We hope everyone had a great holiday, and Santa was good to everyone! Needless to say, our house is still (and probably will remain) a wreck after the unwrapping!

Hope everyone has a great New Year, too!

(notice the turkey hat...he found it and had to wear it)

We finally had to make McKenna a hat...she was feeling a little left out! Nolan actually made his own Christmas tree hat, but then made this reindeer hat at school today, so that was it!

What a pair we have!

The Turkey Bandit struck Sunday afternoon...she even ran head-on into Nolan, but escaped with the turkey (yes, the turkey is still alive and well...)! It was later recovered, and returned to its rightful owner (see picture top left).

Lighting of the Big Duck in Flanders...Nolan LOVES the Big Duck!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Nolan's Turkey Day Hat!
He just loves the hat he made at school...I didn't even have to twist his arm to get him to take the picture (as you can tell since he's smiling)!

Huffin' Heaneys

What music we had when the kids found the recorders Grandma got them! Of course they tooted at each other, and took turns cracking up! Thank goodness it didn't last too long...

For those of you who are familiar...Cornholio from Beavis & Butthead;

for everyone else... E.T. phone home!

Daddy is just so funny!

So sleeeeepy.......

She just can't resist the rocking horse...and when she's sleepy, this is what happens (especially when she has the magic blanky).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We didn't actually go trick-or-treating...we hid out at Nona's house! (last year we had about a hundred trick-or-treaters, and I had to had out the candy by myself, with Nolan toddling around and McKenna only 2 months old...no thanks!). We dressed up and took pictures...we sure have some cute kids in print (in person, they can both be devils!)

We went pumpkin picking with Grandma and Grandpa when they came to visit last weekend. Of course there wasn't much fascination with the actual pumpkins, but all the other cool stuff they had was pretty entertaining! Nolan and Grandpa chased chickens around, and Nolan tried eating the pellets that were for the goats...sounds like he's learning from McKenna and the dog food! And they both loved driving the tractor, too!

CONGRATULATIONS DENNIS AND STEPHANIE!!!

Mom and Nolan...and mom's new 'do!

McKenna didn't quite get the object of apple picking...so she chose the biggest stick instead!

A few pictures from apple picking...forgot our camera, so thanks, Kim for these!

As you can see, Nolan still loves the swing-and plane spotting! And in the pictures on the bottom, he's "cleaning the dirt" (as he told me)...digging it up with the shovel and putting it in the window of the house!

McKenna is getting into plenty lately...the picture on top are of her first experience with markers...I guess they tasted pretty good (and she was sitting on my lap, too...she's pretty quick!) And the pictures on the bottom left are of her eating rocks-the far left is of her putting it in her mouth, and the one next to it is of her throwing the rock after I told her 'no'. She certainly has a temper when you tell her not to do something she WANTS TO DO!

big brothers are so funny!

KENNA IS SOOOO BIIIG!

She looks so tall! Growing like a weed....

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

This little gourd certainly started some trouble today! Nolan got to have 1 of the gourds we have out to play with, and as you can see by the look on her face, McKenna knew she had something great when she got her hands on it! Unfortunately, Nolan quickly moved in and swiped it right out of her hand. Good thing there was food handy....
(pretty soon, the pictures will probably be of her throttling him when he takes things away...Mommy can't wait for that!)

She's walking! It's been a while since our last post (sorry!)...and McKenna is walking! She's such a funny kid...and of course Nolan gets her laughing most of all! The picture on the bottom left is actually of her throwing a "tantrum"...she has started laying on the ground and rolling around while "complaining" if she doesn't get something she wants (like if we tell her "no" when she's trying to eat the dogfood!). Of course, as soon as the camera came out, it was funny!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MCKENNA!

September 1st was McKenna's first birthday, and we had her birthday party on Sunday, the 3rd. We lucked out with the weather...it rained all week, and the last storm cloud cleared out just as the party started-and it's a good thing-there's no way we could've fit everyone in our house! We didn't get a lot of pictures :( but we have cake pictures! She wasn't sure about it at first, and poked at it with her finger for a while, but then she got into it and had some of the yummy cake! We did the cake right before her nap, so I'm sure she would have eaten more and been more enthused if it had been earlier...but she did good anyway!

Fun at Grandma & Grandpa's House! Unfortunatley, the wagon photos are the only ones I took when the kids and I traveled upstate last weekend, but as you can see it was a huge hit with the kids. Whenever Grandma stopped, Nolan wanted more!

A lot of years...

Mandy and I have been friends for so long...we were trying to figure out exactly how long when we were together last weekend, and I think we decided that it was 5th grade (so, since we were 10). The Fipps' were on the Island for a visit and stopped by, and after Eva beat McKenna up for a while (and Eva is 2 months younger than McKenna, although you can't tell by her size!) they had to say goodbye. :( But Mom and Mandy got to see each other the very next weekend at the Fair for some time without the kids and hubbies!

A Visit from the Gaffneys

We got to see Aunt Janeen, Ryan and Sofia this past weekend! Here are some pictures of Nolan and Ryan enjoying donuts together...always a good bonding experience when chocolate's involved!

Fishing with Daddy

We actually got 2 trips to the bay in today...Daddy came home from work and we walked down to the bay for a little fishing. As usual, Nolan had fun throwing rocks and going in the water. Chris caught fish on almost every catch, and Nolan got to reel a couple in. He thought they were pretty cool up close, and even held one!

An afternoon at the Beach

We got a little time at the beach this afternoon, since Jordyn had to leave for a doctor's appointment. This is the only photo of them together, and of course getting them both to look in my general direction at the same time is an impossible task...guess this will have to do.

Snacks at the Beach

When we first got to the beach, McKenna was only interested in one thing...food. She had her snack at the beach (O's and goldfish with a little sand on the side). When Nolan saw the close-up picture on the bottom left, he said "Kenna dirt"...'yes, Kenna is eating dirt". She did get interested in the sand and water after her snack, but unfortunately I couldn't get pictures in the water and hold her hands at the same time. Maybe next time!

Come Here, Ducky!

Of course, Nolan's fascination at the beach was the boats, and throwing sand. An added bonus was the "duckie" that swam by while we were there. I was helping McKenna stand in the water, and didn't pay much attention when Nolan started saying "duckie, duckie"... and when I looked up, sure enough--there was a "duckie" swimming by. I'm lucky it wasn't a mean one...I had no idea it was there until it was on top of us (it came to within 5 feet of McKenna and me). And after it swam by, Nolan was yelling..."come here, ducky!" (that's the picture on the bottom right)