Let's talk TURKEY!

Dabria proudly displays her school project! We turned a plain picture of a turkey into an extraordinary work of art! Mommy can not take credit for this...she made a pattern with the colors of the feathers, stapled them herself, colored the turkey, and the finishing touch...a red "balloon" gobbler! What a terrific turkey! Job well done! 

Bottle NOT empty...(yet...)

Shawnna happily guzzles her bottle...I have never seen a baby drain a bottle as fast as this girl does! Is there some kind of world record for that? She can seriously drain a 4 oz bottle in 1 minute flat! No wonder she burps so well! 

Bottle empty!

Shawnna's reaction, after finishing her bottle, is always the same....she gets just plain pissed off! It takes a minute or two to register that " belly is now full!" She's so cute when she's mad:) 

My two favorite girls...

Shawnna & Dabria say cheese for the camera! After Dabria left for school, Shawnna and I played with the new Boppy gym- she was so excited to grab hold of those elusive toys dangling before her! She continues to amaze me, and her personality continues to shine through more every day! Now, where did she get that attitude?? I can't claim responsibility for that one:)  

Happy Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating for the 2 full hours allowed...not giving up until we found every house with a light on in a 2 mile radius! (Please note: If you don't want to answer your door, please turn your porch light off!) I thought this was a well known fact in Halloween etiquitte...apparently not! The kids all brought home a bucket full of goodies, and Mom's & Dad's heard the candy whines for the next week, until magically, the buckets were empty! Now waiting for the news on our next trip to the dentist!....Ugghh!  

Happy Birthdays !!

Emma and Dabria..each, another year older...4 and 6! With their birthdays only 10 days apart, we celebrate them together! We had a fabulous cake from The Country Table- chocolate w/ peanut butter icing! MMMmmm good! We finished out a very long day by singing Happy Birthday to a very tired bunch! Well, the icing gave them an energy jolt to keep them awake yet a little longer! A very HAPPY birthday celebration indeed!  

Halloween Parade...Trick-or-Treat?

Nana asked everyone who came to the girls' birthday party to bring a little bag of treats, for an indoor Trick-or-treat Halloween parade! Emma slipped into her witch gear (does she really need an outfit to prove she's "witchy"?) Jansen was a ferocious dinosaur, Gunner an adorable scarecrow, Jarren a bear (he decided he didn't want to wear his costume long enough for a picture) and Dabria was a scary skeleton! They paraded through the house, and were "treated" very well! We didn't leave Shawnna out- we put Shrek ears on her....what a cute baby ogre! ( Her picture got blurry, so it wasn't "post-worthy" :)  

In search of "booty!"...

OK, I just realized I am posting out of order, so try to follow- I think my brain is deteriorating as we speak- must be too much studying for A & P II...AAAccckkk! So, Dabria and Emma, and the rest of the kids followed the treasure map, and counted their steps carefully, in search of their loot! Wow, the treasure was found! Dabria was thrilled to find her very own pirate chest filled with coins, jewels, and new DVD's! Holly helps her celebrate the moment!  

Cutie- "Pie-rates!"

Since we were celebrating Emma & Dabria's birthdays, Nana dressed the gang as pirates (Dabria's birthday theme) While the costumes only stayed on a few minutes, we caught the buccaneer's in action! After the pirate fashion show, thanks to Uncle Hobie, Dabria had to search for her gifts by following a real treasure map in Nana & Grandpa's yard! Did they find the booty?  

Chugga, chugga, choo-choo!

As always, Nana has our weekends crammed full of plans, and we never seem to get it all done! But, we did make it to Strasburg to take the kids on a Fall train ride! Grandpa worked overtime to pay for the trip- 90.00 for a train ride? Wow! The kids enjoyed the scenery, and it's times like these that make me appreciate where I grew up- Lancaster County will always feel like "home." And it makes me feel good to pass these traditions on to our next generation of kids! They all look forward to going to PA- to Nana & Grandpa's "big house!" We were even lucky enough to bring Shawnna on the trip- while she may never be ours, the times we spend with her are deeply cherished, and she fits right in with the rest of the gang!  

Bundle up and enjoy the ride!

The only available seats on the train were open car seats- which, we were prepared for and dressed the kids extra warm! Besides, what good is a train ride if you can't enjoy the nice fresh air of Lancaster County? The kids could also see much more, too, and since the train's max speed for the ride was 20 mph, it really wasn't so bad! We bundled up, and enjoyed the ride!  

5 tickets to Paradise, please!

Here, the fab 5, Jansen, Gunner, Dabria, Jarren, and Emma ...pose in Paradise! Our train ran from Strasburg to Paradise, PA, where the engine then changed up for the ride back! This little break gave the kids a chance to check out the caboose, and of course, pose for a picture!:)  

Storyteller

Shawnna looks thoroughly engrossed in the story Dabria is reading her! Dabria has been a lover of books ever since she was able to hold on to one and put it in her mouth- so we too, read to Shawnna....we will make a book worm out of her yet!! Read on...