holiday/birthday weekend recap...

Thanksgiving morning, we got up & headed north to the in-laws'...the kiddos love visiting Grandma & Pop, but hate the ride! it's about a 2hr drive & usually i'm hearing "are we close?!" about 1/2 hr into the trip! this time wasn't too bad tho...Corinn even fell asleep before we could get there

their very fav thing to do at Curt's parents' is play their Wii...Pop kept em busy pretty much the entire time with those magic white controllers ;0)

while Curt & i cuddled on the sofa & watched whatever boring football game was on that day ~lol~

i tried to help in the kitchen but my mother-in-law & her sis (Aunt Faye - pictured below) wouldn't allow it...u ought to know tho, those 2 women can throw down in the kitchen!!!

we sure filled our bellies before the long ride home...& i was glad Curtis was driving! i may or may not have snored the whole way back ;0)

it was nice visit! we spent almost the whole day there & Pop even went out on a grocery store run alone with the girls...somehow, they managed to come back with goodies too - a Barbie for each of the girls & a Lego set for Jaden (that he LOVED!!!)...they swore that it was Pop's idea to buy the presents! ;0)

Friday was Gabrielle's birthday...we spent the day working on her cake & getting the house ready for company & her sleepover

Nana (Grandpa had to work), aunts, uncles & cousins came for the party...& Gabby invited one of her BFF's that moved away a couple of years back...it usually works out that she's in town over Gab's birthday since they come home to visit family for Thanksgiving...check out the cute matching tops - Gabby's was a birthday gift from Callie

everyone singing Happy Birthday...

she played a trick on me this year & blew her candles out as fast as she possibly could - so i missed the shot...u can see her hair whipping back after her speed blow...that little stinker!

Gabrielle got tons of cool gifts! lots of fun clothes & accessories - right up this little diva's alley!

i found these super cute leather boots that i knew she'd love!
pssst...they were only $15!!! ;0)

& the gift that was on top of Gabby's list...an iPod!

it was the number 1 thing she wanted...i was afraid it wasn't going to happen this year (money is really, really tight!), but my sis totally came thru for me!!! she & her hubby got each other new iPod touches for an early Christmas present, so she handed down their old Nanos to us (at a VERY reasonable price!)...i just ordered some new silicone skins, loaded em with the girls' favorite tunes, & viola! brand new (to us) iPods!

oh, the other one i'm talking about? it's hidden in my closet...Corinn is also asking Santa for an iPod for Christmas ;0)

i had wrapped Gab's gift up in tissue paper...put it in the bottom of a small gift bag...then put some new earrings on top of it...folded up the gift bag & put it inside of a taped up box...then i put that inside of another taped up box...which i wrapped...she had absolutely no idea she was getting an iPod, & she had to work to get to it...but she was THRILLED when she saw the surprise!!!

& that's literally all she's done since Friday too - listen to that iPod...i think the ear buds have fused to the skin inside her ear...i had to remind her at the sleepover that she needed to entertain her guests, or she would have spent the entire evening like this...

the girls had a great time tho...of course, there was a lot of Barbie play time, make-up, singing & dancing, giggling, etc.

at 1:30am, i finally had to use my i-mean-business-voice & make the girls go to sleep...& guess what time they slept til the next morning? yep, up & at em - at FULL VOLUME - at 6:30am!!!

after breakfast, they got in some more play time...busted out the dress-up clothes & make-up once more...even ventured outside for a bit...everyone was sad when it was time for Callie & Deandra (my niece) to go home, but i think the sleepover was a big success ;0)

that evening, we headed back to WVa for Thanksgiving with my side of the family...we do it on the Saturday after every year...there, the girls were reunited with Deandra & all 3 sat with ear buds in their ears again ~lol~ (Corinn is hoping & praying Santa comes thru with her iPod & is using my Shuffle in the meantime)

there was tons of good food! & afterward, we all played a fun dice game that my aunt brought along...i honestly have no clue what it's called (i want to say revolving hearts?) & it's way too hard to explain...but basically, u team up with another person & there are quite a few rounds of play...u're constantly switching seats & competing against all the other teams of 2...it's fast paced & pretty darn fun...in the end, my brother CJ & Curtis (they were a team) kicked all our butts! i think they cheated ;0)

on Sunday, we picked up Callie again & headed to the skating rink...since we no longer do the huge parties where the kiddos invite all their friends from school (i learned my lesson early on!), we take them on a fun outing & the birthday boy/girl gets to invite one friend along...it's a whole lot cheaper (the skating rink has a family deal on Sundays - $15 for the whole crew!), & the kiddos really do spend more quality time with their friends that way...birthday parties are always so chaotic & stressful...they get way too many gifts & no one really gets to spend 1 on 1 time with the birthday boy/girl...i'm really glad we choose to go this route now

Curtis & i didn't skate this time...we hung out in a booth & watched the kiddos go round & round...our only complaint was the teeny bopper music - 3 hours of that stuff & u want to shoot urself! but hey, the kiddos love it!

everyone had a fab time!

i think the end was their favorite part...right before the 3 hour block is over, they section off a part of the rink so that the kiddos can come out & dance in their socks...

this is when they play the cha cha slide, the macarena, the cupid shuffle & the electric slide...the DJ insisted the parents join in on the electric slide, & since it was the only dance the kiddos didn't know how to do (yeah, imagine that!), i went out to show em how to do it

it was a pretty great weekend...busy, but full of fun family time!

how was ur's?