Addison Kate is 10 months old and Happy Turkey Day!

We had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day. Our Addison Kate turned 10 months old on Thanksgiving, such a sweet reminder of how blessed we are. We love our three little turkeys so much. To top it off, Daddy was home this year! It is always better when we are all in one country. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with just our family because Stephen had to work that night. The food was delicious and the company couldn't be beat. When asked what they were thankful for the children's responses were:
Luke - "I am thankful for my blankies"
Amelia- "My family, my friends, my school, my teachers, going to Disneyworld, my church, my toys, I'm just thankful for so much mom."

Addison thoroughly and heartily enjoyed the Thanksgiving Feast. She had heaps of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, rolls, green beans and of course PUMPKIN PIE! That is what she is eating in the picture and she was absolutely loving it.

Time for a turkey coma, look at that hair. That was one good meal man.

Addison got up on all fours on Thanksgiving night and even took a few clumsy crawl steps. She much prefers to cruise around the house by holding onto furniture but she'll realize crawling is also a pretty good way to get from point A to point B.

Fun Days!

Luke learned all about the Native Americans and Pilgrims in school last week. He told me how the Pilgrims landed and then he told me the Indians and the Pilgrims ate and played together. The school also had a Thanksgiving feast for the children, made by the children. It included stone soup and cornbread. That's all I could get out of Luke except he told me it was good too. Luke loved his outfit so much, he wore it for three days in a row. He wouldn't even take it off for a birthday party.

My cutie girls, love to dress them coordinating and thankfully Amelia loves it too. She asks everyday if she and Addison can match.

The children have been off of school all week for Thanksgiving break so holiday spirit is in full swing around the Boskovich household. Addison has been watching us with great curiosity in her eyes, wondering what is going on. The kids and I have been blaring Christmas music and decorating the house. So far Addison is a big fan of any Christmas decoration that sings, lights up or dances (even better if it does all three).

Addison Kate all squeaky clean. Her cute bottom teeth show but she also has gotten two upper teeth, but not the middle teeth. She looks like a little vampire.

To celebrate the children being off of school, we let them each choose a fun day just for them and a parent. Luke chose Chuck E Cheese with Daddy. The boys went early, at 9am (who knew Chuck E Cheese was even open then?). Great idea because it was just the two of them for an hour and a half. Luke had a blast with Daddy playing all the games and gathering oodles and oodles of tickets. On Luke's day we ended up going out on the boat too and then that evening we had a bonfire. While we were sitting by the fire Luke said, "Wow Mom, this was a really, super fun day. We went to Chuck E Cheese, out on our boat and get to have s'mores by the fire." I agree buddy, super fun day with the kids.

Love this picture of Amelia. She is just getting so big now.

Guess what Amelia chose for her special Mom/Amelia day? Amelia and I went horseback riding again and Amelia couldn't wait to go see her favorite horse Bullseye. She kept giving him hugs and telling him she missed him. It was so cute, she just adores being at the stables.

This particular day it was just Amelia and I at the stables and the owner is so kind. She always makes it so special for Amelia. She asked Amelia if she would groom Bullseye and Amelia was so excited. Miss Mary had Amelia put the special conditioner on the tail and brush out the tail and the mane. Amelia kept telling Bullseye, "Now you will be all set Bullseye."

Out on the trails. Bullseye is such a wonderful horse, he is so gentle and takes such good care of Amelia. On the other hand, I had Darlin'. The name does not fit the horse. Miss Mary said, "Now Jenni, this horse needs some breaking in, you have to show him who is boss right away or he will bite Bullseye and run." Um, excuse me, I was hoping more for the 90 year old horse that limps. The first part of my ride was a little tense as I "broke" Darlin' but eventually he caved in and realized I was the boss. Amelia was all smiles as normal when she is near a horse. It was a fun week, with lots of family fun time.

We conquered the bicycle.

Amelia's Community project for 1st grade. Amelia was assigned to build an Ocean Springs landmark for her social studies project. Um, okay, look I love Ocean Springs, I rave about Ocean Springs but a landmark? The only building we have over two stories is a retirement community, what are we going to build, a Walmart?? So we chose our church which actually is very beautiful. This was a true family project. The structure was built out of shoeboxes, paper plate steeple, wooden skewers for the columns. Amelia did all the glueing and painting, she even painted the stain glass window on the back. It was cute but man it took a full two days of work for Stephen, Amelia and I. We were so thankful because the day before we handed it in, the school was called off for Hurricane Ida so we had an extra day to work on it. So the big day came, the project was due. We took pictures of it, Stephen drove Amelia to school so she didn't have to take it on the bus, it was a big ta-do. So, Amelia comes home from school and Stephen asks her, "Did everyone bring their project in today Amelia?" Amelia says, "Ahh, no." All of a sudden I realized, "Oh crap, the project wasn't due until the next Wednesday!!!" I felt like such a dope and I even had it on my calendar in green marker, landmark project due the 18th. Oh well, we were a week early, better than late I guess.

