Thanksgiving

Ok clearly I am not very good at this. I am finally posting about Thanksgiving because Christmas is days away! Oh well...

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful and full! Mom and Dad and Hayes and Ashley all came to our house so that we could spend the holiday (sort-of) with Scout who had to stay in Memphis to take call. The boys worked *so* hard on the house, putting up gutters, replacing siding, moving the huge oak chairs to the backyard, and many other little projects! The girls (all of us) were here to inspect, offer moral support, and play in the leaves. We so missed not getting to see the Robinson side of the fam, and are looking forward to a Christmas get together with both sides this year!

I asked Uncle Russ if he would mind sending a few house plants up with Hayes and Ashley from Florida. ...We now have a jungle!

The fellas talking shop... or something like that.

"helpers"

"you kidding?!? we can move this thing, no problem!"

We left Memphis and headed for Princeton for a Thanksgiving celebration with the rest of the crew. As usual, chef/cousin Lauren made a deeelish feast for our massive crew and Granny was working the crowd and loving having everyone piled in for the holiday.

Hayes and Ash... just the cutest. =)

C.C. got an impromtu 1st haircut in Granny's living room after the Christmas-gift-opening session...

We made a visit to one of our new favorite picturesque places - the Black Oak Vineyards and Winery....

...and the girls had loads of fun playing on their new animals from the Whittingtons. We are clearly going to have to build a barn but Aunt Sal is just the coolest ever - we love them! Thank you!

Sisters

As Carter Caroline gets older, it is so fun to see the girls becoming better and better friends. They have been in such different stages until now and Kate used to ask me pretty frequently when C.C. would be old enough to play with her. I think we are getting there! There is nothing better than hearing them playing, laughing or interacting (happily!) with each other, especially when it just sneaks up and takes us by surprise. No one can make C.C. laugh like Kate can, and anything that Kate does C.C. automatically mimicks. Hmm.... this could be trouble!

Now if C.C. would find a new favorite activity other than tearing apart Kate's (many!) art projects life would be smooth as silk around here! Oh yeah, and they would both need to come to an agreement that C.C. only gets cuddled, hugged, mothered, or otherwise manhandled by Kate when she (the handlee) is fully prepared and in agreement.

The girls were so excited the day we realized that C.C. can sit at the "big" table now and eat lunch with Kate. (And yes, that is a big sharp knife on the table. Mother of the year, right here!)

Kate wanted to push C.C. around our driveway on her pink car. As usual, Miss Independent did not care to be handled and wanted to do the pushing herself, grunting the whole way up the hill. Every once in a while I had to catch them both as the car rolled backwards...

...We were playing in the yard and I turned around the see the kiddos had parked themselves for a rest. ....A rare moment when I turn around and the girls are talking and laughing to themselves. Ah, for more of these!!!

Multi-tasking

I don't know how he does it... Scout's ability to meet the demands of his career and of his family amazes me. I know he often feels pulled in opposite directions and life is so busy right now, but we know we'll look back on these days as sweet, sweet, sweet. And then some.

This pic pretty much sums it up. Kate cuddled up with Scout while he prepped for work and she was waiting for him to finish so they could play a game. She got in a little catnap...

He's done! Get him!!!!!!!

Playing with Carter in the backyard after work and pausing to take a mommy call.

(From another mommy, that is...)

Quest for a photo

These are some of the first few attempts at a decent Christmas card photo. Eeeesh....

When we tell Kate to smile these days, this is what we get. Hmmmm... better stick with trying to sneak up on her in her natural habitat.

"Oh, you'll look, alright! I'm ready to get back to my tea party!"

So, C.C. doesn't really like having to stand still for a picture....

....not at all.

Happy Halloween!

We had Ariel the princess and a pint-sized cowgirl at our house this year. Carter was hilarious trying to walk in her pink boots and really had a little mosey going. We gave Kate the choice of several things to be but she really wanted to be Ariel... although she decided 10 minutes before trick-or-treat that that was the wrong decision. As usual, we coaxed her into her costume ("just pick something to put on! anything!") and out the door with some pink sparklies that I promised to put on her cheeks and in her hair.

We got together with friends to give all the kiddos a little bit of "real" dinner before they O.D.'ed on candy, and we went house to house in a big herd. Momsie and Bandaddy came in for a surprise visit and got here right in time to walk the street with us, so Kate was thrilled to drag Bandaddy by the hand from house to house with all her buds.

We attempted a group photo but the wee ones weren't keen on standing still. The cowgirl makes a break for it...

Kate with Peyton Manning and Superman!

The little ones...

Ready for trick-or-treat!

Austin, gimme that tail!