Thanksgiving 2015 plus the last of November.

(I'm going to try my hardest to refrain from going on about how far behind I am in blogging and just pretend that I'm on top of things and posting as events happen.)

We were invited to the kids' daycare to celebrate Thanksgiving at a special lunch event.  The kids think it's pretty cool when they get to see us in the middle of the day.  Except for the part when we leave to go back to work and don't take them with us.

 

There is really no reason to ever get the kids anything but cardboard boxes and trash - it's really all they ever want to play with (and fight over).

Thanksgiving with the Basham clan was a hoot.

And the Fonner side was pretty fun too....noisy in our small house....but fun.

The kids helped make some brownies for the Thanksgiving festivities and by "help" I mean clean the bowl.

Sometimes they play so good together...  here they are hiding in the corner playing tablets side-by-side.

These half-moon eyes belong to Papaw Jim.  I can't look at this face and not see his Papaw.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think this girl was meant to be a dancer.  And then I have flashbacks to last January where this child went to dance class and cried every time.

Ty initially freaked out when he felt bubbles on his face - God forbid BUBBLES get on one's face!  But then Joel convinced him to put even MORE bubbles so he'd look like Santa.  Only THEN was Tyler cool with it and not clawing crazily at his face attempting to remove bubbles.  

It was kind of a big month for Lily - she moved up to her big girl car seat.  I wasn't really ready for this yet, but her other carseat was giving us fits.  The straps weren't moving freely anymore and it was time to get rid of it.  Rather than spring for another 5-point harness carseat that she would use for 6 months or less, we went ahead and got the booster style.  You'd have thought Christmas came early, the child was so excited.  

Tyler was back seat driving / navigating.

Random November.

Doctor's office selfie...finding this one on Joel's phone puzzle's me a little...having Lily smile for the camera when she doesn't feel good?  Hmmmmm...

Lily snuggling with Daddy.

Joel and Tyler hanging at Josh's, riding the four wheeler and Tyler showing his bravery to pet a deer skull.

My husband is strange.

Playing in the leaves...

More four wheeler riding.

And the cats....

Two special treats at once - breakfast for dinner in the living room....

"MOMMY!  Take our picture by this Santa.  It says only 39 days till Christmas!"  How Lily understood what this sign was for is beyond me.  But she did.

The many faces of Tyler.

Kids were begging for White Castle so Joel took them one day when I was working late.

I've been going to Farrell's now for 10 months and I thought it would be good for the kids to see where I go and what I do when I'm going to exercise.  Joel brought them by one Saturday while I was kickboxing so they could see it.  They thought it was pretty cool that I was kicking and punching.

Tyler said he was going to ask his Papaw to buy this for him.

Polar Express 2015.

The kids have been asking about going on "that Polar Express Train thing again" since about July.  Time goes soooooo slow when you're 4.5 and 3 but November finally got here and it was time for the train.  

In true Basham baby fashion, both kiddos were little hellions leading up to this trip.  So much so that had I not already spent the money on the tickets and the hotel room, I might have cancelled the whole thing.  The whole morning before we left, they fought.  And fought.  AND FOUGHT.  Particularly Lily.  So painful.  I was in tears.  

But we loaded up the car and headed out anyway.  Departure was purposefully planned for nap time and thank the heavens both kids fell asleep almost immediately.  The two hour car ride was very peaceful.  I got caught up on some work emails which lifted a big weight off my shoulders since I was so far behind.  

Miracle of miracles, when the kids woke up from their naps, they were totally different people.  They were PLEASANT.  What a relief.

We got to the hotel 2 hours before check in time, hoping we could check in early and have more time to swim, but it was a no go.  So we went back in to town and found a playground - the weather was great and there were a couple other kids there so it all worked out ok.  Then back to the hotel to check in a swim for an hour or so before departing for the train.  They had a hot tub.  It was great.  

We arrived a little early so we could get some pictures.  How do you like Lily's cowboy boots with her jammies?

Lily wrote out her own letter to Santa.  She wants this Snoopy thing she saw at Target.  I think Joel knows what she's talking about.  Tyler wants the same thing so I guess Daddy'll be on duty to pick that up.  She is also desperate for a "big baby" - she wants a doll baby that's as big as a real 18 month old child - not a sweet little baby doll.  I think her Aunt Katie and Grams took care of this one.

Somehow we managed to be the last people on the train.  Not sure how we did that considering how early we got there.  Anyhow, the only seats left were way in the back and the window wasn't big enough to see anything out of.  I was SUPER UPSET.  We paid a lot of money for these tickets and we can't see out the window???  A few minutes later one of the elves said she might be able to move us to another seat and sure enough we did get moved.  Whew.  Crisis averted.  

Tyler has this thing about sticking his tongue out for selfies.  

We were on the train approximately 5 seconds before Lily started asking when she was going to get cookies and hot chocolate.  If I said it once, I said it 4,187 times, "Not yet, baby, please be patient."  And then it was time.  But the hot chocolate was so hot they couldn't drink for another 10 minutes and you'd have thought that the was the worst possible torture ever.  

Lily said, "Mommy, it's like I have coffee just like you!"

Once the hot chocolate was gone, Lily started in with, "When do I get to dance?!?"  It's incredible how much she remembered from last year.  So again, I was like, "Not yet, baby, please be patient."  Brok-ken.  Rec-cord.  But then it was time.  And that girl danced and danced.  

And then Santa came.  And I was holding my breath.  But seems with Lily, we've turned the Santa corner and she's not afraid anymore.  But she also told me later that this wasn't the real Santa because his beard wasn't long enough.  Wow.  Nothing gets past her!  Tyler on the other hand wanted nothing to do with Santa - you can see Joel's hand in the photo attempting to hold Tyler in the frame so I could get a picture.

 But once Santa was gone, the dancing could commence and they both danced until we got back to the station.

After the train ride, we went out for dinner.  I had a splurge meal and I'm sad to say it wasn't that good.  I had a burger and tried to be good so I got the small once.  But it came out like a burnt brick so I sent it back and got the big burger.  But before it got to me, I chowed down on french fries that weren't that good.  By the time my burger showed up, I was full but ate it anyway.  Didn't really enjoy it.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  

We headed back to the hotel and hit the sack.  The kids went to sleep pretty easily.  Took me forever to fall asleep.  And then I woke up what seemed like every 15 minutes because Lily was hacking up a lung in her sleep.  I think I got about 2 hours of sleep collectively all night.  Joel wasn't much better off.  Then of course Tyler woke up at 4am claiming, "It's wake up time Mommy."  No, son, no it's not.  They laid back down but at 6am, they couldn't take it anymore and we got up and hit the breakfast.  And the coffee.  Lots and lots of coffee.

Then back to the pool for a bit before packing up and heading home.  We had a great trip and the kids already asked when they get to go again.