Yikes...we are already into the second week of December, and here I am finally getting around to writing the November blog post!! Well, as the title might indicate, November wasn't the best month for us! I am fairly certain that there was not one single day the entire month that at least one of us wasn't on some kind of medication or antibiotic! From stomach bugs to walking pneumonia and sinus infections with goopy eyes and puss pockets on throats, November set us all back for sure! In the midst of all the sicknesses though, we did manage to have a few fun events, including two birthday parties, and, of course, Thanksgiving celebrations! Aside from those fun times, and trying to make the best of our sick days at home, all I have to say is good riddance, November!!
We started the month off right with Cameron and Reagan Carter's 5th Birthday Party at Li'l Chef!
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| Look at these 2 cheeseballs in their chef hats :D |
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| Happy Birthday, Cameron! |
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| Tommy stirring the yeast into the water for the dough (I think LOL) |
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| Ethan spreading sauce on his pizza :) |
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| Happy Birthday, Reagan! |
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| Both boys chose to put pepperoni on their pizza....until it was time to eat, and then off they came! |
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| Patting out sugar cookies! |
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| And, what are sugar cookies without frosting and sprinkles to decorate them with?! |
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| Tommy, AKA "the ham" had no trouble finding another little boy to yuck it up with ;) |
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| YUMMMMMY!! |
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| Happy Birthday twins! |
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| Group photo op! |
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| Ethan is soooooo excited ;) |
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| Haha, I mean, look at that face from my little guy!! |
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| Silly shot!! |
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| This is how I found Ethan post-birthday party nap :D |
The very next day, Tommy was off to another birthday party with Daddy this time. This was his very first party for a school classmate :)
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| Gotta love a good old fashioned "kids table"! |
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| Tommy having a sword fight with the birthday girl, Abbi :) |
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| The trampoline was obviously a big hit! |
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| Bye bye pink balloon and Abbi's party! |
So, after back-to-back birthday parties,
it was time for some fun at home while we all tried to recover from our sicknesses!
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| Daddy makes the best horse! |
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| Ethan is our king, Ethan is our king (HP fans??) |
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| Ethan doesn't make the best horse ;) |
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| Ahhh, some much needed chocolate and a night out with the girls! |
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| Happy Birthday, Sara!! |
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| Andddddd, we're back in our pjs :) |
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| Christmas stickers in November--sure, why not?! |
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| Okay, he looks a little too grown up in this picture to me! |
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| Yay for Wednesday nights with Grandma!! |
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| Their favorite seasonal activity... |
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| decorating Grandma's kitchen window with new window clings! |
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| Happy Birthday, Nate! |
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| Haha, this picture kinda cracks me up! |
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| And, we're back home...sick day for all = pizza in bed :) |
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| Once the kids felt better, they were off to Grandma's house again! |
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| Pilgrim hats... |
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| and, a tea party--what more could you want?! |
Okay, here's a "funny" little story for you. So, after an entire month of being sick, and blah blah blah...it was time for the boys to have their Thanksgiving feasts at school. I thought Ethan's party was on Monday, and Tommy's was on Tuesday....thought. I was in charge of making cupcakes for Tommy's class feast, which I was fully prepared to do Monday night. And then, tragedy struck! Davey calls me from picking the boys up from school on Monday, and breaks the news to me that I had missed their feast. They had sent home a date change the previous week, and I had apparently totally missed it :( I was heart-broken!! It is crazy what having a kid will do to you sometimes! I immediately started crying like a baby--I felt SO terrible. All I could imagine was a table full of Pilgrims and Indians (like the one pictured below), eagerly awaiting their special cupcake from Tommy's Mom....and, NOTHING! Who would have thought that forgetting cupcakes could make a grown woman cry?! Anyway, one kind of cute thing did happen out of all of this. So, I was still kind of blubbering when the boys arrived home (despite my best efforts to stop--really!). Tommy walks in the door, sees me crying, and immediately starts to cry himself, while running towards me crying out, "IT'S OKAY, MOMMY!! IT'S OKAY!!" My heart melted even more at that point, and I dried my tears (btw, the Honey Badger.....didn't care!). Anyway, I obviously took the cupcakes in the next morning as I had planned, and all was well, even though Tommy did rat me out for crying to the teacher--"Mrs. Terri!! Mommy brought the dessert today, because she was crying and she thought it was for tomorrow!" Thanks, buddy, thanks :)
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| Look at Tommy wearing his cute little headdress for the second straight day to make his Mommy feel better!! |
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| I mean, how can you not love this face?! |
Shoooooooo!! After a sick and tiring month, it was finally time to head to Granny's house for Thanksgiving!! Thankfully, we were at least on the mend by this point, and we had a lovely day, despite the FREEZING weather!! The boys were able to catch up a little bit on some lost sleep on the way down to Burgaw!
