Easy Bake

Is it not ever little girl's dream to have an easy bake oven? Well Gretchen is lucky enough to have an older sister that HAD to have one. So today Scott, Hannah, and Graydon left while Gretchen and I cooked up some cake. She had a lot of fun mixing and measuring and baking. She iced the cake with chocolate icing. She was very proud of the finished product, as she should have been. When Scott and the kids got back they split the cake and had an afternoon snack! It was a big hit. Gretchen was beaming with pride.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Our Family is wishing your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. We hope that you are able to share this day with family and loved ones. As a military family we do not always get to go home to be with our families, but we do have our very own traditional Thanksgiving. This year Graydon said the blessing that he has learned at preschool. He is to sweet.
The day started out with the kids eating cinnamon rolls and watching the Macy's Day Parade. We sat down to our Thanksgiving Feast around noon. The table was set with Turkey and all the trimmings. Here is what was on our Menu:

Turkey
NaNa's Stuffing
Corn Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Potato's
Home Baked Dinner Rolls
Brown Gravy
Pumpkin Pie

The kids are still a little picky about what they eat, but they all tried everything. Hannah's favorites were mashed potato's and stuffing. Gretchen loved the Turkey skin with some turkey meat, stuffing, and the Pumpkin pie. Graydon ate very little but really liked the rolls and stuffing. Scott ate some food. (he does not like the Thanksgiving meal) I on the other hand loved everything I made. I still miss my mother's cooking though.......

I am so thankful for the family that Scott and I have made. They are the best!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

The first picture is of the girls breaking the wishbone. This is the first year we did it but it is a new tradition that will be done. Gretchen got to decide who she wanted to do it with. Gretchen won but said she forgot to make a wish, so she was a little upset.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!! We hope that you all had some yummy candy for your tummy. Gretchen, Graydon and Daddy went trick or treating this year, while Hannah and momma stayed home to pass out the candy! We all had a fun night with little fright. We ended the night watching a movie (Return to Never land) and eating popcorn. Couldn't ask for a better Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving Time

Well that time of the year has come again.....Pumpkin Carving Time! We carved four pumpkins and Gretchen was the smartest she used Mr. Potato Head parts for hers. Gretchen still made the biggest mess with the guts. We had a good time and I think our pumpkins turned out cute.

Pumpkin Cookie Decorating Time

Well today we made pumpkin sugar cookies. We all sat at the table to ice the cookies. The kids were so excited and so was Scott. We decorated two dozen pumpkins. I think the kids got more icing in their mouths than on the cookies because I had to make more. We had a good time!

Report Card Time

I am proud to say that both girls got all A's!! They are both doing great in school. Gretchen was so excited because she has never been graded with abc's, it was always coded differently. She just had the biggest smile on her face when she shared her report card with us. Hannah has always done an AWESOME job in school so we really expect her to keep up with it. She also had and all A report so she was super excited!! Her lowest A was in math with a 90, but hey it is still an A. What more could a parent ask for.....

Backyard Camping

Last night Scott and the kids camped out in the backyard. Now you have to understand the kids have never been camping so this was very exciting to them. Daddy and Hannah pitched the tent right out the back door. Then all the kids gathered all the accessories that they thought they needed (blankets, pillows and most important a webkinz). We all went out to make smores on the BBQ pit (now if that is not redneck then I do not know what is). The kids thought that was really neat, but they all got full real quick. I know Scott was excited to eat all their left over smores. We came in and watched some Star Wars so that the kids could get good and tired. Around 10:00 PM they headed out to the tent. Girls on one side and Boys on the other. Scott said they fell asleep pretty quickly. When I asked them this morning Hannah said she woke up all night long. Gretchen and Graydon said they slept so good. Hannah also said that there was a bird that was trying to get out, well we figured out that the culprit was a HUGE grasshopper! All in all they had fun!

Please someone contact me about how to post pictures at the bottom of my posts, it is really irritating me. I have tried so many ways and it is still not working! Thanks

Goodbye Training Wheels

After lots of practice and determination, Gretchen finally gets to ride her bike with no training wheels. This week has been alot of work for Gretchen, she shed alot of sweat and tears, and a little blood. She says it is all worth it though! The day she finally got it down she rode her bike all the way around the block. This is one of the parenting milestones where you shed a tear because your baby girl is growing up! Here is a picture and a video of her riding. Enjoy

Cathedral Caverns in Alabama

We took a short road trip to Cathedral Caverns today. It was a fascinating and very cold place. I was a little unprepared so we were all kinda cold, but we made it out alive. It was neat to think that where we were standing in the cave was underwater long ago. There is even a shark's tooth embedded in the cave. We also learned that it use to be a fall out shelter years ago, and could hold over 10,000 people! Hannah really thought it was awesome, she had so many questions that momma could not even answer. Gretchen and Graydon were pretty tired on the way out. We had a picnic lunch afterwards and just enjoyed the day. Enjoy a few pictures that I have added.