What are you thankful for?

The boys are getting pretty good at Tic Tac Toe. It's the game to play when we go out to eat.

Mike got down all the huge floor puzzles one day and he and the kids had fun putting them all together. Eliza found it more fun to just run over them while they were being assembled. 

Maggie turned 10 this year, and we were thankful to celebrate with her. We also got to see the Mr. and Mrs. Wade and Davenport family, which we haven't seen in quite a while as well. 

The finished product of Mike and I painting pottery. The outside of my bowl is blue. 

Mike did a great job on his Gnome. 

Eliza has "strong muscles!" to carry her humidifier water all the way to her room. 

The faces of Eliza when she shoves the entire Meijer cookie in her mouth at once. 

When Eliza is in her full snow gear she looks so cute, and SO PINK! Her backpack is almost as big as she is, but this picture doesn't show that as well. 

We did a little shopping at Aldi's and Eliza wanted to carry the bag. She's such a helper. 

Eliza and Evan both got their flu shots and as a good job we went to McDonalds for lunch. The only reason Evan wants to go there is the toys... I tried talking him into me buying him a small toy and going to another place, he wasn't interested. 

Eliza looks so cute doing things... like even eating apples during swim class.

Problem is...

She doesn't want me taking pictures of her. She is blocking my picture of her in this picture. Clever girl. 

Evan and Eliza decided to go out and play in their costumes one cold winter day. So they wore their boots, gloves and hats and had a ball. Only issue is the astronaut costume didn't make it back inside clean. Eliza decided to play in the rock pile  and her butt was covered in mud and also her knees. Turns out... that suit isn't really that easy to clean. 

Eliza hard at work at Red Robin coloring.

We moved the box fort into the play room to make room for the Christmas tree. Only problem was it didn't fit through the doorway. So we had to cut off the chimney, so now all the kids can see out the top.

We headed to Henry Ford Museum to see Clayton sing in the boy choir. Before the event started we went around and saw a few things. The boys are checking out the under carriage of this vehicle.

Evan didn't want to sit with the rest of the kids in this picture. However, he did want to drive this train 3 or more times while we were there. He kept asking me to shovel coal for him, which I did. 

We got to see Aunt Shawn and eat delicious cookies while listening to the boy choir and waiting for Santa to make his appearance. 

So when Santa came out Evan didn't get a hand shake.. he was very very very disappointed and sad. He was telling the keyboard player how sad he was about what happened... the guy didn't seemed that interested. 

We headed over to see the Lego Exhibit and saw they had robots you could drive. So Evan and Alex battled it out with robots for a while. 

And we went into the Lego Exhibit and got to see the huge buildings and build some of our own. 

As always they have a beautiful tree. 

Mike handing the crew as we were leaving. 

Found this stuffed animal hugging a lego man one day. I have to say it brought a huge smile to my face. 

We had to get a new tree this year because our old one only half way lit up. So when we asked the kids which one they wanted they said the "Rainbow Tree" because it can light up in different colors. The kids haves started helping decorate the tree, which is.... nice... one ornament was lost so far this year. 

So we woke up to the furnace no longer having a blower so the house temperature was steadily dropping throughout the day. So we got a new HVAC system this year. :) So last Nov. we got the windows replaced, then in January we got a new roof, then over the summer we got new gutters, and a month ago we got a new water heater... we have almost an entirely new house! *sigh*

We had a good crowd for Thanksgiving this year. Lots to be thankful for and lots to eat. 

The kids enjoyed their kids table.

We got to sit down and enjoy a game together and enjoy some time by the fire. 

We weren't able to take our family pictures at Cranbrook like we normally do this year. Mike took a photo class last month and the professor offered his studio space for his students to use for 4 hours. So We went there with the Wade family and my mom and got some cute pictures. The kids spread out while keeping busy while Mike and his professor figured out the lighting. 

A sneak peak of some of the pictures we took. You'll see more on the Christmas card. :)

Eliza is "So High!"

I never understand how kids can sleep in the most awkward ways and not have a neck cramp. Eliza loves this pillow. She brings it with her downstairs after naps.

A branch fell right behind the play structure... thankfully the kids weren't out there at the time. 

My pizza dough had a huge bubble on it when I looked at it in the morning. I thought it was neat.

Evan ate his first whole apple. He was very concerned about the pit, because he doesn't understand they aren't like nectarines. 

We headed over the Aunt Shawns to make cookies last week. Eliza enjoyed playing Don't Wake the Daddy with Clara. 

Mike decided to bring out the game Clue and give it a whirl with Alex. Alex wasn't the greatest at not revealing his hand to everyone, but it was fun to play.

Evan was playing with my old radio and I decided to let him figure out how to tune in a radio station. He was sitting at this thing for an hour trying different stations and dancing around to the music. 

Eliza looks so sweet when she wakes up from her nap.

The kids enjoying Toy Story 4. They really thought it was a funny movie. Mike and I enjoyed it too.

The kids working on their thank you's for the lady a Meijer who gave them Christmas gifts. 

Mike turns 40 tomorrow and on Sunday we celebrated with is sister and mother on Sunday. His mom is also getting a year older tomorrow, but we'll keep that number to ourselves.  Happy Birthday Mike and Pat!!