Thanksgiving Week 2012

Dear Abigail,

What a great week off of school for Thanksgiving!  We have so many things to give thanks for, but I cannot say enough how thankful I am to be your Mommy.  

On Monday, you went to Gracie's birthday party at an art store.  It was VERY cool and Mommy is already thinking for your birthday and if I can't wait that long I may convince Ellie she needs an art party :)

On Tuesday, you went camping!  Well, to gymnastics camp that is, but you like to call it camping.  You LOVE gymnastics camp and were sad to leave.  I promised you we'd go on a walk if you came home and so we did.  You found "wishing flowers" to blow and were super excited to show Kate how to do it!

You also somehow convinced your sister to pull you in the wagon.  You are quite talented with convincing others to push/pull you and you never having to return the favor.  A talent that you may get from your Daddy.  I'm just saying...

 Wednesday was eventful with errands to run, an hour to 2 with the babysitter, and then dinner with Ryan and Jake and Miss Leigh at Mexican!  We had to be out of the house, and Mexican seemed appropriate.  We did have to go to a new Mexican because Miss Leigh doesn't like ours, but that's okay because we still got to eat cheese dip :)

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we woke up early and started stretching.  Why you ask, well because you had to run your first race!  We did the Turkey Trot and man alive are you fast.  Mommy took off first and ran the 5K and you got to wave and cheer me on with Daddy and Kate as I crossed the finish line.  Daddy said you kept asking "But why isn't she winning?" because lots of folks were in front of me.  Soon after my race, we drifted back to the starting line for your race!  They said go, and go we went!  You were running pretty hard there in the beginning and Mommy actually had to keep a decent pace to keep up.  There were a few times you slowed down, and a time or two you looked for Daddy because he had the water, but you did cross that finish line and get a 'medal' (a yellow bracelet!) that you were so proud of.  It was a 1k and while I want you to run a 5K with Mommy, I think we need a couple more 1ks under our belt.  I think you would have preferred your sister pulling you in the wagon for at least half of that race :)  

Being silly with your sister! 

As soon as we got home from the race, we all scrambled around like chickens with our heads cut off.  We were trying to hit the road before Katie Bugs nap so she could nap in the car but we all needed showers and of course, pack the car for a long weekend at Mimi's!  We did get on the road before the nap, but had to have a picnic in the car.  Mommy's intentions were to swing by McDonalds on our way out of town to grab lunch but at the very last minute I thought "hmmm, does McD's make its employees work on T-day????" and so I just called to ask and sure enough they don't!  Or well, not after 11 am - it was 11:05 when we left.  SO, Mommy quickly made sandwiches (turkey none the less!) and grabbed the grapes and some sunchips and off to the car we went for a picnic.  You hadn't had a snack and were starving and when you bit into the sandwich you said "Mom, this is delicious!"  If you only knew all the deliciousness we were headed to!  We made it to Mimi's with no trouble, but as soon as you go there you wanted to know where Nacho was (Clara Lee's dog) - not anyone else, just Nacho.  I asked Ash-ash when she would make it and she said not till a couple hours.  I passed the info onto you and you chose to wait it out.  On the roof of my car...

 Mimi had pretty much everything done and Mommy was in charge of the ham (i.e. I bought a ham from Honey Baked Ham!) so we had a pretty relaxing couple of hours.  We got cleaned up a bit more and took the time for a photo session...

 

 Soon enough the whole fam arrived and you were ever so excited!  Mimi had a kids table all set up for you four and you all enjoyed drawing all over the tablecloth!

 And of course the real fun was afterwards!  You four played and played and changed into princess outfits and even got John Michael prettied up!!!!

 Eventually you came for seconds, or what we call, dessert!!  Lynnie brought each of you a chocolate cupcake, so you were in heaven!  Notice you are wearing a flower girl dress (Em's from one of her 5 weddings she's been in!)

