Cupcapes with Grandma

Nope, it's not a typo. Allison calls them cupcapes. :) She had been asking to make them ever since Grandma took a tally of what dessert everyone wanted at Thanksgiving dinner. But, since Grandma was sick on Thanksgiving, she wasn't able to make them with Allison and had to give her a raincheck. I think Allison got the better end of the deal by waiting until Christmas to do them. She got to do a cupcape Christmas tree instead of just regular old cupcapes! Here are some pictures of the process.
(FYI - They made them one night and then decorated them the next.)

The design:

Time to ice the cupcakes.

Step #2 complete!

Time to decorate.

The finished product!

Cleaning...

...June Cleaver style!

The day the package from Grandma and Grandpa Tholkes arrived with Christmas outfits inside, Allison wanted to try hers on right away. After putting it on, she immediately ran upstairs to her room to accesorize! A short while later, I was doing some cleaning and Allison busted out her little vacuum to help. She was vacuuming in style! I just had to snap a couple of shots of my miniature June Cleaver. :)

Perhaps a black and white version would be more fitting....

An Early Snow

Well, early for the south anyway. Since the weathermen were calling for snow flurries the first weekend of this month, we decided to head back up to our cabin in North Carolina (we had just been there the previous weekend for Thanksgiving). We knew that if we were getting flurries in our area, then most likely there would be some accumulation up in the "mountains." Sure enough, early Saturday morning this is what we woke up to.

It wasn't even more than an inch or two, but we thought it was wonderful. Tyler was especially happy since his most favorite season is winter, and his one wish each year is that it will snow! Even though the kids had only had a few hours of sleep, they were more than willing to jump out of bed and get bundled up to head outside and play in it.

They first walked up the hill with Pawpaw. That's our cabin in the background.

Then we decided to go for a drive up into the higher mountains to see if we could find even more. It was a beautiful drive!

As the sun came out and it warmed up a bit, the snow started melting rather quickly. We decided to stop and play one last time before it was completely gone.

Tyler got to make his snow angel...

And Allison was amazed with how the snow stuck to her clothes and mittens.

They spent most of their time throwing snowballs at Daddy...

And thought it was hysterical!

It was a FUN day!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

A Ryan Update!

I guess when friends and relatives are having to make special requests to see pictures of my baby, I'm not doing a good job of bragging about and showing him off. Really it's not that I don't want to, it's just that life is rather busy for me these days. And I really wanted to get all those fall posts caught up. So, since that task is complete, I can get down to business and brag about my little man!

Last Wednesday, Ryan turned 2 months old. I inadvertently took the picture of him above in the same outfit and similar pose to the one I put on his one month post. Since it was only 2 days after he turned 2 months, I thought that was pretty ironic!

He had his 2 month check-up on Friday and these were his stats:
weight - 11 pounds, 4 ounces (over a 3 pound gain since birth)
length - 23 inches
head circumference - 15 1/2 inches
All measurements were in the 50th percentile.

At 2-months-old, Ryan...

• Is smiling up a storm! (Here's that picture I promised you back at the one month post.)

• Still loves to be swaddled, and prefers to sleep on his tummy. (Don't worry, I only put him on his tummy for naps when I can watch him.)

My little inchworm.

• Thinks ceiling fans are hilarious and loves talking to them!



• Already enjoys spending time in his Bumbo seat.

• Is such an alert little guy. If he's awake, he HAS to be sitting up or held upright to take in all his surroundings.
• Is starting to arch his back and turn to one side while lying on his back. He may be flipping over soon!
• Is showing that he has a bit of a temper. When Ryan is unhappy, there usually aren't fussy warning signs that gradually build up to cries. He goes from cool, calm, and collected to angry and screaming in a matter of seconds!
• Still hates his car seat. I have a feeling this won't be changing anytime soon. In fact, I'm not even sure that hate is a strong enough word for how much he dislikes it!

Here are some more of my favorite pictures, just because.

*Keep scrolling for another catch-up post!*

Tyler's Wish List

Tyler: I'm going to tell Santa I want a remote control rocket and remote control T-Rex for Christmas.
Me: You already have a remote control T-Rex.
Tyler: No, a medium sized one. One that doesn't have a cord.
Me: I don't know if they make them without cords.
Tyler: No, SAAAANTA. I know the guy.

