Happy Thanksgiving

How thankful we are this year to be together as a family!! Levi and I have been celebrating Thanksgiving together for the past 11 years and last year was our first one where he wasn't there! While there have been many ups and downs these past few months, we always always always have something to be thankful for!!! 

 This year, we spent the day at home just lounging and hanging around the house! It was a cold, rainy, kind of icy day, so definitely a great day for staying in our jammies, and we were all THANKFUL for that opportunity! But we did change out of them to head over to Mimi and PawPaw's for dinner! I haven't had my mom's thanksgiving meal in a LONG time, and it was so good, for which I am so THANKFUL!!! We ate and ate and ate, just as Thanksgiving is intended to be!! Then Levi and I headed out to do a bit of shopping while the boys got to have a sleepover, which made them super happy and THANKFUL! It was so great spending that alone time with Levi! Something that is so rare for us and definitely something I am so THANKFUL to be able to do again!

My mom got the boys these Snoopy jammies they have been asking for, so they put them on and I just had to take pictures of them just looking so adorable!! I am THANKFUL for them and they are THANKFUL for those jammies!

 And doesn't my mom's house just look amazing! This is only one tiny section of their living room but coming over to see these sights and smells and just so cozy and comforting! THANKFUL for the memories this season brings!

It was a very Happy Thanksgiving indeed!

Wyatt's Thanksgiving Feast

Wyatt had his last Thanksgiving feast at school as a preschooler! Hard to believe we've been able to see him perform at Thanksgiving at preschool for three years now! His school does some adorable songs and poems for their program. Last year he was an Native American, so he was excited to be a Pilgrim this year! After the songs are finished, we all make our way to the big room for a yummy Thanksgiving feast! Since Wyatt's class did all the grocery shopping for the feast, they also got to prepare some of the food. They made cranberry sauce and corn muffins, neither of which he actually ate during the feast, but he sure pointed out that he made them! Such a special little celebration!

Mimi came!!!

He was showing me his feather we made on the all-school turkey!

 He feasted on popcorn, carrots, and cupcakes. So traditional, right?!

And then after our feast, we headed to have a real lunch with Daddy on his lunch break since he couldn't join us!

Mimi and I had to take a selfie before we left because we don't normally dress this nice and we color coordinated!

Kaleidoscope with Wyatt

My Mom's Group at church meets every other Monday and its just a fabulous time! But every other Monday, we try and meet somewhere fun with the kiddos. And this time, we met at Kaleidoscope and Wyatt was beyond excited!! After Grant went in Kindergarten and came home and said, "Wyatt, you would love that place!" He's been counting down the days until he could be in Kindergarten to go to Kaleidoscope, so the fact he didn't have to wait any longer was just AWESOME!! Our time was very limited, but we made the most of it! It was only our small group and one other group, so it wasn't busy which allowed for us to do all the activities.  Wyatt loved every single activity and just went from station to station to station, crafting as he went! We came home with a huge bag of masterpieces. Now that he has had a taste of Kaleidoscope, he's even more excited for his kindergarten field trip next year!!

O Christmas Tree!

We knew there was no possible way we were waiting till after Thanksgiving to start decorating! Christmas had been on the brain since we walked in the door from Trick or Treating. So waiting this long seemed fair enough! It was a decent weekend outside, so Levi got to work with the decorations outside, and I got to work inside. The boys floated back and forth between the two of us and decorated however their little hearts desired! 

It's always a little chaotic when you get the stuff out. It's always worse before it gets better. This is only the second year in this house and things weren't really settled 100% last year, so it almost felt like decorating at a new house! I wasn't sure where to put this, or that. Heck, we didn't even really know where we were going to put the tree! But after some rearranging of the furniture, we had a game plan! 

Grant was my Christmas DJ and I think I had about 10 pictures like this on my phone while he managed our music..

This is part of the "worse before it gets better" phase!

 My little Santa helper always willing to lend a hand!!

 Perfectly perfect!!!!

 We also got out the village! The boys arranged and rerranged and rearranged until everything was just right! Oh how they love their village!!

 We also got our little Jesse Tree up in the corner because that side of the room was just too dark for my liking. Next year, I think I need a bigger tree...am I right?!?

I just love Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving School Games

My littlest boy and his love of school work! It truly never gets old!! We have such a great time playing and learning together!! Here's a sampling of some of our favorite activities from November. We squeezed in about 2 weeks of these games, as the Christmas itch grew stronger and stronger and those took over mid-November! But we had some thanksgiving fun while it lasted!

The Boys' Tree

The boys have had a tree in their room for as long as I can remember! They used to have teeny tiny trees but the past two years they've been able to decorate one just their size!! So on November 14th, we just couldn't wait any longer to bust out that tree! They love their color changing LED lights, which gives them a light show every night!! And they love looking through their ornament stash each year! "Oh look at this one!" "Oh I forgot we had this!" I love their enjoyment and excitement as they filter through each ornament!!! They worked super hard and their tree turned out just beautifully!! 

I love that they love this tradition!!

Fall Family Photos

I absolutely love getting our pictures done every fall! Its such a perfect backdrop and I love seeing the changes in our little boys at the same time each year! When our planned photo session was coming near, I checked the bank statement over and just couldn't use that chunk of change that needed to be used elsewhere, so we had to cancel. I figured I could swing a few generic pictures outside and maybe use our tripod to get at least 1 family photo. After all, it had been two years since our last family photo session!! About that same time, a dear friend of mine, who is a photographer, offered to give our family a free session as a welcome home gift for Levi and I. I jumped at the chance!!! They turned out beautifully!! I am so thankful for these captured moments, and also for dear friends who take such good care of us!

Wyatt's Basketball Season

Wyatt has another season of Junior Basketball under his belt this year! He was such a little baller this year too! He is such a determined little guy, he really works hard until he masters something! He had the same coach Grant had during his session, so he was comfortable with him, which also helped him know about the tricks the coach liked to play. He was a very goofy guy, which obviously, the boys loved!! He had a decent mix of kids on his team, some of which had an idea about basketball and some who have probably never seen a ball before! He definitely was the best on his little group, and I think he enjoyed having the coach use him as an example quite a few times! Such a little perfectionist! He loves dribbling without looking, driving in for a layup, and shooting free throws. Jump -Stop was his favorite game! He learned how to use the backboard on layups so he enjoyed telling people about that!

I think next year, both boys will be ready for team play! I can't wait for that!!!