Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday

Yesterday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was sad that we weren't able to be with our families but we had the next best thing...great friends to spend the day with. The Coupers and Brook joined us for a day of watching football, eating, and playing games, which I know everyone loved = ) Here are a few pictures from the day:
As I was cleaning up for our guests to come, Will found his Halloween costume from last year. It still fits and he is still pretty cute in it!

Brian smoked our turkey this year. Here is the before shot.

Taking it off the smoker...

And cutting it up. It turned out fantastic and very yummy!

Will and Mr. Pouper (Will calls him Pouper instead of Couper) playing before we ate



A little "Party in the USA"!

Will and I dancing



This Thanksgiving and every day, I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband, who smoked a delicious turkey and cleaned up most of the mess after the meal! I am also thankful for Will. He is such a big boy and I love him more and more everyday! And I am thankful for great family and friends.

Today is Brian's 31st birthday! We didn't do much today to celebrate but it was a good day. We slept in and watched a movie in bed until lunch time. We had leftovers for lunch and then headed out to do some shopping. I'm sure that is exactly what Brian wanted to do on his day but we did it any ways = ) We got a new camera and a Christmas tree. We decided to get an artificial tree this year since we will be in Mexico the week before Christmas and it will be hard to keep a real one alive. Plus, Will is super excited about trees this year so I couldn't wait until we got back to get one. I got one that was actually on sale...half off and pre-lit...way to go me! I think we will get the rest of the decorations out later this weekend so more pictures to come.

But for now....hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday Brian!!

Shutterfly Holiday Cards

I love using Shutterfly to create holiday cards and love the designs for their calendars. The last couple of years I have been giving my parents and in-laws a calendar every year as a Christmas present. It is so much fun to go through pictures of Will and my nieces throughout the year to put on the calendars. And I am sure they love to see the pictures on the calendar throughout the next year. Shutterfly has great designs which are all very cute! Also, as many of you know, I am a huge procrastinator so it is great that their website is easy to use and the shipping is reliable so I always get them before Christmas. This reminds me that I need to get going on getting pictures together and maybe need to take a few more so that they will be a surprise for our holiday cards!

Shutterfly is currently having a promotion for bloggers. Go to http://bit.ly/sfly2010 to learn how to receive 50 free holiday cards.

Here are some of my favorites that I am looking at for this year:





Here is the link to check out the cards:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
And like I said, I love the calendar designs:
http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars
For those of you who like to send pictures and a letter for Christmas: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-story-cards

Weekend Trip

This weekend Will and I got to spend time with grandma Barb, Aunt Jami, Ella and Claire! The plan was to head to Council Bluffs on Saturday but since it was going to snow, we decided to head there Friday night. I am glad we did because it was more time we got to spend with family. Friday night we hung out and chatted while the kids played. Saturday we started the day by swimming at the hotel, and then some Christmas shopping. Since we got done earlier than we normally do, we had to find an activity to occupy the kids time and to keep the adults sane (the hotel room was getting a little small with 3 kids running around!) So we headed to the movies. We watched Megaminds in 3D. The little ones feel asleep through it but Ella liked it and we all looked hot in our 3D glasses! We then hit a pizza place close to the hotel and went back. We were all super tired from the long day so put in a movie and went right to bed...at 8pm! Today, we did a little more shopping and eating and then headed our separate ways. It is hard saying our good-byes and it makes me so sad that we live so far apart but hopefully someday we will be closer where we don't have to go so far in between visits.

I didn't get a ton of pictures from the weekend but here are some to show how much fun we had:
Grandma Barb thought it would be a great idea to let the little ones do her make-up! Will was painting her nails with mascara! They did a great job and loved doing it but it was a little difficult to remove so Grandma went to the movie and pizza place with what looked like pudding on her cheeks and lips! We love Grandma! You are such a great sport!!



After a long day, Grandma and the kids are ready for bed watching Toy Story 3!

Ella being Ella! Hard to believe that she will be 5 in January!

Playing at the playland in the mall while Aunt Jami shopped!




Posing in front of the giant snowman

Silly faces



The conversation went a little like this....Claire - "how much do these swimming suits cost?" Ella - "those aren't swimming suits, those are bras!" It was so cute. Will got out of the way just as I took the pictures = )

Thought this was so cute! Neither one of them were quite tall enough but they made it work. hope we win = )

Big girl Ella was actually filling it out with her name...she is getting so big!


