have all bounced by right away.

Handley was worried all week that she might get sick and have to miss her Thanksgiving program that was today.  She was happy and feeling fine all day so made it to her program.  Late this afternoon she started feeling not so hot and the bug hit her, too.  Harper, on the other hand, had a relapse one random time during the night last night so she stayed home today and missed her program.  She was disappointed and I was sad she couldn't attend, but she had fun spending the day with Robby instead.

Hudson and I went to watch Handley perform her turkey songs/dances and she looked adorable!  They did the "turkey tango" and several other songs.  The performance was followed by a family luncheon and we feasted on a the traditional turkey meal.  I am not an overly sentimental person, but I got quite sad thinking that this would be Handley's last Thanksgiving program at this school.  We have come to love everyone and everything about their school and I will surely miss having both my girls at the same place next year.

Harper's teachers sent home the place mat she made earlier in the week and her sweet hand print card, so she was proud to show us those this afternoon.

Everyone went to bed feeling well tonight and I am just praying that this is the last of the sickness in our house for a very long time!  My sweet girl, Handley, was so upset about having to miss gymnastics this afternoon and school tomorrow. :-(  She tried her best to convince me that she was feeling fine, just minutes after getting sick.  She's supposed to be the line-leader tomorrow and she was most worried about not getting her turn to do that.  I promised her I'd email her teacher and let her know so they could reschedule a time for her to be the line leader.  The kids are off school all week next week, so now we have an entire week to stay home, get well, and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving together.

Cardboard Sledding

There is a local park near us that has a huge grassy hill. Every time we are there someone has big pieces of cardboard that they use to slide down the hill.  The girls tried it one time, but could only come up with tiny left over pieces of cardboard and couldn't make it work.

Well, yesterday I meet a friend there and one of her friends happened to show up with some big pieces of cardboard.  Harper got to try sledding down the grassy hill and LOVED it.  Next up was Hudson and he loved it, too!

We had a showing at our house this afternoon so I knew exactly what we were going to do to get out of the house...take our cardboard boxes and make our way to the park!  I texted our dinner club friends to join us and almost everyone was able to meet us there.  The kids had SO much fun.  They loved the giant hill and slid down it over and over and over.  The guys/dads had just as much fun and took plenty of turns sliding down the hill along with the kids.

I had totally meant to bring my camera, but after trying to make sure everything was cleaned and picked up at the house, I forgot it. Thankfully, some of the other's had their cameras with them though and I did get this cute video!  Click HERE to see it.

Bag

So, Hudson has become quite attached to certain things and one of those things are bags.  It doesn't matter what shape or size, he loves carrying them around and putting all of his small toys inside.  He fills them with his matchbox cars, bouncy balls, etc.  It started when he found one of the girls purse's  and had fun pulling out all their goodies.  Robby saw him holding it and asked me to please take it away from him or at least get him a blue one.  For a while he was attached to the pumpkin treat bag and loved Halloween trick-or-treating for that reason...he got to fill his bag.  One day we didn't have his pumpkin bag with us and he spotted one of my reusable grocery bags in the back of my car so he held tight to that all day instead.

A good friend of mine at the pre-school brought him a Cars bag he uses some, but really everyday he picks a "bag of the day" and holds tight to it all.day.long.  He carries it with him everywhere he goes and does not let it get far from his side.  He definitely knows the word "bag" and uses it like crazy when he wants to bring it in to the school or outside with us.  We don't dare try to take it away from him because he screams like crazy and pitches a fit if we pry it away. I've found the better technique is to ask him to put it away (before naps or bedtime, if we go into a store, etc.) because he is much better with those parting terms.

Today his bag of choice was this metal lunch box.  I had forgotten we had it, but he found it this morning hidden in all of the dress up clothes and it came with us everywhere.  He also kept hold of it when he was playing in the yard, checking out the leaves, and riding the tricycle.  That, my friends, takes skill.

Let me just say, I know what he will be getting for Christmas...some boy themed lunch boxes and bags to carry around all his things.

The girls were really cold after playing outside this evening and asked to come in and put in their comfy pj's and slippers.  Seeing them made me want to get comfy, too!

On the market

We've had a good week so far and I can't believe it's 1/2 way over already.  Today Handley told me that she feels like the days are just going by so fast and I couldn't agree with her more.

One of the biggest things we've been dealing with right now is officially putting our house on the market.  We listed it about a week ago.  When we moved here 5 years ago we knew it was going to be our "5 year house" and that we would plan to move to a different school district when Handley started Kindergarten or 1st grade.  Five years has flown, but I'm going to save the details and how difficult this decision has been for another post.  I will say that keeping the house "show ready" every day is a workout and a challenge with 3 small kids.  However, the girls have been incredibly helpful each morning and now that we are into a groove we've got it down pat.

