Thanksgiving Part 1 11/22/11

The week of Thanksgiving was a busy one.  My brother got in Tuesday afternoon at exactly the same time as Charlie and I got home from PJ Day at school.  Jeff was literally knocking on the front door as I pulled in the driveway.  The kids spent the evening going crazy because they were so happy to have someone visiting.  Jeff was a good sport about playing with them, although I'm sure he was happy when they finally settled down for cartoons!  Zach was on call for the whole week, and Tues night did not get home until after 10 pm.  We all went right to bed within 30 min of Zach getting home.

Charlie and Anna hanging out with Uncle Jeff

Wed I spent the day trying to get errands done before my parents came to town.  I picked them up from the airport at 3:30, and the kids were beside themselves with joy to have Grandma and Grandpa in town.  It was fun to see that even Anna remembered them.  She wouldn't let my mom put her down at all.   

Anna watching out the window for Grandma and Grandpa

We made burgers on the grill for dinner and once again had dinner without poor Zach.  Normally I wait to eat with him, even if it is 10:00, but with family in town we were ready for food by 6:00.  We ate and played with the kids all evening, and hung around until Zach joined us around 10 pm again.  Poor guy!

Charlie and Grandma playing air hockey while Grandpa keeps score

Charlie so pleased to be winning!

Thurs morning the guys got up and did a local 4 mile race.  Zach won!  My brother Jeff is a great runner, and he helped pace Zach throughout the run, which was really nice of him.  When Zach, Jeff, and my dad got home, there was plenty to do for Thanksgiving dinner.  This was going to be my first year doing a holiday meal at our house.  I am well aware of my limitations in the kitchen, however, so I had called upon HyVee for some assistance.  I ordered ahead a turkey, gravy, rolls, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole.  They all came mostly ready to go, which was great.  We also picked up cranberries, squash, mac n cheese (a tradition at my parents' house!), corn, and salad.  As soon as we got home the turkey had to go in the oven for 2 hours to finish cooking.  We spent that time getting the rest of the food prepped and heated so everything would be finished at once.  Thank goodness my mom was there to coordinate and time everything with me. 

Zach's parents arrived at 1:30, and we had some little snacks out to tide us over until we ate at about 2:15.  They brought apple and pumpkin pies for dessert, so it was nice having that taken care of.  Everyone chatted and hung out until we had Howard carve the turkey, and then it was time to eat.  We all ate and ate and ate and most of the food was polished off.  It was pretty successful for our first time doing a formal dinner if I do say so myself.  Zach's parents stayed until around 6 pm at which point Zach started getting ready to go back in to work.   

Anna laughing as she gets her picture taken

Charlie showing PawPaw and Grandpa how he plays Candy Land

My dad decided to take Charlie to see Puss in Boots at the 7 pm and my mom and I were going to stay home with Anna and Jeff.  As Zach was walking out the door for work and my dad was leaving for the movies Zach got a call canceling his case.  Plans changed and Zach, my dad, Charlie and I all went to the movies together.  It was an okay movie but not great.  I just had fun hanging out with everyone.  We came home and it was time for bed not much after that.

Grandpa and Anna reading after dinner

Silly Kids 11/28/11

Charlie and Anna were both in great moods today.  They had school in the morning, and then Anna and I took Charlie to his afternoon school.  Usually she naps while he is at his afternoon class, but today she was wide awake and ready to go.  It was really fun to have some time to play with her alone, and she was just a bundle of laughs!

A quick nap in the car on the way to Charlie's school.  Very unusual for Anna since she hates sleeping in the car.

Charlie waiting for his teacher to get him for school.  Love it that they get the kids from the car in the afternoon!

So happy to be playing with Mommy all afternoon!

