Little Turkeys

Grandma Parnell came to the Thanksgiving holiday with a dessert craft for the girls to
create......little turkeys made out of Oreos, Whoppers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and candy corn.

Erika had to inspect all the candy that went into the creation.

Laurel chose to just go ahead and eat all the candy before the craft was done.

Erika was a little frustrated with the process. Again, we find Laurel digging into the Oreos.

The finished product!

In other news, Laurel is on week three of potty training with about the same amount of accidents. She is doing really well! She still doesn't let us know when she has to go, so I sit her on the potty every 1 to 2 hours, and that seems to be working fine for now. Also, we are 4 days away from Levi's expected arrival. Let's hope he comes in a reasonable time period!

Thankful

Yes, it is time for me to let everyone know how truly blessed I am!
I am thankful........
-For my wonderful husband who gets up early every morning to go to work and provide so very well for our family. I am thankful that he comes in each morning to say good-bye to me....even if I don't always remember him doing so after I'm fully awake. I am thankful that he comes home to his family every night with enough energy to play with his daughters; making them laugh and enjoy their time with him. I am thankful that we are still so much in love with each other.
-For waking up every morning to my daughters talking, reading, or singing to each other in their bedrooms. I am thankful for how funny Erika is and how much she cracks me up with her questions and statements. I am thankful for what a great big sister she is - looking after Laurel and making sure she stays safe and "knows the rules". I am thankful for my sweet Laurel and how much she is growing and becoming her own little person. I am thankful for her hugs and kisses and "I love you"'s. I am thankful that my girls love each other and play well with each other. I am thankful that they still think I'm their best playmate and friend.
-For Levi, who we don't fully know yet, but will soon! I am thankful that he will complete our family and grow up with a wonderful father and the two best big sisters ever!
-For living so close to my very best friend and sister, Sarah. I am thankful that she knows when I need a break and will talk the girls for the day or come over and wear them out for me while I sit. I am thankful that she loves her nieces and they love her more than anything!
-For my family who don't live so close to us, but are able to still be close via phone calls, emails and other visits.
-For my girlfriends who I continue to grow relationships with. I am thankful for their encouragement and love for me and mine for them.
-For my Savior who makes all my thanksgiving possible and who gives me hope for even more thanksgiving in the future!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pilgrims

This evenings family activity was to make pilgrim hats. Matt designed the hats and we all got to decorate them. Erika is really into coloring lately and is getting quite good at it! Laurel is still just scribbling, but she loves to be involved. Anyway, we made our lovely hats, then Erika decided they were marching band hats so we marched around the room for a while. The hats, however, will be worn sometime during Thanksgiving dinner. Even Matt has one! It was a fun family project.

Wearing our hats. Please notice the scary football player in the background and my awesome pajama pants. With only 13 days until my due date, I spend a lot of time in jammie pants.

FYI: The hat Erika is wearing is the one I designed and I'm wearing her design. Both equally beautiful, I think.

Cute little pilgrim/chef. And Wyatt.

Fall Means.....

.....raking leaves! I love watching them change colors and then fall down. I love how they look in the yard. I love how they look in a big pile ready to be taken out of the yard. I love everything about leaves! That's probably because I don't actually do any of the raking. I do the photography that goes along with the girls raking the leaves. This is the second year that we have lived in this house with the three beautiful leaf-giving trees in the front yard. Matt bought the girls their own rakes this year so they could "help" him with the chore of raking. They did enjoy raking, but they really liked putting leaves on their rakes and throwing them in the air. Much more fun! Erika really got into raking and was pretty good at it! She would rake her leaves into a pile, run and jump through the pile, and then ask her daddy to rake them all up for her again. Laurel was not as much of a fan of raking leaves. She enjoyed smiling for the camera and holding her rake, but she didn't want to jump in them. She also really didn't want her big sister to throw leaves in her hair, which is what happened most of the time we were outside.

Erika was pretty good at helping.

The best part of raking leaves......throwing them in the air!

Everybody helping.

Yep, she liked to pose and act like she was helping.

Throwing leaves in Laurel's hair.

Not a fan of leaves in her hair.

