Thanksgiving 2011

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We started it off with our annual Thanksgiving morning run. It was a lot warmer this year than it was last year. And instead of pushing two strollers with all of the kids, two of the kids decided to ride their bikes, and Kevin pulled the other two in a stroller.

Then we cleaned up and headed over to my parents for dinner!

The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins, and it was great to have the whole family there together, except for my Brother in Law, Tyrel, who had to work.

It was fun to hang out, look at the Black Friday ads, relax, and visit after dinner.

I saw the techno-savvy kids like this, and had to get a shot. How times have changed!

I am so thankful for so many things this time of year!

Some that have been on my mind lately:

My husband, who works so hard to support our family. And he is the best daddy to our kids!

Our kids, who are the light of my life.

Our extended families.

Our warm home.

Our bed.

Our cars. Especially the heated seats!

Our freedom.

Our health.

The mountains.

The wonderful holiday season.

Modern technology & modern medicine.

Our talents & abilities.

Automatic doors.

Music.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

5 months

Beckham is 5 months old today! I can't believe it's already been that long since he joined our little family.

He is SO much fun to have around! He is always happy. He smiles, squeals, giggles, and coos all day. He is constantly looking at anyone in the room and watching them, and just smiling happily at them.

He is a great sleeper. He will sleep through the night most nights, and even goes back to sleep after a morning feeding. I've been putting him down in his crib while he's still awake, but drowsy, and he's good about putting himself to sleep.

He's still in the process of learning how to eat rice cereal. He was good at it for a while. Then we went a few days without giving it to him. Now when we try, he just gags and spits it out. We'll keep trying. Veggies are next. :)

He likes to grab things now. He will bring anything and everything up to his mouth to taste it. My favorite part is when I get close to him, he reaches out his little fingers to touch my face. It melts my heart every time!

Pumpkin Squares

So I have to thank my friend Shannon, (and her sister Kjarstin) for this recipe. I just tried it for the first time, and it is SO delicious!

I'm going to make it for Thanksgiving instead of Pumpkin Pie. It's way better than plain old pumpkin pie, in my opinion! I made it Saturday night, just to make sure I knew how to do it.

Pumpkin Squares

1 pkg. Yellow cake mix (reserve 1 cup) You can also try it with Spice cake mix.

1/2 C. butter or margarine (room temperature)

1 egg

Mix & press into greased 9x13 pan.

(It's VERY sticky, so spray your fingers with pam to keep it from sticking to your fingers.)

1 Lg can Libby pumpkin pie mix (make sure it says "mix", not just the regular pumpkin)

2/3 C. Evaporated milk

2 eggs

Blend & pour over the cake mixture

1 C. Reserved cake mix

1/4 C. Sugar

1/4 C. Butter or Margarine, room temperature

1 tsp Cinnamon

Mix & sprinkle over pumpkin mixture (also very sticky)

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes till toothpick comes out clean.

Chill, and serve with whipped topping.

Beckham~ 4 months

Beckham turned 4 months old today. I can't believe how time is flying!

He kept trying to sit forward for his picture. He'll be sitting up by himself before we know it!

We gave him his first taste of rice cereal. He did well with it. He didn't know what to think at first, but ate it up pretty quickly!

These pictures were also taken today. He has been grabbing at things for a couple of weeks now. He loves to stand in this walker and just grab at the toys we give to him!

He also constantly has his hands in his mouth. And he slobbers a lot! He wears a bib all day now, and he soaks through them pretty quickly!

I have a bunch of miscellaneous pictures of him I just need to get onto the blog. These 2 were taken October 10, just before he was 3 months old.

These ones were taken on his 3 month b-day, October 17.

These were taken October 31.

And I took some bath pictures on November 6.

I just love those chunky legs!

I could just eat him up!

Chicken, Fire, & Teeth

Interesting title, eh? I couldn't think of anything better.

Sooo, here's another awesome tip I learned from Pinterest. I just have to share it, because it works so well! To shred your freshly boiled chicken breast, just stick it in your KitchenAid with the dough attachment, turn it on for a few seconds......

And voila! Perfectly shredded chicken!! It only works when the chicken is still warm/hot. :)

On October 25, Ryker went on a field trip to the fire station with his pre-school class. Sorry about the crappy cell phone pics!

Also that day, Trinidee lost her first tooth while she was at school, eating an apple! She was SO excited to finally lose a tooth! She lost the other bottom center tooth a few weeks later.

Bailee is already starting her long road of orthodontic work. She doesn't have enough room in her mouth for her adult teeth that are growing in. She also has a crossbite that needs to be fixed.

Here's her Nanny McPhee face. Had to get a picture before they fix it!

This is the separator she had put in on November 2. We have to turn it with a key every day, and it eventually spreads out the roof of her mouth. She's really been a good sport about all of it. She's been begging for braces for months. She'll get some braces on her front teeth pretty soon, but won't have a full set until all of her adult teeth are in. But at least we have a start!

And on November 6, we were signing birthday cards for some family members. Ryker has known how to spell his name for months now. He says R.Y.K.E.R. But this was the first time I asked him to write it. He did pretty darn good! Isn't it cute??