{time with Great-Grandpa + lights at the zoo}

Today was a great and PACKED day. We had a yummy lunch at Bob Evan's in Perrysburg, and we met up with Great-Grandpa, Aunt Diane, Uncle Jim, and cousin JJ. The kids were also happy that Amma and Ampa joined us. The food and the company were great. Lilli also received a super cute Christmas outfit from Aunt Diane, and Caden got a flashlight that he had been wanting :) All were happy. Lilli started out as her usual shy self, but eventually she warmed up to everyone. Look at some of these cute pics:

How sweet is this?

Big hugs...

Great-Grandpa thought the kids were pretty cute :) The big hug from Lilli helped.

She hugged JJ and pushed him away. It was funny :)

Hugs for Ampa

Striking a pose

I love them all.

This family pic is especially great. Ryan is the only one missing--he was taking the pic :)

After lunch we stopped over at Amma and Ampa's to play a little more, and then we picked up Grammy and Aunt Ann (she drove separately) to head to the zoo and check out the lights this year. I only had my phone with me, so it wasn't the greatest to take pics of the Christmas lights. Here are the few we did get:

At the entrance of the zoo

Check out this shot! Look at her hat :)

We rented a wagon so the kiddos wouldn't have to walk all over.

Watching the lights go to music.

Silly kids- They climbed up on this so I could take their pic.

The important part is that we had a great time. We took a rest halfway through to have some hot chocolate. The kids were super happy with that rest stop. Mama was, too. :)

It was a great day. It was so great that Caden told me he didn't want to leave Toledo. He wanted to stay for "6 days." He is too funny.

Until later!
Barby

{our Thanksgiving continues...}

We had our first Thanksgiving celebration yesterday for a great lunch at Maumee Bay State Park. The food was great! The kids were excited to see: Amma, Ampa, and Aunt Steph. They also got to see Jason, his wife Beth, their daughters Samantha and Rachelle, cousin Troy and his two adorable kiddos Madison and Ryan. It was a great time:

Caden got a little frosting on his face when eating his cupcake :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a goof!

Here is half of the group:

The rest of the group:

Lilli was not feeling getting her pic taken.

After luncheon we spent some more time with Amma and Ampa at their house. Caden and Lilli were spoiled, as usual :)

Today was the day we celebrated with my mom's side of the family. It was great. Uncle Gary got out all of the boys' old toys, and they were a HIT. It was so great seeing all of the kids play together. We didn't get enough pics, but the boys were so funny together. Caden and Scottie were as thick as thieves. Nikki would have been so happy...

We had to keep reminded them to clean up before they got out new toys :)

The boys had such a great time playing. How cute is Christopher?

Lilli got in on the action, too!

What else says family fun like doing shots? Yep...that happened :)

The kids brought their Squigs so Lilli wanted to show Aunt Ann and Nikko how they work.

It was an exhausting day for all...

Until later!
Barby

{give thanks}

 I would never be able to record all for which I am thankful. The number one thing I am thankful for every day is my family. Our happy little family. I love them. I love us.

We are great together. And my life simply would not have as much joy without those two cute little faces. Ryan's isn't too bad to look at either :) Ryan could not be a more supportive husband. Even with everything he does, he always makes sure that he carves out as much time as possible for his family. And sometimes this means sacrifice on his part. It sometimes means very late nights staying up after the rest of us are in bed to finish his work. He is the best.

I am thankful for the rest of my family. I am talking both my blood family and those I was lucky enough to inherit through marriage. Both those I see and those I don't see very often.

I am thankful for my job and my co-workers. They are awesome. They are supportive. I wouldn't trade them.

I am also beyond thankful for my friends. I have so many people who I know would do anything for me. I hope they all realize I would do the same. Some friends I haven't seen in years, but I have been able to reconnect with thanks to social media.

I try to be thankful every day, but I think we could all take a step back and realize how much we really have.

Until later!

Barby

{happy trails...}

The day before Thanksgiving is a pretty heavily traveled day. We are not excluded from this group of travelers. Ryan and I both had to work today, so we couldn't leave until after Ryan finished with his last patient. This meant we hit the road at around 5:45 pm. We are still on the road right now. Here is the shot of the happy kiddo travelers:

We will get into Toledo VERY early tomorrow am, but I am thankful that we are able to make the trek.

Oh, and here is Ryan:

Safe travels to all :)

Until later!
Barby

{frame show at the Paine}

Tonight was Insight Eye Care's annual frame show at the Paine Art Center. The kids had a great time as usual. It is always so beautiful looking at the Christmas trees there. The kids LOVE playing in the lower level where they have various items for the kids. The always love putting on the puppet shows. Here is a sampling of one of their shows from tonight:

There are some other things from them to do there as well:

They picked some veggies for me from the pretend garden.