Pajamas and Pancakes Day 11/22/11

Charlie's afternoon preschool has an annual Pajamas and Pancake Day at school that he absolutely loves.  All the kids wear their pjs to school for the day, which makes them feel super special.  This year I bought Charlie a new pair of Thomas the train Christmas pajamas, and he could not have been happier to show them off to all of his friends.  They do a normal class for the first part of the afternoon, then the party starts at 2:30.  Parents and siblings are invited to the class to participate, which is really nice.

This year I got a babysitter for Anna so Charlie and I could have some Mommy-Charlie alone time.  He was thrilled when I got to school and told him it would just be the two of us.  (Unfortunately Zach had to work, so he had to miss the party.)  Charlie and I sat a small table in his classroom with a few of his friends and had pancakes and juice for an hour.  He introduced me to everyone (even though I know most of them since he was in the class last year too) and he felt like such a big kid for the afternoon.  It was really great to get some time with just him for once.

Having a great time with my guy!

After the party we hurried home because Uncle Jeff was on his way to our house to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Charlie was so excited when he got home and found another friend to play with!

Air hockey time with Uncle Jeff

Lake Weekend 11/18/11

We finally had a free weekend ahead of us, so we decided to head down to the lake.  Since we hadn't checked on the place in about 2 months we really needed to get down there.  Friday night we left around 6:30 and did the 3 hour drive to Lake of the Ozarks.  The kids really don't mind the drive, thankfully, so it goes by pretty quickly.  We got there about 9:30 and spent the next hour unpacking the car and letting the kids play and snack.  Then we all crashed until the next morning.

Anna and Charlie snacking before bed

 

Saturday we spent doing chores around the place.  The back deck needed power washing and staining, so that was Zach's big project.  I had about 20 loads of bedding, towels, etc that had piled up and needed to hit the laundry.  The kids spent the day playing with toys and trying to "help" Daddy with his projects.  The weather was actually pretty nice for mid-November.  

Charlie playing on the boat ramp to the water at the lake

 Saturday night we went over to our friends' the Riggins.  They are about 30 seconds about by boat but 20 min away by land.  Since we don't have a boat yet, we made the drive over to help celebrate Cade's 4th birthday.  Charlie is only a month older than Cade and a little more than a year younger than their oldest Jake.  He loves going over to play with them!  We had burgers, smores, and cake for Cade's birthday and stayed for about 2 hours.  Then exhaustion set in (mostly for me!) so we decided to go back home and have a really low key night.

Charlie, Cade, and Jake listening to a story

 Sunday was spent just finishing up some projects and then we headed out around noon.  We got home about 3:00, and the kids were bundles of energy from being in the car.  It probably didn't help that Anna had her first chocolate cream-filled HoHo on the drive.  Talk about a sugar high!  We had planned for Jana, their babysitter, to come around 4:00 so Zach and I could get a few things done in KC.  We passed the hyped up kids off, and Zach and I enjoyed some quiet alone time to do errands and have an adult-only dinner.  We returned home to a sleeping Anna and a very cuddly Charlie.  Busy weekend but lots of fun.  

Anna with cream filling all over her mouth

Oh man that was good!

Kelsey's Wedding Part 2 11/12/11

We did pictures in the church for the hour following the ceremony, and then the kids and I were done for a while.  Zach had to head with the rest of the bridal party for pictures, so my dad and I took the kids home until the reception started.  I had gotten the kids' babysitter to come and take Anna for the night since we knew she would not last from noon until 9 pm without a nap.  Anna ended up staying home the whole evening, which meant we got some great time with Charlie.

The reception began at 4:30, and we had about an hour there before the bridal party arrived.  That was fine since it gave us time to catch up with Zach's relatives and meet lots of Adam's family.  We also got to see good friends like the Abplanalps and some others that we hadn't seen in a while.  Once the bride and groom got there, we had a buffet dinner and then heard speeches from the best man, one of the matrons of honor, and Kelsey's dad.  They were all wonderful and made us teary eyed!

