She is here....

 Our Elf on a Shelf, Kaley, came back for Christmas!  If you don't know what an Elf on a Shelf is google it...it's awesome!!  Kaley comes from the North Pole and hides every morning to watch the kids to see if they were naughty or nice that day.  Then, when they go to bed at night she flies to the North Pole to report to Santa. Each morning she hides in a new spot that they find as soon as they wake up.  Darin and I have a really good time coming up with funny places for Kaley to hide. But the best part is they totally believe every part of it so they are really well behaved for the whole month :) This year they even came out with an Elf of a Shelf show that was on TV the day after Thanksgiving.  I recorded it and the kids have watched it at least twice a day since. 

 This is what they woke up from naps to: She was playing with Drew's race track

 The note she left them

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving #1 in Tulsa at my Mom and Mike's

 

Playing football 

 DeDe and Ryan taking Guster on a walk

 Playing with Uncle BoBo

Making whipped cream with Mammy

Thanksgiving #2 at my Dad and Candy's house

 Hanging out with Pop

 The kids were so excited that Aunt Mia was home from NY

 Ryan and DeDe doing the "Ryan Pose"

 We love Aunt DeDe

Drew and DeDe

We had a fun filled Thanksgiving spending time with family and eating a ton!!

Drew is 2!!

We celebrated Drew's birthday with a donut party.  All of his friends came over in their PJs and ate breakfast while the adults enjoyed coffee.  Drew had a great time and got lots of fun new toys!

 
Can't believe he is 2!

 Waiting for his friends to arrive

 With the donut cake

With Poppy and C

 Daddy helping blow out the candles

Opening up his Spider Man watch from Sissy. Not sure who was more excited about the presents, Ryan or Drew

Checking out his Cars racetrack

 Stella and Ryan

 Drew, Noah and Gavin playing cars

So excited about his Y Bike from Aunt Shana

Playing with some of his fun toys

 Grandma and Grandpa came in town for his actual birthday

 Birthday boy!

 So excited to eat at his favorite place...Home Run Sliders

Ketchup shots!

Happy Birthday sweet Drew Man! We love you!

Pinkalicious

Saturday the kids got to go see Pinkalicious the play in Tulsa with Mammy and Mike.  If you don't have young girls you probably have never heard of Pinkalicious. It is a book about a little girl who only wants to eat pink things and it turns her pink.  Ryan is obsessed with it so she was ecstatic about seeing the play.  Drew got to go too...in his pink shirt that Ryan picked out for him. :)  They had tickets on the front row and they both sat still the whole hour long performance!  Ryan couldn't stop talking about how much fun they had when they got back.

 Ready to watch with her Pinkalicious wand 

Afterwards with her doll, CD, and book (She might be a little spoiled)

Darin and I enjoyed our kid-less weekend by seeing The Help, Breaking Dawn, going to a fun new Wine Bar, and hanging out with friends!

 Dustin, Darin and Chad at the Wine Bar

 Watching the OU game at Louies

Thanksgiving program

This week Ryan had a little Thanksgiving program at her school followed by a feast prepared by the kids. Ryan, being the perfectionist that she is, had been practicing singing the songs and telling us all about the cooking for weeks.  She was so excited that both Darin and  I were coming to watch her. But she ended up getting a little stage fright! She acted pretty shy and sang the songs quietly.  She still had fun and afterwards said "I was just kinda nervous because there were lots of people watching."

 The whole group...I was impressed that they got that many 3,
4 and 5 year old to stand still for all of the songs!

 

Walking to the Tasting Feast with Noah

 

Ryan with her place-mat she made

 With her friend Cooper

 Mary Caroline, Ryan and Olivia

Ry and MC