Hopper Thanksgiving

Today my side of the family had an early Thanksgiving feast! My parents and my sister and her family came to our house to celebrate.

Pumpkins on the entry-way table--the little sign says "Autumn"--I love it, my friend Heather gave it to me a few years ago.

We only have one tree in our yard, a Japanese Maple, so we were limited to one kind/color of leaves for decoration. Rhett and I grabbed a few from the tree to sprinkle on the table.
Rhett helped me a lot today!
I got these funny cups at Pokeno last Monday--they say "Gobble till ya wobble" and they have a turkey on the other side. They were fun to use today.
Me with my sister. My friend Mary Katherine mailed me this shirt for my birthday--it says "Thankful" on it, and I love it!!! I'll wear it all the time--I have so much to be thankful for!
All those hours of hard work--gone in an instant!

We got the newspaper a little too thick, so Mr. Turkey had a pretty tough exterior. Dad had to weaken him a little bit.
Dad emailed me this photo and the e-mail read:  Jamie, This picture more accurately reflects the atmosphere around the pinata event (compared to the one on your blog!)  --Dad         

I think he's right!  There was a lot of yelling "Watch out!"

 Lane secures the mop handle while Rhett and Jaiden go for the candy:
Kids' table (minus Jeryn--he was in the high chair). This was shortly before R & J were fighting or playing or something like that and knocked the table completely over. Food went everywhere, but Bogart came to the rescue a little later and cleaned it all up nicely.
Cute picture of Mic & Mario
Yummy feast. We are all thankful!
Turkey
Dressing
Sweet potatoes
Potato Casserole
Cranberry Fluff
Green Salad
Rolls
For dessert, Micaela made this yummy banana pudding cheesecake (thanks for the recipe, Kelly!) and Mom made me another "official" Red Velvet Birthday cake.
My family on the day before my birthday #32...wow, I feel old. Was I 24 when Lane and I got married--I think that's right? Thanks for the delicious cake, Mom--I love my Red Velvet Cake tradition!
I love the little hand at the bottom of the picture--someone was wanting a taste of that icing!
This is some of the craziness that went on tonight here. Mo & Granddad and the four grandkids. It was LOUD, but fun! Growing up, there were NINE grandchildren on my Mom's side (more on Dad's side--I'd have to stop and count...), so this was tame compared to what I grew up with. I love how the boys are poking Granddad in the mouth and the girls laughing.
How we got this picture, I'm not sure. Lane set up the tripod, and everyone was pretty much looking at the camera--very rare! This has been a fun day. I'm so very thankful for my loving family. Lord willing, we plan to spend actual Thanksgiving Day with Lane's family in Warren...so more food, family and fun to come! I just love this season. I don't want the October-November time frame to be over with...it's my very most favorite!  

One more step...Add candy!

We added three bags of small candy:
(Pictures of pinata portion of our Thanksgiving party with my family to follow in separate post.)

If you should decide to make your own turkey pinata, here's how we did it:

(Time consuming, but easy):

You'll need:
--a balloon
--a newspaper, cut into strips
--a bottle of liquid starch
--acrylic paints
--cardboard for feathers, wings, etc.
--accessories, if desired--such as eyes, beard, etc. :)

Directions:
--Blow up balloon. Cover balloon with strips of newspaper that have been dipped in the liquid starch. Do a few layers to make it sturdy enough once it dries (to hold the candy). ***LEAVE A SMALL HOLE THAT ISN'T COVERED WITH NEWSPAPER SO YOU'LL HAVE A SPOT TO POP THE BALLOON AND ADD THE CANDY LATER.
--Let it dry completely--takes about 2 days.
--Paint it, add wings, tail feathers, etc. (we used hot glue)
--Pop balloon once the "shell" hardens and add the candy through the small hole.

Gobble, gobble!

Gobble Gobble

This morning the kids and I went to the pediatric clinic to get flu shots. I could have gotten mine cheaper somewhere else I'm sure, but that would have meant a separate trip, plus R was wanting me to go first to show him that it didn't hurt. He didn't cry at all--he held my hand and was very brave. Alexee was a little more vocal, but it didn't last long. They got stickers and then we were off to get an ice cream reward at Cold Stone Creamery.