Dancing began after that, and Charlie loved it!  He danced for hours with me, Zach, and especially grandpa.  My poor dad's feet and back must have hurt after that night!  Charlie, my dad and I managed to last until 9:00 before we called it a night.  Zach stayed over an hour later before heading home with his dad.  Needless to say we all crashed hard.

Sunday kept the festivities going.  Howard and Jawn hosted a brunch at their house for relatives to say goodbye to each other.  We went for about an hour and picked up Duane, Erin's husband to take to the airport since he and my dad flew out at the same time.  Zach dropped Anna and I off at home to relax before the guys headed out for an airport run.

A few hours later we had an overnight guest.  Charlie had Kenny over for a sleepover.  They had so much fun together!  They played hard and then slept hard, so it was a pretty easy night for us thankfully.  We were exhausted!

Kelsey's Wedding Weekend Part 1 11/12/11

Zach's younger sister Kelsey got married this past weekend to Adam.  They have been together for many years, and everyone was so excited for the wedding!  Zach's older sister Erin flew in with her three kids, Kenny, Andrew and Will.  Kenny is just over a year older than Charlie, Andrew is almost exactly a year older than Anna, and Will was just born in October.  The kids all love playing together, so it was great that Erin managed to make it despite having a baby only a month ago.  My dad also made it up for the wedding, so the kids were thrilled at having Grandpa here to play with them.

Anna wearing Grandpa's hat while she waits for him to come play with her

Anna chilling with Grandpa in their (unintentionally) coordinated outfits!

 The festivities kicked off on Thursday night.  Adam's parents threw a dinner at Johnny Cascones, a local Italian restaurant.  The food was great, and even better was getting to see all the family.  It also happened to be Kelsey's birthday that night, so we had fun getting to celebrate that in addition to the rehearsal dinner.  We left the kids at home with a babysitter and enjoyed a night out without them.  My dad got to meet lots of Zach's relatives and Kelsey's friends, which was fun too since he hears about them from us.

Zach with the newest family member William Howard Opfer

 Friday we had the rehearsal in the afternoon.  The kids were in heaven seeing all their cousins and had lots of fun practicing for Saturday.  Zach was one of the groomsmen, Anna was the flower girl, Charlie was Anna's escort, and I did a reading, so it was a little hectic making sure we knew what everyone had to do.  Thankfully it all went smoothly at the rehearsal.  After that we headed to Zach's parents' house, Howard and Jawn, for dinner.  They had a low key dinner so everyone could hang out and the kids could play before we needed to return home since Saturday was going to be a big day.

Kenny and Charlie looking so handsome!

 

Saturday morning came bright and early!  We had tons to do in terms of getting ready.  The kids were full of energy, and we tried to wear them out in the morning so they wouldn't be too hyper when we got to the church.  Anna went down for a quick nap but was too excited to really get a rest.  Zach had to leave us around 11 am, but luckily I had my dad in town to help.  We headed to the church a little later and arrived around 1:00.  The wedding began at 2:00, so that gave us some time to get the kids dressed and let them play.  Anna was getting a little grumpy as time wore on but was really excited when the ceremony started!

Andrew, Pawpaw, and Charlie waiting for things to begin

Anna wondering if it is her turn yet

The bridesmaids and groomsmen went down the aisle first, and then Kenny went as the ring bearer.  I was in the back with the kids, so I sent Charlie and Anna down next.  They tried holding hands at first, but Charlie was too excited to wait and ran down.  Anna took her time and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention as you can see from the video!  About 2 minutes after getting the kids down the aisle, I had my reading to do.  The ceremony flew by after that and soon we were cheering and blowing bubbles for the happily married Mr. and Mrs. Brahl!

Charlie and Anna with Grandpa while we cheered on the newly married couple

Zach and I just celebrated 6 years last month

My Kids in November

Charlie was upset we weren't going to the toy store, so he was pouting against the wall.  Anna did not understand what was going on but thought it looked fun.  She was so pleased to do what her big brother was doing! 

Charlie showing off his "cute face."