I know I posted that Amelia had her training wheels off her bike like um, four months ago. You can look back and see Stephen running beside Amelia while she was pedaling. Well, that was as far as she ever got. Every time we convinced her to get on her bike she would tremble, "Daddy, don't let me go, DADDY don't let me go, Daddy, don't!" So, for four months Stephen has been running beside her bike trying to convince her she would be fine. Well, guess what? Finally, finally, finally she is riding her bike without anyone holding on! We thought she would be going to college with training wheels but alas, like everything else, Amelia will do things on her own time. (Just ask my best friend, Marcie, about the first time Amelia went to a splash pad).

Someone else has been enjoying bike rides during our nice fall weather. I just love this picture, I have the same pose for all three of the kids in this bike seat. It has served us well.

Amelia and Luke at Sandhill Crane Refuge Center. They run programs for kids on nature and animals in the area. The kids always enjoy when we can get there.

Caramel Apple Party and Grandparent Visit

Stephen had the fun idea for the fall to have a caramel apple party for the children's friends. Well, as we went through the guest list it was close to 60 people. I thought yes it sounds fun, but it sounds really messy too. I had visions of crazy children running through my house covered in caramel and I nearly had an anxiety attack. So my only contribution to the party was saying, " Yes, we can have it but not at our house."

It ended up really great, we brought all the fixings to a favorite downtown park and let the kids have at it. It was a beautiful day at the park and the children had a great time running off all their extra sugar energy. Luke strategically placed himself at the table with the sprinkles and just kept scooping spoonful after spoonful of sprinkles in his bowl. It was a great turnout, we went through about 55 apples that day, for some of the kids it was the first time they had every tried a caramel apple. I am sure it will become an annual event.

Finger licking good.

We didn't get all the children in the picture but here is some of our caramel apple kids.

Cutey Addison Kate.

My parents made their annual November visit and really got some beautiful Mississippi fall weather the first week they were here. (Although they did get a little taste of Hurricane Ida visiting the day before they left). Here we are at Harbor Landing, we usually bring all of our 'Northerner visitors' here. Can't beat eating outside looking at this view and Grandma Nancy loves the crabcakes.

Addison with Grandma and Grandpa. Addison was mesmerized by Grandpa's sunglasses. We couldn't get her to look away. We had a fun visit with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Jon, we were able to take the boat out to one of our waterfront restaurants, the kids went golfing with Grandma and Grandpa, we spent lots of time at the park and playing outside too. It was a nice visit and Addison loved having the extra attention.

The Wild Outdoors, I survived.

After much begging by Amelia, Luke, Stephen and my friend Cynthia, I managed to "man up" and go camping. We went with four other families, so lots and lots of kids. Despite never ending rain the first night, it was really fun. Amelia and Luke thought it was the best thing in the world. Luke told me while drinking hot chocolate, "Mom, this is the best day ever." Here are the kids on our first morning after "sleeping" in the tent. The children slept great, Stephen barely slept. Cynthia, Addison and I were cozy in the pop up camper so we did alright and were nice and dry.

Yummy hot chocolate to warm up on a wet morning.

Lots of places for the kids to run and explore. It was nice to let them get as dirty as they wanted, run as fast as they wanted and do whatever they wanted for a whole weekend. Luke is wearing a Star Wars rain poncho that was Tommy's when he was a little boy. How cool is that, a vintage poncho? Luke loves it, especially since it was Tommy's.

Our little, cutie camper. Addison just rolled with camping, just like she always does. Camping didn't bother her a bit.

Our little girly campers.

"The boys" Luke always thinks it's pretty awesome to hang out with the big boys. Luke and Stephen found these bows in the woods so the boys kept busy with those.

Amelia and Mckenzie decorating our campsite for Halloween.

Proof I was there. And look, I am even smiling.

After the rain left in the early morning, it was a beautiful day for camping.

Me, Kristen and Cynthia hanging by the campfire.

Trick or treating time!

What an awesome place to trick or treat. Each campsite decorates for Halloween and families go all out. Each site just got better and better. Their were lots of haunted paths and amazing lights and "monsters." It was super fun for the kids to be able to experience all that Halloween fun in the dark. Amelia marched right through the sites, no matter how scary, nothing was getting in the way of her getting candy. Luke tried to act brave but he definitely was gripping my hand pretty tight a few times.

Addison Kate's first time trick or treating. She was content to just eat her cheerios.

We came home from camping after trick or treating that night. I decided one night of the Wild Outdoors was enough for me. I missed my bed, my bathroom and my shower. Of course all of the children fell asleep immediately on the car ride home (about 45 minutes away). We clearly needed to bathe them before bed so we woke them up and told them to head upstairs for a bath. I was upstairs with Amelia, Stephen was still getting Addison out of the car and this is how he found Luke. Poor guy only made it this far up the stairs and then sleep won.

