Cleanliness

The latest obsession with water...

Turkeys

Our take-home craft from the Thanksgiving lunch. We have plenty more - so we'll probably be making these again this afternoon. It's a perfect follow-up to our shopping trip for peanut oil and an injector this morning. Can't wait for fried turkey next week!

Thanksgiving lunch

The Scurlocks hosted a Thanksgiving lunch for the kids today, and they played, ate, made Thanksgiving trees, read a Thanksgiving story and then played some more. Thanks for having us!

Sharing a chair and surprisingly not clobbering each other
Our hostesses with the mostesses
Darling fruit turkey!
We are now on our 2nd set of clothing because of these. They were delicious!
See the icing that Gage is wearing? It doesn't match the color of the yellow cupcake that was his. Wonder who else's he ate? The kid has a sweet tooth like his mama.
Ainsley making army soup like DrewOur Thanksgiving tree - right in the middle of the kitchen where I can see it all the time. Such a Martha Stewart idea - very creative, Laura! Thanks!

Habits

Why you must watch your habits and make sure you behave yourselves in front of your children:

Who do you think she picked-up that one from?! As if!

Gillett Family Adventures

Mimi, Pop, Amy, Jon and Robin weren't there, but the rest of the clan was! On our way home from Houston, we stopped in Conroe to spend time with the Crocketts and Nana and Papaw. Ainsley and Gage had a blast with Grayson driving them around in the off-roader (Gage would call it a Jeep), and they played and played with Hope, tractors, the fire-truck, you name it. We did some more birthday celebrating and even got an early Christmas present (Thanks, Aunt Carol and Uncle Howard!). So spoiled...but so much fun!

Gage loving cousin Jon's 20something year old tractor!
Opening birthday gifts

I LOVE trucks!Cousin Hope chillin' in the new Bevo chair
The girls
The boys
With Nana and PapawI have a knack for taking pictures at the exact moments the smiles disappear from the kids' faces. They were tired at the end and ready to crash, but they had the best day playing with everyone! I swear it;)

2 years already?

We made our rounds in Houston this past weekend, and boy it was fast! Aunt Lindsay was in town visiting and we were excited to have some time with her. Friday night, we celebrated Ainsley and Gage's 2nd birthday early so that they could be with Aunt Lindsay when they received gifts from her. Talk about spoiling rotten! Thomas cups were a hit - we still have an obsession with Choo Choos (yet Elmo is climing-up in the ranks). This is all surreal for me...have 2 years really come and gone already?!

Reading the card together
Ainsley making sure that Lindsay knows that this is a choo choo on her cup
Gage...what a boy. Not into the clothes (although his momma sure is), and just loving his new choo choo cup!
Lindsay and Jason getting ready to head-out for a rehearsal dinner

Thanks for thinking of us, Linds! The cups have been a huge hit this week (they won't leave home without them), and of course we have had fun getting dressed-up in our new duds!

Finally

We finally made it to the pumpkin patch at the Arboretum. Have been trying to go for a month, but with the rain, rain, rain, plague, and more rain, we just didn't get it done until after Halloween. Still had to go with the costumes, though! It's amazing how much things have changed since last year. They couldn't walk yet, so they just crawled around the pumpkins and gave me lots of chances to snap some pics. Now, they are so fast - you are lucky to catch anything. Sassiness to boot!

Of course, I had to drag Mimi with me - I can't seem to take them anywhere alone these days. She always seems so happy to be with them-

The famous pumpkin house
Picnic-ing


Playing peek-a-boo with Mom with a picnic tableShe couldn't get enough of this door. We have had to install the safety latches on the doors since she can open the door knobs now. Gage is capable but just doesn't know it yet...
Mimi trying to keep Gage out of the mud
Finally had enough
This is the 6th wettest October on record. Hopefully November will be nicer around here!

Ainsley and Gage are more verbal than ever. Gage sometimes holds back because he knows Ainsley is going to answer whatever question you ask. We hear this a lot:

"Daddy HOME!"
"Bye bye, Daddy" - at any time of day. They realize that he is gone to work.
"Paci!" - really?! It's been a binkie since the day they were born and when I was flustered when they were sick, I randomly said the word and it is one they can't forget - and demand constantly.
"Awa" - water. Strangely not agua.
"Ice."
"Pease" = please

Ainsley now says, "Yes," in response to questions rather than, "Yah." Thank goodness - "Yah" sounds kinda rude - even for a baby. But it was cute anyway;)

The Elmo obsession is starting to replace trains. Anything red is Elmo.

"Kashee" = Coffee

Trick-or-Treat!

Halloween was a blur! We had a busy morning and started celebrating with a festive lunch at the Garners (pics to come), took naps, and then dressed in costume for a party prior to trick-or-treating. Gage just said, "Treat!" instead of the full phrase and Ainsley said, "Tricktor." Close enough I guess! They figured-out what to do very quickly - mostly because they just like to knock on doors anyway. They did not want to put on their costumes, but when we put them on the counter in the bathroom to see themselves in the mirror, they were more willing. It's cute to hear them say, "ooooooh!" when they get excited!

Lainey bug, we borrowed your nickname for the night!

In Uncle T's yard

Heading out to Trick-or-Treat with MimiPizza Pit-Stop with Pop
Ah - to catch them together peeking into the door!
Thanks for sharing your candy with us!

Happy Halloween

Still have lots of sorting to do, but here are a few from this evening. Happy Halloween!

Big Orange Pumpkin Farm Take 2

Grandma and Peepaw came for a visit this weekend, and the weather was funky but perfect... It was cool and felt like fall, and we had time to get to the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm on Sunday before the rain came. It was a little more crowded this time since it was the weekend and closer to Halloween, but the trip was worth it. All of us enjoyed feeding the animals, and it was just nice to be out and away from the house after a week of the plague.

Fearless

Always talking...

Of course the kids didn't cooperate with smiles, so I'm sure you don't believe me that they had an amazing time!
Grandma and Peepaw
Wow - a family picture?!



They were happy about the pictures, can you tell?

For me, one of the highlights of this trip was hearing Ainsley and Gage finally say Grandma and Peepaw. We have been practicing, and although I knew they could say Grandma and were close with Peepaw, they were hesitant. They finally felt confident that they were saying the right things and were screaming at the top of their lungs by this morning when Grandma and Peepaw had to leave to go home. Thanks for such a great visit, the help and all of the sussies! XOXOXO