Thanksgiving!

Watching the Macy's Parade

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite Holidays. I love waking up and getting breakfast started and curling up on the couch and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I remember watching it every year as a kid and my Mom always said it wasn't Christmas time until we saw Santa at the very end of the parade. This year Isabelle watched almost the entire parade with me. She loved the musical acts, the cheerleaders, the character floats and her favorite, the Rockettes, she was amazed by them. We got up and practiced our kicks during commercial breaks. There is nothing more fun than sharing something you loved as a child with your own children. It was fun to see her excitement!

After lunch we headed over to the Sheridan's house for a Thanksgiving feast and boy was it a feast. I have to say it was one of the best dinners I have ever had. I ate so much I couldn't move. Tommy deep fried a turkey, we had never tried that before and it was amazing! After dinner we played Rock Band which is always fun with large groups. We had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving with friends.

We have so much to be thankful for and we are thankful for you! Our friends and family!! We hope you had a wonderful day too!

The kiddos before dinner

The guys watching the bird...

The feast...

And it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without kids putting olives on their fingers....LOVE IT!

(Calista, loved the olives, if you can see she had stuffed several in her mouth)

Stone Soup FBC Preschool Thanksgiving

This morning Isabelle's preschool held a special event for the kids, called Stone Soup. It all started with a parade. Each class has an animal theme and Isabelle is in the Bears class. All the kids dressed up in their class theme and marched around the campus in a parade for the parents. Then we all went in to the auditorium and enjoyed Stone Soup, prepared by the kids the day before. The soup was so yummy! The auditorium was packed, and I was overwhelmed with joy the entire time. I am so thankful for Isabelle's preschool, her teachers, and the friends we have all made there.

Isabelle and Mrs. Ball

Isabelle and Miss Andrea
Isabelle and her buddy Eathan

The bears marching in the parade.

A Visit With Santa

(Click on the photo to get the full effect.)

Today I took the girls to visit Santa with my friend Rose and her kids, Jack and Abby. We decided to go early this year, we went last year a week before Christmas and it was busy. We made a good choice, there was no line and the kids got to visit with Santa while we looked through the photos taken. Calista wasn't to excited to visit with Santa as you can see, but she calmed right down as soon as I picked her up. I love that Santa spent time talking to the kids and answering their questions. Jack had a lot of good questions for Santa and kept him on his toes...Of course Isabelle asked Santa for the Princess Jasmine movie AKA Aladdin. The only bummer is that movie is in the Disney Vault... I had no clue she even wanted it. How are we going to pull this one off?

***UPDATE*** I got the movie! I got it off Amazon!! Thanks Sharee and Justin for emailing me!! I owe you guys!

Annual Christmas Shopping Trip

Yesterday I took the girls to Target to do our Annual Dollar Shopping Trip. I started this 2 years ago when Isabelle was looking through the dollar section at Target at Christmas time, and she picked up a toy and said, "Pops want this!" I thought it was a fun idea and so we she started a new tradition, where we picked out gifts for everyone in our family, from Isabelle.

This year we brought our list of family and she was so excited to walk up and down the aisles carefully picking out the perfect gift for each person on her list. We were there a very long time this year! Last year and the year before, I would say a name of someone on the list and she would pick something quickly, mostly something I think she wanted. This year was much different, a lot of thought went into each name on her list. I was impressed with some of the things she picked out for each person, still some gifts were chosen for people I think she would want herself, but I think she knows her crowd well enough to know who might share or play with her with the items she selected. Anyway, it was a fun afternoon of shopping with the girls and Isabelle couldn't wait to get home and wrap the treasures she found for the people she loves the most!

Mommy Post - follow your heART

I recently finished a project I have been working on and am very excited about. It is called follow your heART. It's a photography book all about hearts. Inspired by our friend Drew Himmelberger who has undergone several open heart surgeries and he is only 5 years old.

100% of the proceeds from this book will go to the Hearts of Hope. Hearts of Hope is a non-profit group that provides support and education to families of children born with congenital heart defects in the Sacramento area. I know that this support group has been invaluble to Drew and his family and many other families in the Sacramento area.

The people at Blurb loved my project and they have decided to give you all FREE SHIPPING!! Just type in HEARTSOFHOPE (all caps/case sensitive) at the check out and you are good to go! But hurry the discount is only available until November 24th. I personally think they make a great Christmas gift and support a great cause at the same time!! What are you waiting for? Click on the link below and start shopping!

follow your heART

By Photography by De...

Book Preview

Teef

Last week the girls went to the Dentist. This was Isabelle's 3rd time and she is a pro now! This was Calista's first trip and she was so good! She has 6 little teeth. All they really do for babies, is look in their mouth and count their teeth and then brush them. But she didn't mind any of it!

Isabelle loves going to the Dentist, they treat her like a queen there, she gets to pick a movie to watch on her own TV, she gets to choose the flavor toothpaste they use to clean her teeth, she got to pick out a new toothbrush for her and her sister, and not to mention at least a hundred stickers. Then right before we leave, she got to pick a couple of toys from the treasure box and they give her a balloon with a sugar free lollipop. LUCKY!! I wish my Dentist's office was that cool, I don't even get to pick what I watch on the TV...

The last time we were at the Dentist, they gave her flossers and showed her how to use them, she has a few crowded teeth in the back so he told her it was important to floss. Isabelle thinks it's fun. So when the Dentist asked Isabelle to show him how she flosses this time, she showed him and he was impressed. Yay Isabelle!!

Here is an interesting fact, Isabelle has her Daddy's teeth, she has the same slight underbite he has and Calista has crooked teeth just like her Mama, doesn't mean her permanent teeth will be crooked, but it's interesting...

Prayers

Isabelle has learned several cute little prayers from preschool, I always laugh when I hear her share them with us, cause they're so cute. Tonight I asked her if she would let me tape her saying them. She has the sweetest little voice and I want to remember it forever. Here she is sharing two of her favorite prayers.

The Superman Prayer... I love how she introduces herself, that was all her!

The Shark Prayer...

Special Delivery

We found this special delivery on our doorstep this evening, filled with lots of cute smiles and giggles... I think we'll keep her.