Bowling with Muckles

Saturday we took the kids bowling for the first time. They had a blast! It took about two frames for each of them to get the hang of it, but when they did, they really did. James and I ended up TIED in the first game! About 10 minutes after we left, he was asking when we could go again! It was loads of fun!

Isabel Jeanne knew how to rock her bowling shoes!





Afterwards we ate at the Monument Cafe

After eating, we found ourselves at the outlet stores. Course, 3 of our 5 were totally sacked out! That's how I know we had a totally fun, successful day!

Thanksgiving 2010

We were lucky enough to get to spend Thanksgiving this year with our friends The Alvarez family. The kids had a great time running around and playing with their kids. Wyatt had a great time sampling everything in the kitchen as sides were rollin' out. The food was wonderful, and so was the company - it was a very fun turkey day!

JL and Wy Guy catching the end of the morning parade
James occupying the kid table pre-dinner
Isabel talked about turkey and pumpkin pie all day - she was ready to eat!
Here she is taking huge bites out of her rol. She had to show me she'd had some food before she could get to the pie!l
James filling his belly!
And if that wasn't enough, we did it all again the next day!

My bird - yes, it was phenomenal
JL's rolls - yes, they were so tasty
My dog - yes, he is adorable
JL's plate - yes, he ate it all....twice
My crew chowing down
James' favorite part: the mashed potatoes and cranberry
Isabel's favorite part: the mashed potatoes and the red punch drink
Wyatt's favorite part: the turkey! He ate about 4 lbs of it! He also ate his fair share of the sweet potato casserole!

From My Family to Yours

I am thankful for my wonderful family, my health, and my many blessings. Wishing you all the same.

Pre Turkey Pie

It has become somewhat of a tradition in our family to pick up some tasty pies the day before Thanksgiving. We take a drive, pick up the pies, and spend the next day or two enjoying them.

This year, we couldn't decide on what flavors, so we ended up with a hodgepodge. Here is our Coconut Cream, German Chocolate, and Chocolate Cream pie:


I can tell you already, the Chocolate Cream is my favorite part. The Coconut Cream isn't bad, but the German Chocolate isn't for me. Daddy likes them all. James likes the Chocolate. Isabel doesn't like pie! Wyatt will eat anything.

First Haircuts

Monday I took James and Isabel to get their very first real haircut! I had cut James hair lots of times before (badly, I admit) but Isabel has never seen scissors to her locks. Her hair doesn't grow very fast and I didn't really want to cut it. But she had a big long strand from babyhood that was longer than the rest, and it was starting to look a tad strange. James was suffering from one to many mom-cuts and his bangs/sides were terribly uneven and odd looking. I was terrified of his "surfer hair" turning into a mini-mullet, so he came in for a trim/clean up job.



The salon was all about kids. They had these super fun chairs the kids could sit in. James got a black jeep while Isabel occupied the pink jeep. The wheels moved and so did the steering wheel! James thought that was too cool. They also had movies for the kids to watch while they got clipped and/or video cames they could play. Neither of mine were interested in any of that though. They were both too fascinated with the process and the newness of the activity.





They loved it! The hairstylists couldn't believe this was the first cut for either of them because they were so calm and well-behaved. James is always Mr. Cool, but I worried Isabel wouldn't be able to sit still and/or wouldn't like someone else touching and mauling her head. Boy was I wrong. She was like a princess up there! She knew just what to do and how to act and enjoyed the attention.



And I love the cut she got. The lady put in a few layers to bring out the curls and trimmed up her bangs so they don't hang quite so bad in her face. Isabel seemed to love it too - she was so proud to show Daddy and prance around showing off her fancy new style. Business was about the same for James. He didn't seem to care one way or the other. He was glad to have the hair out of his eyes in the front, but he's too boy to dwell on a little ol' haircut for too long. But I like the way his turned out too. It is very Hanson-esq.

At the end James got a pirate tattoo and Isabel got a new clip for her new 'do. She also got a manicure! Again, she knew exactly what to do when she saw the little nail table. She sat right down and said "I want blue please!" So, she got her nails painted electric blue! They are soooo cute.



