Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Family and Friends!  A^4 had so much fun over the holiday weekend!  We went to Grandma Collene's Wednesday night so that we could help prep for Turkey Day.  After celebrating with Grandma on Thursday, we then went to Grandpa Chuck's for a second Thanksgiving dinner on Friday.

Grandma showing Ayson and Ryleigh how to tear bread apart for stuffing






Kaela, Addie, and Ryleigh "horsing" around.



Cousin sandwich!  Notice that Addie is in the left corner of the picture (most likely sucking her thumb as it was getting pretty late in the evening at this point)



Relaxing Thursday morning before the festivities begin.  A^4 and Auntie Julie and family all stayed the night at Grandma's.



Daddy shot a 6 point buck Wednesday afternoon and a few of the kids posed with the deer On Thursday.



Three generations of redheads: Babs (Uncle Dan's mom (Julie's husband's mom)), Mommy, and Addie.



GREAT Grandma Barb (Grandma Collene's mom) and Addie



Uncle Jay (Grandpa Ric's son), Uncle Dan, and all of the cousins.



Addie licking mashed potatoes off of the beater.



Rainbow jello!  A specialty of Auntie Jen's...NOW Jen will have to make it for every major holiday :)



Grandma Collene had 21 people for dinner!!



Addie was snuggling with Auntie Jen (Jay's wife) Thursday night.



On Friday, Uncle Shawn came over for a quick visit.  The kids were all over the "new" uncle" after having crawled all over Daddy, Jay, and Dan Wednesday through Friday.



On Friday afternoon, A^4 and Auntie Julie, Uncle Dan and kids then headed over to Grandpa Chuck's for a Thanksgiving dinner with him (Pama was working but we were sending her good thoughts!!)...Mommy did not snap any good picks of Grandpa with the family...just this one of Auntie Julie and Addie.



On Saturday, A^4 headed home and then we went to a Christmas tree farm so that we could pick out our tree.
Ayson making a snow angle while Daddy checked out our options.



It was cold and windy (the farm is on top of the hill and the wind was fierce!) and Addie insisted on wearing her sunglasses to protect her eyes from the wind.



Our tree!



Then on Sunday, Ayson and Addie helped decorate the tree.






Auntie Holly sent TWO big boxes of clothes for the kids.  THANKS Holly!!!  Ayson loves the costumes: the Buzz Light Year, Firefighter, and Army overalls were a big hit!



THREE Buzz Light Years: Ayson, the action figure, and the scooter!



Sunday was also GREAT Grandma Roe's 94th birthday and Mommy called Grandma to wish her a Happy Birthday and to let her know that A^4 was thinking of her.
This picture was taken Sunday morning at Great Grandma Roe's favorite breakfast place in the Soo.



Ayson's school work/crafts:



Ayson was told to give the cornucopia to "someone special"...well, Ayson wanted to give it to a little girl.  Daddy suggested that Ayson bring it home to Mommy :)  It is now hanging in our kitchen (the picture is sideways and would not rotate)!



Harvest corn:






A fill in the blank story to go along with an interesting cut out picture.



And and upside down turkey.  Mommy thinks Ayson has made somewhere around 5 to 7 turkeys. Ayson asked Mommy if we are keeping all of his art work...Mommy responded, "why yes, I take a picture of everything so that we can recycle the paper..."  Ayson was not too upset with that answer. He did ask for some of his favorite creations to be taped to his wall in his bed room.  Mommy can live with that, for now :)

Happy Birthday Shawn and Kaela

A^4 had an uneventful week.  We live 3 hours east of Buffalo and 1.5 hours south of the Tug Hill area so we missed the lake effect "snowpocalypse."  We ended up with about an inch of snow but that totally disappeared with the balmy weekend.  We spent the weekend with family for a surprise birthday party for Uncle Shawn and then we celebrated Kaela's 7th birthday.  Uncle Shawn and Kaela share the same birthday!


Lincoln Log time with Daddio!



Dancing with Daddy...look at that smile!



Notice Addie on the floor...she is not smiling now!  She was NOT happy that Mommy was dancing with Ayson.



On Friday afternoon, we headed to Grandma Collene's for a surprise 50th Birthday party for Uncle Shawn AND for a family birthday party for Kaela (7 YEARS old!!)

Addie snuggling with Grandma on Saturday :)



Presents!



Birthday cake.  Afterwards, Addie kept singing "Happy Birthday Kaela" to herself and to Mommy.



Uncle Adam showing Kaela how to use the suction cup bow and arrow set.  We also got her the safety glasses and orange vest.  Kaela requested "hunting gear" (just like her Daddy's).



Addie had fun going between all of the Grandparents:  Pama, Addie, and Grandpa Chuck.



"Grandma Babs" and Addie




















That evening, all the kids ended up back at Grandma Collene's so that the BIG boys could go hunting in the morning.
Lucky Grandma got to sleep with all the grandkids...except Addie (she still sleeps in Mommy and Daddy's room :)  Curran ended up sleeping with Auntie Julie so no kids fell out of bed this time :)



Once we made it safely home on the balmy 50 degree Sunday, we went to the park for a bit of fresh air.  Ayson was busy putting rocks on the teeter totter so as to balance the teeter totter perfectly in the middle.  After a bit of work, he did it!



Addie wanted to swing in the toddler swing, so Mommy had to take off her boots (so as to get her feet/legs inside).  Addie's response: "Brrr, it's cold!"



Some of Ayson's school work:
This week was the letter "H"...so the below is a HOG



Mommy likes all the colors that Ayson put on the leaf!

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day!  Mommy explained to the kiddos that GREAT Grandpa Roe, Grandpa Roe, and Uncle Alek were/are soldiers and help keep us and our country safe.  Mommy reminded the kiddos of the field of American Flags that we saw in Skaneateles (on the way home from Grandma's last weekend).

The week went by in a blur with Daddy away for another meeting.  Mommy and the kids had Tuesday off for Veteran's Day and then the rest of the week just flew by and Mommy did not realize until Sunday that she did not take any pictures after Tuesday!!


Ayson built a robot out of a card board box.  We used toilet paper tubes for stumpy arms and he used toy bolts and screws for eyes and ears.




Veteran's Day was unbelievably gorgeous!  Temps started in the 40s and peaked in the low 60s.
We spent as much time as possible outside.






There was a bit of a breeze so Mommy showed the kiddos how to spread milkweed seeds (the white spots on the grass are the milkweed seed tufts).



Ayson posing with a milkweed pod.



That afternoon, Kahnmere came over to play with our 2 while Beverly ran errands.  Mommy wanted to give Beverly a break for the afternoon...having responsibility of 2 kids while being almost 40 years old is one thing but Mommy can't imagine taking care of a 4 year old while 60!!!  Beverly has a BIG heart!!!  The kids had a blast playing in the fort and drawing with side walk chalk.






Daddy and Ayson went to Grandma Collene's for opening day/weekend of deer gun season.  Auntie Julie, Uncle Dan, and the kids were there too.  Mommy stayed home with Addie and RELAXED (it was nice:)

The kiddos eating ice cream with homemade hot fudge.



Ayson sitting with Daddy in Daddy's hunting spot.  Daddy saw a bunch of deer but did not bring get a shot...next weekend...



Ayson's school work:






An upside down toothbrush



A picture that Ayson painted for Daddy



A picture Ayson colored while at Grandma's.  Mommy loves the colors, Big Guy!