Thanksgiving Traditions

Happy Holidays! Be sure to check the post below for the Elf Yourself holiday card :) Ryan, Abel, and I had a BLAST choosing this year's song!

We had an amazing day yesterday! My friend from school, Nikki, and her son, and I did the Drumstick Dash - 4.5 miles through Broadripple. Here we are at the end:



At the last minute, I suggested to Ryan that he walk it with the kids in the stroller. He quickly registered and was on his way. That meant, at the end, we could all get our picture taken!



It was an INCREDIBLE way to start the day!

We came home and cooked and prepared all day. The plan was for my parents to come over for dinner, and my sister and her family join us for dessert. However, the turkey wasn't cooking as quickly as it was supposed to, so they ended up there for dinner too - which was great! We LOVED having a big group at dinner, but are currently shopping for a bigger dining room table :)



I was especially excited because this was Adelyn's first Thanksgiving where she was eating actual food! She was all about it - as she is all food---she's her mother's daughter!



After dinner we played and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas (Thanks Grandpa Dave for bringing it!) The instruments Abel got for his birthday were a big hit among everyone - and we had a great time relaxing by the fire (the first of the season!) and ending our day - Abel found an especially comfortable spot on Grandpa Dave!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Some Updated Photos From My iPhone

Abel plays with a birthday present - he may or may not be a future ball player, but it's a joy for me to see!


He also draws an airplane...


Mama runs a 5K...


And has the best cheering squad EVER!


Everyone practices saying cheese...



And Adelyn sits in a big girl chair!

Happy Birthday Abel Bates!

Abel turned THREE yesterday! We had a great day celebrating with him and he was awesome all day long. The best shot we got of him with his cupcakes his eyes are slightly closed.... but it's still cute! He's doing so many new things (as is Adelyn) - I'll post more on that later! Nonetheless, we celebrate our kids everyday - but yesterday was especially special!

The Project School

When we moved to Indy last year, I took a job at The Project School. It was a first year charter school, opening in a neighborhood that has just begun to go through revitalization, and its philosophy adhered to everything I ever hoped I could find in a school. When I got the job, I was so excited.

I went to work basically right when we moved. I never really had a maternity leave with Adelyn - that's how much this job meant to me. Last year was the hardest year of my life. My young family had just moved, Ryan and I started new jobs, we had a brand new baby, and I felt like I was basically in my first year of teaching again. I look back on it and can't believe what we did that year.

Today, we hosted a press conference for the Indianapolis mayor in our new green space that our school leader and others spent countless hours making happen. In September, we stood at the window of our building with such pride as we watched bushes get planted, a fence get put in, and grass get planted.

Our building is a restored car factory. Our green space was a brown field in the middle of an extremely industrial part of town.

But our school is so much more than a building. Yesterday I walked into a room where staff members were sharing new ways they were conferencing with students, and I sat in a meeting where people were feeling positive about being supported and the teaching they are doing. On a day to day basis, I work with teachers who are genuinely working on becoming the very best teachers they can be. They work endless hours. They are constantly making changes to their teaching to be better than they were the day before. They are the epitome of what a teachers should be. They are teaching the way children should be taught. They are celebrating kids for who they are and teaching them how to truly be life long learners.

As I stood at the press conference with media there, I listened to the people speaking, but I mostly watched the students who were so well behaved and so proud that this was their school. I felt so much pride - and it made all of the work we do on a day to day basis so worth it!

I wish I had better pictures. I wish there was a way to document the emotion and pride I felt today. These photos are the best I can do.

Visit our site at www.theprojectschool.org and click on Indianapolis (our sister school in Bloomington just opened this year).

It's just awesome!

Halloween!

Me: Abel, what do you want to be for Halloween this year?
Abel: Ummm, a cow.

So that's how it came to be. And go figure that my mom had cow masks! So, we created costumes with pillow cases and safety pins and the kids looked SOOO CUTE!




We went trick or treating on our street with Mimi, Bobby, Lily, and Sam. The kids were all over the place! This was the only shot we could get of the four of them together:




Adelyn has this whole trick or treating thing figured out!



