Gratitude Tree

Date: All November Long!

Per tradition

the trunk of the 

Gratitude Tree

went up on November 1st!

Then all month long we added our little thankful leaves.

Well except Laiklyn.

She just took the leaves off instead.

Hence why our leaves were floating off the trunk this year.

We had to finally move them higher than she could reach! lol

At the end of the month we had a beautiful big tree

full of all sorts of things we're thankful for!

One day they'll figure out how to spell their little sister's name!

Anden's fave word lately..."stuff!" ugh lol

Laiklyn's fave toy....buckles! lol

Any suggestions what this is?! Still haven't figured it out! ha

Taylee helped Laiklyn write her baba...aka bottle!

The finished tree!

I love that the kids love creating their Gratitude Tree each year!

Taylee was hounding me on Nov 1st as to why we hadn't started it!

November was SUCH a busy month and flew right by!

But we truly have so much to be thankful for!

If we're busy that means we have 

jobs, activities, sports, events, parties, good health, vacations, family, friends and faith!

Then End of Thanksgiving Weekend

Date: Nov 29th

On Sunday the party finally came to an end!

The Gravens had to head back home.

The little girlies said their good byes.

The tears were minimal as we'll seen them again in Idaho in a few weeks!

Laiklyn finally learned to be soft with Aislynn this trip.

She would softly touch her and kiss and hug her.

And then when we weren't looking she would sit on her, throw a toy at her, pat her firmly

and squawk at her.

Oh well at least it was an improvement! lol

Then we tried to recoup before the older kids came home and the chaos begins again!

Don't worry the fun doesn't end.

I already switched gears to Christmas 

and had some fun things planned for their return!

(cue Ryan's eye roll and sigh here! lol)

Thanksgiving Weekend

Date: Nov 28th

We were still having Turkey hangovers in the morning!

Especially Laiklyn!

That morning we took the older kids to play with the Harbecks.

Then we lounged around and put the house back together after our festive party.

Of course there were bike rides for the little girls

I swear they had fun.

They just knew nap time was waiting for them once we got home!

So while the little ones napped.

Aaron made real turkey noodle soup.

Like the kind I would never ever attempt.

Boiling down the turkey carcass, making homemade noodles, etc.

I told Ryan not to get used to this treatment.

It ain't happening again! lol

After our delicious soup dinner

we headed out to our fave little Train Park for their Holiday Event!

Laiklyn decided to transform into the Demon Child.

Seriously.

I don't even know who that kid was!

It all started when we unloaded and I wouldn't let her run wild through the parking lot.

And it only got worse from there.

So she screamed the entire time.

Literally.

All she wanted to do was run around like a maniac destroying everything

and we're the mean parents that wouldn't let her.

So we attempted our fake smiles while wrestling her

and pretending that EVERYONE wasn't gawking at us.

We thought once we got on the little train she would forget about her miserable life.

But nope.

That didn't help either.

So I quickly scooted over and pretended I was part of the Graven fam instead! ha

There was a brief moment during the train ride that Laiklyn stopped crying.

Sweet quick take a selfie!

Looking at these pics now I can't help but bust up laughing.

She's definitely our dramatic determined child that rules this roost.

Luckily there were some random Star Wars guys waiting for us to get off the train.

That startled her into silence for a bit.

Phew!

Then we ventured over to see Mrs. Claus and the Big Man!

Mrs. Claus thought she was so cute holding onto her necklace.

Really we knew Laiklyn was one step from pulling her to the ground. 

The Graven girls were so good the whole time!

They'll definitely get what they want from Santa!

Ryan carried Laiklyn up next for her turn with Santa.

He chuckled and said "Well hello little girl"

Laiklyn gave him the death stare in return.

Ryan piped up and said, "Hi Santa!  This one wants a new attitude for Christmas!'

I about dropped my camera laughing.

Santa just stared at us. 

Hey at least she stopped screaming and flailing in the fam pic! lol

And on that note it was home to BED!!

I'm praying Santa brings Laiklyn her gift tonight!! lol

Thanksgiving - Part 2

Date: Nov 27th

Today was our Thanksgiving day!

The family arrived at noon and the feast was on!

The Adult Table

The Kid Table

The Guests

Dinner is Served!!

And just like that dinner is done!

Hours to prepare,

Minutes to demolish!

So we played outside and inside and all over for hours.

The boys had an intense football game in the backyard

resulting in muddy grass stained clothes

and a few bumps and bruises.

(or as Ryan dramatically calls them his "internal bleeding injuries" when he got scraped!)

The girls were smarter and chose to lounge around 

chatting and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Eventually people trickled back inside for dessert

and then seconds on dinner.

As luck would have it I came down with a nasty tummy bug that day and was so sick! 

But when you're hosting there's no time for laying in bed.

So I put on my smile all day and gritted through it!

Somehow I didn't get pics of the football action.

So I'll post those when I gather them from the family.

About 6pm everyone headed back home.

Taylee was begging to do some of the games I had planned that we didn't get around to.

It was now too dark and cold outside.

So instead of "Turkey Tag" I improvised and we played "Turkey Turkey Find the Turkey" instead!

I had decorated clothespins to look like turkeys.

So instead of hooking them to our clothing 

and running around gathering as many as you could off others,

we hid them throughout the house and found them instead.

Let's just say it got pretty intense.

And we even had to do a few adult rounds! ha

Laiky Lou playing on the stairs as always

Kyrrigan took a break to gnaw on a hunk of turkey! lol

Now the big boy round!

I don't even want to know what they're doing! lol

Finally we dumped all the kids into bed!

Then the adults sat down to relax.

5 minutes later I guess Ryan and I looked like this! lol 

Another super fun and successful Thanksgiving is in the books!