Family Togetherness

Luke is back in the habit of wanting to hold Katherine a lot.  Most of the time she does not appreciate him trying to pick her up.  Tonight, we let him hold her while Paul was holding him.  They were being silly!  The kids loved it!

Katherine's Gift

On a recent outing with Nene Luke wanted to buy Katherine a present.  He picked out a baby doll at Toys R Us.  For whatever reason, Katherine had not opened yet.  We decided tonight would be a good night to do it.  She loved the baby!  It cries, laughs and bounces up and down.  She would just giggle at it.  She loved putting it in and out of its crib.  Luke also liked playing with it and I had to keep reminding him that he had given it to Katherine but she could share it with him.  So sweet!

The Long Road Home

 A quick game of Hide-and-Seek before we left

This little girl rocked the ride home!

Happy to be home!

So, it started raining literally when we pulled out of Andrew and Mandi's driveway.  Know when it stopped raining -- never!  It rained on us for 10 1/2 hours straight.  Did you catch 10 1/2 hours? Yep, that is how long it took us to get home.  Traffic was crazy terrible and the weather did not help any.  The interstate was literally at a standstill at some points.  We hopped off and took back roads for a while.  We stopped to eat lunch and another time for a potty break.  Considering all the time in the car the kids did surprisingly well.  They each napped off and on  - as did I.  Luke was happy watching a movie or listening to Nonna read him a book.  We were so excited to be out of the car!

Saturday Happenings

A little entertainment at Gymboree

Katherine sat at this little table forever!

 

We had another fun day today!  Paul, Luke and I went to the outlet malls in Destin this morning.  We ended up being out later than we thought and got home just in time to watch the Iron Bowl.  Some of Mandi's friends came over to watch, too.  We grew tired of the game pretty quickly so the kids baked cookies!  Katherine kept herself entertained with markers, crayon and paper.  I think she is going to be our creative one.  

We left the house before the game was over for some local, yummy Italian food.  This trip has been so nice and relaxing but we have to head home tomorrow!

Searching for The Perfect Picture

Luke may or may not have been kicking Katherine's head...

We headed to a great place to take pictures this afternoon.  Have I mentioned that it is HOT down here?  I knew it was going to be hot, I mean Andrew warned us and I even looked at The Weather Channel before packing.  But, I guess I did not believe them that it was going to be this warm -- so, I did not pack accordingly.  I actually got here with all sweaters, boots and tennis shoes.  No short sleeves, no flip flops.  So, the turtleneck and vest I was going to wear did not quite happen. 

600 pictures and an hour later I think we might have some shots that will work for our card.  They will probably require some photo shop editing from Andrew, though.  We had fun with our little photo shoot.  We spent the rest of the night cooking dinner in.  Paul and Andrew grilled steaks and we had salads and baked potatoes.  Nice to get away from the turkey!

Worn Out!

We returned to The Neighborhood Cafe for pancakes!

Katherine patiently waiting for breakfast

Naps for all!

Even Sara took a nap!

Well, turns out that Luke likes waking up at 5 am since we left home.  This is two days in a row he has woken up so early.  Since, he was already up so early, the three of us went shopping.  To my surprise, Andrew and Mandi left before 5!  For those of you know that know Andrew you know this is nothing short of a miracle.  Paul, Luke and I  kept it pretty low key.  We just hit Sam's and Lowe's. We actually did not buy anything which is even better.  There really were not that many people, but it could have been the stores we chose.  The hot item seemed to be TV's -- we saw lots of people buying them at Sam's. 

After our morning shopping we hit The Neighborhood Cafe for a yummy breakfast.  Katherine played picky at first and would not eat anything, but then she warmed up and ended up eating a lot!  Their was a TJ Maxx right next door so we made a quick stop in there -- long enough for me to pick up a few things I "needed".  Attempting to get a picture worthy of the Christmas Card is on the afternoon agenda!

Florida!

We made it!  We  left Nashville around 6 last night and drove to Birmingham.  Since we have never traveled over the holiday weekend I was not sure what to expect traffic-wise.  We actually did not hit any traffic all the way to Birmingham!  We were really surprised, but happy!  It was nice to drive part of the way and get a good night rest before heading further south.  The kids did good at the hotel.  Luke stayed in a room with Mom and Katherine stayed with us.  We actually ended up with two double beds so Katherine and I slept together and Paul had a bed all to himself -- lucky!

It was right at noon when we pulled in Andrew and Mandi's driveway.  It was so great to see them!  We made a quick sandwich and then got to work on our Thanksgiving meal.  Andrew and Mandi both enjoy cooking so we made it a family affair.  Luke helped, of course!  Mandi's parents and sister joined us for supper which was nice.  The meal was great!  We enjoyed visiting the rest of the night.  Katherine went down pretty easily. We brought the pack-n-play for her and she stayed in the room with us.  Luke is Nonna's roommate for the rest of the trip!

We are debating our Black Friday shopping.  We will see if we actually make it anywhere or not!

