Turkey Day 2011

We enjoyed yet another wonderful Thanksgiving in Chesapeake with our family. I hardly took any pictures this year. I was too busy soaking in the love. :)

First order of business upon arrival...change into dress-up clothes!

(Lily and Samantha)

Cassidy all dolled up

The Kid Table

(I have FINALLY graduated from this group!)

Sam and Lily...they were two peas in a pod this visit.

Finny watching cartoons

Cassidy as Wonder Woman...LOVE IT!!!

Gran and his children (Sue, Monk, and Mom)

We were so blessed that Gran was feeling good and able to join us again this year. He brought an old photo album from the war and we sat and listened to him tell us about all the pictures, places and people.

Gran with 7 of his 8 great-grandchildren (Finn was asleep!)

There will soon be 9! Heather announced that she is expecting again, due May 21st! We added this wonderful news to our long list of blessings that we thanked God for that day!

No longer with us, but never forgotten.

It was a bittersweet day. There were tears, but there was also plenty of laughter. And love. Oh yes, there was lots and lots of love.

Pretty in Pink

(Lily, Sam, and Cassidy)

Finn had to get in on the action too! :)

As always, we had so many reasons to be thankful...so many reasons to celebrate...so many old memories to relive...and so many new ones to make. I am so blessed to be a part of this beautiful family...and the girls say they can't wait until next year! :)

Turkey Day 2009

A blast from Turkey Days past! Had to share!!!

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I Love Songs About Turkeys!

FBC Preschool held its annual 4-Year Thanksgiving Program today. ANY event that involves small children singing songs - preferably with hand motions - is awesome in my book. Children NEVER fail to entertain and today was no different. They were adorable, sweet, and hilarious. What am I going to do next year when I have no preschoolers performing at FBC? Maybe I can crash the party. ;)

Lily was SO eager to find us in the crowd, and once she spotted us she waved, and blew kisses, and yelled, "There's my mommy!" I joked about how funny it was that they were SO excited when they had just seen us 20 minutes before, but in all honestly I wish I could bottle those perfect mommy moments. (P.S. How weird is it that my girl is wearing a tank top in November?!?! At least her outfit was autumn in its color scheme.)

Enjoying some snacks after a stellar performance

Lily and Finn

BFFs, Hannah and Lily

I have to share my videos of the songs they performed. Lily was so poised and serious about performing each motion correctly with a smile on her face, while her buddy Pierce was feelin' the song with his whole body...you'll know who he is right away! Pierce cracked me up! As I was watching the video on my computer this evening, I noticed that Adam (standing next to Lily) was watching her the whole time so that he knew what the motions were...too cute! :)

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Finn's 2nd Birthday

Before last Friday, if you asked Finn about his birthday he would immediately tell you that he was getting a Tigger cake. "And I eat it like this!" he'd exclaim as he would put an open palm to his mouth and make a loud chomping sound. And that was it...that's all he understood about birthdays...there was cake! Little did he know that there were PRESENTS, too! JACKPOT!!! :)

Finn's Tigger Cake

(My first time doing Tigger, a couple of the colors were a little off. The nose was supposed to have a little more pink in it and the tummy was supposed to be LIGHT yellow. Fortunately, two-year-olds don't care about such things!)

"Happy Birthday, dear Finny! Happy Birthday to you!"

For being such a strong little man, the boy was the most pitiful candle blower outer I've ever seen! Barely any air passed through his lips at all...it was hysterical!

Cassidy and Auntie Jenn...Cassidy is eager for cake!

Lily enjoying a slice of Tigger

Mema and Gran

Auntie Jenn gave Finn an adorable monkey backpack that he wore the rest of the evening...LOVE IT!!!

(Please ignore my scary smile behind Finn.)

True Love

Giving Mema a thank you hug for his Thomas trains.

He LOVES his new Thomas trains and track. He picked out a big "Shake and Go" Thomas from PeePaw and Nana and a Toby from Grandma and Grandpa. He got clothes from us (LAME GIFT!)...he was SO not excited. :)

Completely unrelated, on Saturday we found the kids in Finn's room like this. They were playing Mommy and babies and apparently this is how you get babies ready for bed! :)

Finn's 2-Year Stats

Finnegan Michael Walls

32 pounds (90th percentile), 35 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

The boy shot up 3 inches in the past 6 months! :) Click here to compare his stats with the girls. Cassidy was the EXACT same height at age 2, but Finn's got a good 4 pounds on her! :)

Birthday pics coming soon... :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Finnegan Michael!

My sweet Finn,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Today you are two years old. Right now, at this very moment, you are the perfect combination of snuggly baby and busy, independent big boy. You still love spending time cuddled in my arms, but insist on doing many things for yourself like buckling your carseat, brushing your teeth, climbing on and off the potty, scaling ladders on the playground, and even "reading" stories. You love all things boy...especially Thomas, Tigger, Lightning and Mater, tractors, cars, trucks, balls, and dinosaurs...but you also love to be included in any girly, princess game that your sisters invent. You love making pillow forts, collecting rocks in the yard, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and telling jokes. You also love story time and your Ready to Learn Class. We've only been going to RTL for a few weeks now, but you already eagerly anticipate class each week...your teachers and the other parents are so impressed at how well you engage in the class at your young age.

