Am I still on Thanksgiving?

Saturday just after Thanksgiving was a fun but CRAZY day! That morning we celebrated Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday! She actually turned 3 on Thanksgiving, but we figured that was a little much for one day. So Logan had NOT been sleeping well (he continued not sleeping until after new years, but that's another post) and around 5 or 6 in the morning I gave up. He just wasn't going to sleep, so I decided to start preparing for Kaitlyn's party. So I threw Logan into the van and drove to the nearest grocery store. (I love Texas cause it was actually open and there was more than one option of where to go. Yay shopping!!) So we go in and get stuff for the cake I was going to make. I had made a cake for her birthday party in Wisconsin that was really good, but I wanted to do even better. She LOVES strawberries so I had made 1 cake in 2 pans and layered the middle with a strawberry glaze I made and then put a few extras on top with OFCOUARSE pink icing. For the Texas one I decided to try it but cook the cake with strawberries in it too. And I had to double it because, well even with just family there's ALOT of guests! So I bought 2 chocolate cake mixes, 4 containers of strawberries, and icing! Well we got home and I started hulling, cleaning, and cutting all the strawberries. Then I made two cakes with diced strawberries inside, and made the glaze to go in the middle. Luckily Grandma Buzz was up (she usually is, she doesn't sleep well) and she helped a ton. Even with starting at 5 am, about 15 minutes before people were supposed to show up the cakes weren't done. I was starting to get umm... lets just say hormonal. I was majorly stressing and VERRY frustrated. So everyone's arriving and I'm still working on the stupid cake, I mean Kaitlyn's beautiful birthday cake. Well when I layered it the corners fell and that made the icing mix in with little pieces of chocolate and it looked TERRIBLE! I wanted to cry, and I almost did. I didn't even want anyone to eat it I was so upset. lol. With lots of hugs and encouragement I decided it would have to do.
Kaitlyn loved it and everyone said it was delicious, which it was. One of my brother in laws even wanted me to make it again when we came down for Christmas. I hated it. I think it probably tasted really good, but I was too tired and stressed to enjoy it. lol. Oh well. Next time I'll either make it a different day or do a lot less. Sleeping the couple days before might help too.
So minus the cake (which I was the only one who had issues with) Kaitlyn's birthday party was a blast! There was cake, PRESSENTS (Kaitlyn LOVED that!), a bounce house, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents... you get the idea. It was a great time and I'm so glad everyone was able to come! And don't worry, by the end I had de-stressed and actually enjoyed the party!
Pictures from the party (there is no photogenic proof of the cake, because I wouldn't allow it!)

Hanging Out:
The Congers

Mom D and Katrina (I'm so glad you got to come)

Cooper and Cody

Jessica, Emily, and Jess's friend Kyra



Bounce House:
Kaitlyn, Tiara, Collin, and Austin

Tiara, Austin, Cameron, Kurtis

Collin, Austin, Kurtis, Tiara?

Kurtis, Tiara

Kaitlyn



Presents

The kids getting ready to watch Kaitlyn open 'em
Bottom: Tiara, Cameron, Jessica, Emily, Krya. Top: Grandma, Austin, Katrina

A couple of the opening shots, she was in heaven!





Family
Dalton sisters:
Mindy, Me, Katrina. Collin actually took this! He did pretty well!

All the Wilson's except Andrew (he's on a mission for our church in North Carolina)!

My sisters(Tiara, Jessica, Julia),and Kyra

Julia and Kurtis with 2 of the cutest babies ever, Cooper and Logan



The boys
This was just after putting up the bounce house. These guys are a ton of fun!
I asked for a picture and this is what I got!
The boty's are Jace,Ryan, and then Shawn! with Dad and Kurtis laughing at them.

Kurtis, Jace, Ryan, and Shawn


Also somehow I didn't get a picture of Mindy, Chris, my mom, and Ryan's dad, and Grandma Buzzy who were all there, sorry guys! I'm so glad that you all came!

So AFTER that WAY fun birthday party there was a fun get together with some highschool friends of mine. It was a blast to go and see everyone. Mandy and Marrisa and their mom were great hosts. I'm so glad we got together! Here's a pic. I stole off of Aria's website.
Standing: Jenny holding Sophia, Aria holding Skylar, and Mandy
Sitting: Me nursing Logan (story of my life right now!)and holding Em, Marissa holding Kaitlyn, and Julia holding Cooper


We stayed for an hour or two and caught up. Then AFTER that we met the Dalton's for dinner at El Fenix.
It was a LONG but very fun day. Sunday we spent driving home and then Ryan was back to work on Monday! It was a VERY busy week and we had so much fun.
OHH and Mom and Dad Dalton let us sleep on thier bed (we tried to argue) and we have now decided we WILL get a King size bed and a comfy mattress, all we're waiting on is our tax return! I hope it's big so we can get it!

