Thanksgiving

Brian sliced the turkey this year at The Fultons in Galesburg- a masterpiece!

 Great Gram got extra snuggly time with Amara ( all you have to do is offer a book!)

 And we all got to catch up with family while we ate amazing food!

 Uncle Jeff and Uncle Dan served as napping bookends during the football game.

 And Tyler's best friend became Alaric's hero when he told us he was a karate blackbelt AND had his own Samari sword from a tournament in his car!

 Friday morning we left Galesburg super early so we could meet my cousins and tailgate and go to the Nebraska/Iowa game in Iowa City ( Brian borrowed a Nebraska sweatshirt from friends so he didn't have to cheer for Iowa).  It was incredibly cold but we had a blast!

 I love my cousins Brad and Becky!

 Serious parking lot tailgating, even in 20 degree weather

 And we SURE DID LUCK OUT when Brad and Becky's friends didn't need their clubhouse seats.  All 4 of us were able to watch the game from inside!

 We got home and got to spend a few days with my aunt and cousins, Maddie and Brady too ( all the other family wasn 't able to make it this year).  We had a blast just hanging out!  And Mara got all the Maddie time she needed.

 After game night on Friday night, we used Saturday before our big meal together to take advantage of the park across the street...nothing like a tire swing!

 And poles used as barriers became balancing beams for us for a long time.  So much fun walking back and forth over and over and seeing how far we could get without falling off!

 We saw a great family movie Saturday afternoon, Rise of the Guardians, and then played a few hours of the game of Life. 

 Oh, and these two were inseperatable! What a wonderful Thanksgiving Celebration with family!

A Fruit Salad Feast

We wanted to do something small for Thanksgiving but did not want it to be a traditional thanksgiving  feast as we had already had our Harvest lunch a few weeks prior. We decided to have each child bring a fruit and together we would make a fruit salad, showing how the children can come together with their item and prepare and share together, the way the pilgrims and indians and  many families today do.  

It was LOVELY!  Really.  So simple and sweet and so fun.

Here two children prepared fruit, one scrubs an apple and one slices grapes.

 O ne cuts cantelope while another divides oranges

 Two more children cut fruit ( its amazing what a butter knife in the hands of a 4 year old is capable of.  Never underestimate how your children can help you in the kitchen.  I think I could have ask kids to slice grapes for an hour!)

 We seperated all the fruits

 Got our tables together and asked each child to take a turn mixing the fruit together

 So much fun!

 And sweet Mason won the turkey raffle....we spent more than a week cutting feathers in the art area to create this thing!

We are Thankful for our teachers and staff!

This year's Thanksgiving card for our kid's teachers and staff!

McTeachers!

Tonight we went to McDonald's for McTeacher Night!  A night where local elementary teachers work at McDonalds and a portion of the sales goes to the schools!  It was PACKED but so worth the lines and the craziness to see how excited Alaric was to see his much-loved teacher, Mrs. Strater working behind the counter!

5th Annual Thanksgiving with Friends

For the past 5 years our friends from Champaign have gathered in Monticello for our annual Thanksgiving with Friends.  We do 4 or 5 events together a year and this is the one the Fultons host!

Brian tried a few new tricks with the turkey this year and it worked!  AMAZING!

 27 people were at our house today.  This is the first year we had TWO seperate kids tables!

 LOTS of great food provided by all!

 The little girls tables!

 We sit around and visit for a long time while the children play.  Its a real joy to get to connect with such dear friends!

 The Meyers

 The Shaws

 The Jacksons

 The Johnsons

 The Fultons

 The Dills

 the Kids!  All 15 of them....they aren't all happy but they are all there!

 The group!

 And yes, that is an 18 month old with a beer...it was that kind of night!

 And this kind of night too....so sweet!

 Our newest member of the group, Penelope all snuggled up!

Another successful event hosted.  Another wonderful celebration of friendship and family!

Date Night with Mommy!

Our dear friends gave us their tickets to see Charlotte's Web at The Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan. Brian was sick today and not able to go so it was date night for me and my kiddos.  Usually when its just the 3 of us, we are off running errands or focused on DOING something ( usually for someone else too).  It was so nice to do something for us and just be together.  I love my time my my babies.  We got all dressed up and headed to Sullivan!

 The owner of the theater is a good friend to Cody, the owner of Metamorphosis!  He surprised the kids with huge cookies to eat during show.  They loved it! ( you can't see mara's but she's craddling hers like a doll.  ha!)

 The show was great and the kids loved the story.  We have the chapter book in que right now to start reading!

So, the tradition for The Fultons is that you have to dance if you get locked out of the house or the car or where ever before anyone can let you in.  Bubba locked Mara out of the car and Amara loved showing off her moves for us!

Fall Fun

Even in our lives, we are having a blast!  Here the kids make frogs at church to tell the story of Moses and Egypt being invaded be frogs.

We've had airplane fun at Grammy & Papa's

Stuck out head out the window on a warm fall day to feel the wind on our faces

Laid in the grass at a tailgate

Enjoyed the kid zone at Memorial Stadium

Helped Daddy clean gutters

Jumped out of 

and into leaf piles over and over and over

And celebrated reading at Family Reading Night

Taking each day at a time and enjoying it all!

Mini Me!

Mara needed a hair cut.  Some days she says " I want long hair like Tangled"  other days she says she wants it all cut off.  Today was hair cutting day at our house.  Both kids needed cuts before Christmas pictures tomorrow.  I cut their hair to save $30 and I do an OK job at it, for now.  Mara had been going back at forth all day about if she wanted a CUT or a trim.  But when she said she wanted to look just like her mommy, I went for it!

I love her hair short.  She's already asking to have long hair again for for the meantime, I'll take my mini me!!!