Yummy!

Katherine seems to be getting a little less picky with her eating lately.  We have been trying to some new things.  Apparently the girl loves cottage cheese!  Especially, when it is with fruit.  She will pretty much clean up the whole container!  I am just glad we have found something else that she will eat.

Thanksgiving, Round II

Sweet girl

The boys taking it easy after lunch

Nanny was able to Skype with Andrew and Mandi

They were both worn out!

We had Thanksgiving at Mom's after church today.  We missed Andrew and Mandi, but had fun visiting with the Tullahoma crew.  The meal was yummy!  Katherine loved the cranberry salad -- she ate and ate it.  Granted, she did not eat much else, but she did like that.  She did eat sweet potatoes again. We all got to Skype with Andrew and Mandi which was neat.  Nanny really liked it!

Since we are leaving for Florida this week we decided to help Mom get some of her Christmas decorating done.  We got one tree up and then the four of us stayed until almost bedtime doing her Christmas village and some other things.  Since her house is being shown fairly regularly we wanted to make sure it was all back in order before we left. 

So, now we are two Thanksgivings down and one to go.  I am not getting tired of turkey and dressing yet which is a good thing!

Troutt Thanksgiving

Getting the bird ready to smoke!

Luke helping Meme with the salad

Travis and Jenny

Lauren and her friend, Emma, entertained the kids

Cousins!

Getting a piano lesson from Lauren

Today was a wonderful, busy day!  I worked for a while this morning while Luke and the kids stayed home.  Paul had to smoke the turkey for tonight's meal.  I was home for a few hours before we headed back to Gallatin. 

We had a big bunch this year which was so nice!  Holidays are always so fun and festive with a large group!  We were all so thankful for Paula's health.  This time last year she was recovering from her surgery and preparing to start her chemotherapy.  We are thankful for her healing and God's grace throughout her treatment process.  It was nice catching up with everyone.  The kids were wonderful.  Luke was so sweet and wanted to help everyone.  Katherine was her usual content self.  She played and let most anyone hold her.  She actually did really well at the meal, too.  At first I didn't think she was going to eat anything.  But, she ended up loving Meme's Cranberry Salad.  She also ate some sweet potatoes and pineapple rice.  By the end of the meal she ate a little turkey!  Yay!

Funny story...there were an assortment of pies for dessert. As per my usual I got a "dab" of a few different ones.  I was holding Katherine while I was eating dessert and she wanted some. I tried to give her some of the crust and some of the pumpkin pie which she promptly batted away.  What was she going for....the chocolate pecan pie!  I gave her little bites of the chocolate filling and she loved it!  Guess she is all girl for sure! 

We did not leave until after 8 and I still need to run in the grocery to pick up cranberries for the salad I am taking to Mom's tomorrow.  Luke was having nothing to do with going to bed if I was cooking.  So, we let him stay up and help me.  Then, he fell asleep listening to the UT/ Vandy game.  Poor fella is worn out!

The Best Helper Ever!

For the past few days I have been telling Luke that we have to do some cooking on Friday night to get ready for our Thanksgiving meals this weekend.  As soon as we got home he said he wanted to put his apron on and get to work!  And, he meant it.  We got right to work.  We made the sweet potatoes first.  I peeled and sliced them and he put them in the stock pot.  After the boiled and I drained the water he mashed them up and helped me add all the other ingredients.  It is amazing to me how much he can do now.  I asked him to get the mixer out and put the beaters on it.  He did that as well as plug it in.  He used the mixer to get it nice and smooth and help me pour it in the casserole dish.  Next, he helped me make the topping.  He used the pastry cutter to blend all the ingredients together and spread it on top.  Next, we made pumpkin pie.  I had actually never made a pumpkin pie but Luke has been wanting to since he saw it in one of his magazines.  We opted for canned pumpkin instead of fresh.  I was not channeling Martha Stewart that much!

When we finished all the cooking and were cleaning up he said "mommy, I like helping you, but I really like helping Daddy better".  When I asked what he liked helping daddy with he said "you now, working outside whacking the weeds and stuff!".  I LOVE that boy!  Hopefully he will be diverse like his daddy!

Katherine stayed pretty well occupied taking everything out of the cabinets while we were cooking.  I failed to mention that we also cooked spaghetti and meatballs for supper in the midst of all the holiday baking! 

Sweet, Sweet Bedtime

Group bedtime story

The kids got a special treat tonight.  Story time in Luke's room before bedtime.  The book actually kept Katherine's attention which is rare.  She likes books, but she would rather flip the pages than finish a whole book.  The only books she will listen to in their entirety are Pat the Bunny and Knees and Toes.  And, she usually wants those read to her repeatedly.

I put Luke to bed tonight.  After we read books, said prayers and sang songs we started talking about Christmas and different things he would like and what he thought Katherine would like.  He told me he would like a coat that came down to here (pointing to the middle of his hand) instead of here (pointing above his wrist).  Point taken....the boy needs a new coat!