Thanksgiving 2009

We had about 9 days for our Thanksgiving this year. Thanksgiving indeed! :)

Naomi and I picked G up from preschool and headed to Memphis to pick up JR the Thursday before the actual holiday. While in Memphis, we were able to tour the townhouse we're moving into on my 30th birthday. (it's cozy, but will be great)

After the usual travel-chill-out we arrived in Tally around 1 am. The kids woke up and excitedly checked out the special bedding that Grandma decorated their beds with. (Princesses for Naomi and Spider-man and Lightning McQueen for G)

Friday, Debby took off from work to hang out with the kids. Really the only thing on our "To Do" list was for Gideon to surprise Madison by picking her up from Kindergarten.




They were so cute.

Friday also happened to be 5th anniversary of when JR first kissed me and we became an "us". (ahhh... sappy)


Saturday we headed over to the Mosier's house and met up with some more friends (the Landes's and the Mills). I used the nice backyard as good practice with my new lens.

Tearing into the dip


drawing together


Gideon asked me to "take a beautiful picture of Madison"

I took that one (here is is untouched) but I also took this one on Thanksgiving, for Madison.


Naomi was all about Madison.


Wild guys!


Ada and Naomi


My big kid!


Girl Time!



Saturday evening I kidnapped JR for part of an early Christmas present. After hanging out with friends and watching football, we dropped the kids off with Debby and JR got a 90 min. full-body massage (and I got a 90 min. facial) at the Aveda Institute. Then we went to Bonefish for dinner. Aaahhhh! Yum.

Sunday we were able to worship with our family at Meridian Woods. I sent Naomi into the 2/3 yr. old class with Gideon, Trey, and Hudson. She LOVED it. Maybe there's hope for Naomi liking class once she's treated like a "big kid". :)

Lunch was enjoyed at Momo's! (both the kids were pretty excited about this)

Sunday evening, we celebrated an early Christmas with Debby.


Gideon's reaction to getting his Spiderman Scooter was so great. He tore the paper off the box and exclaimed, "A Spiderman scooter... NO WAY!" He couldn't wait until we got it together.




Don't you love Naomi's hair? This is what Gideon calls a "mister bouffant" (and he keeps the t silent)

She LOVES her "printheth houth".

Here she is saying, "Hello, friends!"

Monday Debby headed back to work, JR worked on homework, and the kids and I headed to the Scott's house for a play-date. The kids painted turkey napkin rings and played with Tre and the rest of the kids that Rachel keeps. It was tons of fun.


Tuesday, Debby took off of work and finally was able to take us to the Tallahassee Museum. It was amazing!

Naomi in a new hairstyle...

G showing off the map... (one of his favorite parts about zoos)

...following the flight pattern of ducks...

...trying to get a picture of both kids on the caboose...

JR jumping from a swing

Tuesday night, Gideon had his first non-family sleep-over. When JR headed to the Mosier's to join Brian for their poker group, Gideon went with him. Well, the whole family went over, but G went to stay. Madison invited G over and they were both SUPER excited about the event. Kristen has the pictures from the evening. My battery died on me. :(

Wednesday morning, after looking for Gideon, Naomi really seemed to LOVE being an only child. But all good things must come to an end. We picked up G and finished up most of our holiday shopping, headed back to the house, and settled in for some easy-going family time.

Thursday morning started out with cooking and getting things ready for our feast. Debby found THE BEST recipe for roast turkey. Seriously. The white meat was so moist!



The Mosiers joined us, G's favorite teacher, "Ms. Cheryl", and Debby's friend, Pam, dropped by to give us a pecan pie. We ate, the kids played, we ate, the kids played... until the kids started falling apart on us. :)



All week, JR and I had been discussing the Black Friday deals. We don't want to accumulate "stuff", but there are some things that would be nice to have, or even helpful. One of the things that has been at the back of my mind since we decided to move, was that I would no longer have access to a larger screen to display my photographs to my clients on. We don't even own a tv. So JR found a good deal on a flat screen TV. And since it's primarily for my business (we won't have cable in Memphis), this would be a business expense purchased from my D'Lifeful account.

3:45 am Friday morning, the alarm goes off and JR and I get "dressed"* and head the 5 min. to get to Wal-mart. By 5:05 we had the tv. By 5:15 we were back in bed. This was our first experience with Black Friday shopping. All I can say is "People are crazy." (and for a little over an hour in the middle of the night, I joined them) :)

Friday, since we had all the food, the Mosiers came back over for lunch (those kids LOVE playing together). I was busy trying to figure out how to get all the new stuff we got back into our Camry.

It was also G's 3 and a half b-day. So I did a photo shoot at his request. (I would've done one anyway, but he actually asked me to do one.)




Saturday, we packed up and headed home.

As always, the kids are great troopers when we travel.

And that wraps up our Thanksgiving holiday 2009.
_______________________________________________________
*does throwing on some shoes with your pajamas count as being dressed?

G 3.5

Today Gideon is 3 and a half years old! That sounds so much older than just 3.

Here is his portrait from today.

When I get back to Searcy (sometime next week) I'll do all the posts about this week and his development update. But for now... can you believe how old he looks?!!

Be Patient

Photos from this week are coming. :)

It's that time again...

We are moving again. (our 4th move in 2009)

When JR and I decided to move our family to Searcy despite the fact that he would be attending school in Memphis, we did so knowing this semester was going to be a trial semester.

But after much prayer and discussion, we have decided to move our entire family to the grad-school's campus over the Christmas break.

Some reasons:
*JR will be able to be a part of the family full-time instead of half of the week.
*JR will be able to fully immerse himself in this pursuit of his Masters of Divinity... forming friendships that will enrich his understanding of what he is learning in his classes and personal studies.
*The kids and I will be a part of his equipping for ministry instead of being a separate life away from it.

There are some things, however, that will be hard to leave...
*support from in-town/house family
*Carpenter's Kids
*my re-newed friendships with Searcy peeps
*the odd-jobs I was able to pick up here in Searcy
*the business-building I did for D'Lifeful here (although I will continue to offer sessions in Searcy)

Thanks for keeping our family in your prayers as we continue to transition into the family God is calling us to be.
-Daisha

Look! A Picture of Me!

Yesterday, in association with a gift, I needed to have my picture taken. So I threw the kids in too! I mean, I have 2 (T.W.O!) pictures of me with both of my kids. (one from the hospital and one from last mother's day... which was taken with a phone)

So, here is the newest pic of me with my kids (and my new haircut... but you can't really tell what that looks like from this pic). And I didn't even throw it into photoshop. I'm trying not to be paranoid. :)




Can you tell G is saying "Cheese" and deliberately NOT looking at the camera? :)

Gideon's First Field Trip

Last week Naomi and I joined G on his first field trip. The slide-show will follow, but first a few "mom-highlights".

-G spontaneously walked up to the owner of the farm and said, "Thank you, Ms. Ruth!" (so proud of him!)
-Naomi was an awesome listener. She followed the directions like the big kids and was just superb.
-Of his own free will, G shared some of his cookie icing with Naomi. He let her lick some off of his finger. (2 times) The other moms around him all "ahhh-ed" and asked if he was always that thoughtful.
-At one point N took off for the distant tree branches on the ground and G's whole class followed her. (and Libby's little brother, Marcus who is N's age) I found it odd that a 21 mon-old was leading a class of 3 yr. olds. :)

Here's the slide show!