A November to be Thankful for!

 November got off to a nice start.  The weather was great, and our family was able to enjoy lots of time outdoors.  At school Macie took school pictures, and we were all impressed with how well they turned out- Macie is quite photogenic!

Even at home in pajamas I can appreciate a good pose.

Presley has continued to grow this month- she is so big that Mom had to move her into a rear facing toddler seat because she outgrew her infant seat.  We got a picture of her first time in the new seat, and she seemed really excited!

She has perfected the art of sitting up, and is no longer a weeble wooble.  Presley loves being able to sit up and interact with us- she is quite the ham!

She has started to babble, and can say Ma Ma very well.  She says Da Da from time to time, and it is so cute to hear her little voice.  She is the most vocal in the car when Macie and I are singing along with the radio.

She has also started mimicking sounds.  Listen as she tries to copy Uncle Will's silly laughter...

Macie and I are having SO much fun with our baby sister.  We love that she is no longer "breakable."

Macie has been enjoying her time at school in the Rainbow Room.  She has made lots of wonderful friends, and goes to school everyday with a big smile on her face.

On days when Graham is with them after school, they go to parks and play outside.  Macie and Graham have become really good buddies!

 

Presley really enjoys going to the park and being outside- she is finally big enough to have fun on the swings!!!

 

We love her enthusiastic chuckles!

 On days when they go to gymnastics Presley eagerly watches as the big kids run, jump, and play.

Seeing the kids move has encouraged her to give it a try.  So far all she does is say back and forth, but its a start!

One of the coolest things Presley does now is EAT!  Despite the fact that she still doesn't have a single tooth, she can eat with the best of them.  Mom jsut mashes up our dinner, and Presley shoves it in her mouth.  So far her favorite is lasagna.

Watching her eat provides tons of entertainment for the family!

 

After dinner Presley is covered with food, so Mom puts her in the "bath" while she cleans the kitchen.  Presley loves splashing around in the warm water!

Mom recently tried giving her a bath in an actual bathtub.  Presley was must have been thirsty, because she spent the whole time in the bath trying to drink the water from the shower head.

By Mid November our schedule got crazy!  Mom signed up to do the winter boutique at school, so she was busy making bows and hairpieces morning, noon, and night.  During the day Presley would sit on the floor and play with Mom's material!

Poor Mom ended up making over 250 hairpieces; we spent lots of time riding bikes and playing in the driveway while she worked.

 Because we had been SO busy, Thanksgiving snuck up on us.  Mom scrambled to get things together at Costco for our school feasts and functions, not to mention the feast for our family.  Uncle Will joined her and Presley at Costco and found it comical that Mom navigated Costco wearing Presley and didn't skip a beat.

Presley didn't seem to mind.

While Mom was busy shopping, Macie and I were at school working on our holiday events.

My class worked together to create a big feast just like the Pilgrim's had.  Here I am in the vest and hat I made,

and here is the place setting that I made.

The day before our holiday break, all of the Kindergarteners sat down together and had our very own Thanksgiving feast- it was AWESOME!!!

The next day our family watched Macie and her friends perform songs for the holidays.  Mom and Dad were SO proud of Macie.  She stood front and center and belted songs out to the crowd!!!

She worked up quite an appetite, and shoveled down a plate of pumpkin pie  as soon as she sat down.

After her performance we joined her friends on the playground and enjoyed the beautiful Arizona weather.

 Thanksgiving morning the family spent a lazy morning reading books and playing.  When it was time for breakfast everyone gathered at the table, and Presley was SUPER excited to be included at the "big kids" table.

After breakfast Mom cooked our feast, and Hayley, John, and Uncle Will joined us in the early afternoon to sit down for our Thanksgiving dinner.  I put on my special outfit for the celebration.

Before eating, both Macie and I gave thanks.

Macie gave a rendition of her school performance,

and I had the honor of saying grace for the family.

We all sat down on our new dining room table and ate until our tummies were ready to burst.

Presley woke up from her nap while we were feasting, so Mom brought her to the table.  Still dressed in her jammies, Aunt Hayley fed her some mash potatoes and she gobbled them down.

After we ate, the whole family enjoyed snuggling together.  We played board games with everyone, and enjoyed a lazy evening.

Before the end of the day we posed for a few pictures together.  Aunt Hayley was the only one able to get up from the couch- everyone else was to full to move (:

Thanksgiving was a nice, relaxing day, and we were grateful to spend it with one another.  The upcoming month of December is going to be CRAZY, so this relaxing time was much appreciated.  Tomorrow our family is going to get our Christmas tree and start decorating for the holiday season- we can't wait!!!!!!

The Long Month of October

We started the month of October with a trip to McDonald Ranch with my school.  Our class had to wear orange, so Mom whipped up an orange dress, since orange is not a prominent color in my closet.

Mom was SO excited that Macie and Presley got to come along and join in the fun!