And the whole candy thing figured out too!



We carved a pumpkin (Adelyn ate the seeds before they were cooked - the girl sees food, she eats it!)




And played in our BEAUTIFUL yard!

TPS Fall Festival

This year was The Project School's first annual Fall Festival (pronounced festibal by Abel) The kids had a BLAST. These are pictures of fun in the Bounce House with Lily and Sam:





And pictures of Mama getting a pie in the face.

Before:



After:



I had whipped cream everywhere. The garbage bag totally didn't help! Abel DID NOT LIKE IT when Mama got a pie in the face. I could hear him crying above everything else in the crowd! Once I was cleaned up and Mimi and Bobby arrived,






everything was perfect again!

Boo Boo at the Zoo Zoo

Every year, the Indianapolis Zoo does something called Boo at the Zoo (Abel referred to it as Boo Boo at the Zoo Zoo). We went this year and the kids loved it. There were Halloween decorations everywhere, the animals were out, Adelyn barked at the dolphins during the dolphin show, we took a train ride....and so much more. The pictures are of seeing if we're tall enough to go on the big kid rides, imitating flamingos with Grandpa Dave, and posing with the decorations!

First Trip to The Movies

I was looking to do something out of the ordinary this weekend and had the bright idea of taking Abel and Adelyn to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. My sister had taken her kids, said it was good, and I decided why not give it a try? We had a blast. Abel loved the movie, and Adelyn loved the popcorn. Adelyn provided more entertainment for me than the movie. She was so cute sitting with her sippy cup and popcorn just munching away. And she looked so so little in her seat! Ryan took this shot of them in their chairs right before the lights went down. Not the greatest lighting, but you can certainly see how focused they are on their experience!

A Walk in the Woods

We spent a lot of time outside this weekend, and I was able to run ahead to take a couple of pictures. Abel had fun collecting leaves that have fallen, and Adelyn kept up with us the whole time. She jumped on Ryan's soldiers right before we reached the top of a very long, steep hill! She proceeded to take a 3 hour nap that afternoon! We are so enjoying fall and seem to be in a really good rhythm at home.

Tricycle Fun!

Adelyn will not be left behind! She is giving Abel a run for his money - and has no fear in doing so! They are becoming such good friends, and this picture proves it perfectly!

Look at these faces....

I'm sorry, but these are some sweet, sweet, sweet faces!

Labor Day

We met Ryan's entire family at his parents' house over Labor Day weekend. Abel had a BLAST playing with his cousins, roasting marshmallows, flying kites, and having extra snuggle time at night. His grandparents were able to come down too - such fun!

The Indianapolis Indians

This summer, we had a series of events we did with families with The Project School. One night, we went to the Indianapolis Indians baseball game. The park is amazing, we had a great space for all of our families, and the kids had a blast. There were fireworks at the end of the night - and that was the perfect cap! This picture of Abel and Lily (TPS's school leader's kid) really shows how fun the night was!

My Dancing Babies

Our kids love to dance. Their feet both start kicking when music comes on in the car, they move to the music all the time, and Abel LOVES to sing. These are two shots - one of them dancing together in a gallery in Santa Fe, and the other of Abel dancing with the "Orange Dancing Lady" in downtown Indy. It's "art" that he is truly enamored with. :)

Summer Fun

Summer was quick this year. I was in NYC for a conference for a week, and then we were in Santa Fe for 10 days, and then I was back to work! My year round calendar created a short summer for me this year, but I'll have 3 fantastic weeks off in Oct. and again in March/April! These are just a few quick shots of the kids playing. They continue to be truly awesome!

State Fair

We had a blast at the state fair this summer. Abel was able to ride rides for the first time (he's getting so big!), and Adelyn is generally happy all the time - and very excited to be included! We saw the world's largest pig, a break dance competition, the Peking Acrobats (Abel called them the Peking Apricots), and we ate and ate and ate. It was a hot hot day and we were all dirty and sweaty at the end of the day - but we had a BLAST!