Happy Thanksgiving

I love those moments when I take a picture of the kids and just KNOW that 20 years from now, it will be the thing they will be sitting around the kitchen table laughing at me and saying how they can't believe what I did to them as children! This picture is definitely it!

We did our traditional Thanksgiving. The elves came back--and this year they had a baby elf with them whom the kids named "Dyllin". And--our friend, Alexa, who was spending the night even got an elf of her own on Thanksgiving morning. We had our Thanksgiving dinner, decorated our Christmas tree, and we even got a head start on the Christmas cookies for tomorrow. So, now we are in our matching pajamas (no-Shawn and I don't have elf pajamas) and watching a movie and getting ready to sleep in front of the Christmas tree as a family like we do every Thanksgiving!

Drew rolled his eyes about doing the Thanksgiving play this year, but obliged me and wore the elf pajamas, so I guess that the era of "choose your battle" has officially begun.

Number 5 is 2!

So little D is now officially two. Not that you need to be told that if you spent five minutes alone with him! He is the little man of the house and feels he has every right to tell everyone else whatever is on his mind, which apparently is quite a bit! He reminds me so much of Drew at this age with the way he talks and thinks, but he has Dawsyn's temper, Delaney's face, and Daxton's little ornery gene! What a combination!

I hate it when each of them turns another year older, but it is particularly difficult when it is Drake. He is the reason I started this blog almost three years ago when I found out I was pregnant for him. Now, as I type this, he is screaming that he needs Daddy because he wants his socks on!!!! He is very picky about having socks and shoes on. I think he is afraid that if he doesn't have them on, he will get left behind. I don't know where this irrational fear comes from since he has only been forgotten in the car once, lost at a greenhouse once, and accidentally left behind when we went to leave once--but most of the time we remember him--especially now that he is so vocal!

He doesn't like to be held anymore unless he is really tired or afraid. He hates the dark (the one thing he got from Mommy) and loud noises or heights. He is definitely becoming his own person and it is so fun to watch. I look at his little face and see so many possibilites for the future. I hope that he always knows that even though he is number 5, he is so important to us and we could never imagine life without him!

Dawsyn is 9!

Dawsyn is now half-way to 18! Watch out world!!!!! For her ninth birthday, she had a party at Sweet and Sassy. This consisted of getting glammed up with her nails, hair, makeup, and sparkly outfit, along with eight of her friends. They then got to model on the runway and put on a karaoke concert. They ended the party by riding in a pink limo around Polaris mall. Mom was the only adult allowed in the pink limo! Lucky me! There is not enough excedrin in the world for the loudness of the music and the strobe lights flickering in the limo, but the girls had a great time! And Dawsyn is convinced--she is destined for the runway!!!!

Happy Halloween...

...and may the force be with you!

Pumpkin Show 2011

We had another successful, fun Pumpkin Show week. The kids entered their decorated Pumpkins. Here is Drew with his. As you can see, the week started off rough with lots of cold wind and rain! Daxton's pumpkin took third place in his age group!

The kids rode on our church float this year. Here is how Dax ended every parade he rode through--sound asleep!

Delaney was in the Little Miss Pumpkin Show contest. She had fun even though the rain made it pretty miserable!

Drake was in the baby contest. He didn't win anything, but we think he is the cutest!

Dawsyn was in every parade for her Festival float. Her float took 2nd place in the float contest!

Team Adams Strikes Again!

Another Family Cake Decorating Contest at Indian Trail Elementary School! So--another night of staying up late cleaning up frosting in colors that you didn't know were possible, and wondering yet again-"how the kids possibly got frosting there"!

But-as always, seeing the pride on Delaney's face when she comes out with her little blue ribbon and a big smile on her face because we won a prize and all of her classmates loved it, was totally worth it!

The kids also got good news at school this week--Drew got Student of the Month for Music and Delaney got student of the month for her first grade class. Of course, in the Adams' household, there is never a moment when all 5 kids are happy. So, Dawsyn immediately falls apart because she didn't get it for her class! Drew tries to make things better by explaining that the odds of all three of them getting student of the month at the same time are "way out there". This did not help the situation. Drew explaining this to her was equivalent to a few days earlier when she was trying to explain to him what he should have done when a "secret admirer" gave him his first "check yes or no" letter.

Dawsyn was all into this, while Drew acted totally disgusted. He said that, first of all, this girl obviously isn't the "brightest crayon in the box", since she had her friends bring it to him and say it was from a secret admirer, but then she signed her name to it! I asked him if he circled yes or no. He said he circled "or". That's Drew! I tried to tell him he better be careful. He doesn't want to burn bridges he may someday want to cross! The days he does start crossing them will be the days that I'll wish we were back to cleaning frosting off our walls at one in the morning!

Where did September going?

September was a busy, but productive month for Team Adams! Drew turned 10, Shawn turned 34, Shawn and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary, and everyone accomplished great Progress Reports to start school!

Dawsyn and Delaney both finished their reign as Little Miss and Little Miss First Attendant. They crowned the new court and we thought we were getting a break.


Then Dawsyn decided she couldn't stand the thought of not being a Queen, so she tried out again (when asked if she also wanted to try out again, Delaney cried out-NO! NEVER AGAIN!--She did say that in her thank you speech, she was going to say-Thank you for never making me wear itchy dresses again!). So, Dawsyn asks if she can run again. We agree because she moved up an age group (third through fifth graders). We fully expected that she wouldn't win and we would get that break. I had even prepared what I would say to her if her heart was broken. Then the contest started. The first few contestant walked up and said their name into the microphone and then sat down. Dawsyn's turn came. I felt that familiar nervousness I get when the girls get on stage, Drew goes in for a score in soccer, or they perform in a play at theater class. Dawsyn walked to the front of the stage, grabbed the microphone, welcomed the crowd to the festival, introduced herself, including her age, parents names, school, activities and then told a joke about how training her dog isn't going so well. She smiled and said thank you, then primly walked to her seat. Shawn and I both looked at each other and thought--she just won, didn't she?

And she did! She is now the 2011-2012 Amanda Firefighter's Festival Princess. So-- another year of travels! But it's worth it because she really loves it!

Delaney is getting to do her girls scouting and they both started another year of Irish Dancing. Drew, Dawsyn, and Delaney are all playing piano. Dax just finished his soccer season, but Drew still has a few weeks left and Drake is giving us all a run for our money and keeping us on our toes!

No wonder we blinked and it is October!