Thanksgiving Break continued…

Friday. I can’t remember what we did Friday morning. But in the afternoon we went to see Mindy’s new house! I’m so excited for her. The house is BEAUTIFUL and I love it. I’m so happy for her. The evening was going to be spent with the Dalton’s so I asked my sister in law if my family could come over too. She was so sweet and said yes. My family hadn’t seen her new house yet either. It was so fun to have every one come over and spend the afternoon together! I’m so glad that both my families like each other and truly don’t mind when I throw everyone together. It sure makes our holiday better knowing our families love each other! Before my family got there Mindy, Katrina, Mom, and Grandma Buzzy went shopping. We were going to work on an art project, so we were getting supplies and just enjoying being out together. Unfortunately we didn’t do it together, everything just got to busy! But I did get to finish mine at home, and it tuned out really nicely!
After partying at Mindy’s we drove down to Texas Stadium. The Allen Eagles had a football game there for state. I had SO much fun! I’m not one to watch a televised football game, but I love the live one’s! There was a band and cheerleaders and all sorts of fun things to watch. Even the game was really good!

The Eagles getting ready to come on the field



(In TEXAS football is HUGE)

Shawn (Ryan’s little brother) was the second E in Eagles. He got to run after every touchdown, and there were quite a few!



Here’s the line of boys watching the game, Shawn is the one close by that has his arms in the air. It was one of the few times something bad happened (I don’t remember what).



Grandma watched Logan almost the whole game, and Kaitlyn stayed at the other end with her cousins and Grandma, so Ryan and I just had Em for the whole game. Until…





I stood up to get some cotton candy. All of a sudden she was RIGHT next to me! I didn’t even tell her I was getting the candy, she just saw me and high tailed it over! Em thought it was yummy, but didn’t like that it stuck to her hands!



Half time show (Allen Eagles)



Em dancing to the music!




She was so cute during the game! She’d point at the Eagle (the mascot) and say bird, dance to the music, watch the cheerleaders, and cheer randomly (for all she knew that’s what mom and dad were doing!). She was adorable the whole time! I had a blast and I was glad that we got to go. Go Allen Eagles! (Oh, and the Eagles were my rivals in High school, I was a Panther Go PESH!, Only cause I love my husband and my brother in law could I cheer so heartily for the Eagles!)

And that was just Friday! More to come later...

All I wanted

All I wanted was a nap today. Apparently that should be illegal in my house, hum maybe it is. Two of my three cooperated BEAUTIFULLY. One did not. LOTS of naughty acts were performed during the whole 30 minutes I got to sleep. One guess who it was and you'll probably be right. I awoke to the sound of plastic being opened. What is she into now? I go and find Kaitlyn (you knew it didn't you!) sitting on the floor with the TUMS and the sprinkles. The two items that have been moved NUMEROUS times because of her. There is NO PLACE higher or more secure than were they were. Hence the probability of parental naps being illegal in my home. The first time she got into the TUMS I called the nurse and was all geared up to take her into the hospital, but the nurse informed me she was fine, "she'll just have a little extra calcium". Well considering all the drugs she could have chosen I was happy. Today I decided not to make a huge deal of it. I just reminded her (for the hundredth time!) that is NOT candy, it is medicine and we don't just eat it. Then I find the gum wrappers. I think a whole 2 pieces had been eaten before she got a hold of them. Again, luckily, she hadn't made too big a mess. Mostly she just chews it and then swallows it. Again, not the most healthy decision, but it could be worse. There was no gum in her hair or on furniture. I went to throw the gum wrappers away and found mess number 3! Grrr! This one got to me. The stamps ALL over the floor. She KNOWS Mommy gets upset when she plays with those. After she got punished I sat on the chair practicing my breathing techniques (very important!) and she says Mom look! She spins on one leg and looks like the perfect little ballerina. Oh I love her. I'm so glad she chose that moment to show me her new skill. I love all my babies, but Kaitlyn definitely makes me work the hardest at it. At the same time there are HUGE rewards if I'll get over the "little" things she does to annoy me. (I KNOW she doesn't specifically do these things to frustrate me) After that she found some TUMS I had missed when cleaning up after her and thoughtfully shared them all with her sister. That’s love right there. Mom didn’t even know she had them and she gave them to Em. I love it when they share and play nice, even though I didn’t want Em to eat the TUMS too. I was nursing Logan and Em ate as many as she could before I got to her. Lol. Good times. All in a day (well like an hour) at the Dalton home.
Also I've decided to be more specific about my wishes from now on.

