oh Christmas tree..

Our tree is up! Aidan was such a big help decorating the tree today.. we loved how he had his little Santa hat on the whole time!
Aidan loves all of the lights, and got VERY upset when Mommy wanted to turn a lamp on so she could read the newspaper tonight! :)

turkey day fun..

For Thanksgiving, we went to Coldwater to visit & eat dinner with my step-dad's family. Aidan had his first taste of deep fried turkey.. it was delicious!

After dinner, Aidan was promised a trip out to Uncle Jeff's chicken coop!
(He was told about this all week, and was very excited about it!)


..waiting for the chickens to be let out..


..the picture doesn't do the rooster justice, he was so pretty! (..er, handsome..)


..helping Uncle Jeff gather up eggs! ..and cracking all of them too! :)

Tot School- Letter B

putting buttons on his B..


Aidan has mastered his block sorter, and now likes to try to stuff shapes down the wrong holes!


making banana muffins with Mommy! Aidan LOVED
this..and was very interested in helping out with everything!

practicing with his lacing beads.. and getting frustrated with them too!
I don't think Aidan likes these very well!

We also read tons of books & did some bird watching with our super cool homemade binoculars (toilet paper rolls!)

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I'll do better next week! :)

an award!

It's my first (and probably only!) blog award given to me by Gretchen!.. I think the last award I received was one of those Book-It awards in middle school, you know, the ones that you could redeem at Pizza Hut for free pizza.. for reading SO many books? ..yeah, I know, I was a nerd! :)

Thank you so much Gretchen.. I absolutely love reading your blog, and you should check it out too!

Here are the details:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link to their blog.
2. Share 10 honest things about yourself.
3. Present this award to 7 other whose blogs you find brilliant in design or content.
4. Tell those 7 people they have been awarded.

10 Honest Things About Me:

1. I love to blog.. I love to post what is going on in our little lives! I also follow WAY too many blogs, and stay up far too long at night trying to catch up with everything going on with everyone!

2. I am addicted to PostSecret.. I have been for years. I love that you can read others secrets & sometimes relate to them, it's nice to know that we are ALL human! (if you check out the PostSecret blog, some of the posts may contain un-edited content..just a warning!)

3. Oh man, I am lazy.. I sometimes will try to get Aidan to go back to bed after he gets up in the morning. It is almost NEVER successful.

4. Before becoming a mommy, I had long hair. Long, naturally curly hair that I would spend over an hour a day straightening! After Aidan was born, it was chopped off, and I am embracing my yucky curls.. I just don't have time to care about my hair anymore!

5. I am a crazy coupon clipper, and get insanely excited when I can get a product for free, or next to free.

6. Tony & I were married in Las Vegas.. it was one of the most wonderful and memorable things that I have ever done.. no wedding stress, and being able to spend a whole week in Vegas with my new hubby was so much fun!

7. My folded laundry has a terrible time making it to the closet and the dresser drawers, I have no idea why I am so lazy about putting laundry away.

8. I love donkeys. I have no idea why.. just do.

9. I am spiritually single. I go to church every week by myself, and it is horribly frustrating... I will continue to pray, and know that I am not alone.
I also take comfort in knowing that He is speaking to Tony, he just chooses not to hear Him yet!

10. ..this list of 10 things was very hard to come up with.. I am glad it wasn't 20. :)

Now, here's 7 friends I'd like to nominate!

Lisa
Sarah
Lindsay
Laurie
Allison
Jennifer

Michelle

happy thanksgiving!

We are so thankful for our family and friends, we hope you have a wonderful & blessed Thanksgiving!

halleluiah!

I don't think I have been this excited in a long time.. since we don't have a dishwasher, I have spent WAY too much time washing all of Aidan's annoying sippy cups.. scrubbing every crevice.. rinsing & cleaning them again.. well, NO MORE!

I stumbled upon this fabulous product, and can't wait to get this little beauty in the mail.. and to get the hours back that I spend cleaning sippy cups!

Yippee! :)

all ready..

