Because She Is My Daughter...

Embarrassing pictures of Addison that are sure to surface many more times in her future -- high school graduation, wedding, etc.

The Aftermath...Clean-Up Part 2

As the taillights to the RV left the neighborhood, we began 'Clean-Up Part #2' to get the new sick germs out of the house.  And my little helper was by my side the entire time...

The sickness...

John, Addison and I all got a little stomach flu the week before Thanksgiving...NO FUN!  But we were all on the mend...had lysoled the entire house, cleaned all of Addison's toys are were feeling pretty good about our Thanksgiving visitors.

Then fast forward to Thursday night, post intoxicated Black Friday shopping...

• Thursday night little Claire-bear got the bug and was throwing up most of the night.  I felt so bad for the little thing, she looked just pitiful. 
• Friday evening...Anne started getting sick. 
• Saturday during the day...Ryan started getting sick.
• Saturday night...Abbey started getting sick.
• Sunday we loaded a bunch of sickies on to the RV and sent all the germs back with them to Michigan/Wisconsin!  Poor Ab was the only one still feeling pretty crummy for the long drive home...

Everyone made it safely home and was on the mend...then Monday night Mallory got sick!

We never even got a good family picture because it seemed someone was always not feeling up for it.

Arkansas vs LSU

Besides it being Thanksgiving and all, one of the reasons the crew came down to visit was so the boys could see some SEC football.  Traditionally the Arkansas/LSU game is played in Little Rock when it is in Arkansas but this year they changed it and it was in Fayetteville. 

We had planned to head down to Fayetteville in shifts, the babies being in the second group but since Claire wasn't feeling well we packed up everyone that was going to the game/tailgating and sent them on there merry way.   Abbey and Mallory went down with the boys but didn't go to the game...so they tailgated (by themselves) all afternoon.

The boys sporting their finest red attire!

Black Friday Shopping

After the kitchen was cleaned, the babies were sleeping and a few more adult beverages were consumed (not by me, I was driving) we ventured out for some good old Black Friday shopping...scratch that we headed out for some 'The Turkey Is Still Warm' Thanksgiving Night shopping.  Our stops...Walmart, Target, Gap and Kohls.  The big purchases...3 super-sized chocolate bars and some Rubbermaid containers at Walmart and Christmas candy at Target.  TOTALLY worth risking our live at Walmart -- we did get to see a fight!

Front row parking at Walmart...AMAZING!

The 10 o'clock reveal...

Checkout :(

Sorry Ab...

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends...the ladies kept themselves busy in the kitchen and the men enjoyed the beautiful weather outside and tended to the deep fryer. 

We had 14 adults and 2 toddlers for the big meal and we had food for about 30.  We had one baked bird and one deep fried, all the sides you could dream of -- stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, green bean casserole, sweet potatoe casserole, tomato pudding, brussel sprouts, rolls and pumpkin, cherry and pecan pie for dessert.

Clean-Up

We spent much of the weekend working around the house and cleaning up...as usual Addison was a HUGE help!

We had lots of cleaning to do because this thing (see picture below) was parked in my parent's driveway as the troops readied themselves for the trek down to AR for Thanksgiving!

Family Pictures :: Sneak Peak

Kim from KD Photography did our photoshoot last night.  And despite it being the coolest evening in weeks (maybe months) Addison did great and I think Kim was able to capture some great pictures.  I can't wait to see them all.

Here is a sneak peak that Kim posted on Facebook.

Lunch Time Fun

Just Because...

Toyland 2012

Addison and I took full advantage of the absolutely beautiful fall day (high was 80 today) and headed to the Bentonville square this afternoon.  Walmart and the toy suppliers put on their annual Toyland event and we got a sneak peak at all the hot new toys for the holidays.  We went early so not all of the booths were open yet but we avoided the after school rush.  Its a pretty cool event...tent after tent of toys and games, everything you can think of -- Lego, Nerf, Hello Kitty, Barbie, Fisher Price, iTikes, Ferby, Hotwheels, Disney Princess, etc.

 

We even managed to hit-up the park on the way back to the car...what a great afternoon!

Halloween 2012

We had a great day yesterday...I think Addison enjoyed her second Halloween!

First we went to John's office and Addison showed off her costume, got a few pieces of candy and ate an entire sugar cookie.

My cupcake and my Lego-man...

Then after dinner, we Face-timed with the family in Michigan before heading outside to light our jack-o-lanterns and visit just a couple of houses in the neighborhood.

 

I wasn't expecting a ton of trick-or-treaters and most of them were going to be in the under 4 category so I put together little treat bags with gold fish, teddy grahams and m&ms.  In total, I think we got 5 kids :)

Our sugar crash wasn't too bad at the end of the night but Addison did manage to eat lots of treats yesterday -- a sugar cookie, 2 packages of fruit snacks, a dum-dum sucker (which she found in her treat bucket and opened herself) and some gold fish.