Pumpkin Carving

Believe it or not, the children are big enough to carve their own pumpkins! Amelia chose a kitty cat design, my little animal lover.

Luke chose a classic jack-o-lantern face. We let them loose with the pumpkin saw and away they went.

Scooping out the guts.

With a little help, these were the finished product.

Meanwhile, Addison managed to turn 9 months old! She is scooting around on her tummy now, not quite crawling yet though. I think she could crawl but she sees no point in it; she much rather yell and scream until I pick her up and move her. Why exert the effort when mommy will do it for me? Such a little diva, this one. Look at that smile, she knows she has me wrapped around her adorable, little fingers.

Super Fall Fun, Super huge post

We recently attended a birthday party at a local skating rink. Amelia and Luke had never been skating and the sound of bone crashing against the floor was abundant. Here is Amelia when she first got on the floor. She clung to that pole as if her life depended on it. She made it around and around the rink like that though, clinging, slide the skates, clinging, slide the skates.

Luke relied on Daddy to cling to for is help. After about an hour, they both kind of got it and were able to get themselves around the floor.

They managed so well, they even did the limbo game. How low can you go?

This brings back so many memories of growing up. Skating parties have not changed much in 25 years, kind of comforting.

Look at those eyes!

Fall Festival at Children's house (Luke's preschool). The festival is really cute, it is set up as an old fashioned festival. The children did crafts, above Luke is making a pine cone bird feeder, did leaf rubbings, painted pumpkins and enjoyed lots of yummy food.

Addison enjoying the nice fall weather.

Luke bobbing for apples. Days before the festival, Luke was so excited about the festival, it was all he talked about. He told me, "And mom, we get to bob for apples!" I said, "Luke, do you know what bobbing for apples is?" He said, "I don't know, I guess, you like have a paddle and you bob the apple back and forth to each other?" Umm, not exactly. So, when he got to the festival and found out what bobbing for apples really was, he was pumped to dive right in. He even successfully grabbed an apple with his teeth.

Got it!

The result of Fall Festival. Luke's words, "Mom, I just need a little rest."

We are super proud of our Mimi! On Friday, Amelia reached 100 Accelerated Reader points. The children read books at school and home, then they must complete a computer test on the book, usually 5-10 questions. They get half a point for each book they test on. Our little, first grader has been hitting the books hard. She is one of only a handful of kids in the whole school to reach this benchmark in October. We are so proud of all her hard work.

On Friday afternoon, our local YMCA had a Fall Festival. Stephen was in Chicago for a conference, so we kept super busy while he was gone. This was the best shot I could get of the three of them. The Y did a really cute job for the kids. Make your own trick or treat bag, candy stations, crafts, football throw, dunk tank, etc. The kids had a blast running around with their friends, only coming to find me when they had to unload more treats and prizes into the stroller.

Andrea, Katie and I with our youngest kiddos. All ready for the costume contest.

And the grand prize winner of the costume contest : OUR LITTLE LADYBUG!!!!

Hooray for Addison Kate! Addison really hammed it up for the judges. She smiled and giggled and cooed, she really knew how to turn it on. Do we have a future pageant girl on our hands??

Look at that love.

Alexandrea, Addison and Carter. Best of buddies, these cuties were all born within a couple of months of each other.

2009 Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk. Amelia and Luke and I once again did the 5K walk to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Thanks so much to everyone who supported us. It is always a very emotional day but filled with lots of joy and celebrations for survivors. We were glad to do our part.

Addison stayed with a friend since Daddy was out of town. But here are my little walkers. Luke really, really, really wanted to wear his Commander Coty helmet.

Luke received many compliments for his manly shirt.

Our team! Notice Jay in the background. He is the man in the dress and the wig. Jay is an awesome sport and he raised $5300 by himself by wearing the dress, high heels (which he wore for the entire walk, I was a witness), the wig, shaved his legs and painted his nails. All for a great cause!

Amelia and Vienna sold earrings that Vienna had made. They were the best, little saleswomen and did not let up until every pair was sold. They were very persistent and who could say no to those cute faces trying to raise more money for cancer research?

Julie, Vienna and Amelia skipping down the street. Poor Jay couldn't skip to well. We were bringing up the rear of the walk but we were having lots of fun.

Hooray, we finished! Good job kiddos!

After the walk, we had just enough time for a nap and a change of costume. Time to go to a Halloween Party . Addison decided to put the ladybug to rest for one night and wore everything else she owned Halloween. This included, ghost socks, witch tights, witch dress, pumpkin onesie and candy corn hair bow. We think we included every Halloween icon in her outfit.

Gotta love a baby and a pumpkin!

The party at our friends, The Petersons, was awesome. They have a great outdoor space, with lots of property for the children to run around and ride 4 wheelers in. Hold on Amelia!

The kids got to go on a hayride too which they thought was the coolest thing ever. Some of the dads hid around the property to "scare" the kids and it was a whole lot of fun. Whew, it was a busy weekend but lots of fall fun!