Turkey for you, and, turkey for me...

There's so much to tell about the Wise Family Thanksgiving here in Raleigh, NC. First of all, Bennett put an hour to hour 5 day itinerary together about 2 months ahead of time and made about 15 phone calls to "review it" with all the participants. Needless to say some liked that, some didn't! Everyone was great and brought food, so I didn't have to do very much which was so nice and helped me to relax and enjoy getting a chance to talk to everyone. And we talked A LOT. In fact there were several up-until-2am nights!

The kids had a great time as well. With so many adults around they went to the park three times a day! We enjoyed some weather in the 70's, perfect for getting outside. On a cooler day, we set up the moonbounce I bought at a yard sale for $15 in the garage and the kids had a ball getting some energy out. April made the girls matching nightgowns which were sooo cute. I didn't get a picture of all the kids together, I must have been busy!

Overall, this was a great time. We were all together for several days and didn't leave the house practically--a great bonding experience.

My girls are so cute. They love to "set up house." Here I discovered them sleeping in their newly arranged house, complete with table, tea party, a fan (ha!), and every stuffed animal they own. And then they went to sleep and slept for the next five and a half hours so that I could clean the kitchen, do all the laundry, paint my toenails, eat a batch of cookies and watch the Young and the Restless. Boy being a stay at home mom is great.

Visiting Santa...

Okay, okay, so I know it is still November...but why not? Mary Claire was soooo excited, and Ellie was so giddy and adorable whenever we passed by I decided to dress the kids up and put them on the lap of some strange old man. At least he was a Southerner! They thought he was great. Mary Claire talked his ear off and Ellie just sat and grinned. A fun afternoon was had by all!

Country Girls...

This past week the girls and I took a trip to Henderson, North Carolina, to visit Aunt Vallie and Uncle Jeddie. It was a beautiful Fall day, high of 76, the perfect day to visit the goats and hound dogs, roam the pasture, and test out rocks and sticks in the pond. It was so much fun. We had all afternoon for the girls to plop down in the grass to pick "grains of wheat" (see picture) and pick up hickory nuts, acorns, and pine combs of all shapes and sizes. Aunt Vallie has a little cocker spaniel, Maggie, and Mary Claire enjoyed getting her to play too. Meanwhile, Elle (the adverturous girl that she is) decided to get a little too close to the pond and ended up ankle deep in water. Both girls got to climb the still hunting fort (what in the world is that called, anyway?) which was very high up in a tree and very exciting as well. Finally, after an afternoon in the sunshine we headed inside where Aunt Vallie fed the girls a little snack of Cheetos and Sweet Tea. Ahhhhh.....the Southern life.

Turkey Trot

Last weekend our neighborhood had the annual "Turkey Trot" 5K race. Bennett and the girls both participated (I didn't since I had the stomach bug that week :-( ). Bennett did well and so did Mary Claire (I ended up carrying Elle during the kid race!). These are before and after pictures of Bennett during the race. It was fun to do as a family.

My princesses...

Here's a glimpse of a typical Wise girls day. Aurora and Cinderella are dressed in their lovliest attire and they insist on a photo shoot. This photo shoot conversation went something like this:
A to C:
"Cinderella, your crown is on backwards!"
"Here let me help you."
"Now it's perfect."
"Oops!"

It's so nice that they are friends.

Girls wrestle too ya know!

And look who's winning! The other day I was in the kitchen and was curious to see what was evoking uncontrollable giggles from the girls. I rounded the bend to see Elle on top of Mary Claire and they were wrestling around on the floor. It was so funny to see them because they were dressed alike, so it was a sea of pink and flowers...and they rolled around and had a great time laughing together. I do not need to comment on who was in control the whole time, who started it, or who won. The pictures speak for themselves.

Fall Festival!

The Wise family spent Halloween at church for the annual fall festival. There were pony rides, inflatable slides, games, face painting, and lots of fun! The girls loved the ponies and came home with lots of candy. This is one night you see just about everyone you know from church with kids so it is fun for the grown ups, too. Here you see our friends, the Bono boys, aka Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.