Showing his bandage and sticker:Alexee wanted to sample R's chocolate. I tried the "sinless sweet cream", which as you might guess, wasn't that great. I wasn't really feeling like eating yet anyway, so I should have just saved the money on my cup.
This afternoon, Rhett & I worked on our turkey pinata that we started a few days ago. I cut tail feathers, wings, a head and beak out of a cardboard box lid and Rhett painted them. We made a neck out of a toilet paper roll and a beard out of fake fur (that I had on hand for some odd reason). His beard has to be repositioned--I think it should actually be on his chest rather than right below his beak! We made feet out of pipe cleaners and hot glued him all together. I don't know how long he'll hold. Now all we have to do is add the candy and figure out a way to hang him up.

Sick day

I'm recovering from a stomach bug today--no fun! I first thought I'd just eaten something that didn't agree with the baby, but my arms and legs were aching today and I was having chills, so it must have been a little virus. The kids had MDO this morning, so I forced myself to get out and run a few errands. It was raining and traffic just goes crazy when it starts to rain around here. I took this with my phone at one of the many clogged stoplights. I picked the kids up, came straight home to fix R's lunch, then curled up on the couch for a few minutes before time to put A down for her nap. I guess she didn't have much sympathy for me--she went to the pantry and got a can of green beans and threw them at my stomach then climbed all over me! Rhett, however, was a great little doctor. While Alexee was napping (I prayed that she'd take a good nap today and thankfully, she did), Rhett covered me up with blankets, got me water, turned off lamps and got me juice. I asked him if he could get a juice box for me and he asked where they were. I told him the top shelf of the fridge, and he said, "I can't reach them, but NO WORRIES, I have my stool in here and I can climb up and get one." He sat beside me on the couch and watched cartoons and he'd occasionally ask me if I needed anything. So sweet! I told him I was so lucky to have such good help today or I wouldn't have felt better so quickly. Lane brought home a new box of 7up and a new box of popcicles--thanks for taking good care of me today!

Apples, chores, leaves, pinatas

This is a new recipe I tried yesterday. Lane and I both liked them.Alexee likes to help unload the dishwasher. I take out all the knives first, then let her bring the utensils to the drawer. She just tosses them in and I sort.

This is the prettiest tree on our route to MDO. I remembered to take my camera today so I could take its picture.
Rhett wants to make a turkey pinata, so we're going to try. I bought balloons and liquid starch and we saved an old newspaper. It's drying on the table now...we'll try to finish it tomorrow and post a picture (if it turns out to look anything like a turkey!?). The balloon body should hold the candy, then we'll make a head and tail feathers out of something--cardboard?

I love a good project!

Trip to the park

Yesterday morning we thought about going to the zoo, but it was pretty chilly, so we ran errands and ate lunch at Panera Bread instead. After A's nap, we decided that it had warmed up enough to go to the zoo for a little while before closing time. When we got to the exit, however, traffic was backed up forever and we realized that some sort of football game was going on at the stadium next to the zoo. So Plan B was to go to the park for a little while. When we got there, we noticed that it actually wasn't that warm out, but we played for a few minutes anyway. Rhett had handled the zoo disappointment very well, so we just didn't have the heart to say that it was too cold to stay at the park.

Alexee goes down the huge, enclosed slide with no fear!
Here goes Rhett:I thought it was cute that R wanted to catch her at the bottom:
More wrestling matches initiated by Alexee:
My 19 week pregnancy picture. The weeks are flying by! I've started to feel the baby move around a little bit, which is always so neat. Though I'm experiencing this for the third time (what a blessing!), I'm still in awe of God's miracle of life!

