Oh Christmas Tree!

Handsome boy

pLaYtImE with AddI :o)

Trying out the new camera! :o) yay!

Happy Hen Day

What a lovely Thanksgiving we celebrated here at home. Holidays are always hard for us to be with our large extended family, so we have had to get used to spending them by ourselves. Usually Tony is working, but this Thanksgiving it was me. I got off at 10am, and hurried home to cook and spend the day with my family. I was a super procrastinator this year, surprise surprise. While I have had my kids Christmas shopping done for weeks, I did not plan Thanksgiving until the night before. So of course thawing a Turkey was out of the question. We had cornish game hens stuffed with oranges, garlic and onion. They were delicious but did not fill that void where the turkey should be. We had green bean cassorole, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, rolls, and sweet potatoes. The usual. Our friends Brandon and Racheal came over with thier son who is Addi's best friend. The two of them had a great time eating our Cornucopia. The night before I had a lovely conversation with Addi about cornucopias. She tried to pronounce it about 20 times and finally got it right. Then she asked, "Mom, what is a cornucopia?" and I told her, "It is a horn of plenty that we fill with all the things we are thankful for" and she says, "Wow Mom, that sounds really neat!" In the morning when I was adding all the fruit she kept asking if she could help with the cornucopia. Sure I said. "Mom! Let's put Icecream in the cornucopia!! And My Little Pony's and jumpropes!!" :o) Ahhhhh I love having a little girl. When it was Addi's turn to say what she is thankful for she said, "Mommy and Daddy and Baby brother, and Papa and Haha and my friend Julian!" Good answer Addi! :o) Little Kaden ate TWO plates of food. He was a messy happy baby. Sweet potatoes from head to toe and a big ol smile on his face!!

Addi meets Tink and HoHo

Last week I took Addi to see Disney on Ice. She had the time of her life, and just watching her react to it all made it the best girls night ever. She wanted her picture taken with Tinkerbell and got to see Cinderella before the show. She made sure to tell the other little girls how beautiful they looked in thier princess dresses. The show was amazing and she was so into it and so excited, siiting on the edge of her seat and jumping up to cheer throughout the show. She had the crowd around us laughing on several occasions. When Mickey and Minnie's act was on Addi yelled out, "How about Goofy?!!" and sure enough Goofy came out a minute later. The look on her face was priceless!!! During the Little Mermaid act Addi stood up on her seat and yelled "Hey Witch! You leave that Mermaid ALONE!!" She knew all the fairies names and was cheering throughout the entire Tinkerbell act. After the show we went out for icecream and she kept telling me what a great show it was. Everyday since she has asked to go again. I wish we could go again too. We took the kids to see Santa this weekend. Addi was thrilled to meet "HoHo" and she asked for "Hungry Hungry Hippos". It is a board game that both me and Tony used to have as kids and as we both recall it often lead to some sibling fighting :o)We got a bunch of snow this weekend so it really feels like the holiday season now.

Thankful for my SnOw PrInCeSs

Sorry folks, my camera is broken so there will not be any new pics up today. Don't worry though, I have talked to Santa and put in a request, and I am confident the jolly old man will come through. He always does. We had our first snow and it was beautiful. The baby was in awe, staring out the window watching the flakes fall. Addi came down the stairs and said, "YES!!! Christmas is COMING!" She put all her snow gear on and had some fun making snow angels and throwing snow balls. Then her and her friend came in for hot chocolate and cookies and played "Dora saves the Snow Princess" on the Wii while I baked a gingerbread cake. It is the time of year to say what we are thankful for, and little miss Addi has caught on quickly. She has been telling us daily what she is thankful for. It is quite funny, and super adorable. I will end with some of the things that Addi is thankful for! "MOMMA! I AM THANKFUL FOR- CHOCOLATE MILK! Parades! Candy! My BaBy Brother! Playing Catch! All the PoNieS in the WorlD! ChiCa the Dog! Halloween and costumes!! VIDEO GAMES!! CupCakes! Papa and Haha!! The WoNdEr PETS! Story Time!!" To which I always reply, "Sweet Pea, I am thankful for YOU!" Muah!

Heart Pie

Addi has taken it upon herself to educate Kaden on the subject of Christmas. She likes to remind me that this is baby brothers first Christmas and he will probably need help opening his presents. She sings to him her favorite Christmas song, "Oh Christmas Tree You are AWESOME!" and tells him stories about all the different Christmas Candy. I think these two are going to go bonkers when it comes time to actually put out the Christmas decorations. Addi got to go buy some new movies the other day and she picked "Curious George, A Very Monkey Christmas" and "Barbie in a Christmas Carol". Needless to say Christmas is on it's way, especially in the Shaffer home. And that's ok because my thoughtful mother sent me my favorite flick for the holiday season, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and I don't mind if I do watch it a dozen more times before the year is over! :o) Made my very first apple pie yesterday. I never really appreciated apple pie until I made one for myself, and I have to say it was the best apple pie of my life! I cut little hearts in the crust and when Addi saw it she exclaimed, "Thankyou Momma!! How did you know HEART pie was my FAVORITE!!!"

"I make messes, that's what I DO!"

Hand~Me~Downs are Great!

Addi ~ 7 months old





Kaden is wearing the outfit that Addi wore on her first Thanksgiving. They are both 7 months old in these pics. Top pics are of Addi and bottom pics are Kaden in his sweet new kicks! :o)


Kaden ~ 7 months old