Your mind has grown by leaps and bounds over the last year. You know your colors, your letters (and what sounds the letters make), and you can count to 30 almost by yourself. Mema and I watched in amazement one day while you sat quietly by yourself and sorted our shape blocks by color. Perhaps this is a normal skill for someone your age, but we'd never seen someone so young do that without prompting or help so we were impressed. And you have a great little vocabulary and - when you're in the mood - you love to tell us what's on your mind. You are serious and thoughtful, but also energetic and playful. You have discovered the power of being cute...and you use it to your advantage regularly!

Prayer has been a huge part of your growth this year. You've gone to praying with our help, to praying for the food on your own, and just in the last week you've started praying these long, beautiful prayers. You have been listening when others pray and you try to remember their personal requests and praises in your prayer. It is such a joy to hear you talk with God and to see you beginning to develop a relationship with Him.

Finn, I love you. I love your belly laugh, your sweet smile, the way you tilt your head to the side and sweetly ask, "Please?" I love the way you follow your sisters with adoration and the way they dote on you. I love the way your body feels against mine when you snuggle on my chest and the way you grab my face between  your two hands to give me a kiss. I love how excited you get when it's your turn to ride the lawn mower with Daddy...and how excited you get about the world in general. I love your beautiful heart that's growing to know God and His son, Jesus Christ.

Finn, I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you! I am so thankful that you are a part of our family and that I have the honor of being your mommy. I pray that God will bless and protect you in the coming year. I love you, my sweet boy. You are God's best!

Love,
Mommy

Our Soggy Halloween

It was rainy and cold for trick-or-treating last night. Joey wanted to skip it and let the kids trick-or-treat from room to room in our house, but the monkeys were beside themselves to go around the neighborhood in their costumes so off we went. The kids had it made...Cassidy and Lily were in the jogging stroller and Finn was in our regular stroller covered by a canopy and snuggled under warm, fuzzy blankets. Joey and I were soaked to the bone. I didn't take any pictures because I was afraid of killing the camera, but we will NEVER forget the fun of last night. The girls were so pleased with themselves in their costumes and Finn was a riot! Once he realized WHAT we were doing ("I GET TREATS!!!") he would start to leap out of the stroller before I had even unhooked the lap bar, grab his pumpkin from my hand ("Give me my fing, Mommy!"), run up the sidewalk and steps, dance excitedly in front of the door until someone opened it, and then would scream "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" at them. We'd load them all back up to go to the next house and he would giggle and chatter to himself the whole time. Joey and I spent most of the evening cracking up at his antics...PRICELESS!!!

I did manage to snap a few pics of the kids before we left the house...

Lily as Belle, Cassidy as The Great Mouse Detective, and Finn with no costume...yet. :)

Sweet Sisters

(They were pretending that Belle and The Great Mouse Detective were getting married.)

LOVE these sweet babies!

Lily almost froze to death in her Belle costume. And then with 3 houses to go, she had to pee. We made it to two more before I had to race home with her...and then strip her tights and undies off and let her pee in the backyard because Joey had the house keys! :)

She did look lovely, though...and Daddy even consented to let her wear a little lip gloss. :)

I may have mentioned that Cassidy announced about a week ago that she was going to be a detective. It wasn't until just a couple of days ago, though, that I realized that she was The Great Mouse Detective. We threw her costume together in a matter of minutes...my black dress coat, Joey's UNCW derby hat, and eyeliner nose and whiskers. She wouldn't let me make her mouse ears...she said she already HAD ears!

She looked absolutely adorable in the hat, which she wore cock-eyed the whole night! :)

Joey made her a paper magnifying glass...that lasted about 10 seconds in the rain! :)

Everyone in costume

READY FOR CANDY!!!

World's Cutest Duck!

By the end of the evening, that duck head was soaking wet and twice as heavy!

PeeDee the Pirate and the Blustery Day

Saturday was ECU's Homecoming. Despite the yucky weather, we were excited to head home to Pirate country. Our morning started on 5th Street where we watched the homecoming parade with Aunt Heather, Uncle Bailey, and Jordan.

Cassidy gazing lovingly at her little brother, who is sporting a new ECU shirt that I had whipped up the day before. :)

MAJOR CHEEEEEESE!!!!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

Aren't we sweet?

Pirate Monkeys

Our first treats of the morning, balloons from UBE. :)

Jordan bundled up in his 4T coat! :)

Ready to watch the parade

Brother Cousins

(Finn's coat is a tad small...it had just occurred to me the day before that he didn't have a new winter coat.)

Here come the ECU Marching Pirates!!!

(Cassidy and Lily don't like all the noise!)

Posing in front of the ECU sign on 5th Street

Family Photo before the game

Our Family Photo

The game was fun...especially once the gale force winds died down around the 4th quarter. The kids hung in really well...we made sure they had plenty of snacks. We cheered the Pirates to victory and then everyone slept soundly on the car ride home. :)