Thanksgiving in review

The Thursday before Thanksgiving, Luke had a little feast at his school. Complete with lots of good food and Thanksgiving decorations. What fun!




My little Thanksgiving Indian!


The Friday before Thanksgiving break, Jacob's school had Grandparents/Special Friend day. Thankfully, my mom was able to take the day off and come up to be with Jacob. The morning included breakfast, pictures, the book fair and classroom activities. I was thrilled Jacob had his Grandma there.

Waiting in line for breakfast.


Yummy, yummy!


Picture time.




Classroom activity.


They had a homework assignment a few weeks ago to disguise a turkey. Can you guess which one is Jacob's? That's right- the Texas Rangers turkey is his! :)


I noticed a bulletin board in his classroom where each student said what they were thankful for. Jacob's response...Sarah. So sweet!


The school Christmas tree.


Later that afternoon, the boys got to choose what they wanted to do with Grandma. Chuck E. Cheese it was. Luke loves getting the cotton candy there!


Saturday morning we all went out to cheer Jacob on at his last soccer game. It was a bit chilly so Grandma kept Sarah nice and warm.




After his game we all headed over to Palio's pizza for a end of season soccer party.


Trophy time!


Later that afternoon, Jim took the boys to the last North Texas football game while Mom, Sarah and I went and did a little shopping. We also treated ourselves to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory since we only had one little one with us. We were thrilled to be eating in an actual restaurant and not fast food! Ha! It was a busy couple of days but we enjoyed it all. Thanks again Mom for coming up and spending the weekend with us! It meant a lot to have you here!

Jacob and Luke were both off of school the week of Thanksgiving. It was so nice having them here all week and enjoying our days together. Now that Jacob has started Kindergarten, I so appreciate his days off! We went to the movies one day and saw Happy Feet 2, we went and ate and played at the mall, we ran a few errands, we made Turkey cookies one day...







We hosted Thanksgiving here at our house this year and had a wonderful day. Thanksgiving has become a favorite day for me. I love the slow-paced day, love cooking in the kitchen, love the great food, love being with family and reflecting on all that we have to be thankful for in our life!
Here are the boys prepping the bird!


The feast!


The kid's table.


Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. I am looking forward to this glorious Advent season and all that comes along with this time of the year!

Full of life at Fifteen months

When I think of our sweet Sarah here is what comes to mind...energetic, sensitive, curious, engaging, strong-willed, playful, loving, busy, girlie in every way, and as sweet as a cupcake! Ah, our sweet, sweet Sarah.


While I was picking out our fruit, she found a shopping basket and had such a time playing with it. She first put it on her arm and carried it around and then decided it would be fun to climb into and sit for awhile.


Helping Mommy push the cart. She is WAY too busy to sit in the cart these days.


And when she is sitting in the cart, she's in the back with Luke.



She loved riding the carousel at the mall.


Love, love, love all these fun girl clothes!


And speaking of style, baby girl just had to get her first pair of boots.


Nothing says a good nights rest like this bed-head!


We found Sarah and Ryan sitting on the treadmill in the office.


Watching the ducks.


*Sarah has fourteen teeth, with the next two just about to break through.
*She weighs 23 lbs 12 oz (75%) and is 32" long (95%). She grew 1.5 inches in three months. She is one tall girl!
*She uses three words over and over. Mommy, Daddy and doggie. Every animal she sees is "doggieeeeee" to her.
*She continues to be a picky eater. She eats best on the run, out of her highchair. She will come over for a bite and then is off to explore.
*She loves wearing everyone's shoes around the house. In fact, she loves wearing her own shoes. She will randomly get her shoes, bring them to me, sit down and put her foot up in the air for me to put them on. She loves to just wear them around.
*If I'm wearing a necklace or bracelet she tries her hardest to take it off of me so she can put it around her neck or on her arm.
*She enjoys brushing her teeth.
*She is understanding so much of what we say. She can usually follow a two step direction.
*She can point to several body parts when asked...nose, ears, eyes etc.
*She loves giving you a high-five.
*She loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
*She loves putting things in the trash. I just have to watch her because she loves putting EVERYTHING in the trash.
*She loves climbing everywhere. She once climbed up onto one of our barstools, stood up and was banging on the computer keyboard! Eek! Can't take my eye off her for a minute!

Playtime

Jim and I recently upgraded our iphones to the model with the capability of taking videos. And I'm fairly certain the boys have taken more videos than we have. Sarah and I were back in her room organizing her winter clothes one day and the boys decided to take this video. Just made me smile.

A special photo

A few weekends ago, we met my cousins in Rusk at the Texas State Railroad to take a picture of all 16 great-grandchildren for my Grandpa. We dressed the kids in red, white and blue in honor of Grandpa's love for our great country and his military service. My Grandpa was diagnosed with lung cancer a few months ago. He has never smoked a day in his life. He is undergoing his third round of chemo and seems to be responding well to the treatments. He has an amazing amount of physical strength and an even more amazing amount of mental strength. At eighty-nine years old he has never given up, never lost sight of what's important and never stopped planning his future. He never ceases to amaze me! Having said this, we felt like this picture would be a special one for him to treasure. Trying to do these special things for him while we can!



It took quite the planning to coordinate a weekend for all of us to meet up but we finally found one. The kids did GREAT and the photographer got quite a few good shots. I was a little concerned about Sarah, but she did really well.
After the pictures we headed out to the deer lease to see the rest of the Eckel family. Most of the family was in town for opening weekend.

A rare picture of my Dad and his siblings with Grandpa.


Gotta treasure these pictures while we can.


And at 89 he still deer hunts. One of the uncles takes him to his stand, gets him settled in and then they wait until they hear him blow his whistle to signal when he is ready to be picked up.




Sarah found a 4-wheeler that she climbed herself onto.


Playing in a wild hog pin. Eek!


Nothing says "country" like riding in the back of a pick-up truck.


Sarah and Joseph admiring each other.


Kisses!


Best buds!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Well, we made it out to the pumpkin patch again this year, barely.


Two days before Halloween, but hey we made it. And let's just say it was not easy getting pictures of these three active little kiddos. But we tried!












Luke was so excited to see Scooby.


Hay maze


See what I mean?


Individual pictures seem to be easier.










Taken by our very own Jacob.


Say cheese!


Now on to the comparison growth chart pictures. Since there are so many I decided to compare each one's first trip to the pumpkin patch and this year's picture.

Jacob- 2005- 3 weeks


Jacob- 2011- 6 years


Luke- 2008- 9 months


Luke- 2011- 3 1/2 years


Sarah- 2010- 2 months


Sarah- 2011- 15 months