Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a very quiet Thanksgiving this year. Just the three of us at home.

Everyone was sad that we didn't make it back to Albuquerque to spend it with family... but it was kinda nice to just sit back and enjoy the day without trying to balance Thanksgiving at a bunch of different places.

I happy to report that I didn't spend one second in the car all day long! I got to wear my PJ's and slippers as late as I wanted and we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time in forever! YAY!

It was very relaxing.... but I think we'll all be ready for some family time by Christmas! So get ready...

Kris smoked a Turkey this year. I was kinda skeptical when he started talking about stuffing it with apples and coke (yep... I said coke- as in Coco Cola-WEIRD!) and I'll admit that I did check to make sure that McDonald's chicken nuggets were available if things took a turn for the worse. But he really outdid himself! It was fabulous!

Ciara and I made Homemade Macaroni & Cheese, Cranberry and Sausage Dressing and Mashed Potatoes & Gravy.

I made Kris his Apple Pie (which actually looked like Pie instead of my traditional Apple Pie Soup) and Ciara got to help with the Chocolate Pie this year. The making of the Chocolate Pie is a tradition in my family. I have no idea how old the recipe is but I remember helping my mom when I was about Ciara's age. We made a HUGE mess and had TONS of fun! And she's a great helper. I told her next year she's on her own. ;)

Everything turned out really good. We had one minor malfunction with the Turkey (it was a really stubborn bird and didn't want to heat up all the way) but we worked that out pretty easily. I hope eveyone else had as much fun as we did!

These next one's are my favorite! She such a sneaky little troll! I guess it was just too tempting......

We did get snow last night but it held off just long enough to get the Turkey out of the Smoker so poor Kris didn't freeze his tail-feathers off outside. We woke up to 3 inches this morning and I think they're saying we may get more tonight.

The snow wasn't the only suprise we woke up too... Ciara's face was swollen up like Quasi-moto when she woke up. She's been complaining of a toothache for a few days and we know she cutting one of her 6 year molars a little early. She doesn't seem to be in any more pain then she's been in for the last few days... she's still eating and playing like normal... and there's no redness or swellinginside her mouth so I'm hoping it's just swelling from the tooth. We're watching her closely and if anything changes we'll let ya'll know.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We love you all!

Frosty the Snowman....

Yep... still no snow... :(

But we did get frost... so maybe it's a start.

This morning while I was driving Ciara to school (late, I might add, because someone borrowed my ice scraper to go to Kansas and didn't put it back so I spent 15 minutes trying to scrape the ice off my windshield with a credit card) I looked over at the park behind the house and it was covered in frost.

It was sooooo pretty!

When I got home I got my camera and went for a walk. I froze my tushie off... but it was totally worth it!

Some of the frost had already started to melt off by the time I got out there... but look what I got....

It's days like today that I really want a macro lens and that really cool IR filter I've been lusting after. Kris is right... I'm an endless pit of wants and needs. ;)

What's a Halloweenie?

Ciara didn't have school on Halloween this year because of Parent Teacher Conferences

(By the way.... she got her first report card and she's doing really well. You guys wouldn't believe how much she's learned since the beginning of the year. It blows my mind!) so we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with Liam's family.

It was tons of fun!

There were 7 kiddos total and they had a blast running around with eachother. It's so nice for Ciara to have kids her age to play with outside of school!

The Zoo here has the coolest Giraffe Petting Zoo! Ciara got to feed them and was totally grossed out when one wrapped it's tongue around her entire arm. Giraffe's are no longer her favorite animals... she likes the Meercats the best now because they don't have " gross snakey tongues".

The whole Zoo Crew except for me (I'm taking the picture) and Eric. Where's Eric?

After the Zoo we came home and Ciara got dressed up and went Trick-or-Treating. Her costume kinda took on a life of it's own. She started out as a Punk Rock Fairy... but we couldn't find the right wings... so she wanted to be a Princess. Then she fell in love with a pair of purple and black striped Nightmare Before Christmas socks... so we bought those and the princess was out. Then she wanted a Orange and Black feather boa... so we got that too. I made her a purple and black and orange tutu and by then end no one had any clue what she was.
So we called her a Halloweenie... because it seemed fitting!

Ciara's First Date.... kindof....

Ciara-bear and Liam have gotten to be really good friends (she says she's going to marry him when she's 12... because apparently 12 is really really reeeeeeally old) so we let them go to the Harvest Hoe-down Dance together.
And before you ask.... no, it wasn't a Sadie Hawkins dance even though that would be RIGHT UP my daughter's alley!

It was adorable!
They got to dress up. Ciara went for the Ellie Mae Clampet look.
Liam paid for Ciara to get in... and then they went inside and spent most of the night either chasing eachother or running from eachother. Ciara would ask Liam to dance and he would fall down on the floor and spin like a break-dancer.

By the end of the night Bonnie (Liam's mom) and I couldn't stop laughing at them. Before we left we tried to get them to act like they were dancing together for atleast one picture.
Imagine our surprise when this is what we got....

