Thanksgiving Lunch

Thanksgiving lunch at my Aunt Kathy's....
Like my earlier post, I tried to get candid shots of all the family. And like my earlier post, I missed several people... bummer (again!)

Reagan


Baby Ali & Kelly


Rob & Reagan


Nicholas

Ella & Nicholas

Nan & Aunt Darlene

Reagan

Reagan, Mike, Ella, Nicholas, & Austin

Nicholas & Ella (decorating Christmas ornaments with glitter pens - Aunt Kathy is very brave!)

Reagan & my mom

People I missed: Andrea, my dad, Jason, Kathy & Jeff

Thanksgiving Dinner

Aaahhhh.... Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for. We have our health, great jobs, great friends, and awesome family.
Each year, we spend lunch with my family and dinner with Mike's family. This year, I decided that I was going to take pictures of all our family. Well, my picture-taking skill is something that I'm not thankful for. I was trying for candid shots. I got some good ones (and some bad ones). The worst part is that I didn't get everyone... bummer!

Janette, Reagan, & Aunt Linda


Uncle Donnie


Connor


Janette & Reagan

Dillon & Brad

Zach & Keith

Mike

Pappy

Lauren (yeah, that's me in the background... I have no idea who actually took this picture)

Reagan & Grammy

Missing pictures: Danika & Jodi (sorry)

Interview with Nicholas

Q: How tall do you think you are?
A: A grown-up

Q: What are thankful for?
A: I'm thankful for my nose

Q: What do you want for Christmas?
A: A teddy bear

Q: What do you want for your birthday?
A: A water gun

Q: Who are your best friends?
A: Shannon, Hailey, and Jada

Q: Why don't you sleep in your bed all night?
A: Because I'm afraid of the dark at night

Q: Why are you afraid of the dark?
A: Make sure no monsters come under my bed

Q: What's your favorite food?
A: Candy and donuts

Q: Who's your favorite football team?
A: The Redskins

Q: Who's your favorite soccer team?
A: The Green T-Rex

Q: What do you like to watch on TV?
A: The Wiggles

Q: What is your favorite toy?
A: Uno Moo

Q: What is your favorite sport?
A: Basketball, soccer, baseball, softball

Q: What do you like best about Reagan?
A: I love her

Halloween Costumes

I thought I should get my Halloween pictures posted before Thanksgiving is here (last day!)...

Things were so chaotic the evening of trick-or-treat that I forgot to take pictures. So, I re-dressed Nicholas and Reagan a week later just to take pictures. You can see that they're thrilled about it...

Reagan was a bumblebee (a hand-me-down from Nicholas's first Halloween). Nicholas was Woody from Toy Story. He was upset that he didn't have a yellow shirt like Woody. (I thought he looked pretty darn cute anyway!)

Cheese Murray

So, I mentioned before that Nicholas loves The Wiggles. He watches them 'On Demand' all the time (well, as much as I allow him). Anyway, he pretends that he's Murray by 'playing' the guitar (If you have Rock Band, you may notice the guitar).

On this day, Mike was digging through storage and found an old cheese head from one of his business trips to Wisconsin.... So, Nicholas made "Cheese Murray".




He loves to be silly... Loves to make Reagan laugh... Loves to make Mommy and Daddy laugh

Cubbies

Here's my new (and very proud) Awana Cubbie...






Awana actually started several weeks ago, but it conflicted with soccer. So, Nicholas is just now starting to attend. Grammy is such a saint... She picks Nicholas up and drops him off every Wednesday evening. She even makes sure she has snacks for the car ride (which lasts about 5 minutes)!
Each week, we read stories and memorize bible verses to earn patches for Nicholas' Cubbie vest. (I was a little nervous about having to sew patches on his vest. Thankfully, they just stick on!)

Sleeping Kids

Last night was the first night in months (or years) that I was not woken up by kids crying, yelling, whining, or throwing up. I can't believe it... I hope it is a sign of what's to come!

Reagan definitely takes after my side of the family - She loves to sleep! Recently she has been sleeping 13-15 hours a night. How awesome is that?

Nicholas, on the other hand, takes after Mike's side of the family - He thinks 'sleep is over-rated'. (Mike actually says that... all the time!) Mike has never set an alarm - and he gets up at 4:30am to go to work. Anyway, Nicholas has been waking up and coming to our bedroom 3-4 times every night for the past several months. Sometimes he's scared. Other times I think he's just bored. I tried everything... I was very firm, not allowing him to sleep in our bed. Finally, I googled, "How to get my 3 year old to stay in his bed". I read about a mother who bought her child a digital clock for his room. She put black electrical tape over the minutes, so that her son could only see the hours. She told him that he needed to stay in bed until the clock showed a 7. So, I thought I would give it a try. I bought a cheap digital clock at Target yesterday and did the electrical tape thing. I explained to Nicholas that he needed to stay in bed until the clock showed a 6 (We get up earlier than the lady on the internet who's idea I stole.) When the clock showed a 6, I told him that it meant it was morning and he could get out of bed. To my surprise, Nicholas stayed in his bed all night! Yippee!! Night 1 was a success. I still can't believe it!

I'm hoping that the novelty of the new digital clock doesn't wear off.
I'm thankful that Reagan is a great sleeper.
I'm wondering what me parents did when they couldn't google things.