Thanksgiving Travels

Our Thanksgiving trip to N'West Iowa started with a little hiccup...freezing drizzle and ice was the forecast for Wednesday so we had to leave Des Moines earlier than anticipated.

Luckily we left town just in time and we had safe travels with only slightly iced roads.

Our first stop was Spencer where we spent Wednesday and Thursday night with the Mueting Family. We played games, cooked a fabulous Thanksgiving meal, slid down the stairs with Grandpa(see video below), decorated for Christmas, read books, and even opened a few Christmas presents from Liz & Andrew!



Marie thrived on all the attention from her family.
She loved being chased and tickled by her aunts and uncle.
She also found time to sneak in extra hugs with Grandpa & Grandma.

Next we went to Sheldon to stay with Grandma Nel. It was a relaxing weekend there

as the Van Beek side celebrated Thanksgiving a week earlier.
We helped decorate the house for Christmas, ate breakfast at the bakery,
looked at books in the book store, went to church, and had dinner with the Statema clan.
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Marie loved helping Grandma make homemade hot cocoa mix and playing the piano, too.
We know Marie loves dogs, but she also spent a lot of time chasing Grandma's cats this weekend.
Apparently all that chasing wore her out.
One minute she was petting Sadie, the next she had fallen sound asleep.
* * * * * * * *
It was fun to see Marie recognize her family and act differently with all of them.
She enjoys sitting still with some and jumping & running with others.

We are so thankful for our family and how they show their love for Marie.
She is a very lucky and loved little girl.

Muddy Thanks-mas Weekend

Once again we continued our tradition of decorating our house for Christmas the weekend before Thanksgiving. (for a reminder, click here)

Andy finished the lights outside while I took care of the indoor decorations. Meanwhile, Marie took a 3 1/2 hour nap. It's amazing what we can get done without a curious little one following us around saying "what's that" 25 times.

However, we waited to decorate her little tree until she was awake. She put one ornament on and said, "out." Meaning, "see you later mom, Charlie and I are going to watch Minnie Mouse while you finish this up...oops you missed a spot."
Marie loved looking at the tree and labeling all the "balls" on the tree. She kept saying "wow!"So far she is really good about gently touching the decorations, we have only had a few fall to the ground...
It is hard to believe the Holidays are here again, but ready or not, here they come. Just the thought of the holidays are too exhausting for Marie & Charlie.

We also had a visit from Uncle Nathan this weekend. He and Andy signed up to run in the Living History Farms Race in Urbandale. This is not your typical race...you are expected to run, climb up hills, wade through hip-deep cold river waters, and dodge deer (Nathan was almost hit by a deer). The boys started out in the 30 degree weather looking like this:and came home looking like this:Needless to say I had to haul out Grandma Jennie's hot chocolate mix and fast so they could warm up.

Marie loved having Uncle Nate around. She has been saying his name and everything. They spent a lot of time together reading stories, building towers, and unraveling all my gift wrapping ribbon.That Uncle Nathan knows just how to make Marie giggle...

We also got to celebrate Thanksgiving at Daycare on Friday. All parents were invited in to eat a turkey dinner with all the trimmings with their children. Andy and I were both able to attend with Marie. She was a little confused as to why we didn't get to take her home, but I think she enjoyed having both of us play at daycare with her for a little while.

Here she is eating her turkey with her friends.

We are looking forward to a short work week and then off to N'West Iowa to celebrate Thanksgiving with the rest of our family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"NO" - By Marie

Wow, what a weekend! Charlie and I have been very busy.
See, I learned this new word and it has been getting me into
a little bit of trouble. Maybe you have heard of it...
'no'
A little word that can give you 1 BIG minute of time out.

So to make up for it, I have been trying to help out around the house.
After all, Christmas is coming very soon.

First, I helped my dad fold the laundry. Not just any load, the terrible white load.

Do you know how long it took me to match all those socks?

Meanwhile...Charlie took yet another nap.
Next, we took down Halloween decorations and created Thanksgiving decorations.

Even though it was cold outside, I thought I should give my dad a hand with yard work. You should have seen the sticks and leaves we had to clear! Whew - what a job. I also helped out by playing fetch with Charlie...he is such a good boy.
Then my baby needed a bottle - a girl's work is never done.

When my baby was in bed, I got to chat on the phone.
I know I know, why wear high heels after the long day I had?
Sometimes you just need to dress up.
Even if it is high heels with mis-matched pajamas.

(sorry you have to turn your head for this video)

Finally I made it to bed.
I couldn't even stay awake to see how my book ended!

I guess there is always tomorrow.

At 17 months, Marie is...

Marie is growing.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot pause her at any age.
She is 17 months going on 13 years. Ever since she was an infant, she has been independent, curious, and smart. She still loves reading books, Charlie, morning hugs & kisses, singing & dancing, running, and drawing.
Dogs continue to be a joy for Marie. Over the weekend we took Charlie to a new dog park. I am not sure who enjoyed it the most, Marie or Charlie....she stayed busy chasing all the dogs and petting them, too.

"Puppy, puppy, puppy" is all we heard. Busy chasing the dogs up the hill.Making sure Char is playing nicely with the other dogs.

Following the dog park we stopped at the kid park for a few trips down the slide and pushes on the swings.

I can do it myself...

My 2nd Halloween Was...

eating as many oreos as I could...if you count breaking it apart and only eating the orange middlekicking and hitting balloons at a costume party with my cousins

meeting a friendly lioncarving jack 0' lanterns and touching the gooey seeds with my hands...yuck!coloring on the messy newspaper
Exhausting!