Much to be Thankful For

We had a great break over Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and lots of fun. For the first time, we were able to fly to Wisconsin/Minnesota which we were very thankful for. Earlier in the fall, Southwest Airlines was offering amazing deals on flights and we jumped on it. We were very excited that we would not spending 16-20 total hours in the car. We left on Wednesday afternoon for the airport. The weather wasn't great, and our flight was a little delayed, but we made it through security with out any hassle and got ready for our very first plane ride as a family of three. Here is Hannah getting ready to take off for her first flight.We were able to have some relaxing family time once we got to Tim's mom and dad's house Wednesday evening. It was nice to just be able to hang out and spend some time together. Thursday morning, we hung out and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade before heading to visit the extended family. We had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with Tim's dad's side of the family. We also had an early birthday party for Hannah since we were all together. Aunt Nikki made Hannah a special birthday cake and she got a few new puzzles to play with.
Friday, some of us (not Hannah and I) were up bright an early (as in 2:30am) to start Black Friday shopping. This is a Casey family tradition and it didn't disappoint this year. Those that started off early got some great deals! Hannah and I made it there around 8:30 to join the festivities. We met the rest of the extended family of shoppers at Coney Island (Tim's favorite hot dog place in LaCrosse) for an early lunch and then continued our shopping. As crazy as it can be, it is one of my favorite things to do with Tim's family.

After resting in the afternoon, we headed over for Thanksgiving with Tim's mom's side of the family. We ate some more yummy food and had a nice time hanging out. There were three of the four great grandkids there and they all had fun playing and reading together.
Saturday morning, we headed back to the Twin Cities to catch our return flight home. Once again, security was a breeze and our flight was good as well. We were home by early evening to enjoy a nice relaxing Saturday evening. Unfortunatly, we all came home with a little bit of a cold so it was nice to just get to hang out at home.

Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving and really nice break from work. We had some fabulous family time and are really looking forward to more of it over Christmas break in a few short weeks.

Family Movie Night

We attempted to do our first family movie night in our basement. While we were all excited, it didn't last very long as a family of three. We rented Toy Story 3 because Tim and I hadn't seen it yet and we thought maybe it would keep Hannah's attention. Also, since it was the night before day light savings time, we thought this was perfect to keep Hannah up a little longer but in a quiet kind of setting. Well, Hannah was more excited to jump up and down and climb on us and the couch instead of laying down and watching the movie. We even had her new bumble bee pillow downstairs hoping that would intice her. After about thirty minutes, we decided to take her to bed. Oh well -- we'll try again another time. Tim and I did finish the movie and it was really good.

A New Room!

This past weekend, Hannah officially got her BIG GIRL room! Tim & I painted last weekend and set up her new bed. Then this weekend Delaine and Nikki helped pick out and decorate her very pink room. It was so much fun making a girly room since we did a neutral nursery. Here are a couple of pictures of her new space.

Here is one side of the room. We painted the wall behind her bed bright pink to accent her bed and the quilt we bought for it. Hannah moved into a twin size day bed that we found on Craigslist last year. We also got the two dressers at the same time. So far she loves being in her new bed!

Here is the other side of the room. We bought the pink cube stoarge piece at Target this weekend and thought it was perfect for books and other goodies. The big pictures are from her first year of pictures from the photographer that we used.

The Next Generation

Hannah has really started to love "coloring." We didn't have a table yet, but my mom saved the day! She brought over the table and chair set that she had as a little girl for Hannah to use. We set it up this past weekend and she has already enjoyed using it. Such a fun family heirloom!

Trick or Treat!

We had tons of fun this year for Halloween! Since Delaine came down for the weekend, she was able to bring Hannah up to school for my parade and Halloween party. It was a beautiful day for a parade and my students had a lot of fun at the party. It was a great kick off to Halloween.

Mommy & Hannah before the parade.Nana & Gwannie giving Hannah a special Halloween cupcake with green icing.

Then, tonight we went on Hannah's first official trick or treating where she could really participate. We decided to just do part of our block. She did so good! She loved walking down the street and going up to the houses. I was so proud of our little bumble bee! Once we got home, she helped hand out candy to the boys and girls who came by the house. Overall it was a super fun night!

She took right off down the street and buzzed right down to the first house!

The Great Pumpkin

We made another trip to Eckert's this weekend for some pumpkin picking. We decided to wait until today because Nana and Aunt Nikki were here for the weekend. We met my mom there in the morning and started our outing with a wagon ride. We headed out to the patch so Hannah could pick her own pumpkin. Because it was a little late in the season, there wasn't tons of options, but plenty for us. We settled on a smaller one then got back on the wagon and went back to the country store. We had a great time and once again enjoyed visiting our local orchard for some fall fun.

Hannah finds a pretty good pumpkin in the patch -- just her size! Hannah's favorite part of the pumpkin patch was finding "bigger" pumpkins and sitting on them. Here we are with our pumpkin out in the patch.

Back at the country store, Hannah found this cute bike/flower pot to pose at.

Fun with Fall

Fall is probably my favorite season! This year has had some crazy weather and it hasn't felt much like fall lately. However, it's still my favorite time of the year! While I was working on dinner tonight, Tim and Hannah took the boys outside. When I looked out, I couldn't help but snap some super cute pictures of Hannah playing in the leaves. Once again, we see just how much Hannah LOVES being outside!