Happy Turkey Day!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! Wednesday, I had a half day at school. Then I quickly rushed to get the pie from Baker's Square, home to set the table, and work out all before I went to pick up Sophia. Then I got her and we came home so she could have a quick bit to eat. Then it was off to teach at the Y so that Hal could get the house cleaned before our guests came for the day on Thursday.

Thursday morning I ran the Fast Before the Feast Race in White Bear Lake, MN. I ran the fastest 5K that I have ever run before! I think I knew that the reward in the end would greatly outweigh the work!! I could barely wait for all of the yummy food. I headed home and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Sophia and Hal. We also had a mini treat to celebrate Sophia turning 2 and a half. I can hardly believe that my little girl is half a year away from being 3! We had such a great time. Then we all got cleaned up and Hal's family came over. We had appetizers and then Sophia went down for a nap. After she got up we played a couple of games and ate our fantastic dinner. Hal did a wonderful job on the deep fried turkey!! Thursday night we watched a movie and everyone left. It was a wonderful day!

Friday morning we woke up bright and early to go Black Friday Shopping. Sophia was such a trooper and I got some wonderful deals! We had all of the shopping done by noon and were home just in time for lunch. The rest of the day was a lazy day. Last night we decorated the Christmas tree and put up the rest of the decorations. Hal also put some more lights on the outside of the house. Sophia just loves everything Christmas.

Today we met some friends in Stillwater to get our family photos taken. I can barely wait to see how they turned out. My close friend from college Kristi took them. She did such a fantastic job with my tired little girl who just wanted to run around. Her daughter Aubrey and husband Adam were there too so it helped to distract Sophia a bit. After our pictures we came home and Sophia attempted a nap while I worked out. Tonight Hal is out with the best man from our wedding Dave who is home for the weekend from California. Sophia and I are going to play toys and get a bit of laundry before bed.

I'm not sure what we are in store for tomorrow, but what a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I can hardly believe that it is December next week. Bring it on Christmas!

Our adventure to the Children's Museum

Today Sophia had a playdate with two neighbor girls at the Children's Museum downtown St. Paul. This was the first time that we had ever been there before, but the other two girls had been there several times before.

Sophia had such a good time. We started in the first room that had a fall theme. She listened to the bird sounds, raked leaves, and played in the treehouse.

She also made her very own tag out of recycled paper to hang on one of the trees.

After hanging out in this room, we went into the room with all of the water. Sophia had such a wonderful time exploring the different water toys and blowing these huge bubbles in the tub of soap.

I think her favorite part of the museum was the grocery store. She just loved pushing the carts around, putting the items in the cart, and checking them out using the cash register.

Sophia and Ava playing in the grocery store

Then we took a break and had some snacks together. All of the girls were getting a bit hungry.


The last stop was painting faces. When we originally got to the museum Ava and Emerson painted their faces and Sophia didn't want to. Then before we left she changed her mind. Here are the results:

Sophia's pretty little face

All 3 girls with their beautiful faces

Sophia the babysitter

Yesterday we had the opportunity to babysit a neighbor's kiddo from across the street. Baby Sawyer was the highlight of Sophia's day! She will make an excellent big sister some day. She wanted to help feed him and cuddle with him. She also read him one of her "big girl books" because she thought he would like the pictures. She can't wait to have him over to our house again some time soon.

Pottery at the U and Tina the Turkey

Saturday Sophia and I had our very own private pottery lesson with Brie the art teacher at my school. We had such a good time working with the clay and attempting to make pots. I threw a couple of different pots, but only one turned out really well. Here are a couple of pictures from our adventure:

Sophia cutting her clay

Sophia intensely working with her clay

Sophia working with Brie to make her very own pot

Last night Sophia and I did a cool crafty project to get ready for Thanksgiving. She decorated her very own Tina (instead of Tom) the turkey. She had so much fun deciding what supplies to use and how to put them on the turkey. The finished product looks just awesome!

Sophia's First Gopher Hockey Game

Last night Sophia attended her first ever Gopher Hockey Game. She had a wonderful time watching the game, listening to the marching band, and watching the cheerleaders. I still think her favorite part was having popcorn for dinner! The game was really fun and all of the people attending gave us these cute smiles as we walked around visiting different spots during the breaks. Here are a couple of photos from this and many more to come hockey games!

Sophia and Daddy


Sophia and Mommy