Thanksgiving, Part 2

We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family this past Saturday.  As with the Pooley gathering, we had good food and good company!

My sister and my mom are such troopers (or as others might say - crazy)!  After we had our fill of ham and the fixins', they both agreed to help the girls make cupcakes! The girls got to do everything from dumping in the cake mix, to stirring the batter to filling the cupcake liners, and decorating the cupcakes with sprinkles!  After it was all done, the three of us adults were exhausted and we learned, as my sister said, "It takes a village to bake cupcakes with two girls!"

Later in the day, Uncle Matt entertained the girls in the garage by allowing them to "drive" his truck!  The pictures aren't the best because of the glare, but you can see how excited they were!

I didn't snap a lot of pictures - aside from the cupcake photos, but did manage to get a picture of Grandma Jane reading to the girls - a favorite past time for all of them!

This time next year, we will be celebrating and giving thanks for two more little members of our family!  We give thanks for all of our families now and for the two little Kemper boys that we have yet to meet!  Life is good!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday... eating way too much food, watching football on TV, resting in a comatose state on the couch, flipping through the Black Friday ads, spending time with loved ones... need I say more?!  This year we were able to spend Thanksgiving with the Pooleys.

Nana sported a new apron this year for cooking the Thanksgiving dinner. The girls developed a plan with Nana a couple of weeks ago to bring their own aprons over today to help her cook! They were jazzed about this plan!

Bad news hit us about a block from the Pooley's house this morning - I planned ahead and packed the camera, but forgot the... aprons! Ugh!!  To say the least, the girls were disappointed. Not wanting to disappoint them, Ryan and I dropped the girls off and headed to one of the only stores open today to pick up some replacements. Much to my dismay, the store did not have any aprons!  Surprise, surprise!

We improvised and turned some table runners into kid sized aprons!! Here they are sporting their aprons...

Not surprising... the girls did not like them!  While they were the best looking things, I was proud of my accomplishments in such a short amount of time. One will remember to bring the aprons next year!

Despite the apron debacle, today was a great day - spending time with the ones we love, sharing great food and great conversation, and reflecting on everything important in our lives!  

Happy Thanksgiving!  

He's Back...

Christopher Pop-In-Kins, our magical elf, is back again!!  He joined our house last year to keep a watch on the girls and to report back to Santa about their behavior.  Fortunately they had great behavior last year and Santa was able to visit our house!

To make his grand appearance, he decided to hide in the kitchen.  Quinn spotted him one morning while eating her cereal.  She was elated - yelling, "He's back!  He's back! Christopher is here!"  Well because she spotted him so early in the morning, Sullivan wasn't even awake.  Quinn promptly woke her up to show her the elf!  One would assume that Sullivan would not be very excited - as she was probably too young last year to remember him.  However anyone that knows Sullivan also knows that it doesn't take much to excite her!  She was equally as thrilled as Quinn!

He made an appearance this week - however he hasn't been spotted since.  Quinn is pretty sure that he had to go back to the North Pole to help Santa get some more presents made and to help get ready for Christmas!

We can't wait to see when he returns again and what sneaky locations he might be up to this year!  One of Christopher's location from last year.....

Can he top this location this year?!

The Things We Love - Letter Q

Quinn - Questions (and answers)

Quinn is the queen of questions. It started from a very early age and hasn't ever really stopped. I find this quality about her very endearing.  It shows her eagerness to learn about new things and to understand the world around her.  Most of the time her questions are very appropriate and relevant to the situation around us.  At other times, they are just plain silly and odd.  Take last night for example.... Quinn is sitting in the bathtub and she looks at me and says, "Mama, is tonight a bath night or is tomorrow?"  Hmm.... :)

Sullivan - Quinn

Sullivan LOVES her sissy!  They are SO incredibly different, yet two peas in a pod.  Is that possible?!  Sullivan looks up to her big sister and emulates what she does - often!  If Quinn is playing babies, you better believe that Sullivan is too.  If Quinn wants to read books, Sullivan does too.  Monkey see, monkey do!  They get along so well and Quinn is SO good to her.  Let's hope that that continues forever and that they remain the best of friends!

Ryan - Qdoba

Qdoba burritos - Ryan loves them!  While they aren't the best thing in the world for you, sometimes you just have to splurge!  Some foods are worth it... this happens to be one of them.  You know it is bad news when your significant other can recite your burrito order without even thinking... A shredded beef burrito, pinto beans and rice, extra sour cream and cheese, and hot salsa to top it off.   Do I know him or do I know him!? We might just eat there a little too often.

Audra - Quiet Time

Ha, ha... right?!  Quiet time when you have two small children, a full time job, a house that needs maintaining, laundry that needs to be done.... need I say more?!  Quiet time is few and far between at our house.  The only time I manage to get a few minutes of quiet time is when I am in the bath and my loving husband literally restrains the children  from coming in and joining me!  I will take what I can get for quiet time now - and realize with all sincerity that in a few short years I will be begging for this much chaos and noise around my house again!

How Long?

