Garner Thanksgiving

We just returned from a fun Thanksgiving visit with Lane's parents. We ate a big, delicious lunch yesterday and have been snacking on leftovers every few hours since then!

Here is a summary of our visit in pictures:

You have to look closely because he blends in with the chair, but Bogart found a comfortable spot to sleep beside Grammy. He is wearing his fall leaves bandanna from his haircut on Tuesday.They have a wagon full of toys, and the kids enjoyed playing with those. Here Rhett is coloring.
It was really warm yesterday, so we walked to the school playground to play.
Bobba helping R balance on the bars.
My cute hubby. He went to elementary school here and played on this playground about 30 years ago!


The kids and their Daddy at his elementary school:
Grammy, Bobba & the kids before time to carve the turkey.
I made a strawberry salad for the lunch yesterday. Romaine lettuce, strawberries, carmalized almonds and homemade poppy seed dressing.
Rhett helping with the table.
The yummy meal, for which we were very thankful:

I made a Double Chocolate Mocha Trifle (*but cut out the "mocha" part).

1 pkg brownie mix (plus needed ingred)
1 3/4 cup cold milk
2 pkgs (3.4 oz) white chocolate instant pudding and pie filling
1/4 cup hot water
4 t. instant coffee granules (*I left this out)
2 c. thawed frozen whipped topping
1 bag crushed Heath bar toffee bars (in baking section already crushed)

Bake brownies and let cool completely. In large bowl, whisk pudding mix into milk until mixture begins to thicken. *Dissolve coffee granules in hot water; add to pudding mixture (I sifted out the granules), mixing well. Fold in whipped topping using spatula. Cut brownies into 1-inch cubes. Layer 1/3 of brownie cubes in bottom of trifle bowl. Top with 1/3 of pudding mixture, pressing lightly and 1/3 of chopped toffee. Repeat layers two more times. Chill 30 minutes before serving.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Garners!

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Jacquie (you should go read her fun post)! I am supposed to share eight random things about myself and tag eight people.

Here goes:

1. My best friend all through school was Darcy Hudson (Happy Birthday to her on 11/28!!). In high school, we'd skip school one day each spring and make home-made manicotti and then try to work on our tan. Well, Darcy would work on her tan, I would get sunburned. (It wasn't until later in life that I admitted to myself that I had fair skin and was wasting my time trying to tan!) I promise we were both good students...we just took a day away from class!

2. I took art lessons for years as a kid...2nd grade until my senior year, I think. I loved it, and I always think of it this time of year because we had fun little Christmas parties in the "upper room" of the art studio (which was named the "IT Shop" for Intriguing Treasures, and the building was shaped like a treasure chest. The teacher, Mrs. Rowell, answered the phone, "This is IT."). We'd have snacks at the party, and then she would give us a hand-painted, ceramic ornament each year. My sister and I have a whole collection of them at home, and I love seeing them on the tree at Mom & Dad's--they bring back fun memories.

This list is more difficult than I thought. Feel free to move on to another blog now--I don't think this is very interesting information!

3. I like to get a real cherry Coke and a box of Junior Mints at the movies. And speaking of Coke, I rarely drink them, but I love the ones in the small glass bottles--I think they taste so much better for some reason! My Grandparents always have them, so I sometimes drink them at their house.

4. One of the things I like about the Christmas season is watching the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". When I lived at home, we watched it every year. I love all the characters and I think it's such a great story! We say a lot of the lines throughout the year.

5. I try to never wear blue because when I was pregnant with Rhett an older lady at a maternity store said that blue really wasn't a good color for me when I tried on something blue in her store. When I volunteered at the hospital a few years ago, their volunteer shirts were bright blue and every Monday morning when I put on that shirt I thought of that lady at the maternity store (I agree with her, but still!).

6. My favorite cereal right now is Multi-grain Cheerios. I don't eat cereal as much as I used to though because I can't seem to finish a bowl without it getting soggy--too many distractions at breakfast time--getting the kids' breakfast ready and making Rhett eat without him getting up from the table a dozen times, making L's coffee, packing lunches, letting the dog in and out, etc. Now I usually eat the portion of the Poptart that Rhett doesn't eat (Alexee usually eats all of hers) and drink a glass of milk. Not exactly a healthy breakfast, I know.

7. I generally don't like to listen to music. This is crazy, I know. The first thing I do if I drive L's car is turn off the radio. I don't listen to music when I exercise like the rest of the world. I do love the worship music at church, I love to sing to the kids and hear the kids sing, and I'm sure there are other exceptions. I realize this is strange, but my Mom is the same way, so I guess I got it from her!

8. I've had the same eye glasses since college (at least). I really need to invest in some new ones I guess. I only wear them for a few minutes each night--from the time I take my contacts out until the time I turn off the lamp on my nightstand. I think if I bought some cute, stylish ones I might be willing to wear them a little more!

I guess I won't tag anyone, but if you want to play, please leave me a comment so I can read your list. :)

Alexee's Bow Holder

I finally got around to making Alexee her own hair bow holder. I used the castle idea from the border in her bedroom (above) for her canvas.


Modeling a few of her bows and the PJ top that she wanted to put on over her outfit:

Kids' Thanksgiving Feasts

The kids both had their thanksgiving feasts this morning at school. Rhett signed up for fruit and Alexee took rolls. I didn't get to stay for pictures because of my doctor's appointment, but I snapped a few photos of their Thankgiving art when we dropped them off.