It was a wonderful weekend and we miss them already!! Can't wait until Christmas!

Fall Weekend

This weekend reminded me why I love fall so much! Saturday was the perfect fall day! The weather was great so we went outside to do some yard work. Well actually Brian and Will did most of the yard work while I ran to the store but I did help hold the bags open for the leaves and I also got some pictures of all their hard work = )


Love fall and jumping in the leaves!



Helping Daddy




Sunday Brian played in a dodge ball tournament with some co-workers. Will and I got there just in time to see his last game. They didn't last long but it looked like they had a lot of fun. After the tournament, Will and Brian headed home to hang out and I got ready to go to a concert with a friend. My bestie Kendall won tickets to the Zac Brown Band concert and since they are one of my favorites, I begged her to take me = )




It was a great but quick weekend!

Pink Eye

Well we got our first pink eye infection this week. Sunday night into Monday, Will started to get a nasty cold and has been up most nights coughing and sneezing. Tuesday at daycare, Will woke up with slightly pink colored eyes and goopie stuff in them. Wednesday morning he woke up with the same thick goopie stuff in his eyes and the right one was matted shut. I called Brook, an nurse practitioner and our own personal doctor = ) and she said yep, I believe he has pink eye! So I called the doctor's office to get an appointment and I was informed that he did not actually need an appointment but the nurse would call in a prescription. Will's eyes started to clear up so I insisted on bringing him in for a second opinion. And it is a good thing I did because not only did Will have pink eye but he had an ear infection as well!! And I guess just because I am a mean mom, I decided it would be a great time to get his flu shot as well. Will was a trooper though and did great. He now has eye drops and antibiotics for his ear. I stayed home with him on Wednesday and today and if you didn't know you wouldn't be able to tell he is sick...outside of the crusty nose = ) He has been running around the house playing the last two days with no problems. Sorry no pictures to post. Maybe I can get some tomorrow but seriously you can't even tell he is sick!! He has been doing something really cute in the morning though. He yells...really loud I might add...."mommy, mommy!" and I go running into his room thinking he is hurt or something and then he says "I need a tissue". He is a character.

Halloween 2010

Sorry for the delayed post! Here is an overview of our Halloween weekend:

The weekend started with a Halloween party at daycare on Friday. Will got to dress up with his friends and was super excited. Two of the boys were dinosaurs. Will thought that was great and kept telling everyone he was a garden gnome!!


Friday night Brian had to work and Will and I got an invite to a friend's house to carve pumpkins. It was a great time and Will had so much fun. He loved dancing around with his new friends!! Will was also excited about the pumpkins. He loved to see them in the dark!



The carvers!

Will and Kenall


Saturday morning we headed to the KC Pumpkin Patch with the Lattas. Will had been talking about it all week and was very excited to see Maci!
The kids rode in the wagon up to the gate but then decided they wanted to walk/run so we ditched the wagon = )



Big jumping pillow = lots of fun! (and very tired legs for me anyways)




Big chair = excited Brian = ) Cant you tell?!



Will loved playing in the corn and probably could have stayed there all day if we would have let him!






They were very excited to pick out their pumpkins!



After the pumpkin patch, we went to check out the Latta's new place for lunch. The kids had fun playing and the new apartment looks great. When we got home, Will and I took a super long nap...it was an exhausting morning! Saturday night, Brian smoked a chicken, Will played outside and I worked on our Halloween costumes.

Sunday we relaxed all day and watched the Chiefs pull out a victory (just barely!). Then we headed to the Couper's for their annual Halloween party. We had pizza, went trick or treating, sat around the fire and enjoyed great company!
Excited just thinking about trick or treating!

The Schnabel Garden Gnome Family! Or as our friends would say...Lumberjack and the 12th Dugger child!


Being silly taking pictures before trick or treating. Maci thought Will was Santa Clause when he first got in his costume. She was belly laughing she thought it was so funny. Will loved Maci's wings too!


Trick or Treating! Will either said "trick or treat" or "thank you" but for some reason couldn't get both of them together! He loved being able to pick out his own candy though. And at the last house, he took his candy and told the gentleman to shut his door. He had the routine down...someone opens the door, gives him candy, and then they shut the door and go back inside = )







Fun toys he got in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Schnabel. Thanks!! Will loves playing the the light up toys and watching his movie.




Sorry for the long post...it was a super busy Halloween weekend but it was a ton of fun!!