Look at that boy's hair! So shiny and thick!

This is the two of them the next day. Isabel was so excited to do her hair the next morning she requested nearly every bow we own. I had to give in and decorate her all up. Notice how she showed me each side of her head so I got the full effect! ;-)

Wyatt: 10 Months

Wyatt turned 10 months this past Friday. It is really hard to me to believe he is nearly a year, and already so big! He seems like such a toddler already. He just loves to follow his brother and sister around and play whatever they are playing. Sometimes if they leave him, he will crawl around frantically in search of them. He's big on standing lately - that is all he wants to do! He can stand for a brief second by himself, but mostly he just cruises around using the furniture, my leg, or Pancho for aid.

He has also decided recently that he wants nothing more to do with rice cereal, or baby food for that matter. If he can't feed it to himself - he isn't interested. He LOVES pb&j sandwiches currently. A few other favorites include pancakes, peas, raspberries, oreos, chips, and noodles. A few of his dislikes include scrambled eggs, apples (STILL!), and strawberries. But, for the most part, he is still our eating machine. There isn't much he won't devour.


Another thing that remains consistant so far is the fact that Wyatt is a Daddy's boy. He loves his Daddy! He still says "da da da" a ton and will hunt for JL if he leaves the room momentarily. He also looks for Daddy when he's scared or hurt. He's also a huge cuddle bug. He will give kisses when asked, and hugs. He also likes to tackle and play tickle. Recently he has started growling just before he attacks one of us. It is terribly cute.

He is really fond of sitting on the floor and pushing cars around with James. They both sit there going "vroom vroom" as they push one car and then the next. James is super good at showing him how to park the cars and make them crash. Isabel and Wyatt seem to be getting closer lately too. She is very gentle with him (for the most part) and likes to brush his hair and bring him blankets.

I often think just how blessed I am to have this 3 wonderful kids. I'm grateful for the time I get to share with them and for the never-ending love and fun they provide me with.

Update to Super Wy

Here's a couple pictures I snapped of Wyatt the other day watching his favorite cartoon in the whole world. He usually hams it up for the camera, but when this is on, apparently he won't even look my way!

My Hats

There's The:

Wife Hat
Momma Hat
Chef Hat
Housecleaner Hat
Doctor Hat
Teacher Hat
Haircutter Hat
Accountant Hat
Secretary Hat
Me Hat

My Birthday

This past Monday was my birthday. I had a great day! JL took the day off so we were able to spend time together and do some of Mom's favorite things.


The kids couldn't wait any longer, so we started the day off opening presents. This was perfectly fine with me. Then we had breakfast and hit the road. My original plan was to go to Lost Maples (a beautiful park that has a ton of trees that change color this time of year.) Rare for these parts, and one of my favorite things about fall. But alas, it was 5 hours away and we didn't plan well enough to just do that on a whim.





So instead, we went for a drive. We were still able to see a ton of fall color, so I was pleased. We ended up at a park the kids really love. The weather was a bit chilly, but with coats, no one complained much. (Well, except for JL who has to have it 80+ constantly to be happy!) :) Isabel and Wyatt live on the swings. James ran around for a while pretending to be a pirate before he found a pole that he could hang upside down from.







After the park, we decided we were just way to near one of my favorite hamburger joints to pass it up. True, this hamburger joint is in a gas station, but don't let that stop you from trying the food. You won't be disappointed! There is nothing like a good ol' fashioned grease burger! YUM!




We ended the day with lasagna at the house complete with a homemade chocolate cake. I decided to be ambitious this year and make my mother-in-law's recipe that I adore! The cake turned out great - it was the frosting I had issues with. I just couldn't get the consistency I wanted, and my patience was running thin. So, I decided what I had tasted fine so I smoothed it on the cake. It stayed on and looked pretty for about 2 minutes before it started to slide down the sides of my cake. No matter - we ate it anyway. It looked awful, but it tasted great!