Don't worry Grandpas... no granddaughters were kissed in the making of this picture. They were just giggeling and hiding under their hats because we were making them dance together. And apparently even after all of these years... boys still have cooties! How funny is that?

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Ciara's first Field Trip was to the Venetucci Farms Pumpkin Patch.

It was freezing cold and wet and rained on us the whole time. And I use the term "rained" very loosely. It was more like misty ice falling from the sky. I had planned to take a million cute fall pictures in the Pumpkin Patch... but, as you can see, that didn't happen.

The kids didn't seem to mind the nasty weather and ran all over the place picking out their pumpkins to take home.

Ciara and Emma waiting for the bus

Ciara and Liam goofing off as usual

I love the look on his face in this one! They crack me up!

The whole class...

Fall Carnival

Ciara's school does a Fall Carnival every year as a PTSA Fundraiser.

It was SO MUCH FUN!

When I was in Kindergarten I went to a teeny-tiny little school in East Texas and I remember going to the Carnival with my brother and sister and having a blast. Then we moved to Florida and I never say another school that did them.

Talk about missing out....

We ate hot-dogs (okay... Ciara and Kris ate hot-dogs... I have issues with hot-dogs. Blame it on my 7th grade Anthropology teacher) and popcorn and pretzles. There was clown making balloon animals and a big bounce house. Ciara got her face painted. We played games.

And we gorged ourselves on Cotton Candy!

By the time we got home we were all ready for naptime....

There she is folks! All Cotton-candied up and ready to pass out!

Big-time Kindergarten Girl!

Here are a few from Ciara's first day at Kindergarten.

We moved to Colorado Springs not knowing anything about the neighborhood that we would be living in or the School that Ciara would be going to. By a sheer twist of fate... we totally lucked out! She's going to a fantastic school and she's got an amazing teacher that she absolutely loves!

On her first day at school I realized that my daughter is the exact opposite of me at that age.

I vividly remember being terrified, trying to hide under my mother's skirt and sobbing hysterically when she finally left the classroom the day I started school.
Not Ciara.... she walked right up to that classroom and introduced herself to everyone there. She'd already made a friend by the time the bell rang and they walked into class holding hands... and completely forgetting that they'd left mom standing on the playground.
Mrs. Steen read a story about a teddy-bear going to school for the first time and then it was time to say goodbye. I got a hug and a kiss and when my eyes teared up because my baby is growing up so fast the little smart alec looked at me and said , "Geez mom... you don't have to cry. It's JUST kindergarten!"
No tears... and then she was gone without a second look.

Sometimes her independence and confidence absolutely amaze me! It took me years and years to develop that... and she was born with it... just like her Daddy. I guess we must be doing something right!

Ciara-bear-a-saurus

These were taken in my front yard about a month ago.

She got all dressed up to go take some pictures in the Fall Leaves and then all the neighborhood rug-rats started throwing handfulls of leaves at her.

On the bright-side... it got her laughing and the pictures turned out FABULOUS (wait.... did I just sound like Clair's Wedding Photographer??? "Everybody say SASSY!"). But I didn't get nearly as many shots as I wanted... she ended up pulling leves out of her hair while she chased two little boys down the side-walk with the garden hose.

THAT'S MY GIRL!

The adorable dress is courtesy of Mom and Aunt Gail and their shopping excursion in Kansas. It's one of her favorites and every time she wears it she talk about her Aunt Gail and the day we spent taking pictures down by the Rio Grande. I'm so glad she got the chance to meet her and get to know her.

Picture of the Day... week...month...

I'm starting this Blog for two reasons....

First- We moved to Colorado Springs a few months ago and left all of our Family and Friends back in Albuquerque. I'm hoping this will be a good way for everone back home to get to see what's going on in our lives now that we're not right down the street.
And second-I love the whole Picture of the Day idea. I think it's a great way to get out and practice a little everyday. And, let's face it... since we moved I haven't had nearly as many photoshoots as I'm used to and I'm missing my camera and just a little terrified of getting "rusty". :)

Unfortunately I know me. I'll hit it like gangbusters for awhile... and then life will get in the way and it will more then likely morph from Picture of the Day to Picture of the week... or month.
So... that's where ya'll come in.
I want you to stalk me if I don't post regularly. E-mail... phone calls... myspace... Facebook... show up on my door step (I double-dog-dare-you)... whatever it takes.
I'm askin' for it...
I mean... that's what family is for right? ;)

So... to get things started off here's one that I took the other day at Garden of the Gods just as a storm was moving in. I can't wait to actually get snow... Kris already promised to to go tromping around with me so we could take pictures (I really had to twist his arm on that one)!

On a side note- Can you believe it's mid-November and we don't have snow in COLORADO? There's something seriously wrong here!

I Love you guys! And I miss you!
Check back soon and if I haven't posted... get to stalkin'!

All my Love!