December 6th

How many Christmasy activities can you cram into one day?? Well, we tried our best to do as many as possible!! Of course, our morning started by checking out our goodies from St. Nicholas. Movies, Nutcrackers, Beanie Boos, gold coins, and candy! So many goodies! We ventured off to check out our pockets and find Shed! In our pockets, our activity of the day was "Go See Santa at Crown Center!" That means--- leave school early!!! So after a short stay at school, I picked the boys up and we headed on down to Crown Center! First stop- Fritz's for lunch! Then it was down the hall to see Santa. There was no line (YAY!) so I kind of expected the boys to linger around Santa for a little while, but they hopped on his lap, told them their wishes, I snapped their picture, and then that was that. It was like 1 whole minute. I guess the job was done! Grant asked for a base for his army men and Wyatt asked for the Imaginext Batbot Xtreme. As he was walking off, Wyatt did ask Santa if he could come to our house on the 23rd because we will be leaving the 24th to head for the farm. Santa said, "Of course!" And with that, they were off to explore Gingerbread Village. We did a little bit more exploring around Crown Center and then headed off for a visit at the Family Tree Nursery! The poinsettias there was truly remarkable! Such a pretty sign! We were pretty tired after all our adventuring, so we headed home and snuggled up to watch Arthur Christmas! Such a cute movie!! We were waiting for Levi to get home from drill and then we loaded up for a visit to watch the Deanna Rose light show and take a spin around Christmas Place! Phew!! What a magical day filled with so many of our favorite Christmas traditions!! I LOVE having days with my fellas, experiencing Christmas magic through their little eyes!! My favorite!

Journey to Judea

Last year a friend had told me about Journey to Judea and what a neat experience it was! So after loving last year's visit so much, I knew it would be something we would do each and every year and the boys were asking if we were going again too! Levi didn't get to go with us last year, so we were happy he was home this year to join us! Our December 1st activity in our pockets said "Journey to Judea" and the boys thought it was the perfect activity to kick off our season of Advent. Luckily, the weather had been in the 50s so we weren't planning on freezing temps- so thankful for that!! We got there a few minutes early to enjoy our cookies and cocoa, and then bundled up to experience the Bible in such a magical way! The story starts at Creation and takes you all the way to the Resurrection. It tells of the prophecy of Jesus and the of his birth, life, and death. Oh, it gives me chills hearing the Good News told in such a real-life way. The boys eyes were glued to each person as they told the story! I also loved when they'd lean over to me and say, "Oh I know this story!" Good good stuff. Love this special Christmas tradition!

Pockets: Christmas Scavenger Hunt Style

 This year, I did something different with their pockets! I still used the same concept but changed it up a little bit! Each day, their pocket had a Christmas joke and activity card like every year, but instead of the toy or treat that would normally go in there, they had a puzzle to solve. I put their toys/treats in small gift sacks throughout the house with a Christmas picture on the bag. Whatever word they solved in their puzzle, they had to find the corresponding bag somewhere in the house!

Somehow I didn't actually manage to get a picture of them doing their puzzles so I took a screenshot, for memory's sake! There was one strip in each pocket. So one day, their word was CANDYCANE, one day it was SNOWGLOBE, etc. 

They decided to take turns each morning solving the puzzle and then it was a free for all to find the bag, but whoever found the bag first brought it into the kitchen. Then, they each took a handle to the bag and pulled apart, like a wishbone, to see what was in inside! I love how they figured out how to share in all the fun!

 Literally 24 gift bags hidden around the house!! It was so fun each morning- their excitement as they solved the puzzle and raced around the house to find the bag as quick as possible! They loved it!! They collect tiny toys, so it was fun shopping for tiny things I knew they would love! I'd been collecting things since the summer!! Of course, they also loved the activity cards we always do! I just love the tradition of our pockets and its definitely their favorite thing we do to celebrate the season!!! 

