So very thankful

The list is endless. There are too many things I'm thankful for this year. First and foremost is my family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with the perfect blend of some quiet time along with the craziness of extended family. Jeremy and I snuck over to the Tennis Club to hit with the ball machine (I'm so thankful I took up tennis!). Then we spent the afternoon at home with the kids before heading to my parents house for dinner. Unfortunately Mark, Melissa & the kids couldn't make it up for the holiday but we were blessed with a large group of relatives on my mom's side. I think my grandma was in heaven having that many of us together. We had a lovely dinner and quality time with the family.

At the top of my THANKFUL list :)

The kids donning the hats they both made in celebration of Thanksgiving at school. Ragen's was a head-dress and Maggie's was a turkey complete with dangly legs

My grandma with 3 of her 6 grandchildren

School Thanksgiving

At Ragen's school, they did a Thanksgiving feast where the kids were wearing hats signifying the Pilgrims and the Indians (I mean Native Americans). Everyone brought Thanksgiving food including one friend who's family tradition is to eat potstickers on Thanksgiving :) Ragen polished off 10 turkey rolls setting a class record!

They had made placemats stating what they are thankful for and then the teacher read them to all of the parents. The answers ranged from "my family" to "sugar."

The Thanksgiving feast

All the pilgrims & indians

Ragen's Native American self portrait :)

Why can't they always act this way?

I had to share this sweet moment between Ragen & Mags. We were at Kelsey Creek farm trying to get a Christmas card photo and in between takes, they were snuggling like crazy. I was able to snap them in a moment. I find myself chuckling at this picture because they are so hot & cold. A lot of the time, they treat each other exactly as portrayed here. Other times...not so much!

Disney on Ice...in style!

A couple of weeks ago a few other moms and I took our girls to Disney on Ice up in Everett. There were 4 moms and 6 little girls and we had a blast. As a special treat, we took the girls up to the show in a limo (thanks Vanessa!) and then went out to dinner at Anthony's in Everett beforehand. Watching the girls lip synch and have a dance party in the limo was hilarious. It was raining like crazy that night so we were thrilled to not be driving. The show was fabulous and we had incredible seats. I was actually sad for Ragen that he wasn't there because despite the lean towards all things girly, he would have loved it. The show featured The Little Mermaid (Maggie's favorite), Cars (one of Ragen's faves), the Lion Kind (another Ragen fave), Mickey & the gang, and Tinkerbell. It was a really special night out with our little ladies!


Maggie, Ellie, Ella, Grace, Reese and Josie riding in style

Up close & personal

First of many "rounds" - these were the $72 snow cones in a Tinkerbell cup

Aerial & Flounder

Another "round" - this time was $72 cotton candy in this Tinkerbell hat

The NEW bouncy place

"Bouncy places" have been all the rage in our house for the past couple of years. Both kids absolutely love them. With Ragen in school full time, we don't go nearly as often as we used to. Back in the day of having both kids home a day or two a week, I was always looking for things to do. But now our days off are limited.

On Veterans day (I know, I'm way behind!), Ragen went to a birthday party at the NEW place to be if you're a kid in Bellevue. Sky High Sports is a giant warehouse full of trampolines! It was a drop-off party and when I went to pick him up a few minutes before the end, I felt truly sorry for this brave mom. She had 7 five/six year old boys running around like crazy in what can only be described as chaos. They were sweating profusely and having the best time!

If you're looking for something fun to do, you should definitely try this place out. They have a jousting area for older kids and one set of trampolines looks like it might be for the younger crowd. There's also a set of tramps that go right into a foam pit taking me back to my gymnastics days.

Word of caution...don't go on a day when there's no school! They do take reservations ahead of time and even sell out so plan ahead!

It was incredible to watch the height these boys could get!

Maggie snuck her way onto the trampoline when we picked up Ragen

Happy Halloween!

Last night was our 2nd annual Halloween bash with the Tucker family. Sadly for Jeremy, he was the solo Daddy last night because Alex was out of town but we were so glad Courtney and the girls could join us in our neighborhood.

We started with dinner for the kiddos - mummy hot dogs. Then we prepped for trick-or-treating. Maggie was super excited that Court brought real makeup and did her up so that she was the best looking Aerial around (well, she and Madison were both Aerial so they both looked the bestest). We have a fantastic neighborhood for the holidays and people go ALL OUT. We always laugh that it's like in the movies when they show Halloween and there are so many people on the streets passing each other but in most areas, that doesn't really happen. Here it totally does. There were times last night when we had to get off the sidewalk because there were so many people walking through at the same time. After about an hour of trick-or-treating, we headed inside. My mom was kind enough to have stayed here to open our door to the little goblins so we could all take our kids out. Once we were home and put on a movie for the kids, the adults sat down to a buffalo chili dinner. It was such good stuff but we didn't think about the fact that the 2 hours it sat simmering was only intensifying the "heat" in the buffalo flavor...it was so spicy!

Thanks Court, Madison & Mackenzie for joining us again this year!

The kids loved helping me deck out the house for Halloween

Table is set complete with Twisted wine (so Halloweeney!) and Peep ghost straws

Mummy dogs - so tasty!

Ragen & Mags all ready to go

Court, Mack (the lobster), Madison (Aerial), Maggie (the mermaid), Ker, Ragen (Luke Skywalker)

The kids LOVE going to "Snoopy's house". These people decorate like crazy for every holiday.

Pre-Halloween festivities

This was a very busy week leading up to Halloween. Not only was Jeremy gone so the kids and I were on our own, but there were festivties everyday (if not twice a day). Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of my dad stepping in for the "Pumpkin Carving with Dad" at Ragen's school. Thanks for pinch hitting, Bumpa! Here's a recap...

Prepping the pumpkins for carving. Ragen was totally grossed out by the "goo" so he insisted on using a spoon.

"Dad & Me" carving night at Maggie's preschool. Daddy was playing golf at Pebble Beach (poor daddy!) so Brian Quinn stepped in as dad for the night. Ellie & Maggie had a great time at their special dinner out and carving night. Thank you Brian!

Annual trick-or-treating at Gamma Phi. Note to self - make sure Maggie has a nap on days where she's expected to follow directions and socialize with massive amounts of people after a long day.

Trick-or-treating for Kids Camp at the Bellevue Club. So that Maggie wouldn't rip her mermaid dress any further, she opted to wear her Sleeping Beauty dress. Ellie was a hula dancer and Josie was a ballerina. They got an insane amount of candy for this activity. Just what we needed a few days before Halloween.
The mermaid is ready for the pumpkin parade at her preschool

Maggie's class (at least most of the gang)

The carmel apple station at Ragen's class party

Halloween Carnival at the Bellevue Club. The only group shot of the kiddos - Josie, Reese & Ragen with Maggie, Ella & Ellie. It was nearly impossible to get them to pause for a photo in between the face painting, musical chairs, bouncy houses, games, movie and running around.

Musical Chairs

Why yes...it is possible to jump on bouncy houses in a mermaid costume!