Fall Retreat

The kids & I just returned from a really fun trip with friends. Two college friends and their little boys joined us for a White River retreat. We had such a good time together--the kids all did great. We drove to Flippin Monday afternoon and spent two nights at the river house. Holly brought dinner for Monday night, and my Mom came down to see us and brought us a red velvet cake--yum! After breakfast Tuesday morning, we went outside and spent most of the day enjoying the beautiful weather. My parents loaned us their farm buggy, so we went on several site-seeing rides. On one of those rides we came across both a snake and a tarantula! I tried to run over the snake...in a non-enclosed vehicle...I was screaming and praying it didn't pop up over the side and land on my feet!!!! We only made him mad, and he slithered back into the grass. Just a few yards down the dirt road, Heather spotted a tarantula. We stopped to let the boys get a closer look at it. Tuesday evening my Mom and Grandparents came down and helped us with a camp fire--we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for the kids and we had chili. After the kids were asleep we had apple cider and watched some of the election day news. Wednesday morning H & H packed up to make the long drive back to Texas, and the kids and I went to Mom and Dad's for another night. Rhett helped Mom feed and made a trip to the shop with Dad when he got home. My aunt and cousin & my cousin's new baby boy came by for a visit, too. This morning we stopped by the barn for a quick pony ride before making the drive back home. It's been such a super fun week--I told Heather that I hope we can make this a fall tradition with the kids! It's always good to be home safely and sleep in my own bed though--we missed Lane and Bogart! Click here to see the photo album from our trip.

Kyla's Baby Shower

My friend Kyla from our Bible study was due December 18th...BUT, baby Zachary decided to be a Halloween baby instead of a Christmas baby! He was born October 29th, and the crazy thing is that he weighed 7 lb. 5 oz.! He should get to come home from the hospital in a few more days--Praise the Lord, he's doing very well! Kyla's baby shower was scheduled for today...and she was there!!! I was so impressed. She seems to be doing great!

The hostesses gave such a precious shower for her. The colors were lime green and blue with puppies everywhere (perfect because Kyla and her husband are HUGE dog people--they foster dogs from the Humane Society and have such a love for animals.) One of the hostesses made this cake/cupcake arrangement--I thought it was adorable! Can you see the little fondant dogs on top!?This was the floral centerpiece--it was BEAUTIFUL! I wish it was sitting on my dining table!
I'm sorry I didn't actually get a picture of Kyla. We arrived late and she was opening gifts, so I felt silly climbing over everyone to snap pictures!

Lane had to study again today, so the kiddos went with me to the shower. R's friend Abbie was there, and they're such big kids that they hung out in Charla's awesome loft playroom.


Alexee and Aubrie checking out the great gifts--"Wow, why didn't they have these when we were born!?"
Abbie & Rhett took a break for a cupcake and some lime green punch.
Congratulations, Tony & Kyla! We can't wait to meet sweet baby Zachary!

Sunday Misc.

Yesterday Lane had to study all day long. The kids and I played at home until after A's nap, then we made a trip to Target for a baby shower gift. We chose a toy for Alexee to buy with her Halloween money from her Grandparents, but Rhett wanted to make a separate trip to a local toy store to look for something. So we stopped there next. It's a neat store, but barely room to walk inside. Rhett had been shopping for about 10 minutes when he decided to climb behind a huge display cabinet of toy men and scare Alexee. You can probably guess where this is going. He knocked the huge display over and it came crashing down on Alexee (it was only made of heavy-duty cardboard, so she's fine) and the 10 zillion little boxes of soldiers piled into a heap on the floor. The employee heard it all of course and told us not to worry about it--she said she'd clean it up. I had Rhett apologize for the trouble, then we quickly went to the car. My nerves couldn't handle any more shopping--I told Rhett he could spend his toy money another day very soon...maybe he can do his shopping via the internet.

I've been busy painting for my friend Heather and her sister-in-law, Linsey. I plan to see Heather tomorrow and deliver all the paintings. Here are a few of them:

For Brooks' sports-themed room:
For Linsey's baby boy's room:
I tried, unsuccessfully, to make the kids' picture in their plaid outfits again today. This was on our way into church this a.m.
I'm 18 weeks today. Only 2 1/2 weeks until my ultra-sound! Any boy or girl guesses???