Baby Shower

Levi had his first party yesterday. His baby shower! It was a lot of fun and he (and I) were blessed with many presents. He has more clothes now than both the girls combined, I think! I am way excited for him to get here. I feel much more confident with his arrival than I did with either of the girls. I think it must be because he's the third kid. I know how to handle an infant now (at least I think I do!) and I know how to handle an infant with other kids running around as well. I just feel really relaxed about this new addition to our family. Ask me again in a couple of months after he's kept me awake a couple nights and I might have a different answer!

We are doing a transportation theme for his room so the cake reflected that theme. How adorable!

More cars and trains.

Erika, Sarah and I in front of the amazing cake for Levi!

My friend gave a very sweet devotional thought for our family and our new little guy.

Aunt Sarah bought Erika a "big sister" gift that she was able to open at the shower. Laurel received one, too, when we got home. She was napping during the party. The girls love their new baby dolls!

And, just the most precious little girls ever! Sunday morning before leaving for church, Daddy took these pictures of the girls. We are so lucky to have them, and soon to have Levi!

Words

We are into words a lot lately in our house. Laurel knows all kinds of words and phrases now, although she is still encouraged to "use your words" when she gets whiny. She can say and communicate anything she wants from me, but sometimes she resorts back to using a whine to try and tell me what she wants. Anyway, I'm super excited about the new language coming from her! I love being able to talk to toddlers instead of trying to figure out what they want. One of my favorite phrase she says is, "I don't know" because she says it with a definite shoulder shrug and it is adorable! However, it can be irritating when I ask, "Where did you put your cup of milk?" "I don't know." Ok, you just had it 3 seconds ago and now you don't know where it is? Right.
The other night, Erika and I were in the bathroom brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed. "I'm tired," she said. "I don't have any more words today." How cute is that?! I reassured her that after a good night's sleep, she'd have plenty of words for tomorrow. She cracks me up!

Halloween Fun x3

We were able to have Halloween fun three different times this year! It was a lot of fun because Erika was old enough to enjoy "Halloween tricking" as she called it. She actually has yet to call it the correct thing....it was either "trick-or-picking", "Halloween tricking" or "treating". But, she did manage to say "trick or treat" every time we went to a door.

Anyway, we started on Friday going to Corvallis to trick or treat in their downtown area with the girls new cousin, Judah, who is 3 months old and their Auntie Beth. It was the most beautiful day to trick or treat! I was really impressed with how many businesses participated. There were a ton of kids downtown, but it was really fun and the girls loved looking at all the other kids in costumes. They got a ton of candy and a local bakery was giving out HUGE cookies so we sat and ate those when we got a little tired. It was a lot of fun! I'm so glad that my sister-in-law invited us!

On Saturday night, we went to our church for trunk or treat. We had a soup dinner first and then went around to the trunks for candy. The weather was absolutely perfect, until about 3 minutes before we had to go outside. Then, it started to pour! Alas, just another Oregon Halloween. I guess the girls will have to get used to that.

Finally, on actual Halloween, we went around our neighborhood to about 15 houses. The girls were so cute in their cowgirl outfits! Laurel actually went as "girl in snow coat" since she refused to take her big giant coat off that completely covered her outfit even though the weather did not really require a big giant snow coat. Silly girl! They did great thanking everyone for the candy. Erika doesn't like to go up to houses that have any kind of spooky music or potentially spooky jumping out items on their porch. Laurel, however, just wanted candy so she went wherever the candy was! It was a really nice weekend of fun and candy! Now, I have to separate what the girls are allowed to eat and what Mom and Dad have to eat for them!

Cowgirls in no hats (preferred method) and with hats (Mom's insistence).

Erika and Laurel and their adorable cousin, Judah. My super talented sister-in-law made him a little beaver costume. Judah is an Oregon State University legacy and is already being groomed to be a Beaver when he is older!

Little Beaver Judah and his mommy.

Enjoying the free cookies from Great Harvest Bakery.

Erika, Laurel, and a little bit of Levi getting wet during the trunk or treat.

Erika showing us all the candy she received.

Laurel trying to eat all the candy she received.