I was super excited to spend a fun day with my class.

 

There were all sorts of fun things to do at the ranch.  We ran through hay mazes, met animals at the petting zoo, and played games associated with the old west.

 Presley slept most of the time.

When she woke up we all took a hayride our to a pumpkin patch where we got to run around and pick out a pumpkin to take home.

Presley enjoyed the ride.

We all posed with our pumpkins before heading back.

 

 We took a train to the picnic area and Presley sat with Uncle Will.  She sure enjoyed the fun ride!

After lunch we played around the ranch.  Macie and I panned for gold, and both found some treasures!

 

 

Before leaving we took a few silly pictures...

 Even Presley joined in the picture fun!

That night we carved a few of our pumpkins.  Mine was a cat and Macie's was an Angry Bird.

Later on in the week Macie has her pumpkin patch at school.

She picked an awesome pumpkin!

On the weekend we carved some more pumpkins with our friend Jayden from down the street.

At school I participated in the annual Apex Fun Run.  Mom brought me a special running outfit for the big day.

Macie, Presley, Uncle Will, and Mom all showed up to watch as I ran my 28 laps.

Macie didn't find it too entertaining...

The parents were asked to join in the last few laps to help encourage the kids.  Mom wasn't planning on running, but kicked off her heels and joined in the fun!

After the run I posed with my class.

Once we went back to our classroom, Macie stayed behind and ran a few laps on her own.

Later that week we had a short day at school, so Mom decided it would be fun to take a day trip to the Museum and Science Center with the Ketcham's.  Presley couldn't wait to go see what all the fuss was about.

 

When we go there we posed for a picture before running in to play.

 While we were running around in the climber Mom took Presley and they had some fun of their own.

Upstairs we all enjoyed the car wash, and Mom drove one of the trikes- we couldn't believe she could fit.

Presley had a great time at the museum, but Presley always seems to have a good time where ever she is; In the bath...

Sitting up...

In the jumper...

 

With Aunt Hayley on the couch...

 

Playing with her toys...

Or being accosted by her sisters...

 

With Halloween coming up Macie and I played a lot of dress up.

 Sometimes we dressed up Presley too!

While I was at school this month, Mom and Macice spent lots of time reading together.  Macie is starting to show an interest in reading and has finished the first two books in her BOB series:

Towards the end of the month we went to Lifetime for the Spooktacular.  We weren't allowed to wear our Halloween costumes for this year, but Mom did let us choose from past years.  Macie went as an Angry Bird,

and I went as a rockstar.

Even Dad dressed up for the event.

The Spooktacular was awesome- we got to decorate cupcakes, and boy were they yummy!

 

  I think it was Macie's favorite part of the night.

 

After eating, we got our faces painted.  I got Batman, and Macie got Spiderman.

When the rock wall opened up, I jumped in line and waited for a turn.  Check me out...

Mom was impressed with how well I did.

 

Macie was too young to try the rock wall, but hung on some ropes and swung instead.

 We had a blast running around with our friends having some Halloween fun!

The week of Halloween was a tough at home.  I came down with strep throat and poor Mom had some medical issues of her own.  The two of us spent lots of time lounging together on the couch with movies and ice cream while Macie, Presley, and Dad held down the fort.  

On the day of Halloween, both Mom and I gathered up some strength, picked ourselves up form the couch, and started to work on my Halloween costume.  Macie chose to be a Halloween Cat, and Mom finished her costume the week prior.  My costume was a little more work, since I wanted to be a zombie bride.  Poor Mom sat at the sewing machine for an hour to make the big tulle wedding dress that we would destroy.  

Mid day, Macie, Mom, and I all went outside with some fire, blood (fake), water, and dirt and went to work destroying her creation.  Boy, were we EXCITED for the upcoming destruction.

 Here we are throwing dirt and blood on my costume.

 

After Mom had some fun with flames we let my costume dry and went inside to eat and get ready.  When Dad got home we were ready to go:

Zombie Bride

 

 

Halloween Cat

Chicken

 We couldn't wait to get in the car and go!

Because of our long week prior, we only stayed out for about an hour.  Both Macie and I had a fun time seeing friends, getting candy, and hanging out with the family.

Mom kept making chicken noises at Presley, and boy did that make her laugh!

We got stopped numerous times by people telling me how beautiful my dress was- believe it or not, that upset me!  I didn't want to be pretty, I wanted to be scary.

After some coaching by Mom, I changed my demeanor.  

That didn't solve my problem, so next year I am going to have to look even scarier.

As you can see, there was NOTHING scary about Presley- she was all smiles all night!

 Before ending the night, we stopped and posed for a Halloween picture with Dad.

The month of October was a roller coaster for all of us, but we ended it together as a family, grateful to be with one another.  Moving forward we are taking the time to appreciate all we have.  We look forward to the upcoming holiday months, and all the fun the season will bring.