Tucker's 4th Birthday!

 Shelle and I laugh because Tucker planned his party down to the last detail and it was so much fun!

He wanted a Mario Party with a Mario cake, mustaches, a pinata and a bounce house! 

 Tucker's Aunt Jen made the adorable cake!

These 3 didn't want to stop and eat lunch before the party, but thankfully we finally got them to!

 They were too excited watching this bounce house go up outside!

 For party favors (beside pinata candy!) we used molds to make chocolate mustaches! 

 Pin the mustache on Mario!

 I could tell this was a hit when kids kept jumping back to in line to pin another mustache!

Shelle drew the Mario!  Pretty good!

 Pinata time!

 Love Madi's face here.  She wasn't too sure about hitting it!

 Silly Tripp

 Happy Birthday Tuck!

 Present time!

 

This cute rainbow afro came with the Madagascar movie so Maci had to wear it!

 One last Mustache Madison!

Can't believe Tucker is already 4!  Happy Birthday Sweet Tuck! 

Thanksgiving Festival

Sunday evening Maci came over while her family went to the movies.  I guess she's not movie-ready yet!  We had a fun time playing with her.  

Monday

 Tuesday

 Tuesday was Madison's Thanksgiving Festival at school.  I was thankful to have her schedule early enough in the summer to be able to cancel my class that meets on Tuesdays so I could attend. 

 

Mrs. Cude had the class draw a mural while waiting on the festivities to begin. 

 They used the building across the street (which is usually for the youth) to house all the fun!

First up, class pictures in front of the teepee!

They wore the vests and headpieces that they made earlier.

 Mrs. McKee (the director) rang a bell for each group to move through the stations.

First, was a rain maker. 

 Then they made a cute turkey from stickers.

 This was a cute idea.  A teacher read them a story while they sat in the teepee and ate popcorn.

 Next up was making a cross with colored sand.

 Madi's favorite was the necklace making station out of dyed noodles. 

 Turkey and leaf ornaments that you scratch off to reveal the color beneath.  They were pretty neat!

 Then they colored bookmarks.  This station reminded me of the black fuzzy posters my sister and I used to color as kids.

 The last station was the stamping one that I helped with too.  I was thankful for enough mommy volunteers to be able to tag along with Madi every once and a while to take pictures.

 To wrap up the fun, as a large group they sang songs.

 Then each class went into a separate room for their Thanksgiving party.

The food was Madison's favorite . . . ham, turkey and cheese cubes, fruit kabob, and turkey cookie.  They made each student a boat out of a paper bag and ribbon that held chex mix too (unfortunately Madi's not a fan).  They were very creative and cute though!

 The turkey cookies were too cute!

 Wednesday

 Thursday

(For some reason this picture makes Madi look so grown up!)

 Friday

 Friday afternoon, Maci and Tucker came home with us after lunch so Shelle and Cody could clean and get the house ready for Tucker's birthday party on Saturday. 

I think Maci found a new seat in our house that is perfect for her! 

Christmas in November?

Yes, we are THAT family that puts Christmas decorations up early.  But in our defense I want all decorations put away and the house back to normal the day after Christmas so this works for us! 

Madi is DEFINITELY her father's child.  She was SO excited about putting up all 3 of our trees.  And she made herself the official tree turner ON-er and OFF-er. 

She decorated her tree for at least an hour and it had to be perfect!

 Saturday night we took Madi to Aunt Shelle's house so we could have a date night (which consisted of shopping and a quick dinner!). 

 

It's impossible to get a picture with both of them looking!

 So I'll post two pictures!

 Tucker's soccer season ended on Saturday so I snapped a few pictures before it got dark.

 I think I took too many pictures because this is the face I got when I said "hurry and smile big so we can be done!"

Thanful for having my sister in town and always willing to keep Madi so Matt and I can enjoy weekly date nights! 

Texas Tech Day!

 The start of another fun week . . .

Monday

Madi's job this week is to be Trash Monitor.  She wants to be the door holder but she seems satisfied with being a good trash monitor this week.  

Tuesday

 Wednesday

 Thursday was Texas Tech Day!  All the kids dressed in red and black and the Tech football players and cheerleaders came to their school to visit.  Madi asked if they were going to bring those noisy firecrackers and shoot a gun.  Once I told her no then she seemed a little more excited. :)

 Friday

One more week until she's off for Thanksgiving break! 

Proud!

Yesterday, Madison left a picture for me on her white board.  

When I asked her what it was she said a rainbow apple and I sounded out "I love you."

I was so proud that she sounded out a whole sentence without any help!

Trick or Treat!

 Halloween week was fun, but I'm glad a slowed paced fall is about to start!

 

Monday

I hope Madi's love for school and learning never diminishes.  Monday mornings are a treat for her.

Tuesday

 Halloween Morning

It was Crazy Hair Day at school but I don't do crazy hair very well and the next day is picture day so we went with purple glitter spiders to match our Halloween shirt.

 She was so excited for me to put the spiders in her hair!

 Everyone at school thought it was a pretty neat idea so I guess it was a win for me!

 We started a new tradition Halloween morning to eat breakfast by pumpkin candlelight.

This was taken in the dark so that's why it's such poor quality.

 Trick or Treating time!

 Yep, Madi's favorite dog Noodle joined her dressed as a butterfly for Trick or Treating. 

 I think Noodle is wondering why she has wings on in this picture!

 All ready to go!

 We met Shelle's family at Rosa's for a pre-Halloween fun dinner then it was off to Trick or Treat!

 Tripp and his friend like the scarier costumes.  Guess it's a boy thing!  We loved how Maci was looking at them.  She wasn't too sure about those masks.  I don't blame her one bit!

 Noodle was a trooper.  I think she liked be the only dog for a while again. 

 Thursday morning came quick after such a fun night!

It was picture day so we practiced a good smile!  She says she smiled pretty so we'll have to wait and see!

 Friday is another special day at school.  I love how our church/school does such fun things with the kids.  Today they were to wear tennis shoes so they could walk to Sheridan's for an ice cream treat!

I can't wait to hear all about the walk and ice cream treat she picked out!