Thanksgiving 2010

I can't believe I don't have more pictures of the family/cousins from Thanksgiving weekend. All 7 cousins were together for 5 days and I have ZERO pics of them together. Lesson learned. Anyway, this year was the Kiel side Thanksgiving. Everyone was together plus a few friends scattered in and out. We have so much to be thankful for.....

As always, Rock Band is the favorite! The kids really got into it this year. So fun!

Ethan just wants to play, too!

The grown-up table at dinner

Oh geez. Mark and I are in trouble. Tutus and microphones....singing Beat It! Emily requests this song (for almost a year) everytime we get the Wii out. She knows all the words. Hilarious!

This was Friday during the Iron Bowl. Becky Barrett (and Jerry) are very dear friends of the Kiel family. Quick story: I flew to Orlando to meet Mark and his family (who were coming from vacation) for an AU bowl game. They hadn't gotten in yet, so Becky and Jerry picked me up. This was about 13 years ago so they were able to greet me at the gate. They had a "Barrett" sign so I would know who they were. At the time, that was my last name too. They took me to Steak & Shake and then to the grocery store and welcomed me into their home. Long story short....we had WAY too much fun that night and we bonded; friendships grew. They came in town for a few days and they got to meet all the kids and we got to visit. Sweetest couple you'll ever meet. Barrett's are smart - right, Jerry? Love you guys!

A night in the life.....

...of a family with small children. The kids and I were goofing off one night before bed and the camera just had to come out. These 3 crack me up!

The Kiel Kids Train (or an Allison sandwich!)

so silly

hilarious! (sorry for the undergarment show - she's going to kill me one day)

Please tell me when my 4 year old became 13. Such a sassy little diva!

sweet photos...

These are just some favorite pics from the last few weeks. They make my heart smile. Enjoy!

I ran errands one Saturday morning and came home to this. How sweet! And brother was just playing on the floor by himself. They were out!

My all time favorite picture of my baby boy! I think I've posted this before.....but here you go!

My handsome son! Love this little dude!

Breakfast with Aubie Claus

A few weekends ago, Daddy and Pa took the kids to an Auburn Alumni Association breakfast with Aubie. I had talked this event up with the girls a few days prior. Allison's comment: "I just want to watch him on TV." Well, they lived up to that statement. They enjoyed their pancake breakfast and when it was time to have pictures with Aubie (dressed as Santa), they would not go anywhere near him. They did, however, enjoy the blow up Aubie outside the restaurant. WAR EAGLE!!

I think maybe Em has some syrup on her hands ;-)

Future AUBURN cheerleaders!!

Pa helping Ethan stay in one place. Ha!

all 3 in their own little worlds

We are #1. Aubie already knew how the season would turn out!!

It was very bright outside.

How hard can it be to get 3 kids to pay attention at the same time?? It's impossible!

Ethan's 1st Flight

I had the opportunity to take Ethan on his first flight this past weekend. We flew to Dallas, where Daddy was waiting on us. Mark's cousin was getting married so we took advantage of the 'under 2 flies free.' The flight didn't go quite as planned as we were detoured about an hour due to weather. He did well and I was super tired by the time we got there. The wedding was beautiful, even from the back room!

The boy loves airplanes!

A Dallas Santa. I was so thrilled! I love Dallas!

Dancing at the reception

getting down to their own music ;-)

boys will be boys!

and he takes a break! poor guy!

Me and my favorite date of the evening, all hot and sweaty from dancing!!

2 out of 3 is not bad!

Pa with 2 of his sisters, Marcia (mother of the groom) and Merrily

on the flight home. It's so early, we're still in our pjs.

Love this picture of my 2 favorite guys!

Elf Magic Party

Last week, The Blue Willow (the best store around!!), hosted an Elf Magic Party. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus were there, as were elves Jingle and Jangle, a balloon artist, and lots of other fun activities. I had fun getting the kids dressed in their holiday outfits and attempting some Santa pics. Pictures were taken of us with Santa, but I haven't downloaded them off their site yet. I'll try and remember to post some later (ha!). The girls wrote a letter to Santa asking him to bring Jenna (our elf from last year) back and a friend so they each will have one. Guess I'll be heading back to The Blue Willow to find Jenna's sister!

Ethan was not a fan of Jangle, or Jingle, whichever one this is.

he did give out some high-fives. silly boy!

My beautiful girls watching the Elf Magic DVD.

Emily with Jingle (or Jangle). We only got this picture because this elf had braids!!! ;-)

My big girl with Santa.

Princesses Wishes

Gia and I took the girls to Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes. Allison dressed like Tinkerbell or as she says, "the star of the show," and Emily was Sleeping Beauty. Just as any good grandmother would do, Gia spoiled them rotten. Check out Tink's new shoes!! It was hard to get some great photos because they were skating so fast and my little camera wasn't able to capture them. I had such a fun girls-only afternoon!!

Snow White (my favorite childhood princess)

Gia with her princesses

magical!

Disney Princesses with their Princes

Star of the Show, Tinkerbell!! Allison was in heaven!

New fairy outfits from Gia and Pa.

SASSY!

Halloween 2010

Here are our pics from Halloween. I had a Minnie Mouse, Little Bo Peep (turned Ariel) and an Oatmeal Bear. We all had a blast. Our good friends, the Millers, came over and had dinner and went trick-or-treating with us. The kids were great, minus Allison's complete melt down prior to leaving the house. We really enjoyed going around our new neighborhood and got lots of candy.

how cute is my little bear??!

attempting a photo of all 5

Jessie (aka Samantha) must be saying something VERY important!