*Keep scrolling for another catch-up post!*

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at our cabin in North Carolina again this year. This time Jon, Vanessa, Keilana, and Kayden were able to be there too (they were in Utah last year)! It was a full house, and with my mom being sick and a new baby in the mix, we didn't have our act together quite as well as we would have liked. We forgot to make gravy, and never even took our cranberry sauce and jello salad out of the fridge to eat! But we still had a great time, a delicious dinner, and were thankful to all be together!

Tyler is thankful for (in his words): toys, food, candy, being able to play outside and inside, his home, and his family.

Allison is thankful for (in her words): being with Mommy, the couch(?), her toys, her plates and cups, Daddy, and her brothers.

After dinner, we attempted to get a Thanksgiving family picture. It didn't quite go as planned...

Take 1: Too bad Allison closed her eyes.

Take 2: And now Tyler looks like he had a bit too much turkey to eat.

Take 3: Now it all just looks a bit forced.

Take 4: A GREAT shot...but um, where's Daddy?!

Take 5: Daddy's back, but now Ryan's fussy, the kids are obviously done, and I give up...

*Keep scrolling for another chatch-up post!*

Halloween

This picture was actually taken at our Trunk-or-Treat. Ryan was only 3 weeks old, but we didn't want to miss it. The only downside to the night was that it was raining out, so it wasn't a true TRUNK-or-Treat. Instead, all the adults set up camp around the hallways of the church building with thier bowls of candy, then the kids went around collecting it in assembly line fashion. Honestly, I'm sure the kids could have cared less. They were only concerned with making sure their pumpkins got filled with candy, and that they did! I actually took other pictures of the candy-collecting madness, but none turned out very well due to packed and cramped hallways and poor lighting.
After doing our first Halloween themed dinner last year, Vanessa and I vowed to get an earlier start on it this year so that Trick-or-Treating could happen before 8:00! We did really well, and I think we were Trick-or-Treating by 6:00! Here are some pictures of our dinner. Everything was the same this year except for the dessert. To save on time, we decided to make these super cute and easy spider web cupcakes instead of the graveyard desserts we did last year.

Trick-or-Treating was quite fun even if it was cold and drizzly out. It took quite a bit of effort to find Tyler's requested costume this year. Unless you're going for TMNT, turtle costumes are VERY hard to come by. I had to search ebay, and got outbit on quite a few others before finally finding this one with a "buy it now" option. He was one happy little boy the day it arrived!

Allison is still obsessed with Disney Princesses (especially Cinderella), and I really thought I wouldn't be able to convince her to be anything else. However, when I dug out our box of costumes, Allison was in awe over this butterfly. I think it helped that it is her most favorite color! She was so fun to watch this year. She showed a little reservation when she went up to the first house. She said "it's spooky" and then stayed back to watch all the other kids go to the door to collect their treats. When she saw they made it back in one piece, she decided to go for it. The third picture shows her reaction after getting her very first treat at that house. She was so proud of herself and exclaimed, "I trick-uh-treating!" The rest of the night she kept saying "I LOVE Trick-uh-Treating!"

My little Tiger had to go Trick-or Treating too of course! He was bundled quite nicely, and stayed very warm next to Mommy. (He was also covered with a blanket the whole time except to take the picture!)

I added this next picture for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's really the only picture that I got that shows what the back of Tyler's costume looks like. Second, it was quite comical to watch the kids racing up the walkway to this house until they turned the corner and were faced by the spooky guy standing at the top of the steps. They stopped dead in their tracks and after a few moments, proceded with extreme caution. That's why Allison can't even be seen in this shot. She was the most cautious of them all!

The last couple houses we went too ended the night with a bang. The kids got hooked up with glow in the dark bracelets AND necklaces! Here they are showing them off.

It was a great ending to a fun night!

*Keep scrolling for yet another chatch-up post!*

How to Carve a Pumpkin

**Pumpkin carving directions courtesy of Tyler and Allison.**

First you have to cut the top part off.

Next you have to "scarf" (Allison's word for scrape) inside with the "Scoopiger" (Tyler's word for the scooper).

And take the seeds out.

And scarf some more!

Then you have to check your scooping and scarfing progress.

After the pumpkin is all cleaned out, you tape the pattern on the pumpkin and poke holes to make the outline.

Then it's time to carve it!

Remember to be careful with the knife.

And TA-DA....