Thanksgiving 2011 in Ohio

We had an awesome family & friend-filled Thanksgiving trip to Ohio this year. We left on Wednesday with beautiful weather on our side. The trip there took 9-1/2 hrs, Chris drove & I entertained. :) We were fortunate enough to stop at a rest area for lunch and let the kids play on the playground. (Illinois has awesome/kid-friendly rest stops for those interested ;) Lydia did awesome on this trip compared to our August drive :) ... so LeaAnn took her place this time.  Just hard for a 9-month old to sleep when they are supposed to and be entertained in a car seat for 9+ hours!  She did better on the way back... and I have no doubt... she'll learn, b/c the big girls are world class travelers! They did AWESOME. They could not wait of course to see the big blue arch that we drive under to get to Ohio... but no fighting, no crying... we could not ask for more.

When we arrived that night - Mimi had Lydia's birthday present for her... and what a perfect present it was! The baby you see here (watching the train w/her) is in almost every picture from here on out! Baby 'girl' came complete with a bottle & pacifier :)  so she and Lydia have a bit of a 'connection.' She always knows when "babies needs her pacifier!"

That night in the bathtub...

Carson watching the train...

Thursday, 11/24 - Thanksgiving Day at Aunt Dawn & Aunt Gina's house!

Cracking nuts w/Aunt Gina... HUGE hit with ALL the kids at the house... they had not nuts left by the end of the day ;)

I like how "Wiam" was trying to join in on the action ;)

Notice the baby 'girl' ??? I'm not kidding... EVERYWHERE she went, she had that baby with her :)

lovin' on Mimi...

Trying to get a pic of the 6 of them :) 

But Obie did NOT want to be left out! :)

Lydia 'negotiating' with Aunt Dawn :) I believe she was saying, "my table! my table! woll!" Meaning in her 'polite' way, "get me a roll please" ;)

And what would a Koontz Thanksgiving be without wrestling in the living room?  Aunt Jayne is usually the instigator and referee :) As you can see in the pictures - Wiam wins most of them :)

Lydia you are IN FOR IT when she gets older :)

but hopefully - they'll be best friends too :)

They really do love playing together :) And speaking of LeaAnn winning most battles... just the other day, Lydia was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, next to LeaAnn in the high chair, and she was holding onto a teething ring. Lydia was flaunting it in front of LeaAnn, so naturally, LeaAnn grabbed on... and to Lydia's surprise, did NOT LET GO! :) "Hey! Hey!" Lydia kept shouting... I just stood there and laughed... :) The story ended with Lydia continuing to pull and LeaAnn continuing to hold on, and eventually LEAANN was the winner who held out!  I could not believe it... of course Lydia promptly let me know that, "Wiam took my wing!!" But I do believe that's a good indicator of future encounters :))

Lydia's "Monkey" birthday party!

On Saturday, 11/19 we had Lydia's 2nd birthday party at our home. One might ask themselves, why that was such a big deal for us.... and it's b/c we invited 17 kids & 11 adults! Despite kids & adults  tripping & running into each other, we were still able to feed everyone and

 luckily kids were even able to run around outside! :) 

Our meal consisted of pork loin, cooked by Papa Jim on his Traeger grill :), potato soup, cheesy macaroni, salad & rolls. And most importantly cake & ice cream :)  We had to hide the cake in the laundry room b/c Lydia was pretty insistent that she wanted to eat cake, "NOW." 

I was not sure what 'theme' to have for Lydia's birthday party, but when I saw a 'monkey' option in Target :) I knew that was the perfect fit. (She's become a pretty big fan of Curious George :) Jessica Cook ~ 6th St Tasty Treats, in Winthrop made the cake, isn't cute?! :) She loved it and so did I.

Opening presents... 2 pairs of new pink boots from Grammy! She put them on immediately after opening :)

Grammy feeding babies :)

Her big sisters 'oohing & awing' over presents :)

Carter helping open the 'new big green tractor!'

fan club ;)

Ohhh! Curious George!! :)

Yes, Papa Jim, you can hide behind 'Wiam' ~ she is definitely wide enough! ;)

Trying yet again to get a picture of the birthday girl :) This is the result...

The boots matched perfect! :)

The moment she had been waiting for... CAKE!

She had practiced on Wednesday, so she knew what to do, and she did try :) but in the end, she had help from her cousin Blake to blow them out :)

worth the wait!



And believe it or not, we ended the day with the Larson's spending the night...

4 adults and 7 kids all sleeping upstairs :)

Lydia turns 2!

Wednesday, 11/16/11

It was quite a stretch to get this birthday girl to smile... to no surprise :) But she KNEW there was something special about the day. Whenever we'd say, "hey birthday girl!" She'd stare at you w/her, "I know there is something going on" look :) She picked out the cake mix the night before for her cupcakes, so when you would tell her happy birthday, she would say, "BIRTDAY! CAKE!" So she was very excited to eat the cake :)

This picture was my attempt to show how tall she was next to the door :)

And here we are concerned about a floppy sock :) and not smiling of course...

McElroy's chicken for the birthday dinner

And she enjoyed her birthday cake as much as she did when she was one!

carefully wiping her face off :)

Her birthday presents from us: riding horse, her very own necklace/bracelet set & a monkey doll. Fun to buy for a 2-yr old who loves everything ;) She was enthralled w/the horse, and after hugging & kissing it, she jumped right on and started riding it around the house :)

Here's her smile :)

ride 'em cowgirl!

1st & 2nd sets

The 2nd set of 2...

Had to post these... I have such a hard time getting Lydia to smile :) and she did hear. Again... just before her 2nd birthday and LeaAnn at 8-1/2mo.  AND it was gorgeous outside on the 11th of November!

And the 1st set of 2 :)

Had to post these too... the girls dresses themselves in these adorable outfits :) I was gone on a shopping  trip, and they refused to let Dad see until they were done :) I think they make awesome cowgirls! Lauren at 6-7mo & Lindsay at 5-3mo

Lauren & Lindsay books...

Thursday, 11/10/11 - Lauren (6-7mo, 1st grade) & Lindsay (5-3mo, Pre-K)

Lauren created this book for a good friend of hers, Delphina. It's called, "Princesses" by Lauren Beyer

One day Princess Sleeping Beauty was walking in the castle.

She found another Princess named Mulan. She was un-lighting a torch.

Sleeping Beauty said, "that's my torch!"

Mulan said, "But I don't have a torch."

Sleeping Beauty said, "We can share a torch." And they hugged each other. The End.

 I thought she did a fantastic job! But I am a little bias ;)

And here is Lindsay's book. She made it for Delphina & Arabella. Lauren helped her out with it at the end :) and it's called, "The Princesses"

Jasmine and Sleeping Beauty were walking down the path,

when they met a robber and he took their crowns.

The robber went off with the princess' crowns. He went into the forest.

The princesses couldn't find him.

As Lindsay was making sure I wrote everything right, she just told me, "Oh... I should have wrote "the end" at the bottom." :) Just in case anyone was missing that ;)

Switching spots...

Thursday, 11/10

Lydia at almost 2 and LeaAnn at 8-months... 

Lydia of course put herself in the exer-saucer...

 and LeaAnn thought it was pretty funny!