Thanksgiving

As the holidays come crashing in, my posts and pictures are getting fewer and further between! As always, Thanksgiving was very plentiful (although as of this afternoon we were officially out of leftover turkey) and we're all reminded how good we have it. I'm most thankful for knowing that even when we hit rough patches we have it pretty darn good. This year I did a little more cooking than usual - I figure 31 is the age where you really have to earn your Thanksgiving keep. I made sweet potatoes, pecan pie and a pumpkin cream pie, all from my new favorite recipe blog: The Pioneer Woman (see righthand side for link). Everything turned out good, but Jeremy has requested the pecan pie make another appearance at Christmas, I usually trust his judgement but since my dad (who holds nothing back) also loved the pie, I think I found a winner! Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and is as excited for Christmas as we are!

SeaWorld with the McFarlanes

Drew and Nolan became fast friends and were so sweet to watch at SeaWorld. Here, Nolan is putting on the moves. Drew didn't hate the attention.

Look Dad! Birds!

Watching Shamu take a few warm-up laps before the big show. 

The fish was THAT big. I think it could've swallowed Nolan whole. 

Patiently waiting in our seats at the top of the Splash Zone. I think the kids were disappointed that we didn't get soaked.

Neither kid wanted to hold any of their parents' hands, but they quite enjoyed each other!

I can't tell you how much I love this picture.

To end the day, we got to meet Elmo, Zoey and Cookie Monster. Nolan was a little shy but Drew could not wait to hand out hugs. Overall a great day at SeaWorld with friends we see far too infrequently.

Mommy's belated birthday post

A couple Tuesdays ago, we went bowling for my birthday. Luckily I got a new camera so I could capture all of our excellent skills!

Mommy & Daddy's Old Friends = Drew's New Friends

This weekend we were lucky enough to visit college friends and have Drew meet their kids for the first time. We saw Kirsten and Carol on Saturday with their daughters Bella and Kensi. I played volleyball at Baylor with Kirsten and Carol (who was also my roommate) and Bella and Drew hit it off. Kensi is adorable and as usual, Drew loved to talk in her baby voice to her.

The girls played really well together and hopefully we can get together again soon...maybe when another BU alumni is visiting from Down Under?

Quote of the day

Our good friends Kyle and Lisa McFarlane from Canada are in town and we are going to Sea World with them on Sunday. Drew has never been and their son, Nolan, is really into aquatic life so he was telling her about what we will see:

N: We will see Shamu!
D: looking confused
N: He is a whale!
D: looking slightly less confused
N: He is a killer whale! (Nolan's dad looking quite proud at this declaration)
D: puts her hands on her cheeks Home Alone style, gasps, and says: Is he going to kill us????

We may have to do a little more prepping.

School Pics!

She is pretty stinkin' cute if I do say so myself! This smile was a lot of work for her too, she was sick all week and Grammy brought her to school just for the picture and took her home.

She knows the names of all the kids in her class and a little bit about each. For example:

"Delaney asks me for hugs and I always give them to her."

"Lucas is loud and likes to shout."

"Sienna doesn't talk very much and is very shy."

Notice the hand-on-the-hip. Where did she learn that, Kelsey?

4th Halloween in the books

Drew has had her Princess Tiana costume since August. I picked up mine and Jeremy's Friday afternoon (in case you can't tell, we are Daphne and Fred from Scooby Doo...notice my magnifying glass).

Drew's best buddy, Meghan, went as a skunk. And she insisted on being called "Skunk" all night. Drew is a bit taller than Meghan, but Drew is also wearing her blinking Tiana shoes in this picture giving her an extra inch.

After every other house, this conversation would follow:
D: Meghan! Wait up!
M: Call me Skunk!
D: Skunk! Wait up for me!
M: OK!
D: Look in our pumpkins! They are almost all full of candy!!

... she began calling her pumpkin "almost full" after 2 pieces of candy. Think we can keep that up?

Drew was very happy to hold Meghan's hand while walking down the street.

Daddy was very happy to have a beer on the walk.

I think we managed to keep her candy intake to a small box of Nerds, a bite-size hershey bar and a cake pop. I don't know how we did it considering Meghan's street was giving out FULL-SIZE candy bars!! Where were these houses when I was Trick-or-Treating??

We stopped over at Papa's (who always has chocolate) and Drew was happy to offer Papa some of her chocolate, even though he gave her MORE chocolate! Drew's pumpkin would probably be totally full just from the chocolate that Papa brings her every time he sees her. They are two peas in a pod!

Pumpkin Carving

Drew: not thrilled with the idea of digging out pumpkin seeds, next year we'll have to try rubber gloves. Any other suggestions? We carved a Frankenstein which, Drew named Frankie, of course. Sadly, Frankie did not make it to November. His remains (and the coordinating pumpkin with his name on it) were found splattered along Chat Drive this morning.