It is that time of year again - the weather is getting colder and the short sleeved pajamas just aren't cutting it!  On a recent shopping trip, Quinn got a kick out of the fact that they made matching pajamas that were both Sullivan's and her size.  She was insistent that we needed to get them - they were "way cool!"

When I bought these pj's, I thought to myself... how much longer can I continue to buy some matching outfits for the girls and they think it is cool?!  I am guessing not too terribly much longer!

Here are the girls sporting their matching duds:

And what would taking pictures be if they weren't able to pose for a few goofy ones?!

My very detailed five year old noticed this evening when we put these pajamas on that they are not exactly alike.  There is one difference... can you spot it in the first picture!?!

Artsy-Fartsy

My girls love to do arts and crafts. They could color all.day.long!!  It goes without saying that Quinn's favorite subject in school is Art class!   A true reflection of her love for all things crafty - crayons, markers, colored pencils, paint.....!  

And to show just how crafty and artsy they can be, here are a few of the Sullivan"s pieces of artwork from school....

 (a true reflection of her fun and vibrant personality)

 (a scarecrow that resembles her mother's hair right now!)

And not to be outdone by her 2 year old sister, here are a few of Quinn's latest pieces of work from school:

(check out the detail work on those hands!) 

(A self-portrait of Quinn holding a picture of... Quinn!!)

Coming from someone who also loves to color, doodle, draw and make crafts, it makes me happy and excited to see how interested my girls are in art!  And also coming from a very proud mama, I must say that they are pretty darn good at it too!

Letter P

The Letter P was too hard just to choose 1 thing... just had to choose a couple for us all!


Quinn - Pancakes and Purses

Quinn loves pancakes.... she most certainly could eat them for almost any meal.  She isn't picky about having them homemade, in fact prefers the frozen ones just as much.  She will eat them with or without syrup too.  It really doesn't matter to her.  She eats so many of them, that we hard to start making a rule about how often she could have them and how often she could eat them with syrup.  The girl is either going to turn into a pancake someday or a chicken.  Not sure which one will come first!

Purses - Quinn has always liked purses.  There is no surprise about that with her being a girly-girl!  In fact, the very first purse she ever received was a tiny Vera Bradley purse that my dear friends in Tennessee gave me as a shower gift for Quinn.  It tends to be her go-to purse even to this day.  Throughout the years though, she has accumulated quite the collection.

It is not uncommon for her to grab her purse, stuff it full of lip gloss, coins, toys, Kleenex, a play cell phone, and any other small object that will fit inside before she goes shopping with "the girls".  

Sullivan - Purses and Pop Tarts

Sullivan's obsession with Pop-Tarts can be credited to her Auntie Mer.  Every time Sullivan goes over to Mer and Matt's house, the first thing (and I mean first thing) she asks for is a Pop Tart.  She can barely even get a "hello auntie" or "hello uncle" out before requesting her Pop Tart snack!  She scoots herself up to the counter and waits for her snack - she doesn't wait long however.  If someone isn't moving quick enough for her liking, she isn't shy about repeating her request... "cop wart pease"!

Purses - I am not certain that Sullivan would ever be caught carrying a purse if it wasn't for the influence of her older sister.  Sullivan's not the girly-girl type.  She would rather play rough and tumble, read a book or build with her Legos.  But the influence of Quinn is rubbing off on her.  She is enjoying her purses as much as Quinn does now and loves to pack them plum full of all her belongings!  

Ryan - Pei Wei and Popcorn

Pei Wei - what can I say?!  Ryan (along with myself) is obsessed with this restaurant.  It is a fast casual restaurant owned by the same group as P.F. Chang's.  We discovered this place shortly before we moved away from Nashville and fell in love with it!  I can honestly say that before we go on vacation to any larger city, Ryan checks out to see if there is a Pei Wei in town.  If there's no Pei Wei he looks for P.F. Chang's.  It is certainly on our stop if they have one - yum!!!  If you love Chinese food, you will love this place!!!  

Popcorn... Honestly speaking, Ryan could probably eat the house's volume in popcorn.  He loves it! I would estimate that he has popcorn 2-3 times a week for a nightly snack. A small snack sized bag of popcorn with an equivalent part of popcorn salt to go with it.  Ryan loves that salt as much as the popcorn itself!

Audra - Puzzles and Pedicures

I love to do puzzles - word puzzles, Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles - it really doesn't matter! I enjoy them all.  I do puzzles nearly every day in some shape or fashion. The USA Today newspaper has a section in it each day that includes a variety of about 7 or 8 puzzles.  Ryan and I usually have to fight for the paper to see who gets it first - Ryan not so much for the puzzles.  He just wants to read that section of the paper before I hog it for myself.

Pedicures - love them! I have to admit that there is something about having your toenails painted and looking fabulous that makes you feel so good!  I used to think, before I started getting them, that pedicures were a waste of money.  I thought I could paint my nails just as well as anyone else and could save myself a whole lot of money.  I have a different philosophy now.... I certainly think it's worth it.  Especially in the summer time!