Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. It was a great time of family, games, food, and fun.

Up first, we traveled to Chris’ mom’s house.  Chris’ siblings were there and that means cousin fun for Corbin.

Chris cut the turkey…it’s serious business.  See that face, that means business, watch out turkey.

And then, as tradition dictates, we help set up Christmas decorations that evening.  And by “we” I mean Chris, his siblings, and the kiddos.  The wives and GG sat and managed/directed the entire operation.  It’s a tough job, but luckily drinking was allowed on the job.

Then we played a rousing game of family charades.  Aunt Kati took on the role as coach for the kiddos.  They did a great job and we laughed, a lot!

Then we came home Friday afternoon to prep for my family’s thanksgiving at our house. 

Corbin helped me make thankful trees.  He and I wrote down things we were thankful for on the card and tied them to some sticks.  It’s one of those crafts that you really need to be skilled for

We were super excited because this year both of my cousins and their families were able to come!  We had a great time catching up.  And this year the kiddos were old enough to sit at their own table.  See, it’s just the grown ups.   (Minus my uncle who could not make it due to the weather.  Yikes, ice in November!?!  It’s been a long time since I remember this bad of weather on Thanksgiving.)

The kids colored, created pictures with stickers, and read books to baby Clara.

We also played games, a big hit was Bean Boozled.  So, if you haven’t played you spin and that tells you what color to pick.  That color could be one of two flavors.  One is a yummy flavor and one is gross.  So for example, black was either black licorice or skunk spray. 

My Aunt Lisa got skunk spray and promptly spit it out.  We could all smell the skunk spray, it was bad!

Another one was either vomit or bubble gum.  Corbin got vomit.  It was gross!!  He had an M&M chaser after that. 

Despite how grossed out and sad Corbin looks in that picture we all had really had fun playing the game! 

So, now it’s on to the Christmas festivities and it all begins tomorrow with a party at work and then this weekend we host two events.  What fun!

A little bit of everything…

Yesterday, we spent the day celebrating my niece’s 3rd birthday.  Corbin loved playing with his cousins and we loved being able to see family.

Happy Birthday, sweet Clara!

Chris, Corbin, and I all had the day off on Friday, so we did some Christmas shopping at the local toy store.  Corbin made him and I necklaces. 

We also spent time outside enjoying the great weather!  We took a walk and fed the ducks.  Corbin loves our neighborhood ducks.

The last few weeks Chris and I have been passing by each other.  Chris went on a work trip to California for 7 days.  We were both home 3 days and then I left for 5 days to go to a conference in Ohio.

I had some great experiences at the conference.  One, I got to eat at a Brazilian restaurant. It was a blast.  They came around with big slabs of all assortments of meat and then cut it for you and you use your personal set of tongs to put it on your plate. 

I also had some amazing ice cream.  Below are scoops of salted caramel, dark chocolate, and pistachio honey.  This was my supper one night and I would not have changed a thing…divine!  Perhaps worth another trip to Ohio

Then on our last night of the conference, they rented out the North Market, which is just a bunch of small eateries and shops.  There were free food tastings and drinks in the market.  It was a fun way to end the week.

I really was there for a conference, not just food, promise!  I won’t bore you with all the sessions and learning I acquired, but it was a beneficial time of learning.

I did get to see children’s author Sharon Draper, Kimberly and James Dean (Pete the Cat authors), and Brian Selznick (who wrote Wonderstruck, one of my favorite books).

I love hearing people’s stories and these authors had some interesting ones to listen to.  Brian (pictured below) was my favorite author to listen to because he created almost a magical, movie-like presentation.  His words were intertwined with music and pictures.  He had amazing timing, was funny, dramatic, serious, and inspiring…he gave me goose bumps.  It was awesome!

So, that’s a little bit of what’s been going on around here! Life is moving along at a rapid pace and we are just trying to hold on and enjoy the ride.

Halloween 2015

Another Halloween came and went, along with the month of October!

I know people say it all the time, but seriously where has this month gone?  I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and see that I’ve only blogged once this month!?!?

Luckily, we are a plan ahead family and by September Corbin had picked out his costume and we had it ordered.  He was a spider.

He had a Fall Party at school on Friday where they could put their costumes on over their clothes.  Luckily, there were plenty of moms to help everyone in and out of the costumes.  Phew, that’s a workout in and of itself.

For his party they played fall bingo, painted pumpkins, had snacks, and wrapped themselves as mummies.  There was much noise, giggles, sugar, and fun had all afternoon (Seriously, I was almost there 2 hours).

The school party was a kick off to the actual day of Halloween.  We traveled to Hutch and went trick-or-treating at the grandparent houses.  This took us the morning into early afternoon.  By the time we got home Corbin already had a huge bucketful of candy.  .

 

Gigi had candy and a US Map floor puzzle for Corbin. 

Our neighbors and another set of grandparents came over for a chili supper and then headed out for trick or treating. 

Corbin was SUPER excited to get out there and knock on some doors.  He had a great time!