 After dinner, dessert, and LOTS of playing, you begged and begged to spend the night with Clara Lee and Nacho.  Of course I gave in, and off you went.  You told Ash-ash that you were going to stay up ALL NIGHT LONG because you were at a sleep over and she told you that part of a sleep over is to actually sleep!  At one point she had fallen asleep and woke up to see you and CL playing in the playroom.  Silly girls!  The next morning, I came to get you but did a little exercising with Ash-ash.  While we were walking, Uncle Jay took you and Em and CL (did I mention Em spent the night, too?!) on a four wheeler ride (with Mommy's permission, of course :) and you loved it!  You loved it so much that after I returned from our walk you cried the whole way home because you wanted to ride the four wheeler!  I think you were a smidge bit sleepy, and soon discovered that, as usual, I was right...
The good news is that I took CL and Em back with us to Mimi's.  You three played outside for a bit, got some lunch and then HAD to have a bath.  We all got cleaned up and went to see a movie at the local theatre - The Guardian Rise or something like that.  You were doing good for the first 30 minutes, but then I looked over and saw Emily put her head in her hands and fall asleep and I saw your eyes fluttering, so I put you in my lap and within minutes, you were asleep!  So asleep that you spilt Mommy's drink all in her purse!  You slept the whole movie (as did Em, but none from CL!) and were ready to roll afterwards!  We headed back to Mimi's and sooner than later went to Mexican - I mean, it was Friday night and all.  Of course, this Mexican was a party of 16 or so, but hey, whatever, we roll with it.  Well, Mommy doesn't really, or at least your sister didn't roll with it.  She did NOT prefer the high chair but instead preferred walking all through the restaurant, so Mommy was burnt out before our food even arrived! Fortunately for you, you were heading to ANOTHER sleep over!  Aunt G asked if you could come spend the night with them, and, well, why not.  She did promise me that you would be asleep very early and you were VERY excited to go, so off you went.  The next morning (Saturday) Mommy and Daddy went with your BFF to the Memphis football game and did a little tailgating at her fancy smancy Tiger Lane.  While there, I got this picture from Uncle Bubba...

Yep, that's you and a deer.  A dead deer.  A dead deer that Uncle Bubba shot.  All I thought was Lord Have Mercy we are about to have a million questions coming our way.  I yelled at Uncle Bubba as much as I could via text and told him if he made you not be able to sleep in your bed when we got home that I would haunt his children like no other.  He assured me you were fine and that, and I quote "We told her it wasn't Rudolph because she kept saying it was."  Yep, you kept calling him Rudolph.  And even when they convinced you it wasn't Rudolph, you still kept calling it a reindeer.  Good times. When I pieked you up (eventually!) your told me "Uncle Bubba shooted a reindeer in the peep and it had blood!!" all excited, nonetheless.  Apparently Uncle Bubba took you to the meat market, which I have since learned is a place where a lot of 'reindeer shot in the peep' are, well, hanging out.  You seem fine with it other than the fact that you remind me constantly about how he shot it and it bled.  Everyone (including Mimi) said you were having a blast being a country girl so we let you keep going. Aunt G and Em and John Michael couldn't get enough of you so you spent the night again! Mimi was a little upset about this (even if she didn't act it) because this would mean you didn't spend one night with her while visiting!  I reminded her that she spend 4 straight days with you last weekend and this next weekend she's getting you while Mommy goes on a girls trip.  She nodded, but I don't think she approved.  But you did have a blast at Ems and JMs!  Aunt G sent me a text saying that she gave you Cheetos and you said "What are these? I've never had these" and then when she gave you chocolate milk for dinner you said "I won't tell Mommy!"  I think they had fun with you and your fun personality! And you got to sleep with Em two straight night!  What fun!
Sunday morning came too soon and we had to pick you up and take you home.  You were so concerned with "What are we going to do today?" and just could not get it that we were going to go home and chill!  I did let you go grocery shopping with me, which seemed to please you, but sure enough on Monday morning you were asking "What friends are coming over today?"  You LOVE you some socializing, just like your momma!  Can't sit still!
A great Thanksgiving with family!  It makes me sad to think you are growing up so quickly and are already spending nights away from us like it's no problem, but man alive you love your cousins!
Happy Thanksgiving Abs!!!

