Lots to be thankful for

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year and we have so much to be thankful for. I am personally thankful for my loving husband, my beautiful children, my wonderful family and my awesome friends. In addition, I am thankful for our health, our home and our happiness. I am blessed for all that I have and wouldn't trade it in for the world.

Each year we alternate the location of our Thanksgiving celebration. This year, it was time to go and visit with my family. Not only are we fed delicious food by my parents, but I also get to spend Black Friday (or the night of) shopping with my sisters and mom. To steal the words from my mom, shopping can be "exhilarating!" We decided this year to begin at 10pm and somehow managed to shop until 7am the next morning. I can honestly say that I haven't pulled an all-nighter since college. But, even though I was completely exhausted the next morning, I wouldn't change a thing. I had a blast.

In addition to eating and shopping, the weekend was filled with family members moving. My brother and his family moved into their beautiful new house. There is some work left to do but it looks great. I can't wait to see it again around Christmas time once they are more settled in. My Aunt Gail and family also moved into a new house. Jeff and I were able to help them with their move. Even though they have a lot of work to do as well to get settled in, I am sure they will be very happy with their new home, too.

Hopefully in the next couple of years we will be moving, too?

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls from the weekend. These two were inseparable. They are best friends now and I can only assume this friendship will build over the years to come. :)

My first order

Yippee! I just received my first order on Sweet Pea Bows! Thanks, Beth! I hope I receive many more in the days, months, years to come! :)

Sweet Pea Bows is open!

After two years of dreaming and several weeks of bow making, Sweet Pea Bows is officially open! I have been making hair bows for Aubrey since she was really little. Of course, this started very early since she was born with a full head of hair! :) I am so excited to start this venture and am so grateful that Jeff stands behind me with my desire. Hopefully it'll take off and my hobby will turn a little profit someday. To find out more information or to view some of my designs, look up Sweet Pea Bows and Accessories on Facebook and become a fan. :)

We just celebrated Natalie's 8th birthday with a costume birthday party. Everyone dressed the part and the costumes were amazing. Happy Birthday to Natalie!

Alice in Wonderland

The vampiress, coach and mermaid

Rainbow Brite

Cowboy and Angel

Cleopatra and the monk

Indian Summer continues.....

I can't believe it's November and the weather is still so beautiful! After preschool, I took the kids to Hidden Lakes for them to run around and for me to get more needed practice with our camera. Success! Here are my favorites...

Jump, slide, jump, slide, repeat....

Our niece, Natalie, turned 9 at the end of October. So, to celebrate she had a "friends" party at Jump Zone and invited Aubrey and Tyler. The kids LOVED it! For 90 minutes straight, they ran from slide to slide, going up, going down, in, out, water break and then some. What we already knew was also confirmed, Tyler is fearless. The slides say 3 and above and at 21 months, Tyler was in and out like a pro. He did need some help climbing the slides but it didn't slow him down too much. His favorite was the Batman slide as shown below. Aubrey also wore a permagrin. Maybe we need to go there more often just to burn some energy. :)

He came.... He saw....

He conquered!