Reading books with Nana
Snuggling with Grandma Jan
Hanging with Grandpa
Warming cold toes with Uncle Ryan
Double the armful with Cousin Dominic & Uncle Rick
Chatting it up with Aunt Lisa
Admiring the Christmas tree
Happy times with Cousin Dominic
A picture moment with the cousins: Dominic Jordan, Ky, Devan & Alaina
and this is why we have the tree set up behind our couches...."WHO me?"
Stephanie's beautiful & original center piece
"Now what team is this Uncle Rick?"
Dominic looking at the ornmanents
Alaina has become an avid reader
I think her brother encourages it. No this is not a posed picture..
Hanging with Uncle Jared & Aunt Deb
"Come on Uncle Jared--you can do the puzzle! I know you can!"
Thanksgiving was a very nice day. It started off kind of crazy though. We had prepacked everything and laid out the kids clothes so we could get to Nana's early enough for a brunch celebration. However, Ky is in this "in-between-phase" with some of his nicer clothes. His khaki's were too small. I pulled out the next size up, those were too big. Same with shirts. We finally got him dressed after changing his clothes about 4 times. This of course made us late. Ky is not an easy kid to get dressed (he dresses himself and is SO SLOW about it.) At least he doesn't care what he wears at this point and still lets me pick out his clothes. However, I have been warned many times to expect that to change soon.
We spent the late morning and early afternoon with Nana & Grandma Jan. We had a nice brunch with eggs, cheese, bread, and fruit. The kids ate well and really enjoyed time reading and snuggling. Alaina had fun trying to explore the non-child proof areas--which currently is a favorite hobby of hers.
Mid-afternoon we left to do the Schnake Thanksgiving. This year we all joined together in bringing sides and Debi provided the meat. It was a bountiful feast--as always. Ky & Dominic played together ALOT--which is just too cute to watch. They are really becoming fast friends.
Alaina was held much of the time--mostly for our sanity. She just gets into too much. As you can see from above she started pulling the lights off the tree. And that was just seconds after I put her by the tree so I could take a picture. The girl is FAST! I really have to work to keep up with her.
We all left happy and full. Rob and I ended up staying up late that night doing computer research. Every year Rob and I make our one BIG purchase on black friday--or around that time. We have found that it really tends to be the best time to get our good deal. We consider this our Christmas present to ourselves. Last year our van was our big purchase. This year it was a new computer with printer. My other computer was 7 years old and took forever to load things on---part of the reason I was getting so behind on my blog was the amount of time it would take to load pics. And my printer was shot too....So we stayed up late examining the sales flyers and then looking for reviews on the different computers.
We finally picked one out with a back-up in case the store was out. Rob said he was going to go to Best Buy at 5:15. I told him he needed to be there when the store opened (I knew that much.) Well he went, and by the time he got in the store (after waiting 15 minutes in line) the computer we wanted was gone. HE then went to our second option and that was gone too. He came home quite disheartened and declared he was never going to do that again (it was his first time.)
Yeah--I went out once in high school when the store opened and saw the madness. I haven't been back since--and I am pretty sure I never will be.
Anyway-we ended up buying our computer online. It was a little more money, but not much--and definitely was worth the cost. Yeah to Amazon.com. Speaking of which, I have already earned $15 in gift cards from Swagbucks.com. If you haven't signed up--do so HERE.
This really is the coolest way to earn free money! I do all my google searches on swagbucks!
I did go out on Black Friday at noon to pick up a comforter I had been eying...It was too cheap to pass up. I ended up waiting in line for 30 minutes just to check out. RIDICULOUS! --but considering the savings it was worth it....However, what was even more ridiculous was that the lady and her 2 girls behind me had been shopping since midnight. The poor girls were so exhausted and begging their mom to PLEASE let this be their last store. WOW! How much was she buying to be out shopping for 12 hours (by then it was closer to 13)???!!! She was pretty smart though considering she would have her girls stand in line while she got her merchandise. That meant less standing in line time and more shopping time for her.
Anyway, Saturday and Sunday Uncle Jared and Aunt Deb came for a visit. We had a really nice time with them. Ky was especially excited to see U. Jared and even got him to dance with him to his music---and U. Jared ended up swimming in the "pretend" pool with him. The next day we had a yummy brunch together at the Pancake House after church. From there it was time for them to hit the road.--It's a long drive back to Oklahoma. We had a really good time and were sad to see them go--but there is always next Thanksgiving--and the hopes that Alaina will do better at long trips so we can go visit them soon.
I believe I mentioned in my last blog that Alaina has really been getting into books. It is especially cute when Alaina and Ky are reading together.
As far as Ky's reading, I have just started him on the BOB books two days ago. And he can already read the first 2 books by himself. I am very excited that he will be reading on his own soon. He gets annoyed right now if he has to sound out words--(it takes him too long to figure out the word) but once he has it, he is really good. If you don't know about BOB books check out this link below. You can easily get the sets from your local library--which is what we do. Most school systems use these books in their Kindergarten and 1st grade classes.
Until next time! Hey I am catching up! WOO-HOO NEW COMPUTER....now just don't go expecting much for Christmas cards...I am really slacking in that area! :)
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