transitioning to Christmas.

With the leftovers eaten we quickly transitioned our last 2 days of the holiday weekend into Christmas. Our family LOVES Christmas. All of it. The music, the lights, the festivities, the traditions, the shopping, the trees....we love it all!

We headed over to Watson's for our annual reindeer visit complete with a scavenger hunt for the Christmas gnome, hot chocolate and letters to Santa. Even though there are 395769393 decorations that could easily break from one of my adorable children touching it they always do such a nice job walking around admiring the decor before we write our letters. 

 The reindeer are so fun to visit and this year we even got to watch them play and eat a tree! Simon could have spent all day standing by the fence but the big kids were ready for the scavenger hunt.

 After they collected their prize we wrote our letters to Santa and mailed them away. Fingers crossed they get what they asked for!

 Later that afternoon we headed to the theater for a family movie. This newest version of The Grinch was fantastic! Other than Grandpa falling asleep for a bit and Simon wanting to cuddle in my lap I'd say it was a big success.

 And finally, the last morning we headed out to the Christmas tree farm. Matt is shocked every year at the price of a silly tree but the kids just love the tradition of hunting and searching for the perfect one so we keep at it. The weather was perfect for a morning at the farm.

 The boys all helped cut the tree down while Lucy and I supervised.

 After the tree was cut down Carter and Matt went to go pick it up and carry it over to the tractor so they could drive it to our car. Carter accidentally snapped off the top and was so upset! It was pretty obvious which tree was ours from that point on. Luckily, after a few tears, we told him he could keep the top for his bedroom mini-tree and we'd still find a way to get the star on top. Whew.

 We came home, unpacked and quickly put the lights on. I pulled out all the Christmas books for the kids and every single morning they've wandered downstairs, snuggled up with a blanket and read a good book. And this magical moment....it's why Christmas is my favorite time of year.

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a day of thanks, 2018.

Thanksgiving weekend is my favorite weekend of the entire year. It's the official start to the holiday season, time spent with family, lots of delicious food, tradition after tradition, loads of shopping and 4   days celebrating all we are thankful for. 

We kept our traditions pretty much the same this year and it did not disappoint. After breakfast we loaded up these cute kids and headed down to Grandpa and Grandma Vance's for the weekend. 

 Everyone quickly settled in to their usual places. Simon fed the squirrels, Lucy colored, Carter watched football and I cooked!

 The evening ended with a delicious dinner and plenty of pie for dessert!

 Early the next morning Matt and I headed out for our annual Black Friday Shopping Date. It's more about the date part than the actual shopping (although we spent plenty of money and grabbed some great deals!). Being able to walk around ALL day feels great after a day of cooking and eating plus checking off our lists of gifts early on is so nice.

 The kids were happy to eat leftover pie and relax for the day while we shopped.

 And Simon rode the horse over and over and over....love this little cowboy!

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friendsgiving with a side of a thankfulness.

November is all about food, friends and thankfulness and I do my best to embrace them all throughout the entire month. Between sports, before and after school activities, work, preschool and conferences we somehow squeezed in some time for outdoor fun, lots of baking and a festive Friendsgiving celebration at our house. 

Simon got to help prep the pies. Of course he never actually ate any real Thanksgiving food (do crackers count?!?) but he sure looked cute helping with the pie baking. 

School conferences meant lots of extra half days. I actually love them even though it messes with our work schedules a bit. Extra time in the afternoon to have playdates with friends and around the park are really the best. It reminded me of Carter's kindergarten year when he only had half day school. Getting to eat lunch together and go play was the best thing for all of us that year. So I took the boys to a local skate park and sporting goods store one afternoon while Lucy was at a friends house.

Carter had his first basketball game of the season and his team did great! The best group of boys from his school, really great parents and siblings and a lot of true talent. It's going to be so fun to watch the next 10 weeks or so.

And then...Friendsgiving! It was our 2nd annual dinner with 2 other families we love. 6 adults, 9 kids, a 23lb. turkey and tons of food. Our house isn't huge, we don't have a formal dining room or a massive kitchen or a grand entry way. We have 1800 sq. feet of usable space for our family that fits us just right. But it can make hosting a challenge at times. I was determined to not let that stop me though and we honestly had the greatest night of sharing food, conversation and laughter.

These kids have grown up together, with Lucy and her 2 friends playing soccer together since they were 3! It's so nice that all the kids get along so well, even if it's controlled chaos.

We spent the rest of the half days playing soccer, going to another park and making even more pies for Thanksgiving day.

And finally, our 7th annual Thanksgiving hand tree. My absolute favorite tradition of the year. Every day in November leading up to Thanksgiving we each put up a handprint leaf with something we are thankful for. It can be serious or silly but is always a good reminder of how much we really have.

And...the 3 kids I'm most thankful for! They're the best gift ever.

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