TEXAS!!

Every time we go to Texas I forget to take any pictures, so this time I took a TON!! That only makes it harder to blog, because I want to post all of them. lol. Oh well. This year for Thanksgiving we were at the Dalton's. It's so fun to go to Texas because we get to see everyone. Ryan's parents and my parents live about 10 min. (if that) from each other. My mom was Ryan's sister's visiting teacher (until she moved into her new house!) and our brothers Jace and Shawn hang out every weekend anyways. So we get to see everyone the whole time, it's great. We got to hang out at Julia's new house, Mindy's new house (with EVERYONE!! Thanks Mindy for letting my family invade!), at my Mother in laws (where we had Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday party) and at my moms. It was a crazy week, but VERY fun. I'm not even sure what all we did. We were up early and down late every night and missed most of our naps. The girls were in HEAVEN (me included) with all the friends and family time. So we were supposed to leave here Wednesday night and drive ALL night to get there Thursday morning, but luckily for us Ryan's day "magically" opened up on Wednesday so we left Tuesday afternoon instead. I came home from a meeting to Ryan standing in the kitchen saying you ready to go? I jumped and danced and skipped for a few minutes. Then I turned into a tornado running through the house getting things packed! I got everyone packed and we got the kids ready and out the door in 2 hours. That's AMAZING for me. It usually takes me 5 hours. Seriously. I HATE to pack, I agonize over every decision, plan way to many outfits, and stress that I forgot something. So we drove all night Tuesday night and surprised the Dalton's Wednesday morning. We got there around 8am, and talked for an hour or so then went to bed! Grandpa and Grandma took the kids and went to Mindy's so we could get some sleep! (THANKYOU!!) The girls had fun playing with their cousins and by the time they got back I was up and ready for some more family time. We hung out there for a while then we to Julia's to surprise my family who still didn't know we were in town. We hung out with Julia, Cooper, my mom and dad, and Tiara for a while, then Cody got home from work and joined us. By the time we got back to the Dalton's we were all so tired! The next day was Thanksgiving! I couldn't believe it was already Thursday! Traveling all night really throws me off schedule. Well that morning there was some free time so I convinced Katrina and Grandma Buzzy (Ryan's dad's mom) and Shawn to run to Wal-Mart with me. I saw some REALLY cute Thanksgiving shirts online and I wanted to try to make it. I was so glad that I had some help, because I never would have found the cute colors Katrina and Buz found! Here are the shirts!:


(the only one that I got both girls looking at me, Kaitlyn was flashing her panties)

the girls were outside in grandpa's sand box playing with their cousins when I took these pictures, so of coarse the boys wanted their pictures taken too! These are Mindy's 2 youngest boys:
Austin (about 5-6 months older than Em)



And Cameron (I love his cheesy grin!)



Since the kids were posing so cute, I decided to get a picture of everyone!
Grandma Dalton and Logan



Grandma Buz



Grandpa Dalton (giving me "the look")



Shawn and Ryan THRILLED that I was taking pictures!




Collin, Mindy's oldest



Aaron (with the gun) Katrina's husband and Chris-Mindy's husband



and my GEORGEOUS sister in laws
Mindy



Katrina



They were taking pictures of Logan. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this was the first time for everyone except our moms to meet Logan. He NEVER got put down, even when he was sleeping, and he LOVED every minute of it!

We had a YUMMY Thanksgiving FEAST, but I didn't get any pictures. After we stuffed ourselves we went to a park near mom's house and took family pictures. They turned out really cute, but I don't have a copy of the one with everyone. This is Mindy's family:



Kaitlyn was loving on her Uncle Shawn and I got this cute shot:



My 2 handsome men! Oh I love those cheeks!



My kids



All the Dalton grandkids (aren't they so cute!)



I love that Cameron has his arm around Kaitlyn!

