So Thankful Today

So happy for family, health, jobs, and a home.

O Christmas Tree!

This year we are breaking all of our rules about Christmas decorations and putting up our tree before Thanksgiving. Since we won't get to enjoy it all of December, we want to have a little Christmas spirit in our house before and after our overseas trip. So Patrick, feeling a little better, drug it out of the basement and Morgan excitedly helped him put it up.

And the first piece goes in!

Morgan and the top of the tree :)
As is tradition, Morgan helps level up the tree.

Morgan put on 99% of the decorations herself!
The Santa Key....lets Santa into our house on Christmas Eve
Ta Da! The Tree is finished!

This is all the decorating I am doing this year, but as I sit quietly in the dark with the tree twinkling softly I can't help but feel the Christmas Spirit fill my heart.

All I Want for Christmas

Today Morgan got to visit with Santa while he was at our Mall. She asked him for a pony (but specified a toy pony, whew!), an Ariel baby doll, and an iPad?!?! And Santa told her she could have it all! Morgan was excited to see Santa and is ready to get our Christmas tree up at the house tonight. Ho Ho Ho!

Morgan and Ethan

Morgan had such a wonderful weekend playing big sister with Ethan. She was so good with him! She shared her toys, helped feed him, and even pushed his stroller while we shopped. She loves him so much! We've been trying to talk Daddy into a little brother ever since Ethan arrived :) Maybe some day she'll get to be a big sister. For now, we'll enjoy every moment we can get with her surrogate little brother.

It's Basketball Time!

Over the weekend Morgan's Godmother, Melanie, and her super adorable Godbrother, Ethan, came up for a visit from North Carolina. Our first stop on their whirlwind trip to WV was the Coliseum for the first basketball game of the season. We are excited for another season of Bob Huggins basketball.

We have great seats this year, much closer to the floor, and Morgan enjoyed watching the game from the 2nd tier landing.

As you can see, Morgan loves basketball and her Mountaineers. We hope they can put together a great season!

All Saints Day

Because Morgan goes to a Catholic school, they celebrated All Saints Day, which is the day after Halloween. The children were to come dressed as their favorite or patron saint. Aunt Linda made her costume and Morgan went as St. Elizabeth of the Visitation. St. Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist and the cousin of Jesus' mother, Mary. Her feast day is November 5 and she is the patron saint of expectant mothers. Morgan enjoyed learning facts about her saint and had fun doing the Saints parade at school.

With "Baby John the Baptist"

AND with her fairies :)

Trick or Treat--Happy Halloween!

Our good witch and her pet "cat"

Being so silly!

Morgan and Minnie Mouse

Morgan and her trick-or-treat pal, Shannon the Chef

She thought she was SO important going with the big girls.

She came home with a major haul, which Mommy has been helping eat since. She had a great Halloween with lots of opportunities to dress up. Let's hope next year is just as fun!

'50s Day

Today marks the 50th day that Morgan has been in school. It is so hard to believe that she's been in Kindergarten that long already. The first quarter is over, report cards will be out soon, and my baby keeps growing up so fast, right before our eyes.

On Tuesday Morgan came home and insisted that she MUST have a poodle skirt for "5 day" on Friday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?! Finding a poodle skirt in Morgantown the day before the event (I didn't get to go shopping until yesterday) was a daunting task. I went to FIVE different stores with no luck. I was about to give up when Patrick called to say that he had a poodle skirt! I was so happy, and Morgan was thrilled. Daddy wins Parent of the Month for sure!

At school today they are learning about the 1950s, having rootbeer floats, hula hooping, and making a craft. Morgan was so excited this morning to wear her costume to school. Does anyone know how to stop her from growing up?!

Mall-o-ween Trick or Treat

Tonight we celebrated Halloween a little early, going to the annual Malloween Trick or Treat event. I love trick or treating at the mall. It's warm. It's light. You can see everything that is going on. The one downfall is that there are a TON of people that come out to this event. Standing in line is still a little hard for our little witch, but she did very well. She remembered her manners and had a lot of fun!

Our Good Witch. She picked out the costume by herself (and surprisingly it was the cheapest costume in the store!)

I love this picture! This was after her dinner of Chinese Lo Mein (noodles).

Daddy and Daughter

Here are Morgan and I with my friend from work, Karen, and her daughter Ava

We actually made it around the mall in 90 minutes despite the crowd. Morgan got half a bucket full of candy, and as you can see from the picture above, wasted no time finding the gum and putting it in her mouth!

We will also be trick or treating on Sunday evening with Aunt Becky and the girls. Happy Halloween everyone!

Fall Soccer 2011

Another soccer season has come to an end. Morgan did really well this season. She participated in every practice, scored lots of goals, and had a wonderful time. It was so nice to see her blossom from the shy, timid player she was a year ago.

Tonight was the awards ceremony for the U6 teams. Morgan will have one more season on U6 and will be actually playing games next fall with the U8 teams.

Surprisingly she let one of the WVU men's soccer players place her medal on her neck (normally she shys away from men).

Here she is with 3 of the Big East Champion WVU Women's Soccer team!


Our champ, with her medal. We are so proud of her and look forward to spring soccer!

Apple Butter 2011

This weekend we drove over the river and through the woods to (Great) Grandmother's house for the annual making of apple butter. It was a brisk morning (low 40s) that turned into a beautiful day (high around 59), the perfect weather for apple butter.

Morgan and Julia stayed inside most of the morning watching Spooky Buddies and coloring crafts. But it's tradition that everyone take a turn stirring the apple butter, and Morgan wouldn't miss that for the world!

Above is the apple butter about 4 hours in. I think it boiled another hour before we canned it.

This year Morgan stirred the apple butter with no help! She loves being involved with it.

Then the girls were off to play. Aren't they just gorgeous? Best friends, for sure.

After a few pictures Morgan and Kole decided to collect leaves. Morgan made a leaf bouquet for herself and once it was finished she flung it in the air "like a bride" she said. Leaves went everywhere, but thankfully not in the apple butter (although it was close!).

The part of the day that Morgan looks forward to most.....eating the uncanned apple butter straight from the copper kettle. She LOVES it and was the first one outside with a spoon when it was time to can.


All in all we canned 91 pints (almost 11 1/2 gallons) of apple butter after 5 hours of stirring. It was a fun time, as always, and now we are stocked up for the winter!