McAdams Family Lamb Dinner

For as long as I have known Peter, the evening after Thanksgiving is set aside for the McAdams side of the family for a lamb dinner. We gather with his parents, brother, grandparents and cousins.

Adeline is getting the hang of saying "cheese" with a real smile!

I think all of the adults were entertained while watching the 3 of them interact with one another. I think they only sat at the table for 2 minutes and then they were off playing and chasing one another.

Sisters

Their cousin, John, wore this adorable hat to the lamb dinner. It was a hot commodity that night and all of them fought over it...Adeline had finally gotten her turn

Cousins!!

They always have the best time together. John is going to be a big brother in March and we can't wait to meet his new little sister (Charlie). I know there will be even more fun and laughs when she joins the mix.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, we headed back to Tulsa. It was the first time we headed "home" since we all moved to Minnesota. On Thanksgiving, we ate at my parents and then headed to Peter's aunt and uncle's house to be with his family.

The girls with their cousin, Kaylee and their GG (Peter's grandma)

The girls and I helping my mom (Grammy) cook

Harper licking homemade whip cream...

Not so great, family picture

A fashion designer in the making?

For the past year, Harper has been into picking out her own outfits and designing outfits. Most days instead of taking a nap, she is in business of designing outfits. Usually there are 2 outfits on the floor laid out with "what she calls" matching shoes and bows. The majority of the time, I think she does an a great job with her outfits but there are days, like the pictures that follow that show her totally crazy creative style.

I think this is one of my all-time favorites. She is wearing her snow hat, an huge inside out t-shirt, her pajama pants, mommy's gloves and daddy's shoes.

The vest in this picture was so tight because it is Adeline's

notice the plastic high heels in this one....

Notice the striped shirt with green frog pajama pants.

Our neighbors have started laughing at how many outfits she wears in one day. The average is at least 4-she changes because she gets tired of what she's wearing, it's not comfortable, or she spills something on it. Sorry for the blurry pictures but these are all taken with my iPhone.

Picture

I absolutely love this remarkable picture of my Grams. While we were "home" for Christmas we drove to Ardmore to see my Grams and Paps (my grandparents and the girls great-grandparents). My mom is the one who took this picture (Grams received that angel from my parents for Christmas). Each time I see this picture, I tear up-sometimes there are no words for catching such an incredible moment. The day we spent in Ardmore is one that I will never forget and I hope the girls don't either. Paps chased the girls and played hide-n-seek. Everyone laughed and giggled and cried...I cherish these times with my wonderful grandparents.

Pedicures

I absolutely love being the mommy of two precious little girls. I love to spoil them! While we were home for Christmas, my mom had a wonderful idea to take both girls to get a pedicure (it was Adeline's first time). Grammy, thanks for pampering us~the girls had a wonderful time!

My sweet girls...they already love to be pampered!

Not wanting her picture to be taken but half smiled to make mommy happy!

Watching the guy to make sure he did it right

Adeline's tiny toes

Harper's toes

Now, it was Adeline's turn to give someone a pedicure

First True Haircut

While we were in Tulsa for Christmas, Harper had her first "TRUE" haircut. Harper has to get her bangs and hair trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks but we have never cut off several inches at a time. Since being in Minnesota her ends had become very dry so we went to see our wonderful hairdresser, Jamie, and she cut off 4 to 5 inches of Harper's hair. I wish I had taken a before picture but here is the after and the 2nd picture is all of the hair she had cut off on the floor.

Taking Gramma to see the Timberwolves

Peter's mom (AKA-Gramma) rode back to Minnesota with us after Thanksgiving. Gramma helped make the drive go faster and helped entertain the girls. While she was here, we shopped, explored and of course, went to a Timberwolves game.

Adeline and her "cheese" smile

This is how the girls keep busy during the games...they are climbing all over the stairs or running around.

When my days are crazy because we aren't used to being home all day together, I see this and it melts my hearts. My girls LOVE and ADORE one another. Adeline is in the stage where she wants to be just like her big sister, I mean she imitates everything! I love this picture because Adeline is looking at Harper, smiling and I know she is probably thinking "look sissy, I'm doing it just like you!" I don't even have to ask them to hold hands, they just do it-it's natural for them. Thank you Jesus for this amazing opportunity to stay home and spend so much quality time with two of my greatest blessings!



My beautiful girls with their most amazing DADDY. Peter, we are so proud of you. You followed God's plan for our family and your heart. Thank you for being a man of God and rewarding our family with this great adventure!

The girls with their fabulous Gramma. Thank you for coming to visit-we miss you so much and can't wait to see you in a few days!

Making Cookies

While we were snowed in on Saturday, we decided to make sugar cookies and decorate them. Well actually, we baked and iced half of them. Today, I plan to finish baking the rest of them during naps so they can decorate them tonight. This has been a tradition in my family since I was a little girl but usually we do it with my parents and brother~who knows we might do this again when we get to Tulsa. My brother and I used to have competitions on who could make the best decorated cookie! By the way, we declared Saturday-stay in your pajamas all day-Day!

Daddy rolling out the dough while Adeline poses with her "cheese" smile!

Goofy smile while decorating her star cookie

Caught sticking her finger in the icing

So proud and excited to eat their finished creations. They even shared a cookie with one of our neighbors.

What do we do?

What do we do? This is the question we asked ourselves this morning after we were locked in our apartment yesterday due to blizzard-like conditions in Minnesota. It was the worst storm in 2 decades-we got over 16 inches of snow in 24 hours with crazy gusts of winds. Not to mention, the wind chills were 20 below!!! After all of that snow yesterday, the highways were clear by this morning, so we decided to go to the Mall of America and eat at the Rainforest Cafe. It is a great place for kids to eat and explore. It re-created a tropical rainforest with waterfalls, lush vegetation and animals. The girls had a blast! After we ate, we played a bit in Nickelodeon World in the middle of the mall.

After we ate, the girls got balloon animals. Harper got a pink elephant and Adeline got a purple butterfly.

Daddy and Harper....there is a waterfall in the background, which was pretty distracting when we wanted the girls to eat!

Adeline and Mommy

The girls with the most patient daddy

Mini carousal ride

Harper was a good sport and rode this with her sister, even though she was pretty bored!

Macy's 8th floor exhibit

On Monday, we were invited to go to the Macy's Downtown for their 8th floor Santaland display. It was amazing and my pictures DO NOT do it justice. The entire 8th floor was decorated with intricate Christmas pieces and moving parts. The kids (and adults) were all in heaven. This is one of the many perks of living in a big city!
Harper and Jade as they entered the exhibit

Adeline and Bear before they went to see Santa...both of them ended up crying when they saw him-so there are no pictures of Adeline with Santa!

Of course, my Harper was all smiles when she got to see Santa! I have to admit, I am a bit concerned because each time she sees a Santa, she asks for something new. Hopefully, me sweet girl won't be disappointed on Christmas morning!

A Ponytail kind of day

I know this will sound strange but for weeks I have been wanting to try and put Adeline's hair in a ponytail. Her hair seems to be growing so fast these days so last night, I gave it a try. Her hair barely made it into the ponytail but Adeline was so PROUD! She kept smiling and pointing to her hair.

We tried the ponytail today at bible study but they said it fell within 10 minutes. Oh well, one day she will have long hair like Harper.