Em playing at the park




Kaitlyn at the park



Cameron and Austin




A little after that we went over to my family's house and hung out for a few hours. This time we got to see Kurtis, Jace, and Jessica who we missed the day before. I don't think Kaitlyn stopped moving the entire time she was there (or anywhere for that matter) she ran from one aunt to another to an uncle to another to Grandpa to Grammy. She had a blast and did NOT want to leave (she thought we were going home every time we left someone's house) until we explained that we were going to her OTHER grandma's house. Then she was ok with it. This trip was the first time she understood that there are 2 grandmas and you go back and forth it was really cute to see her connect the dots!
Anyway that was just Wednesday and Thursday (which I don't think I mentioned, was Kaitlyn's birthday, but we didn't celebrate it then) and we were there until Monday morning! More to come...

Twilight

So it is true, I'm a Twilight fan. I was bummed after I moved here, because I didn't know anyone reading the series here. When I was in Des Moines there were TONS of girls to chit chat with, and I had a blast reading the books and discussing them with the girls and dying for the next ones to come out. Just before the movie came out, I got my friend Coreina to read it! I was so excited, and of coarse she fell in love with it too. So for opening night she suggested going together. I couldn't wait, I was so excited. I had thought I wouldn't have anyone to go with. THEN she was talking to some of the girls at play group and library time and convinced a few more to start the books too! In the end there were 5 of us that went to the movie! I can't tell you how excited I was. I hadn't had a girls night in FOREVER. AND it was so fun to do something ADULT(ish) with the girls I see at all the kids functions. That was the first time I'd hung out with 2 of the girls, even though I've known one since I moved here. So we all drove up to Platteville together and saw the opening together! And I have to brag a little, one good thing about living in a small town is they showed the movie at 10 instead of 12! So we were some of the first to see it! I had a blast hanging out with the girls. I have to say I wasn't too impressed with the first half of the movie, but I really enjoyed it once it got to the baseball scene. I think that one is my favorite. I had a blast hanging out with the girls and can't wait to do it again. Twilight just started in our theatre (it only shows one movie at a time) so maybe we'll get together and see it again.
Speaking of seeing it again... When I was in Texas Julia (my lil sis) and I took my Mom, Ryan's Mom, and Ryan's sister Mindy to see it! They hadn't seen it yet. I liked the movie even more the second time, and I REALLY enjoyed seeing it with my sisters (sorry we missed you Trina!) and moms. It was great! I love getting together with the girls while I'm down there. I got to go shopping with Ryan's mom, sisters, and grandma while I was there too. That was so fun. But the Texas trip will be a whole other post!

October

Here it is December (what!! When did THAT happen???) and I still have some catching up left from October. Oh well, you’ll still love me anyway.

One of my favorite things is seeing Ryan with his boy. There is just something about a dad and his baby boy. It’s so funny because Ryan used to always say, it’s ok to let them cry, you can put them down (for the girls) but Ryan is always the first to pick up Logan when he cries. He has spoiled him rotten, and I love it. I’m blessed enough to have Ryan come home for lunch most days. This is a typical scene just before he has to go back to work:



Logan giving me “the look”!



Probably for something of this nature:



i.e. the Kaitlynaitor -I’d be giving the evil eye too!

My sweet princess



(I just love sleeping babies!)

Logan’s TUMMY TIME!!! This is very rare, I don’t leave him on the floor often. Why? Have you met my Kaitlyn? Or my Emmy? Yea, that’s why.



Kaitlyn has tons of fashion cents, unfortunately it’s her own kind of fashion! I got these adorable headbands to keep the hair out of her eyes, which she promptly turned into necklaces (she prefers to wear at lest 3). She like to pick 3-4 bows that don’t match ANYTHING (each other or her clothes) for her hair and likes to layer odd combinations of clothes. But in her world she is the coolest of cool and loves her outfits! Here’s one example, (believe me there are MANY!!)




She is wearing 2 skirts in that one. It’s no wonder I can’t get all the laundry done! She wears enough cloths in a day to outfit a normal person for a week.

I LOVE, love, LOVE this picture of Em holding Logan. I don’t have many because she usually only holds him for about 3 seconds before she says “I done” and puches him off her lap!



Logan was in his bed (rarely is this the case) and fussing a little. I was busy and couldn’t get to him right away (I think I was changing Em) so Kaitlyn came to help. She actually got him calmed down and happy!



Of coarse the next time he was sleeping and she climbed in and started JUMPING! I was pretty upset about that one!