This Week

Dear Abigail,
Here's our week this week.  Monday morning brought on fun company.  Anna and Jacob came over for a play date and lunch.  You three played (and Kate, a little too before she went down for a nap) while Miss Kristin and Mommy got a lot of talking in.  It was rather nice, if I do say so myself!  After some yummy chicken salad and a pick from the left over Halloween candy (yes, that candy is STILL around! It's never ending!!) our friends left and we headed to Mommy's doctor appointment.  I only include this to mention how curious you were to me getting my blood drawn.  You stared hard, concentrating to make sure YOU didn't feel any pain from it.  I thought at one point you might pass out but you survived (and me, too).  After the doctor, I decided I'd take you through the toy store to get some ideas for Christmas, because honestly right now you don't really say anything.  When asked "What do you want Santa to bring you" you say "It doesn't matter what he brings me.  Let's just see what it is."  That's sweet and all, super sweet and all, but there are a lot of folks (Mimi and Mammaw included!!) who need to know a couple of ideas for you.  Well, 2 hours later (and a basket of things that  you didn't even seem to notice thankfully.  I don't think I'm going to be able to pull that off again.) and you now have a 'list'.  It consists of 1) a drum SET (I say set because you got a drum for your birthday but apparently you have moved on to the actual set).  2) a doll that looks like you and 3) a puppy that barks (that you already have.  and drives us crazy).  So I guess that's what I'm going to have to work with.  You still say "It doesn't matter what Santa brings me", too, so that just makes me smile! After shopping, we headed home and made some chocolate cupcakes and cooked a yummy supper together, then off to bed you go. Ahhh, if only it were that pleasant.  You were not being very nice to Mom that evening while I was trying to cook dinner and you got your phone taken away from you.  You'd have thought I said you were going away to boarding school.  Many tears later, and Daddy to the rescue, we DID finally make it to that bed, and all happy.
Tuesday you had school and guess what was at your school?  Turkeys!!!  That's right, a local farmer brought in 3 turkeys for your class to see and even pet.  When I dropped you off at school that day you said "Mom, I'm a little nervous about the turkeys."  That shocked me because a) I knew you were nervous, but didn't know you really knew what that meant and b) you told me without me having to tell you to tell me.  Ahhh, you are growing up.  Anyway, I assured you the teachers would keep the turkeys away from you if you wanted and when I picked you up, you were talking nonstop about those turkeys!! And then guess what, when we were getting in the car to head to gymnastics that afternoon, we saw a real wild turkey in our back yard!  You were nervous and started asking questions about if he was going to get in the car or on the trampoline, but I convinced you he would just fly away.  So now we are in full turkey talking mode, for sure.  I hate to tell you that we are going to be eating one of those turkeys in about a week.  I don't think you are making the connection :)
Wednesday morning we headed to ballet where I got to see the first sneak peek of your Christmas dance recital.  Oh my - you are way too cute.  After ballet, we headed home and enjoyed a nice day at home.

Thursday was your Thanksgiving at school, but instead of the traditional Thanksgiving meal, your school decided to do a pizza party, because who's not thankful for pizza!  Thursday afternoon we just hung out at home and did a little art project for the upcoming week...

Friday was a little tough for mom.  I went to the late night premiere of the last Twilight movie (which was AWESOME!) and got in really late, only to see that your sister was REALLY sick and up all night.  So Mommy had zero sleep, but after I dropped you off at school, we headed to the doc to get her  taken care of.  Thankfully Mimi was on her way up and while we didn't get to go to Mexican that night because Kate was just not feeling well at all, we did get to order pizza and hang out with Mimi.  You had Mimi overload because she was here Friday - Tuesday morning!  And of course you slept with her every single night!  The first night you asked Mimi if she'd bring you chocolate when she came up to bed and apparently you woke up the next morning, looked her right in the eye and said "Do you have my chocolate?"!!!  You also told her your favorite part of the day was waking up and seeing her.  I think you like your Mimi, to say the least...Why was Mimi here you ask?  Why to help decorate for Christmas, of course!  I know, I know, I know - it's WAY too early and normally we would wait until after Thanksgiving, but this year we were going to Munford for Thanksgiving and the weekend after Mommy is out of town and the weekend after that Daddy is out of town, and well, we have a few things in between that we need to have the house decorated for (more on that when it comes!), SO, Mimi came up to help me out.  And by help me out, I mean do it all.  Well, unless you count you hanging up a couple ornaments and climbing the ladder up and down and up and down.  But aside from that, and Daddy putting the tree together, Mimi did it all, like all all.  But she loves that sort of thing, and while I like to decorate a tree while singing songs with my family and sipping on hot chocolate, let's be realistic, that wasn't happening this year.  Your attention span is, well, short, and Kate, well, Mommy can't get much done with a baby in her arms.  So yeah, this year we let Mimi do it.  Next year, we'll try, but I'm sure I'll have Mimi back up :)
You enjoyed the boxes more than the actual decorating (and picking your nose...)