We are taking a break from tennis right now since it is so cold and cheerleading ended last month, so I told Handley she could start taking dance classes again.  She has been asking ever since Harper started, but there was no way we could fit everything into our schedule.  Today was her first class and she was super excited.  She walked right in with her tap shoes on and her head held high.  She seemed to really enjoy herself during the class.

Hudson has been walking everywhere and is really steady on his feet now.  I love seeing him chase the girls around and try to keep up with everyone.  He is also seeming so much happier because he can get around better.  He is also so sweet!  He is always hugging and kissing us and at school he loves walking up to people and hugging them.  Most of them he knows, but some he just gives a random hug to.  It's so sweet.  He also is understanding absolutely everything we tell him and his vocabulary is growing like crazy.  He sweetly says "thank you" every time he is handed something.  One thing he is loving right now is throwing trash away in the garbage can.  Every time he does it he claps for himself and says his version of "good job."  Too cute!

The most exciting event of today was when Robby showed up just before the kids went to bed.  He was traveling for work the past few days so the kids immediately jumped all over him.  :-)

Watching Daddy come up the steps

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I celebrated turning 32 years old.  Recently Robby and I were having a conversation and he asked what my BEST year (age-wise) was and if I would go back to it.  I didn't have to think very long because I told him my best year was definitely this past year.  Sure, there are some hectic situations with three kids and are times when I think the kids are just trying to drive my bonkers on purpose, but those are shadowed and forgotten by all of the wonderful times we have together.  I feel so blessed and honored to be the mother of those three and the wife to my awesome husband.  I couldn't wish for my life to get any better than it is right now with this little family of mine.

Yesterday evening we had a street party in the cul-de-sac with some friends and neighbors and had the best time. The kids loved running around and playing in the bounce house and the adults enjoyed each other's company.  Christy made cupcakes and a birthday cookie cake so I was surprised by all of the kids singing Happy Birthday.  It was so sweet.

This morning I got a treat when all three kids slept in!  I was wakened by them singing Happy Birthday to me and then was told the "Donut Man" came to our house while we were all sleeping.  Turns out the donut man was Robby who snuck out before we woke up and brought back breakfast, including the way to my heart...a large sweet tea! :-)

Notice that excited little guy in the corner of this picture.  He couldn't wait to get his little hands on a donut.

 We enjoyed having the extra hour today to get some stuff done around the house and then the girls and I went to church and then came back to enjoy more time around the house.  Since we are usually on the go I love some lazy weekend days at home.  This afternoon Gigi and Papa came over to help me celebrate my birthday and we went to a Japanese Steak House for dinner.  Everyone loved it and was entertained, except Harper.  Her sweet, sensitive heart just couldn't take the flames, jokes and excitement so she spent most of the dinner with her head buried in Gigi's shoulder.

We came back home to have ice cream came that Gigi and Papa brought over.  It was a perfect birthday!

Origami Owl

A few months ago I was at a birthday party with the girls and got to talking to a friend about her necklace.  She introduced me to Origami Owl, a custom jewelry company that is still fairly new.  I was surprised I'd never heard about it before, but LOVED what I saw and knew immediately that I wanted one of these beautiful (and meaningful) necklaces for my birthday.  After looking at the catalog and website a little more, I fell in love with everything and instantly thought of at least 5 other women I wanted to give these to as gifts.  Well, one thing led to another and I am now selling this jewelry as an independent designer for Origami Owl!

There are several different lines, but my favorite, by far, is the "Living Lockets" line.  In a nutshell, you pick a locket and fill it with charms that have meaning to you.  Then you pick a chain and then you can even add fun pearl or crystal dangles or just leave it plain.

The thing I love about them is that it is all personalized.  It has meaning to the person wearing it, but can still look like a really trendy piece depending on what you add to it or how you wear it.  

I am LOVING my locket.  I wore it today and had at least 5 people comment on it or ask me about it.  Here is what mine looks like:

• Large silver locket with crystals
• Silver oval link chain 
• "H" charm - all three of my kids' names begin with H
• heart family charm - my family is my life
• December stone - the month of mine and Robby's anniversary 
• anchor - symbols boating/the lake to me - the activity our family enjoys together
• flower - because I thought it looked pretty :-)
• pearl and crystal dangles - I got a variety since they are easily clipped on and off. This way I can change it up to match just about anything I might wear.  

Those of you who know me well know I am not a pushy sales person kind of gal, but I do really love these products and that is why I wanted to share them with all of you.  With Christmas quickly approaching I think these would make awesome gifts for mothers, sisters, friends or basically any woman in your life.  If you'd like to see more, check out my website:

www.carriebethposener.origamiowl.com 

Or you can always email me and I can get a catalog to you and help you place an order.