Family Pictures

My kind and talented sister, Andrea, took some family pictures for us last week.  I think they turned out pretty good, considering some uncooperative participants.


1. Put this one on our Christmas cards.  Chess's face is not happy, but I think this may be my favorite.


2. You'll notice that a certain three-year-old did not want her picture taken.


3. This was going on a lot during the photo shoot.


4. This is definitely the best as far as our faces, but I don't like the background as good as #1.



5. Lera was happy as long as I was holding her.



6. Playing = happy Chess


7. Candid


8. Sliding

So, which would you put on your wall?  #1, #2, or #4?

Thanks, Andrea, for taking the pictures!

Thanksgiving

We decided to host my family's Thanksgiving here at the Thompson home this year.  It turned out to be quite homey and fun, in my opinion.



The girls and I made this Thankful Turkey and have been putting on one feather every day in November. Each feather lists something Chess or Lera said they were thankful for that day.  Some of the answers were pretty funny - they are still trying to grasp the concept of what they are thankful for.  Both girls did say they were thankful for Momma and Daddy, and Lera said she was thankful for Chess and herself. The most popular type of answer was to name something that was in their immediate line of vision: turkey, doll, chair, cup, etc.    When I tried to gently guide Chess in a certain direction, she became very determined to name a random (although important to her, I'm sure) object, such as markers and toy cars.

We made a few different kinds of turkeys.  There are just so many things to do with turkeys!  I feel bad that the only reason we use turkeys in crafts is because we eat them.  I just don't enjoy making crafts of Indian corn and cornucopias.  Maybe next year we'll branch out.

I forgot to photograph the hand print turkeys and pasta turkeys, which were so cute.



Here are the pumpkin turkeys.



Everyone came over to eat a delicious meal.  I made a turkey, homemade rolls, and pumpkin pie cheesecake.  All the food was great.  We lined up some tables to have room for everyone.



We had a little table for the little kids and their helpers, Bailey and Halle.  Those girls are so good with the little ones.  My girls LOVE playing with them.

After eating and relaxing a bit, we went to see Arthur Christmas.  It was a cute movie.  Lera stayed home with Jared to nap.  Chess loved watching the movie and getting popcorn from Stacy and Paw-Paw.  It was quite the treat.

We came back to our house to hang out some more and eat some more.  I am so thankful for my many blessings, especially having almost all my family nearby to celebrate with!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday

LEAVES!

Our Favorite Place

Halloween Night

This is the last Halloween post!






Mimi and Poppy came to see the girls in their costumes.




We are so lucky to have two cute little girls the same age as our girls who live across the street.  We went trick-or-treating together.


The two big girls got so excited knocking on doors and yelling "Trick-or-treat!" as loud as possible.  They would run up to the door and start giggling like crazy.  It was so cute.  The little girls had a hard time catching up, but they didn't really care.


Daddy handed out candy to all the kids.




After our girls got some PJs on, they helped hand out candy, and also grabbed some extra pieces for themselves.  Sneaky girls.

W.W.

Halloween - Pumpkin Carving

The girls were really funny about carving the pumpkin this year.  They were so anxious to do it, but once we told them to stick their hands inside, they got all squeamish.


Lera can't wait to cut that thing.


Ahhhh!  It's so slimy!

Chess helped me design the face.  She wanted a pretty girl-faced pumpkin.  I thought the hair was a funny touch.

Halloween - Trunk or Treat

The girls costumes are based on the show "Super Why" about some little super readers who go into storybooks and help the characters while learning a lesson at the same time.  We love the show around here.


My little Wonder Red.


My little Princess Presto.




Getting ready to go to the church for trunk or treating.


Holy cupcakes!


We all took turns making funny faces.


Chess took this picture of me.






Pure joy and delight after getting some candy in her bag.


The trunk or treating turned into hallway treating because of rain.


Happy Halloween!


Lera got only a foot in the door before dropping down to check out her candy.


For some reason, lolly pops are the favorite.
I'll take the chocolate any day.
And I did.