 It was a fun week getting prepared for a week off school and I can't wait for Thanksgiving!!!

This Blog Is Going Private

Dear Abigail,

Mommy recently had a wakeup call.  I received a nasty comment on one of your sister's blog posts.  Not only was it uncalled for, seeing as this is a blog about the days in the life of a sweet innocent girl and not a political forum, but I have NO clue who this guy is.  So, I have decided to make your (and your sister's) blog private. I hate to do it because Mommy loves sharing your stories with friends and even friends of friends and even Mimi’s friends, but it was just way too scary when I realized some random, creepy guy was scoping her blog out, and probably yours, too.  With that said, I welcome anyone to continue reading the blog, I just will have to “invite” them.  Hopefully those who want to keep reading will shoot me an email letting me know they’d like to keep reading.  If they don’t have your mommy’s email address, then leaving a comment about who they are and applicable email address would be fine, as long as you leave out any comments regarding the end of the world due to the current president, or calling your momma a fool, or similar J. 

I love you Abby Faye, but private we must go!  Or, well, in a couple days,  so all our friends and friends of friends and Mimi’s friends can get a chance to join the secret club! 

Your Oldest Friend Turns 4!

Dear Abigail,

I can't believe it.  Your oldest friend turned 4 this week.  You and Ryan go way back.  I can remember our first visit to his house.  You threw up on his carpet.  And your first Christmas together - you were not in the mood for pictures.  

Even your first (of many) beach trip together - such cuties.  

Here we are 4 years later and Ryan is still a favorite of yours.  So off we went to celebrate at Pump It Up and man alive, were you pumped up about it!  You (and your sis) were looking mighty cute, too, if I do say so myself...

You had no problems adjusting to Ryan's other friends (friends from school) and showed them that yes, you do have some killer dance moves... 

 I'm pretty sure Ryan had a blast because I could NOT get him to sit still for a second!

 Oh, and you were quite thrilled to see Chloe there.  I think you had forgotten that Ryan is the reason you know Chloe, although you say she is "Ellie's Chloe", but I think she can be your Chloe now, since you do see her every day you have school and you always play with her on the play ground, apparently running from monsters, or so you told me.

 I think you all had a blast, but especially on this thing.  All of you tried and tried to climb to the top, over and over again...

 Believe it or not, you made it to the top and were the only one.  But there was a little cheating involved, or, well, we will call it a bit of cleverness involved.  You found these rope things you could hold onto and just climbed on up to the top.  As usual, you amazed everyone with your climbing abilities.
Daddy was in charge of taking the group shot, so this is what we got.  Bless his heart, he tries.

 And this was the best I could get of you beside your oldest friend Ryan at his 4th birthday!!!

You enjoyed the cupcakes and to make it even more special, you got to spend the night with Ellie!  Aunt Steph said you both fell asleep in the same bed for the second time in a row and this time it wasn't 10 at night!  Hooray!!!  We joined you at Ellie's on Sunday for football and hamburgers and by the time you left, you were EXHAUSTED.  You were also so sad because all you wanted to do was spend the night with Ellie.  You just sat in your car seat softly whimpering and when I said "what's wrong" you just cried and said "I just want to spend the night with Ellie." As if you had never gotten to before, like not even the night before.  To say the least, you were tired.  It was a fun weekend, though, so it was worth a few tears to wrap it up!  Love you and we love some Ryan, too!!

