Disney on Ice

One of the cool things about living in Tupelo, MS is that you really feel like you're in a small town, but we still get cool things to come once in awhile.  One of those is Disney on Ice!  With having a true Disney-lover in the house, we knew we had to go back again this year.  And they had three of our favorites: The Little Mermaid, Tinkerbell and Toy Story!  Morgan loved it!  She clapped and waved the whole way through.  It was great fun!

 Ready to go!

 The Little Mermaid

 Tinkerbell

 Toy Story

 Of course Mickey and friends were there!

 Family pic

 Some love for Mom and Dad

 Kiersten and Abby were there too!

Abby, Kiersten, Me and Morgan

Lights Lights and More Lights!

This weekend I did not have to work and we had no other commitments!  So we decided to have a family date in Memphis.  We just spent the day doing some Christmas shopping, eating a yummy meal and praying for the rain to stay away!  We had told Morgan that we were going to the zoo (one of her favorite places) that night to see the lights.  But there was an 80% chance for rain!  Fortunately, the rain held off a few hours for us to get out.  It was so cool!  The Memphis Zoo has all kinds of Christmas lights around the zoo and they open at night for everyone to see.  Not many of the animals were out and awake, but we did get to see some.  Overall, it was great!  And after all that walking so late, we had one tired girl on our hands.  Good thing I packed the pajamas for the ride home!

 Family pic- notice how curly our hair is from all the moisture in the air!

 Some of the cool lights

 Morgan and Daddy on the train

 "It's a chicken!"

 They had some crafts for the kids too

 A reindeer hat...

 ...and an actual reindeer!

Riding the hippo

Dear Santa...

Yesterday Morgan and I went to meet Santa Clause!  Morgan understands so much more about Christmas this year and we have had so much fun learning about Jesus and Santa.  Last year, she knew who Santa was and could recognize him, but she was still terrified when we went to see him.  So I didn't have high hopes for this trip.  But she loved him!  She ran right up and hopped into his lap!  She told him that she wanted candy canes and pink shoes for Christmas.  I think Santa might be able to handle that!  It was really sweet to see my big girl growing up!

Christmas is Here!

This weekend was Tupelo's Christmas Parade and HealthWorks! was in it!  The theme was "A Healthy Christmas" so it was a perfect fit.  We loaded up the trailer on a whappy ride and hit the street.  To be honest, I wasn't thrilled at first, but we all had a great time.  The thing is, I love the people I work with so anything we do together ends up crazy fun.  It finally got me into the Christmas spirit!

 Kiersten, Abby, Sara Beth, Emily, Kathy, Stacey and me

 Abby, me and Kiersten- the three favorites!

 Me and Abby

 So Kiersten and Mike put together a little dance- here's a quick look!

 And off we go!

Jeff and Morgan came to see me!

Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving always proves to be an adventure and this year was no exception.  As always, I have too much fun with everyone and I don't take enough pictures to document our holiday!  So what follows is the best I got.

 

The night before we got to celebrate my Mom's birthday!  Mom and Dad brought some yummy barbecue from home for dinner and we had some cupcakes for the Birthday Girl.  Morgan was not about to let a birthday pass without blowing out some candles!  We got a little smarter this year and started cooking some things on Wednesday...which turned out to be a lifesaver!

 

Thanksgiving came around and we continued our traditions of a large breakfast and the parade!  We got the turkey in the oven, knowing that it would take a few hours to fully cook.  As we were waiting, Sissy noticed that the oven was on fire!  The element in my oven broke...right in the middle of cooking my turkey!  After a small freak out on my part, I called my friend Brandi to see what they were doing.  She was out of town which left her oven free and clear for us to take over.  And thank goodness they were so kind to help us out!  So we loaded a half-cooked turkey in the trunk and drove the few blocks to the Shafer home.  After a few more hours of turkey and casseroles being cooked, we finally set down to eat- just a little later than we planned.  Thank goodness for the Shafers- they truly saved our Thanksgiving!

 

As usual, we Radke ladies planned our attack on Black Friday.  But this year was different since all the stores opened at midnight!  So we just powered through and stayed up.  Mom, Carrie and I hit the mall and walked into the madness.  We are seasoned veterans of Black Friday, but what we saw was unreal.  But once again we conquered and came away with some great deals!

 Morgan and the Birthday Girl

 Blowing out the candles!  Look close, Morgan likes to use the wet approach to put out the flames!

 Morgan made us all lie down in her room to "go to sleep!"

 How do you get a 3 year old to sit still and get a french braid?  With an iPad of course!

 Braided Beauties

The madness at Belk over $20 boots!

Too much fun to stop...