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| Granddaddy provided the majority of the entertainment for the boys! |
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| Is there a bigger goose in the world?! |
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| Ethan in "jail".... |
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| AKA...Tommy's favorite game :D |
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| Look at those jailbirds go! |
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| The jailer doesn't seem to broken up about the escape ;) |
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| My cousin-in-law (kind of, I guess?) Anna, and her step-daughter, Ivy (my second cousin, I think?) |
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| My big cousins, Brandon and Ryan :) |
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| This time with their Dad, my Uncle Allan |
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| Nolan was the BMOC (big man on couch!) |
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| Playing jail apparently never gets old.....0_0 |
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| CAUGHT YOU RED HANDED! |
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| My cousin, David, with his dog, Bud :) |
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| We were there too! |
All of these pictures were captured by my Uncle Jim, who is famous (infamous?!) for always making everyone take family pictures on Thanksgiving :D We all "complain" about them, but I am definitely glad he takes them every year!!
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| Happy Thanksgiving! |
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| Uncle Rodney, Aunt Denise, and Madison (Elizabeth had already left!) |
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| The Merritt clan! |
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| Love this picture of Nolan, Laura, and Tommy!! |
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| The Hayes fam! |
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| Granny, Aunt Joy, Mom, and Aunt Donna :) |
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| The Enright clan! |
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| Uncle Jim got to sneak in for a picture with his daughter, Katie! |
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| Happy Thanksgiving, from the whole gang! |
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| The "kids" (which is currently high school and younger!) |
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| Morgan, River, Andrew, Ivy, Tommy and Ethan :) |
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| Ethan is so thrilled! Thanks for taking care of them, Ivy! |
After we left Burgaw, we headed home for a brief potty break,
and then off to Granny Howard's house for Thanksgiving #2 with the Catchings' side!
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| Tommy and his best bud, Papa :) |
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| Ethan was easily wooed by Aunt Becky and her pink phone! |
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| Meanwhile, Papa Bill looked like he was still recovering from their meal earlier :) |
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| Hi Grandmother! |
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| Becky and Ethan playing games on her phone, and Steven trying to be a part of it :D |
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| The ladies plating up some desserts for us! |
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| Time for a few family shots! |
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| The boys were starting to get pretty punchy by this point :D |
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| Heyyyyyy, good lookin'! |
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| Silly Papa Bill wasn't helping! |
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| Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night! |
I have to again brag on Woodhaven--they come up with the coolest crafts!
Here are my favorites from this month!
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| Ethan's handprint turkey <3 |
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| A collage of Ethan's Thanksgiving themed crafts, including 2 from Grandma's house! |
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| Okay, so I was really proud of this one. Ethan painted this all by himself (watercolors), but I was super impressed that he chose the right colors for almost everything (there is one pink apple), and pretty much painted within the lines! |
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| Keeping with the watercolor theme, here is a beautiful fall leaf painted by Tommy! |
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| And, a montage of Tommy's thanksgiving crafts! He colored the turkey in the middle all by himself at Grandma's house. This is BY FAR the best job of coloring he's ever done--we were so proud of him!! |
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| And, finally, Tommy's Happy Thanksgiving place mat! He cut out all of the shapes himself! |
