Animal Farm and Family Pictures

I seem to be averaging 1 post a month so here is my post for December. Hopefully I'll get a few more in this month. : )

Several months back we visited a ranch/animal farm...I've already forgotten the name of it. But the kids had a blast. They got to ride a pony, feed and milk a cow, pet many animals, and take a train ride.

Licking Evelyn's shoe

Feeding goats

Train ride

Some recent family photos

Pumpkin Patch and Country Fair

A few pictures from the past week.

Evelyn showing me her mini pumpkin that she picked out

Maeve with her pumpkin

They both seemed so sad about something

Maeve smiling at her big sister

This year Evelyn was Snow White and Maeve a pumpkin.
This was at the church country fair.

Family photo at the country fair

There was live music at the fair so Daddy and Maeve did a little dancing.

A Hair Cut and Carrots

I was looking back at my last post and noticed it has been some time since we updated. Today I actually have a free moment so I thought I would do just that.

Evelyn turned 3 on Sept 19th which we celebrated for about 3 weeks. We had several different parties with friends and family so it extended the birthday celebration for some time. I don't think she minded. (pictures of her party to come soon.) We also recently cut her hair. I didn't really want to get rid of the cute little curls at the end but it was becoming a battle every day to brush them. For weeks I kept telling her that if we cut her hair it would be easier to brush, and one day out of the blue she asked me to cut it. Getting ready has been much easier.




Maeve gave us quite a scare recently. For a week she had an awful cough and terrible wheezing. After several trips to the doctor with everything looking good we just didn't know what was going on. I do believe it was the Lord that brought back to my memory a carrot, choking incident. In light of that, the doctors thought there might be something down there making her wheeze. Last Tuesday she went into the hospital for a bronchoscopy and came out with a small piece of carrot. Before all of you think I am an awful parent, she picked up the carrot from her older sister and when I heard her choking on it I immediately checked her out and she seemed fine. It wasn't until later that she started wheezing and we thought she was just showing signs of being sick. She has recovered well and we are praising God that there was a doctor here in town that could do the procedure as soon as he did.

I couldn't get a good picture, but you can see a piece of orange carrot at the top of the picture, inside the jar. It looks small but anything thing inside your airway, besides air, is just too big.

Not eating raw carrots until she has molars

Gabe has been preparing for a triathlon which with take place this weekend. This is his first one and his goal right now is to finish the race. The kids and I will be there to cheer him on and take pictures. : )

Well I think that is all for now. I'm doing my usual thing, cooking, taking care of the house and kids, sewing and reading when I have a chance.

Trying on Mommies shoes.

Maeve liked the black ones better.

First Day of School

The girls started a mother's day out program at our church this week. Evelyn was actually sick on her first day of school and Maeve missed her second day after catching whatever big sis had. Next week is a new week. Hopefully they will both feel better enough to go next week as I am looking forward to a little time to myself.

Maeve on her first day. I think she was concerned that I did not pack enough food for her to eat. This girl has a big appetite right now.

Evelyn on her first day

Wondering why mom insist on taking a picture.

5 Years

On Friday, the 13th, Gabe and I celebrated 5 years of being married. It has been a wonderful 5 years and I am thankful everyday for him. Gabe's brother happened to be in town so we decided to take a trip out to the Blue Bell factory. I never thought I would have spent our 5th anniversary at Blue Bell, but is was a sweet treat. We all enjoyed it. Later that night Gabe took me out to a one of our favorite restaurants here in town.

Maeve was past due on a nap so she ended up falling asleep during the tour. Evelyn is showing me her strawberry ice cream.

A few cute sayings from Evelyn...before I forget them all.

Every time we pass the local car dealership with the big blow up of Yoda on top, she says, "There's YoYo, Mommy."

"It smells like snuck." She means skunk.

When I am drying my hair she says, "Mommy wind me." She wants me to dry her.

Summer, thus far

We have been very busy here at the Neal household. I haven't made any time for blogging, so here are some photos from a few trips we've taken.

At the beginning of June we took a trip to Spokane, Wa.

Evelyn and I at the top of a large wagon at Riverfront Park

Evleyn's first ride at an amusement park. She loved the airplanes.

After a week visiting friends in Wa, we headed down to Oregon and spent a few days with friends there. One day we took a trip out to the beach. The water was very cold and the kids got very sandy. They loved it.

Maeve discovering sand, which we later caught her putting fistfuls of it into her mouth.

At the beginning of July we took a trip up to Tulsa, Ok to visit Gabe's family.

We spent on morning at the aquarium

Popping fireworks on the 4th.

Maeve and Evelyn were both a bit distressed by the loud sounds of the fireworks.

Maeve with her Poppy, Gabe's dad

Evelyn and Gigi

Maeve now has 7 teeth and in the past few days has started walking. She loves eating, following her sister around, and being cuddled.

Evelyn will be 3 in a few months and is growing too fast. Her vocabulary grows everyday and she continues to amaze me with what she says and does. She has become quite the little helper around the house as well.

As most of you know my father passed away on July 4th. He battled cancer for 10 years and we are grateful for the time we had with him. He is no longer in pain. I am also thankful for the outpouring of love and support from all our friends. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people as friends. Tears are starting to emerge so I will stop for now.

Maeve's 1st Birthday

A few weekends ago Gabe took Evelyn fishing at a friends pond. They caught 2 fish. After about 20 mins of fishing, she was done. Gabe had fun while it lasted.

Maeve is now a year old. It is hard to believe a year has passed. She has 4 teeth. Two on the bottom and her two incisors.

Last night we celebrated her birthday with our Bible study. It just happened to be on the same night. After the cupcakes I made a few weeks ago I decided to pay for the convenience of store made ones. I did make the letters to put on top.

Destroying the cupcake.

Sampling the cupcake. Not sure if it is something she wants to eat.

Deciding that it is edible and taste good.

Happy Birthday to Maeve!

It took her a while but she ate most of the cupcake and had a blast getting it all over her.

Happy Early Birthday

Last week we celebrated the all the babies turning 1 in our Bible study, minus one family who couldn't make it because of a sick child. They were all born within a few weeks of each other, some just a few days apart. It turned out to be a wonderful evening to be outside and all the kiddos had a blast except for Maeve who wasn't feeling so well. I think she is finally getting some more teeth.

The cupcakes came about from an idea I saw from www.annies-eats.com. The party was at 5pm, I decided at 2pm to make these. Having never made them before that was not such a good idea to start so late in the day. I think we would have missed the party if not for my friend Bobbi who came over to help make them. I think they turned out super cute.

Maeve decided to cry at her party.

She didn't even want her cupcake. Oh well, more for me!

I needed some thank you cards recently so I decided to make some.