Soccer Party, S'mores, Proposals and a Quiet Mouse

Dear Abigail,

We finally made it back to Mexican on Friday night.  It felt like it had been a month, but I think it was just 2 weeks away, but we were back.  We were 15 minutes late because Mommy "lost" her keys and searched everywhere for them because Mommy does NOT lose keys.  My keys are always either in the diaper bag or on the hook.  Always.  But they weren't this time...  I searched and searched and Daddy had both of you in the car buckled up and I still could not find the keys.  Finally I gave up (Ellie and fam were waiting on us at the restaurant) so we switched cars, which meant switching BOTH car seats.   So we made it to Mexican, ate, played, and got you kiddos in bed and I started my search again.  I decided to go back through all the spots I knew I had been, starting with the diaper bag, because that's where I thought they were.  Guess what?  They were in the diaper bag.  The diaper bag I searched 3 times and Daddy did once.  They had fallen in one of the 200 pockets and found a spot where I didn't feel, I guess.  Anyway, the moral  of this story is Mommy never loses her keys.  Ever.  Oh, and to always check things twice, three times, maybe even four.  Oh, and never lose faith in yourself.  I knew I didn't lose those keys :) And also maybe not to accuse people of taking your stuff until you have confirmed.  I owe you and Kate both a couple of apologies... 

Anyway, we ate Mexican Friday night and Saturday morning we got things rolling for your last soccer game of the season.  It turned out to be a beautiful day for it, too. You insisted we take your favorite toy (read "stuffed animal of the week") and Daddy made him clap every time you score a goal.  Which was a lot because you are awesome! 

 You are still goofy, though, and we often wonder what you are doing on that soccer field...

 But you play a mean defense.  I was so excited because you stole the ball away (I'm sure there is a correct soccer term for that) then turned the ball around and took it all the way to your goal!

 But as the case with all soccer stars, there are moments of rest...

 At the end the season, we decided the Franklin Purple Unicorns were #1!!!

 And, to end the great season, we had a soccer party at our house!  We were unsure of the weather and since we live right by the fields we decided to host.  We ordered pizza and had chilled juice - it was superb!

 You girls had a blast.  You all played upstairs for a bit and when you came back down all of you were out of your uniforms and in one of the princess outfits!!  Coach Will thought it was hilarious! Coach Will also got a little surprise.  For his 'thanks for being an awesome coach' gift, Uncle Jaybee set it up where his friend John McClain (a big wig for the Houston Texans) called Coach Will on his cell.  Coach Will's a big Texans fan (being from Houston and all) so he was shocked AND thrilled Mr. John was calling.  Tickled pink would probably be the appropriate phrase, but I'm not sure he'd appreciate that, since he already has to deal with his soccer team preferring ball gowns to shin guards!

 But it didn't stop him from passing out the trophies and certificates!

You had a blast being on Coach Will's team and I'm sure we will see him again in the spring!
After the soccer party, Ellie stuck around and you two played outside, inside and little bit in between.  We got some things together and headed over to Ellie's house where we planned on having a bon fire.  Unfortunately a crazy storm came through right about the time we were trying to eat/hang out.  Fortunately your Uncle Jaybee has a decent head on his shoulders and was prepared to cover up the bon fire, and sure enough, we were able to get our s'mores after all!  

In other exciting news that night, Ryan asked you to marry him!  I overheard him ask you but wasn't certain your response, but later you came down the stairs telling me you were going to marry Ryan.  That's good because multiple times this week you had asked if you could marry Daddy or me and I said no.  The sad news is Ryan came running down the stairs shortly after your acceptance saying "Ellie wants to kiss me!!!!" and just started laughing.  I am not prepared for this stuff this soon and I change my mind.  You can marry Daddy.
We put the babies to bed and you kiddos stayed up LATE, like super late for us, BUT, you and Ellie successfully slept in the same bed.  I am positive it had to do with the 10 o'clock at night bedtime, but whatever - you both went to sleep with little trouble!  And apparently you both woke up at 5:30 and crawled in bed with Aunt Steph and Uncle Jaybee :)
We ate a quick breakfast and headed home because Mommy had a "Mommy" day planned!  Your BFF was on her way up and we were going shopping - we being Sarah and Mommy.  You were having a "Daddy and me" day that consisted of a sneaky hike, lots of candy and a 2 hour nap! Seriously, you never EVER give me that.  Ever.  Anyway, you enjoyed your day with Daddy and when Sarah got home you enjoyed your time with her.  When I asked you "what was your favorite part of today" was, like I do each night, you told me "When Sarah came to play with me!".  Sarah taught you to play the quiet game, too, which you lost.  Every time.  But you sure did try your heart out and kept saying "let's try it one more time."  We even played it today and you made it a whole minute and 10 seconds before talking.  Impressive.
A sweet, sweet weekend of memories!  Love you not-so-quiet mouse!