Thanksgiving 2013

We are so blessed and thankful for many things, but most of all for our family.  We are surrounded by the most loving and supportive family.  I truly don't know what we would do without them.  We enjoyed an early Thanksgiving with the Buzzard crew.  As usual, they went all out with Beef Tenderloin, Grandma's noodles, cheesy potatoes, salad, fruit, and more! We enjoyed lots of laughs and were entertained by all the Buzzard Grandkid's, 6 in all.  Afterwards, Grandma and Grandpa hosted a sleepover.  Me, Jeremy, Caleb and Owen bunked there.  Kenzie, Kaylee and Ella headed back with Uncle Buzz and Aunt Kate. I'm not sure who stayed up later, the girl's or the boys?! One thing is for certain, there was lots of late night fun!  The following morning, we headed to Kaylee's basketball game.  It was so fun watching her, Maryn and Eily play their hearts out.  Then we headed over to Owen's 4th Birthday party, Spider Man themed.  It was the perfect weekend, full of family fun and a reminder of why we should all be thankful.

 

Thanksgiving week came and with it came some bad weather.  As a result, my sister Melissa and her family of 7 had to cancel their trip.  We were beyond sad, especially my kid's as they couldn't wait to have a 4 night sleepover with their cousins.  It was too quiet without them, but we tried our best to make it fun anyway.  Grandpa made the most amazing turkey, and the girl's were in charge of all the sides.  We spent the day together in the kitchen laughing and cooking, and the food was amazing! After dinner we drove out to see Great-Grandma Monty, who spent her first holiday at Willow Brook Christian Center.  We brought her pie (and lots of noise) and enjoyed sharing the holiday with her. Over the long weekend we also went out to see a movie (Frozen),visited Santa at the Mall, and enjoyed some family time together!

  

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Fall Festivities

Who doesn't love a good Fall hayride and excursion to the Pumpkin patch for some fun? Well, these folks do!  Grandma and Grandpa Buzzard came down a few weekends ago for some Fall Fun!  I'm not sure who had more fun, the kid's or the Grandparent's?

If pumpkin carving doesn't scream "Fall" I don't know what does.  Mackenzie was all about the process behind deciding what her pumpkin was going to be, how to execute it, and doing the majority of it on her own.  Caleb on the other hand, was not going to be persuaded to stick his hand into a cold, wet pumpkin with nasty orange goop.  Nope, not going to do it.  That worked fine for me, as I might have a slight love-hate relationship with the whole pumpkin carving process.  Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of it, but I could do without the goop dripping down the island and the slimy pumpkin seeds covering the floor.

...and this little cutie lost her front tooth the same day!

Each Halloween, the kid's daycare has a costume parade, trunk-or-treat in the parking lot, and classroom party.  It is a much anticipated day and the kid's always have a blast.  This year, Nana and Grandpa joined the event along with Grandma and Grandpa Buzzard (which was a total surprise to the kids).  As if eating cupcakes at 3:00 in the afternoon isn't a treat enough, having both sets of grandparents there was like hitting the jackpot!

   

Following the daycare festivities, everyone headed back to our house.  We warmed up with chili, and lots of yummy goodies before heading out into the cold, wind, and rain to go Trick or treating. 

and...pictured above is my little chef, who LOVES to help me cook.  This year, she asked if she could make her own cake with NO HELP!  Bless her heart, days before, on a busy day after work, while preparing dinner, she made this cake entirely on her own.  (She even sketched it out before, notice the sketch in front of her as she perfects her icing!)

Unfortunately, I took minimal pictures...did I mention it was cold, windy, and rainy?  Oh, and I might have had an umbrella in one hand and a hot cocoa in the other...sorry camera).

Oh, and I almost forgot...to really get into the spirit of Halloween, you have to start it off right, with a proper breakfast and lunch.  Duh!

And after crashing from weeks of too much sugar, and beggin people for candy, it's time to appreciate what we have.  Onto Thanksgiving.  And this year, we decided to make our own "Thankful Tree".  Mackenzie is either has a genuinely thankful heart or really enjoyed this activity, b/c she glued on about 20 leaves the first night alone!  Regardless, it is something I hope to do each year as a reminder of all of our blessings!

Fall Fun

Fall is one of my very favorite seasons.  There are so many fun, outdoor activities to participate in, and we love trying to find new ones to add to our list.

Each Fall, it's tradition to take the kid's up to Grandma and Grandpa's for the Loudonville Fair.  The kid's can't get enough of all the fun fair rides, games, vendor stands, and most importantly time with their family.  This year, Grandma and Grandpa even  did a sleepover, making the weekend even more special. The following morning they hit the fire station for a pancake breakfast. Doesn't get any better than that!

Another highlight (which we hope will continue to be a tradition) was when Uncle Dinger came in for an OSU football game.  I'm not sure who was more excited, Daddy or the kids?  Uncle Dinger is always good to run around and play with the kids, so much so that there were some tears that followed when Uncle Dinger had to return home.  We're already counting down the days until his next visit!

We also tried out a new apple farm, called The Orchard and Co., that had lots of fun kiddie activities:  corn pit, pedal cars, mini-ziplines, trampolines, etc.  We skipped the apple picking since we already were overflowing with apples at home, and just let the kid's enjoy the outdoorsy fun.  We will definitely visit there again!

Another weekend, we took a nice, country drive and  visited Leed's farm, which we last visited when Mackenzie was 3.  It brought back lots of memories of our first time there, and was fun to now bring Caleb who was the exact same age as Mackenzie was her first visit.  We went on a nice, warm fall day, and had the best time.  There were endless activities for the kid's: barrel rides, trampolines, hay mazes, corn sandboxes, ziplines, tractor hay rides deep in the forest, pedal cars,petting zoo, etc. We will definitely make this an annual event. 

And, what's more fun than shopping for Halloween costumes.  Caleb found his costume within the first 2 minutes of entering the store, and then wore it until it was time to check out. Mackenzie put much more thought into her choices, and finally decided on the witch costume, and said that she wanted  me to get a matching costume.  How could I say no?  There won't be too many more years, where she wants to be like her Mom, so I will take it while I can! 

Now we are counting down the days until Trick-or-treat!