Happy Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving up in Ashburn with our families this year. This holiday season has been a little bitter-sweet since my mom and Glenn will be moving to Florida in 2017. I'm going to miss spending Christmas and Thanksgiving with both families, even if it does get chaotic and busy. You just can't put a price on family.


This year the kids got a tutorial on how to stuff and prep a Glass family turkey. This is the same stuffing recipe the Glass family has used for generations.

You'll have to excuse all the pictures of the kids, but I loved this sweet moment with Grandmom.

Everyone wanted a turn except Cole. He watched, but didn't want to touch.

Lily stayed interested the longest and helped massage butter and salt into the skin.

I swear that turkey is bigger than she is!

Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and early as the Allred family did our traditional Turkey Trot 5k. 

We all beat our goals, with Laura finishing first in her category, Jason placed as well (I can't remember...I think he was first as well), and I got 3rd in my category! Not too shabby for not running for almost a year!

After the race, I joined the Glass family for an amazing feast with all the extend family.

I think we had over 30 people there!

Lexi loved trying all the foods. I think the sweet potatoes were her favorite.

With very full bellies, we then ran over to the Allred household to have some amazing pie.

Lance and Jude were very happy to have Aunt Amy and Derek there. They share many of the same interests and have very animated discussions about Pokemon, video games, and popular memes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Army crawling, mountain hiking, and pea shooting

More from November:

Cole's Preschool class had a Thanksgiving party one day, so we brought these cute little candy turkeys to share. They were a huge hit! (and really easy to make!)

Lexi is on the move! She recently started army crawling and can get just about anywhere she wants.

As you can see, she's really proud of herself!

No matter where we go, this little person manages to find things to ass to her Christmas list.

Lance got to go on a hike with the Scouts and his dad (I think this is Humpback Mountain).

This kiddo LOVES his dad! I am so grateful for Scott and for the sacrifices he makes to see and spend time with Lance. 

If you know Cole at all, you know he's completely, 100% obsessed with trains. He talks about them constantly and is never happier than when he's close to train tracks.

Well, he's branching out! Cole's newest obsession: Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2. He recently discovered this video game and after a few days of figuring out the controls he can destroy me and Jude whenever we play against him. I'm surprised by how good he's become.

You know he loves it if he draws it:

This is a drawing of Plants vs. Zombies, featuring his favorite character, the ice pea shooter.

He's informed me that he doesn't want a train birthday party anymore but rather a Plants vs. Zombies party. Thanks for the heads-up, Cole!

Friends and selfies

Just some random moments from November:

Morning snuggles. I love these monkeys of mine!

Bus stop buddies. The kids love meeting the bus after school, mostly because it means they get to play with their friends. Cole is still shy and tends to do things by himself, but Lily is quickly taking after Jude and wants to always be in the thick of things.

We got to have a special Thanksgiving meal with Jude at school. He eats at 10:20 in the morning! Needless to say, I wasn't very hungry, but it's aways a special treat to see the kids during the school day.

One day we had a few friends over to play. Charlotte and her mom Heather came over, as did Abigail and her mom Laura. I sure love these ladies!

Lily was loving the "girl time".

Cole has recently figured out he can take pictures on my phone, even when it's locked. Since then, I've discovered probably hundreds of Cole selfies in my photo stream:

Such a goof.

The kids continue to find items for their Christmas wish list. Cole's seem to have a theme--trains and stuffed animals.

This tender soul is especially drawn to baby animals and ones that are pink, purple, or sparkly.

I don't think Lily even knows what "Shopkins" are, but who wouldn't want an anthropomorphic ice cream sundae? 

Cole continues to improve his drawing skills and we often find him at the table tearing through stacks of paper. Lately he's been drawing "what he's getting for Christmas". Can you tell what it is?

It's on "O-gauge" Polar Express model train, along with bonus cars in separate boxes. This isn't a wish-list item--Cole really thinks Santa will bring this train on Christmas. I guess we'll see!