The end of Movember

I'm not sure when this started, but November is now Movember.

Men all over the country (world?) grow out their mustaches and beards. 

So that's fun.

Especially because he's super cute with a beard.

And when November is over, there is even more fun!

Anna turns 5!!

Somehow we try to make the morning of a birthday feel special. Sometimes we run through the streamers, or have breakfast in bed or bed o' balloons.

But Anna is a sleeper. I'm not really sure how late she can sleep because we always have to wake her up to get started with the day. 

So we decided to wake her up with a rip-roarin rendition of Happy Birthday.

She was not amused.

Ethan whispered to her, "There are some presents for you to open!"

Everly gave the wrapping paper a good pat, hoping to entice her out.

Laney offered a detailed description of what the present felt like....a little squishy!

And she emerged!

Who can pass up presents before breakfast?

I she received a new dress to wear! One of the few perks of having your birthday on a Sunday.

A box of Marshmallow Mateys and 5 years old is looking pretty grand.

Later, we cooked her dinner of choice, Caramel Apple Pork Chops with cous cous and fresh strawberries.

Mark and the kids decorated and Megan brought her a royal birthday crown.

Big sisters are awesome.

Happy 5th, Sweet Anna!

She received a play restaurant set and she was super surprised!

Megan and Laney worked all day to put together a bucket of butterflies and caterpillars and dragonflies made from all their craft supplies. It was so cute.

Big kids are the best.

And she received the super cutest pillow case from Grandma Kathleen. I'm now worried that she'll get a bloody nose and ruin it. ack!

We had a nice day and I'm so excited for the year she has coming. Kindergarten if coming!! At long last!

Decorating the tree...hee hee!

Ta da!

Let's bedeck this sucker.

She's moments away from seeing a box full of sparkly things.

Mathew helps Everly reach a high spot. The girls take their chances on the rickety piano bench.

My favorite branch of the night:

Thanksgiving with the Huffords 2016

We traveled down to Arkansas to have Thanksgiving with the Hufford/Allred/Malquist/Depner/Fields families. We went down the night before, so that we would have all morning to help with the cooking. I brought along my bread maker and all the ingredients for my rolls. 

Sometime in the middle of the night, it struck me that I was going to need to make A LOT of rolls to feed that many people. 

I decided I better get up early to get the first batch in. It wasn't too hard, since I was so nervous about it, I couldn't sleep anyway. 

Then I began the process of preparing a batch and then driving them over to John and Shannon's house to bake. The oven space at Jeans was spoken for. 

I love it when there are lots of moms and sisters in the kitchen all chopping and stirring and washing. Makes me feel at home. It makes me feel like part of a super family team!

Mat and Lori supervised turkeys that were cooking in the roasters out in the garage.

Grandpa Fields and Bart keep an eye on the football game.

Mark and John on the porch...probably hoping some kind of sports would start up.

Uncle Mat on standby for sports.

When is dinner??

Organizing the line up of dishes.

Sharing stories over turkey.

Ethan doing his spot-on impression of a texting teenager.

John and his newest pup, Camryn.

And the sports begin!

Lazy sports.  Leave it to the men to make up a game where they get to sit on their buns and catch the ball while the kids run all around.

The whole clan (those that could make it). Making the monkey faces and engaging in general hooliganism.

The cousins.

Hufford family...not my best, but good enough to count for the Christmas card! We are all in attendance. No one is doing violence to anyone else. Check and check.

All that turkey-eatin and sports-playing leads to only one thing:

Lot's of the cousins left for their homes and we had a nice quiet evening with Joe and Jean. The kids discovered BINGO and we played a dozen times, at least.

Then the little girls got to sleep in the best spot in the house:

Grandma's tree is extra special and magical. The perfect ending to a lovely day.