..for Monday Night Football with Daddy! Aidan had his drink, his snack, and found a comfortable seat.. in a diaper box?
Silly boy! :)

poop!

Mommy- "Aidan, what would you like for lunch?"

Aidan- "Ummm... poop!"

Mommy- "Poop?"

Aidan- "Poop!" (pointing to soup can)

Poop for lunch it is! :)

Tot School- Letter A

Last week Aidan started Tot School! I have been following the Tot School site for awhile now, and Tony & I both think that Aidan is ready for some sort of schooling- so I am going to be teaching him the alphabet, a letter a week!.. he wasn't too sure about it at first, but now that we're on to week "B".. I'm adding more things, and he's loving it!

Here's the first page of Aidan's alphabet book.. ants on the A's!


Aidan LOVES his new sticker book, and was very excited about putting the new stickers in the right spots!


We ate lots of apples this week!


Doing a Noah's Ark craft, learning about different animals, and loving the glue stick!


The most special part of this week, was making our Operation Christmas Child shoebox.. I have been doing this for years, and was so excited to take Aidan shopping to pick out all of the goodies for his first packed shoebox!

We explained to him that it was a gift for another little boy his age, that doesn't have all the things that he does.. and Aidan was VERY eager to help pack all of the toys up!

I love that this can now be a holiday tradition that we can do as a family, and that we can teach Aidan that Christmas isn't about just getting gifts! :)

week 36

week 35

S L O W L Y catching up!

catnap

LC has found a new napping spot.. in Aidan's little Winnie the Pooh seat!

.. poor girl was resting peacefully until Aidan spotted her & sat on top of her!!

beautiful afternoon..

It was so nice out again today.. the boys and I played outside for most of the afternoon! Like always, they went straight for the playhouse!


Micah is always smiling & ready for the camera!


I can't believe I got Aidan to look at me while I was taking his picture!


Bye-bye.. playtime is over..


..it's time for the boys to take a walk & discuss their upcoming corn harvest :)

too many leaves!

This weekend, Tony & I decided it was finally time to rake our leaves.. we thought that it wouldn't take that long.. it didn't look like there were that many leaves... boy, were we WRONG!


My mom offered to come over and help earlier that day, I didn't think we needed any help.. I ended up calling her back & telling her to come on over! Aidan had fun with Grammie jumping in the leaves.. so did Mommy! :)


Between me raking & mowing, my mom leaf blowing, and Tony raking & burning.. we finally got our yard leaf free! Aidan loved being outside all day too!

I admit that I am NOT a perfect parent, and that I have areas in which I could improve..

..after reading THIS post from a blog that I follow, it reminded me to SLOW down and enjoy every tiny bit of Aidan, even his little quirks that drive Mommy INSANE!

Being his Mommy is quite possibly the best thing that has ever happened to me :)

fun in the tub!

Aidan had SO much fun tonight with his new bath crayons from Aunt Michelle, it was almost impossible to get our water-logged toddler out of the tub! :)

Happy Halloween!

We took our little dragon to Richland Village Park for some trick or treating this year, Aidan had so much fun!


I think that Aidan's favorite part was this petting zoo, there were cows, llamas & sheep.. and he HAD to touch all of them!



Afterwards, all of us girls, our hubbies & kids went to Valleywood like we do every year to do the standard house-to-house trick or treating.. man, Aidan was SO excited, and ran giggling from house to house collecting candy!


Aidan was happy to get home (after 9:00!) to sort through all of his candy! :)

Aidan's new cousin!

We have a new addition to the family!
Tony's niece Laurie, who he grew up with, had a baby on October 27th.. without even knowing that she was pregnant!
It was such an awesome surprise to everyone, especially the new parents!
Mom, Dad & baby are doing good & have named Aidan's new little cousin Brody Anthony Thurman.. welcome to the world little guy!


As you can see, Tony and I are THRILLED that Aidan has a new little cousin, Tony is such the proud uncle! Aidan was VERY curious about the baby, and had to be right by Mommy while I was holding Brody.. the new baby is the cutest!