Thanksgiving and decorating tree!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! We had a good one here and I hope you all had a great one too! Chris grandma and brother came up to spend the holiday with us. They got her Tuesday and will be here until Sunday. It has been a great visit! Here are some pictures of their visit!

Ireland got these jammies for her bday. She was excited to show them off!

Ireland decided that she wanted to make everyone Thanksgiving placemats... She traced her had and made hand turkeys. She was so proud of them! She worked on them for 2 days or so. Here she is drawing some of them.

Chloe and her Gran!

We always bake the day before Thanksgiving... so the girls got to help this year. We made Nana's Chocolate chip cookies, Oatmeal toffee cookies, and Puppy Chow (Gran and Danny had never even heard of Puppy Chow!!!!).

This was the first time baking with the girls that they were actually helpful and I didn't feel like I was losing my mind by the end of it! It was actually a lot of fun! And all our treats turned out perfect!

Later that day the girls were playing outside... living on a military post we hear the trumpets everyday (if we are outside) when they lower the flag. Chris taught the girls that when you hear the trumpets they need to face where the flag is (they can't see it) and salute. I walked outside and saw them standing like this... they are saluting the flag while it was being lowered. It just melted my heart!

Here is Ireland on Thanksgiving morning. She picked out her own outfit... she said she thought it would be a very fallish and beautiful holiday outfit of Thanksgiving... I blame her Nana for this kind of talk!

Chris and Gran... Chris isn't mad... this is just how he looks! Always...

Chris and me

Picture of the table with all our placemats! So cute!!

Yesterday Gran and I went shopping and she got the girls some new outfits! Here is Ireland in her outfit... she was so excited because Gran got her a purple shirt and it matches her new purple boots!

I can't get over how cute Chloe's little outfit is! It came with a little matching tutu! She loves it!

Trying to get a picture together!

We decorated the Christmas tree last night. It has been up for a few days but we held off decorating it until yesterday. They girls LOVED it! It is really first year that they both could help out and they didn't do more harm than good!

I love this picture because you can see by her body language how much concentration was going into hanging this ornament!

Chloe showing her favorite one to Ireland.

Gran helping Ireland.

Ireland and Daddy finding the perfect place.

Chloe showing off her stocking... it is actually her old stocking because Gramma King made them new ones last year... but Chloe thought they were all so funny because they looked like shoes!

We sure have had a fun few days!
Gran dropped my camera in a sink full of water... so hopefully it works ok and I can keep posting blogs! (Just giving Gran a hard time... Chris has another camera if my is broken)
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Leftovers...

I thought I would let you all see some leftover pictures from my sisters visit. The kids had so much fun playing with eachother! I got a lot of great pictures of them... you can tell they are having a blast!

The first night they got here we put on some music and they all danced around... actually, now that I think of it, we didn't put on any music... I was watching So You Think You Can Dance (best show ever) and the kids were dancing too!

Things eventually got really crazy and they ALL ended up without any pants on! :)

Silas was so cute... he wanted to be a part of the fun too. He kept coming up to the girls and trying to hold their hands and dance with them. Camdyn didn't think it was that special, but Ireland and Chloe thought it was pretty neat!

The weather was really nice while they were here. So we got to go outside and play in the backyard. The girls started to play a game where they would start at one side of the yard and I would tell them to do different things while they moved to the other side of the yard... like walk backwards, jump, spin... they are hopping like frogs in this picture.

Besides Chloe's goofy smile, this is a super cute picture! Aunt Sissy brought Chloe this dress and she was so excited that she could match Camdyn! They love eachother so much!

Camdyn is trying to trace Chloe... it never did work. They were laughing too hard! :)

We had such a great visit with them! I am so happy Ireland could have them here for her birthday!
Gran and Uncle Danny come tomorrow so the next blog should be a fun one!

Ireland is 5!!!

It's official... Ireland is a 5 year old! I can't even believe it! She is so excited! She feels so grown up now. She told me that she thinks its so special that she isn't a "little" kid anymore! I think it is pretty special too... but I won't lie, it is also a little sad!
My sister, Camdyn, and Silas came to celebrate with us. So it turned out to be a really special day. This is going to be a picture heavy blog to fill in the grandparents that had to miss it...
here goes!

She was excited all day long! Smiles and happiness the entire day. It was the first real birthday that she was really excited about... she looked forward to it, planned it, anticipated it, dreamed about it for weeks... so needless to say, she was super fun the whole day!
Ireland asked to have her favorite breakfast... so we woke up and had sausage and french toast. It was yummy!

After breakfast we got to go to the mall and play and have lunch at Chick-fil-A.
After that it was naptime... she got to watch a movie instead of nap.
Then it was dinner time... Ireland asked to have Lil- Smokies (baby hotdogs as she calls them), Mac n' Cheese, Deviled eggs, and fruit salad. Interesting!
All the kids loved it! :)
They also got to eat dinner in dress up... and major no-no... what a nice mom I am!

When dinner was done a cleaned up it was present opening time! I was amazed at how good Ireland did all day! She was able to open a few presents in the morning, but most of them she had to wait for until after dinner! She didn't even ask to open them! I was shocked!

She was very lucky this year! She got pretty much everything she asked for! She was truly excited and thankful for every gift she got! It was so fun to watch her open them all! You can see the excitement on her face in all these pictures! She was one happy 5 year old!
A Fancy Nancy Tea Party book from Aunt Kellie, Uncle Lawrence, and Connor... the perfect book for Ireland! And some beautiful Princess jammies!

She got lots of dress-up princesses from Gran... she was so excited to get some new ones! They are one of her favorite toys and her old ones were falling apart! So this made her very happy!

The one thing she really wanted to do on her birthday was have a tea party... she was getting a little worried about it because she didn't have a tea set... so when she opened this present from Mommy, Daddy, and Chloe she was super excited (as you can tell)!

Three Mukseteer Barbie from Grandma Sherry! She was really hoping to get this!

I think Camdyn and Chloe liked this present better than Ireland did! It is a princess cash register... it was a hit!

After the presents it was time for the tea party... Ireland has been planning this for weeks! She made everyone who was going to be there a card and a paper fan. She planned her outfit down to the jewelry and shoes! Needless to say, she was ready when it was finally time!

Camdyn was just as excited to get all dolled up! She was in dress up all day, everyday she was here! :)

All ready for some tea!

We got the table all set up with flowers, the teaset, and every candle I have! When Ireland walked in the room she litteraly gasped! She was super impressed! She told me it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen! :)

All 3 girls enjoyed some real tea (they actually liked it) with milk and sugar. And they each got a cupcake. We sang happy birthday to Ireland and then had a wonderful tea party with good "tea conversation" and everything!

Ireland told me it was the best tea party she had ever been to. I am so glad it lived up to her expectations! I was worried it wasn't going to be everything she imagined it to be! But she was still talking about it the next morning... when she woke up the next moring she looked at me and said, "You are the best mom ever! Thanks for the best tea party!" Melt my heart!

Ireland and Daddy at the tea party (he really was having fun... this is just how he looks... all the time!)

All in all it was a great day! We were so greatful to have Aunt Sissy, Camdyn, and Silas here to celebrate with us! It made her day so much more special!
And now... Ireland has started planning for next year... schedule it! :)