This weekend was so much fun that I didn't take one single picture! Chasing Morgan kept my camera in bag! We went down to Starkville for our final home game of the season against Arkansas...which we won big! Morgan is going to be sad when she realizes football season is over. She has done well all season at the games. This week was the first time she acted out and boy did she make up for lost time! She had a super melt down and I had to take her kicking and screaming out of the stands! I finally got her calmed down and she fell asleep when we got back to our seats. She even scared the two sweet older gentlemen that sit behind us! They have been so kind with Morgan all season and she warmed up to the quickly. After every touchdown she would give them a high five! This game they brought her gifts! She is really spoiled rotten! She loved playing with her horn and spiders all game long.

After the game we went back to the tailgate to eat and watch some more football. We had a small crowd this game, but it was nice to sit and enjoy our time with our friends. The Ole Miss/LSU game was so close that we couldn't leave the tailgate until it was over! As the night got colder all the tents near us packed up and headed home. But across campus there were a few of us who stayed, cheering every time LSU did well. You should have heard the loud roar across campus when Ole Miss lost!

It was another perfect day in Starkville!

Morgan's Thanksgiving Program

Last week Morgan's school put on their annual Thanksgiving Program.  This was the first year that Morgan was involved and it was precious!  Her class were dressed as Indians and sang, "10 Little Indians" and "If You're Thankful and You Know It."  We were so proud of our cute Indian!

 The whole school was ready!

(Morgan is in the second row, second from the right)

 Cutest Indian ever!

Family pic

A Double Birthday!

This weekend we had a double dose of birthday fun!  Sam and Sissy came to Tupelo to celebrate Jeff and Sam's birthdays.  Jeff just wanted to hang out and watch football on his Saturday birthday... so that's what he did!  I had to work Saturday so I was thankful they could come to us to have fun.  We grilled out and then watched the Dawgs lose to LSU.  Even with the loss he still had a great day! 

 

Sunday brought more football for the boys and playing for Morgan and her GaGa.  And we got to celebrate Sam's birthday on Monday with lunch before they headed back to Jackson.  It was a great weekend for both birthday boys!

Make a wish

" Happy Birthday Daddy!"

"Let me show you how it's done Pop!"

A hard loss to take...

Last weekend the Dawgs played Texas A&M and lost...terribly.  It's been a long time since I've left a game early, but Morgan and I had seen enough by the 3rd quarter and headed to the tailgate.  Other than the let-down on the field, the day was picture perfect.  We got to spend time with our friends and tailgate after the game.  The weather was so great.  I found myself just closing my eyes and enjoying being still and outside.  Another winner for me in Starkville!

 

 Check out our new tent!

 Me, Christina and Anna

 Morgan proudly showing Christina her "Hook 'em Horns!"

 Playing with Hollis and Len

Loving at the tailgate

Trick or Treat!

This Halloween was fantastic!  It was the first time that Morgan really got into it and that made it super fun.  For me, I am always thinking about her birthday party, so Halloween is kind of an after thought.  Morgan told me she wanted to be Tinkerbell so I found her a costume that didn't cheese me out too much.  When I brought it home she changed her mind and told me Cinderella!  Thankfully, we already have a Cinderella dress thanks to the Emma Kate Collection.  So I didn't technically have to buy two costumes and I could let her make a game-time decision.

 

Morgan had a Halloween party in her classroom and I got to help!  Anne Britt (Sam's mom) and I had fun putting together something for the kids.  Anne read a fun book and we had a spooky treat too!

 

The day of Halloween I had scheduled Morgan's three year checkup at the doctor.  I have no idea why I agreed to that day.  She was wound up and ready to trick or treat and it took forever!  This Mom had learned her lesson.

 

We rushed home to get dressed because the Schafer family was going to trick or treat with us!  She chose Tinkerbell and was so stinking cute!  We put the girls in the wagons and headed off!  Morgan and Carsyn were precious.  They would say "Trick or Treat!" and "Thank you!"  Those manners made this Momma very proud.  But, they were a little greedy and would always take a few pieces extra at each house!  Sneaky things!  The girls had so much fun.  It was really great to watch!

 

My favorite conversation with the girls that night went like this...

Carsyn: "You have wings.  Are you going to fly?"

Morgan: "No Carsyn! I have a costume!"

Carsyn: "I have a costume too!"

And then the giggled all the way to the next house!

 

 Story time at school

 Party time!

 Happy Halloween!

 Cutest Tinkerbell ever

 "Trick or Treat!"

 Tinkerbell and Cupcake Carsyn

 The girls took a moment to pose at our neighbors display

 Checking out those ghosts

 Brandi got us our kitty costumes so we could join in the fun too!

I loved my neighbor's owl pumpkin!