Pumpkin Fun!

Last week I had the pleasure of being off for two days during the week.  The Mr. was off and then got an unexpected "snow day" on Saturday, so all together we were off together from Wednesday night-Sunday.  We tried to take advantage of the great weather and teach baby JQ about the fall season.  

Big boy was a bit of a pout pout fish-not sure if it was a growth spurt, sleep regression, intro of new formula or what.  He kept us on our toes much of the week/weekend with 1-5 AM play time/roll over sessions.  Finally on the seventh day (last night) he slept, so hopefully he's over it for awhile so the rest of us can recover!

Here are some pictures from the weekend!

On Friday we checked out a smallish, local pumpkin farm.  

Baby JQ was really interested in the animals.  He especially liked the goats.

Checking out the great pumpkin.

Happy boy!

This Chevy is for sale.  The Mr. would love nothing more than to buy something like this and fix it up with the little guy some day.  

On Sunday, we gathered for the annual pumpkin carving contest.  This year a chili cook-off was added.  It was bittersweet without our patriarch, as his presence was certainly missed and the pumpkin seeds were not toasted.  

Our family's pumpkin entry won first place! Yay!  I'll admit that we were looking to sway the little kid vote with our tinkerbell pumpkin, but hey it still turned out great!  

Furry Visitors

Over the Christmas holiday, we had the pleasure of hosting Eric's sister and brother-in-law from Phoenix, along with our fur-nephew Enzo.  Seriously they were some the nicest and easiest house guests we've ever had!  They vacuumed, replaced the food they ate, and showered us with gifts (coffee, a slick new toaster oven, and a Groupon for carpet cleaning.)  Jodie and Jason, you guys rock!

It was a bit of an adjustment for my furbabies (let's just say Jozie did not provide the warmest of welcomes for her cousin and Wyatt was MIA for the majority of the week.)  Poor Enzo was sweet as could be, but apparently Jozie felt the need to protect me, her food, the cat, the bedrooms, etc.  Many areas of the house were off limits in her book.

Just like Caesar (the Dog Whisperer) says, walks are key!  We had to wear out the hounds so that they Jozie wouldn't have enough energy left to snarl and bully.  Caesar talks about integrating them into a pack by walking together because of the hunting mentality that walks provoke.  Caesar, you win again!

Eventually everyone settled their souls and got along (picture us singing "Why Can't We Be Friends?" at the beginning of the week and "Kumbaya" by the end.)  Even Wyatt made brief appearances!

Did you have visitors over Christmas?  If so, how'd it go?

Merry Belated

Christmas break was a whirlwind of family celebrations, visitors, baby showers, and now let's tack on two snow days to wrap it all up!  

Though late, the sentiment is still all the same: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Eric, Lauren, and Mini M.!

Happy (Late) Heart Day

Greetings.  I've been on hiatus for the past crazy week due to thousands of appointments, meetings, and dates.  It's been fun but man am I le tired.

Anywoo, my boyfriend was away for the annual day of love.  Instead of feeling boo hoo, I was feeling the love from the other great people in my life.  Observe.

I got several cards from my darling children. Also see that teeny tiny Snoopy figurine?  One of my 7th grade boys ran back to his classroom to get it for me.  Upon observing it, I said "oh thank you, I didn't know that you guys still watched Peanuts!" to which he replied "oh I got it from my granny's house."  Ha ha ha.  Oh children.

See that interesting brownish square below?  One of my kindergartners was so proud to give this to me.  She came to class holding a balled up ladies scarf.  

"I didn't have wrapping paper so I had to wrap it up in my mommy's scarf.  I need that back," she stated.  

I was at a loss once I opened it.  

"I sewed it for you.  You wike [like] to sew things so I sewed this for you!" she said proudly. 

To round out the day, one of my lovely lady 7th graders brought me a cupcake.  Total cupcake count for the day: 2.  They don't count on holidays, right?

I spent the evening with the best girlfriends ever.  Ironically, my friend Christen's husband was working also. It was nice to celebrate friendship love.

Lots of love to all our family and friends reading!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Xmas!

Creative Christmas Coverings

Link up to my temporary blog to read about:

Creative Christmas Coverings

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

Head on over to my other location to check it out!

912 ELM Tree Blog

A Gansner Thanksgiving

If you've ever had a conversation with me about my Thanksgiving, you know that the football game is the prime event at the Gansner family Thanksgiving celebration.  We seriously look forward to this every year.  This year, what with so many out-of-towners being able to make it, we were actually able to have 3 teams!

 

 

Just look at the determination!

 

 

I love that it really doesn't matter how old you are, your athletic ability, height, etc. Everyone is welcome to play.

 

 

Go long! Break! Football talk!

 

 

Look-that guy in the navy stripes-that's my boyfriend! He made some great catches and even scored a touchdown this year! We were so happy to have him back this year!

 

 

It also makes me incredibly happy that these 2nd generation cousins enjoy each others' company so much.  Aren't these gals adorable?!

 

The spectators enjoyed a prime spot to watch the game.

 

I believe this is the championship game.  Stakes were high.

 

 

The family patriarchs.  That was some intense competition.

 

 

And here at the end of the day, we remember why we're here.  All thanks to this lovely lady, my Gran.  Here she is in all her glory with all (but 3) of her great-grandkids.

 

 

I hope you and your families had as nice of a Thanksgiving as we did.  Big thanks to my Aunt Bev and Uncle Dick for hosting our ever-growing family.

 

We're excited for round 2 on Saturday with a visit to my mom's side and dinner with Eric's.