A few days together...

Speaking as a teacher, it doesn't get much better than Thanksgiving Break!! Anticipation of the holiday season is just reaching it's peak...not quite Christmas, but almost time to start preparing for it... Knowing that you'll get to spend time with family over a great meal (or 2 or 3) just makes having a few days off from work even better.

I'm not sure about other areas of the country, but Thanksgiving Break in PA is super...mainly because we get a few extra days off for our hunters!!

These last 6 days off have been nothing short of wonderful!

Brooke and I have spent every waking second together and I can safely say that THAT is what this Mommy is MOST thankful for this year...

The first annual KIDS TABLE!

I volunteered to sit at the tiny table with the little ones this year so that they would eat and everyone else would be comfy around the big table...so fun!

Josh, Brooke and even Lauren ate a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch and then colored some pictures before heading out to play!

Brooke got lots of play time in with Daddy before he left for a few days to go to hunting camp...

Mommy isn't especially fond of this time of year...although I really think that Brooke and I have grown closer due to the one-on-one time we've spent together...

Meg, Jason and the kids were here until Saturday morning, so the first 2 days of our break were spent at Nana's house spending lots of time with our favorite people!
I love watching Brooke play with her cousins! We're finally getting to the point where the kids are playing nicely and not constantly fighting over toys, attention, etc...

Saturday morning, Brooke and I woke up together after a great night's sleep. When I asked her what she would like to eat for breakfast, she replied, "Eggies."

Perfect.

"What kind of eggies, hunny?" (totally expecting her to say 'scrambled.')

"Pink Eggies, Mom."

After a few minutes of thought, I figured it was worth a try!

I dug through the cabinet for my food coloring and GOT TO WORK!

Beamer's PINK EGGIE recipe!

Beat desired number of eggs and add milk.

Add several drops of red food coloring until egg mixture appears to be pink. Ish.

Stir, stir, stir it up!

Perfect!!

Scramble eggs as usual.

The pink coloring gets 'prettier' as they cook!

Serve with toast...

Enjoy!

On Sunday, we went to church as a family of 3, then to Belltown for the Wray family Thanksgiving! It was nice to visit with the other side of the fam and let Brooke play and make new friends...

We made a few (lousy) attempts at a Christmas card photo...

Have I mentioned how tough it can be to photograph a 2 year old?

But she looks super cute in purple!

Cheese Mom.

The winning shot???

Monday evening, we made the trek to McVeytown to visit with the Noerr family and 2 of our favorite Maxwell ladies!

It's hard to get a good picture of 3 active toddlers, so this is the best that we came up with...

Let me also mention that these pictures were taken on my new phone...so the quality isn't the greatest!

There were very few squabbles between these 3 cuties...

And it was so great to be with the Mommies (and Daddy) for a little adult convo and playtime with the kids!

Love these faces!

(Check out Scott A's blog to see my daughter and Caleb's make-out session! Get it, girl!!)

A new tradition after bedtime...

We bundle up on Mommy's bed, watch Dora, drink milkies, and get our Jommies on...

I don't ever want to forget these special moments with my big girl!

These pig-tails lasted all of 10 seconds...

Ugh.

As my baby girl sleeps in her crib, I want to take an extra second to jot down a memory from our Thanksgiving break this year.

Yesterday morning, Brooke and I did a little shopping together - just us girls...

Since Brooke had PEED IN THE POTTY TWICE THAT MORNING, Mommy let her pick out a special toy! The doll that she chose was carefully packed away in her very own BonTon shopping bag to match Mommy's bag of goodies... So, as we walked out of the store with our matching shopping bags, we held hands and said...

Brooke: Mommy...Brookie has a bag like Mommy's!

Me: Right! Brookie's is just like Mommy's!

Brooke heald out her shopping bag to mine, and I held mine out to hers and she said "Cheers!" as we tapped our bags together. We smiled, giggled, and walked hand-in-hand to the car.

I absolutely am in love with my baby girl. My big girl.

My daughter.

Thank you, Lord...

For these precious memories and moments with Brooke!