His said, "My heart is thankful for my family" --Rhett
I LOVE this stuff--I will cherish it forever!And we're thankful for him! Here he is by his turkey, holding his bag of fruit cups for his class.
Each child had made their ideal holiday menu and the teacher typed them up and hung them in the hall. We thought R's was funny. Not much cooking time required!
Rhett's was very basic compared to his classmate, Josh's. I don't know if you can click on Josh's to read it all, but I laughed about the "green beans and jelly beans" being grouped right together. Kids are so funny. And root beer! :)
And here is our cute little pilgrim girl. She kept pointing to her handprint saying "turtey!"
Hope your Thanksgiving week is wonderful!

Ultrasound News

(profile of face, one arm up beside face)

The ultrasound was great this morning...everything looked healthy and right on schedule. We're excited to add another sweet...BOY...to our family! We got a good look! He had one of his little hands up beside his face like R & A did in their ultrasound pictures.

Rhett & Alexee were at MDO for their Thanksgiving parties this morning. When we picked them up, we let them open a little gift to show them pink or blue. Rhett said, "Blue! It's a boy!" He seemed excited. He asked how much longer until he gets here, and when I told him, he said that was too long.
Here's Lane showing them the ultrasound photos:

More blue!!!
Rhett took this one of us:
This is how most of our photo sessions go:

Now we can start thinking about the nursery and boy names!

Boxes, Christmas Cuties, 21 weeks

The boxes for our church's Thanksgiving food drive were due today, so yesterday Rhett went to the store with me to buy the needed items. I wanted him to be involved in the process and to understand where the food was going. Here he is riding below the cart before it got too crowded (this doesn't look comfortable--but he chose to ride there!).When we got home he sorted and packed everything for his box and Alexee's.
This was Alexee's contribution to the process...sitting in one of the donation boxes! Wouldn't someone be delighted to receive this cute little Thanksgiving turkey?

Because boxes are so much fun, I found a big one in the garage for them both to sit it.
We're rushing the Christmas season, but they wore Christmas outfits to church today. They looked so sweet that I just had to take their picture.
Look at Alexee's face! :( She wasn't too happy about the idea of having to snap a picture without the pink blankets.
Here's my weekly growth picture...21 weeks today. Hopefully everything will go as planned and I'll get to have my ultrasound tomorrow. Rhett is excited to find out. He's opened up a little bit to the possibility of having a boy now. I've been so sure that it was a boy all along, but now that it's time to find out, I'm doubting myself. I always guess everyone wrong--so we'll see if the trend continues! My parents have a little "bet" going on--Dad says boy, Mom says girl.

You are God alone

You are not a God in need of anything we can give, but You're the only God who's worthy of everything we can give.

From before time began, You were on Your throne. You are God alone.

You are unchangeable.

I sing this to Alexee whenever I get to put her to bed. She loves it and tries to sing it with me. I think this song states who God is in simple terms that hopefully she will begin to understand as she grows.

-LG

Head Stands

While the kids were visiting "Aunt Charla" (what Rhett calls her) yesterday, she taught them to do head stands. Rhett can do it now, and Alexee tries really hard! R wanted to practice this morning:

This morning we ran a few errands and went to a local pottery place for some Christmas painting. I was a little nervous about having Alexee in a store full of paint and ceramics, but she actually did fine once I let her out of the stroller. She sat at the table and ate marshmallows while Rhett painted. I gave her a brush and a tile to practice on.


My sister made me this cute notebook and checkbook cover for my birthday! Thanks, Micaela--I love them and I have already transferred my checks to the new book!

Welcome, new blogger

My friend Leslie just started a blog. She and Brad are expecting a baby girl in December, and they wanted to start a blog to keep friends and family updated on things at their house. Check out Avery Reese's precious nursery here.

Plan B...or C...or D

The day started off with a change of plans--no ultrasound (rescheduled for 11/24). So Lane went to study for his test, I took the kids to Charla's house and then went for the regular portion of my doctor's visit. After picking up the kids, we'd planned to go straight to an indoor play zone/pizza place to meet a few friends for a last playdate with the Partens before they leave for Houston right after Thanksgiving. Well, Ali called and said that Stacy's car wouldn't start, so we were on hold until we found out if they could drive there to meet us. So Ali, Stacy and the neighbor jumped the Tahoe and were on their way to the play zone, only to find out from Lianne that the place is closed until evening! So, the party was moved to Larry's Pizza for lunch! I had a haircut scheduled for this afternoon, and when the phone rang 30 minutes before the babysitter was due to arrive, I was sure it was her calling to tell me that she was sick and couldn't come! Thankfully that wasn't the case, and so I did get to go to get my hair cut. It was just one of those days.

The Parten sibilings--posing for a picture. We're going to miss them soooo much!
Six of the Eight kiddos in our lunch group today: Rhett, Lawson, Logan, Maddie, Garret & Alexee. (Not pictured: Lindy & Maylee who were, unlike Alexee, sitting quietly at the table. Alexee threw a glass pepper shaker (broke it in half)--covered us in pepper--and then hung out in the arcade with the boys and Maddie.)After dinner and baths tonight, we added the new Christmas lights and put the kids' ornaments on their tree. They were cute hanging the ornaments themselves. Alexee hung all of hers within about 2 inches of each other, but she understood the concept. Rhett was more strategic with the placement of his ornaments.

We found the box of clay ornaments that we made last year. I guess they looked like cookies to Alexee--she tried to eat a few!