Lilli rocked on the rocking horse. Notice Caden in the background? He thought this was too funny.

It was a great (and busy) night. Tomorrow is the big drive to Toledo, so I better hit the hay! I need to still pack a few things in the morning. We will be hitting the road around 5 pm. Say a prayer for us for safe travels! I am hoping we manage to miss all snow.

Until later!
Barby

{slow motion antics!}

Ryan was playing with the video settings on his phone, and he recorded this video of the kids dancing. I had to set it to some music. H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S.

Until later!
Barby

{I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...}

Even though today was REALLY cold, Ryan decided he wanted to put up the Christmas lights before we get a lot of snow. He was lucky enough to have a really cute helper as well:

That hat cracks me up! Ryan said he looks like a sherpa...

Here is what the house looks like:

Ryan and Caden did a very nice job. There is a cute lit up shovel by our front door. I will get a pic of that in the day time, but here is one in the dark:

There are also red Christmas bows on each pillar of our front porch. You can't see our wooden deer in the dark. I will get a shot of those as well.

I can't wait to get the rest of the Christmas decorations up!

Until later!
Barby

{Caden's swimming birthday party fun}

Last night was a lot of fun for Caden. He had an invite to his classmate Annah's 5th birthday party. The best part...it was at a hotel! Who could ask for more than swimming, pizza, and cake?! Caden was extra happy, because his "girlfriend" Hallie was there. Ryan said they played together the entire time. Here are some pics that Ryan took:

Caden and Hallie

Taking a break to eat some yummy pizza.

Caden LOVES arcade games.

Caden had a GREAT time. He was pretty tired that night from all of the swimming and other fun.

Until later!
Barby

{a good daddy...}

A good daddy is one who takes the time to play with his kiddos. A good daddy laughs and rolls around with his kiddos. A good daddy takes the time to watch "Daniel Tiger" instead of doing his homework (and then stays up until 1 am doing that homework). And a good daddy isn't afraid of putting ponies in his little girl's hair:

Yep, my kiddos are pretty lucky :)

Until later!
Barby

{hunting cupcakes}

Tomorrow we have a hunting themed luncheon at school, so I signed up to bring a dessert. I didn't know what to bring at first, but I ended up settling on cupcakes. I wanted to stick with the hunting theme, so here is what I came up with:

Not too bad. And really, they weren't hard to make at all. The hardest part was getting the frosting orange enough for my liking. I was smart and waited to frost and decorate these bad boys until the kiddos were in bed. Otherwise, I definitely would not have had enough for tomorrow :)

Until later!

Barby

{Caden's conference + haircut time}

I met tonight with Caden's 4K teacher. She raved about Caden. I am so proud of him. He is above grade level in pretty much every area. He also is doing very well socially and emotionally in class. His teacher also mentioned how he is able to solve problems at a higher level. For example, the do weekly journal entries. The teacher puts a sticker on the page, and the kids need to draw a picture related to the sticker. On Nov. 7 the sticker was of a fish. Caden told his teacher he didn't like drawing fish.  So this is the picture he created:

It is a man holding a fish tank that has a fish (the sticker) in it. She said that picture perfectly showed Caden. He is a problem solver :) I laughed when I saw it. Too cute.

Other then the conference, the kids also had their haircut tonight. Check out Lilli and Catie striking a pose:

Until later!
Barby

{my dancing kids!}

I love this video. Check out Lilli becoming the little diva:

Until later!
Barby

{funny faces...funny kids}

Last night the kids were completely CRAZY before bed. They definitely are the children who get a second wind before it is time to go to sleep. Lilli wanted me to take a picture of her doing duck lips...but she had some problems. Her second attempt was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S!

She looks angry in this pic.

This one if just too much! She looks sad, but she was laughing right after.

 I wasn't the only one who thought she was funny!

I know this is blurry, but I LOVE that I caught how hard he was laughing.

I love how silly they are together :)

Until later!
Barby

{my little diva}

Even when she is sleeping, she still has attitude :)

I love the hand on her hip. This is what she chose to sleep in. And notice, absolutely NO blanket. That is always how she ends up.

Until later!

Barby

{Happy Birthday, Aunt Lexie!}

We celebrated Aunt Lexie's birthday tonight. Her actual birthday isn't until Monday, but we decided to have her over tonight. Uncle Danny and Aunt Samantha came over, too. We had lasagna, and I made a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I also threw together some cupcakes for her to take to work on Monday. Here are some shots:

I used white chocolate to make the treble clefs.

The kiddos with their Aunt Lexie:

 

Until later!
Barby