 

Anna out for a walk with Daddy.  Stylish as always.

Charlie at open swim with Daddy.  He was so happy to go in the pool.

Yo Gabba Gabba Live 11/6/11

We decided to get Charlie 4 books and a movie for his birthday since toys are a little out of control at our house.  Shortly after his bday (10/22) he saw ads for Yo Gabba Gabba Live that would be in KC.  Since he didn't get much from us, we thought this would be a fun thing to do as a family as the rest of his bday present.  (I do use the term "fun" loosely.  Zach and I were well aware that this could be quite painful for us, but the kids would love it!)  We also knew that our friends the Lemons would be there, so we would have people to meet up with.

We arrived at the show about 30 min early.  Enough time for the kids to look around but not so long that they would want to leave before anything started!  Of course the first thing we had to had up were the tee shirts.  Thankfully Anna is too young to care, so we just had to get one for Charlie.  But then the kids noticed the glow sticks.  At just $10 a pop, a true bargain!  Ha.  They were the size of a pencil, and Anna had to have one too.  Then, because we are suckers, we also got the kids each a stuffed animal.  Charlie got Plex the robot and Anna went for Foofa the pink one.  Actually turned out to be money really well spent since Anna chewed on her toy the entire and stayed quiet.  

The show started and both kids were mesmerized.  We were a little concerned about Anna thinking it was too loud and bright, but she was clapping along.  Charlie was having a blast jumping and dancing around like a maniac.  Apparently one of the cast members liked his moves because he was asked to go up on stage!  She gave him a special "Dance Party" sticker to wear and told him she would be back after intermission.  Charlie was very excited, although a little confused about what was happening.  (Only downside was that meant we could not sneak out early!)

Charlie with his special "Dance Party" sticker that let him go on stage

We made it through the very looooong intermission just barely.  Anna was getting really bored with all the down time.  She got back in the mood to dance once the show resumed thankfully.  A little bit into the second half, cast members came and rounded up the 10 or 12 kids picked to be on stage.  They took them up there and let them dance their hearts out!  It was so fun to see our little guy showing off all his moves to the entire audience.  After they brought Charlie back to his seat, he was exhausted and ready to go.  Luckily there was not much left.  We managed to finish out the show and say hi to the Lemons family before heading home.

It was a show Zach and I were kind of dreading, but I think we enjoyed it the most since we got to see our favorite little man up on stage!

Charlie and Anna have the wiggles!!

Halloween 10/31/11

Halloween was a blast.  Charlie went as Thomas the train (same as last year) and Anna was a cute little ladybug.  Charlie's pm school had a parade and party, and we were lucky that Zach got out of work early and was able to come with us.  Anna did not want to be left out, so she wore her costume too.  The parade was adorable with all the preschool kids in costumes walking around for the parents.  They were so proud of themselves!  The party was fun, but both kids were worn out after.

When we got home from school, Charlie chowed down on some dinner while Anna took a nap to prepare for trick or treating.  They were thrilled to put back on their Thomas and ladybug gear and head out.  Charlie remembered what to do from last year and was so excited to say "trick or treat" at each house.  He doesn't eat candy (his choice, we can't get him to try any) so he was not impressed with the treats.  He kept just complaining that his Thomas bucket was getting heavy!  Anna, on the other hand, LOVED getting the candy!  She would take it herself and carefully put it in her bucket and then look in to make sure she hadn't dropped it.  Anna actually wanted to stay out longer than Charlie and did a few houses on her own. 

After walking around for so long, the kids were really happy to be back home.  Anna tried some Reece's peanut butter cups and was a fan.  Both kids had a blast answering the door for the older trick or treaters that came by.  We even got to see the old owners of our house (who now have 9 kids!)  They had to move to get more room.

All in all a great afternoon and evening with the kids.  They had so much fun that we can't wait for next year when they get it even better.  Maybe Charlie will even try some of the candy.  We are placing bets on the odds we have a Thomas the train again!