Traditions...

Easton had a homework assignment from school this weekend and it talked about Christmas day and we started talking about our family traditions and I thought I'd share our family's traditions with you guys and maybe you guys could leave a comment with your family's traditions{I might end up stealing a few}. I think as the kids get older family traditions become more important and I was a little surprised at the family traditions Easton likes best.

*EVERY Sunday in the month of December we make cookies, and each Sunday the kids pick a different kind of cookie to make{peanut butter, chocolate chip, sugar, gingerbread, etc}.

*The day after Thanksgiving "Presents" our Elf on the Shelf arrives in a box straight from Santa{pretend snow and all}.

*On Christmas Eve, the kids get new, matching Christmas pjs after bath time and we always do a picture of them in front of the tree.

*We go to the local mall and get their picture taken with Santa and I have every year framed and displayed during Christmas.

*On Christmas Eve everyone gets to open one present from an extended family member.

* A few days be fore Christmas or even on Christmas Eve we load up in the car go to Starbucks, get cocoa and coffee and drive around listening to Christmas music looking at all the Christmas lights.

Please share your family's Christmas Traditions...I'd LOVE to hear them!!

It's HERE....

SNOW that is!! Yep, after all our friends and family in Texas got snow, we finally snow of our own. Granted, it was only about 3 inches, but to Waylon you would have thought it was 3 feet. Daddy enjoyed taking the boys sledding this morning after hockey while Mommy and London stayed home{warm inside} and finished getting the Christmas decorations up.

SNOWBALL FIGHT...

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The RUN Down...

Sorry to disappoint but due to the fact that in the CRAZY Thanksgiving week{end} my camera was somehow misplaced{LOST}...I hate to think it was lost...but I am pretty sure I will not be finding it anytime soon...so not a lot of pictures on this post. I do have some cell phone pictures to post. But since I have no real pictures I thought I would give you a run down of what pictures I would post, if I had found my missing camera.

We had a busy Thanksgiving, but none the less a great one. We enjoyed our traditional thanksgiving dinner with Pappy{Ian's Dad} and then went to have dessert with our dear friends and their families. We got the kids their very own tree this year with colored lights{the boys picked} and so we put that up and the boys enjoyed decorating it while little sister enjoyed trying to take every ornament down.

I enjoyed my very first 4:00 am black Friday shopping spree in CT with Amy and her sister-in-law. We started out at Khols and then went to Wal-Mart and then enjoyed a breakfast out. I got the boys and London some good stuff. Admittedly, I just went to see what it was all about and I actually had FUN!

We worked on getting the outside of the house decorated since we had Pappy here to help Daddy out. We got a new inflatable for the front yard{the boys picked it out} and we ended up hanging wreaths on every front facing window...a lot of work but it looks BEAUTIFUL{if I do say so myself}.

Daddy and Pappy took the boys skating since they didn't have hockey this weekend. The boys had a GREAT time chasing Daddy and Pappy around.

So there you have it{if you didn't get bored and stop reading 5 sentences into this post}, a recap of our Thanksgiving week{end}. Hoping all of our dear friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. I know our family has so much to be thankful for this year...I am truly blessed beyond belief!

Much Love!!

Lessons Learneding...

Like I've stated before, the boys LOVE army soldiers...really any soldiers. Knowing this and knowing that one of Ian's co-workers has a son serving in Afghanistan, we decided to give back and try and help Zach Griffith and his company have a Merry Christmas by asking Ian's co-workers to donate items from a wish list from the soldiers. Ian and the boys had a BLAST going to Wal-Mart and purchasing things for the soldiers from their wish list. In total Ian's firm donated over 350lbs of goodies for the 200 soldiers serving in Afghanistan. My wish this holiday season is that my children learn one of the MOST important{special} life lessons...that it's better to give than to receive. We also felt it was one small way to thank those soldiers and their families for the sacrifices they make daily for us and our children.

NYC

Ian and I did something we have not done in 5 years...yes, FIVE years. We spent the weekend together WITHOUT kids!! Ian's birthday was last Tuesday and as part of his present he got Metallica tickets{a long time ago} with the intention of going with his dad or a friend, since you know, I'm not really into Metallica{shocking, I know}. But, he really wanted to spend the weekend with me and almost didn't go to the concert because I didn't really want to go. Then, I decided to step up to the plate, step out of my box and do something for the man I loved. So we had our wonderful sitter, who has been with us since I was pregnant with London, and who we completely trust, to watch the kids over night so that we could celebrate his birthday in style. We left on Saturday at nap time and drove to NYC and stopped at the hotel, checked our bags and then spent the rest of the day shopping, walking around{hand and hand}, enjoying dinner{without interruptions}, shopping more, going to the concert, sleeping in, enjoying breakfast and then heading back home. And{surprisingly} the kids survived and better yet, Miss Robin survived!! So, you can bet we will be doing it again!

tc...who...TCU!!

I haven't{REALLY} enjoyed watching TCU football since I was a cheerleader there almost 10 years ago{GASP}. But this year has been an exception...with TCU running up the ranks{#4} I have LOVED rooting for the fightin' frogs!! Daddy was at TCU a few weekends ago speaking to parents, staff, alumni and students for homecoming weekend, and while there he stopped by the TCU bookstore and picked up some new TCU gear for our clan. They didn't have a cheerleading outfit small enough for London, so he got her the cutest polo dress. Hopefully, next year while we are down for our 10 year reunion we will get London a cheerleading outfit and she can cheer on her team!!