Not sure how I will be able to top this year though!!!

November Photos

November was also neglected on the blog, so photo collage it is!

---------------

 Grant made toys out of recyclables ~ Basketball with Daddy when he FINALLY came home from flight school ~ Book It Certificate

Christmas Decorations are out ~ Meet Season Muscles ~ 1st Meet of the Season

Grant and Daddy ~ Leaf cuties

Wyatt read 100 books for the school year ~ Decorations are up! ~ My little elf

Icee Cutie ~ Chiefs Family ~ Grant LOVES his roller skates

Grant making the decision to be baptized!!!!! ~ Wonder with 3rd Grade ~ Happy Thanksgiving!

Shed's Arrival

The boys have been counting down the days til Shed's arrival for over a month! Well, really since he left last year, but officially counting down since October! Last year, Grant wrote Shed a note and asked him to come November 30th this year, and in his goodbye letter to the boys, Shed said yes!!! Shed has always done something special with the boys each year, so their minds were spinning with ideas of what he could be doing with them!! Well, we woke up on the morning of November 30th and saw our special breakfast waiting for us!!! New BAB reindeer, Christmas night lights, Christmas tree cakes, Christmas crunch cereal, and North Pole Punch! He always brings new plates, cups, and placemats too! Such a fun elf!!!

 Of course he was sitting in his favorite chair :)

In his letter, he said he and the boys were going to decorate this little tree together! He would be hiding an ornament everyday! Sneaky little elf came for a quick visit in the fall and saw me prepping for their pockets and he used my idea of a Christmas symbol for each pocket. His instructions were to open their pocket in the morning, then go find him and look for his clue! Then they would find the ornament that would go on the tree! It will be a scavenger hunt every morning!! We can't wait to see what happens!!!

October Pictures

The blog got completely ignored in October, so for memory's sake, here are some pictures!

--------------------

 Me, Candace, & Liam ~ We got BOOed! ~ Family Painting at Pinot's Palette

Pumpkin Patch Cuties ~ Build a Bear Trip

GREAT WOLF LODGE Visit ~ Halloween movie watching ~ Cheesecake date with Grant

Millie snuggles ~ Grant prepping his pumpkin (first time he's ever gutted his own pumpkin) ~ Finished pumpkins (Wyatt's L and Grant's R)

Halloween Breakfast ~ School Halloween Parade

Costumes ~ SO MUCH CANDY ~ Trick or Treating Morse Crew

Pumpkin Patch Visits

We get SUPER excited every year when the pumpkins make their way to the church parking lots!! We try to visit them as often as possible! We like to find the fattest pumpkin, bumpiest, skinniest, tallest, tiniest! Always fun to just see God's beauty amongst the festive fun!

Our first visit was short and sweet. We had about 15 minutes before our small group, so we made a quick stop, but as we arrived, so did the rain showers. We snapped a few pics to prove we were there, but we'd have to save our scavenger hunt visit for another day!

 Fast forward 5 days and we were back!! This time, it was time to search!!! We found a pumpkin that was over half the size of Wyatt!!! We imagined some amazing things we could carve into that pumpkin...if we had a chainsaw!

 They were puzzled by this door to nowhere...

 Baby pumpkins are always a favorite!!

 Say PUMPKINS!!!!!!!!!

Harvest Hustlin'

The boys and I had a wonderful night playing at school at the Mother/Son Harvest Hustle! A whole bunch of games, prizes, and FUN!!!! Although this year, we didn't win any prizes, we sure had fun playing the games! A bunch of minute-to-win-it games are definitely the way to elementary boy's hearts! Add light up glasses and glow sticks and its the perfect recipe for a good time!

We started off with a crazy(and LOUD!) time at Pizza Shoppe with a ton of friends before it was time to head to school!

(picture to come)

Once we got to school, we dropped in our raffle tickets for any of the prize baskets we hoped to win! The Lego basket is always the fan favorite and where Grant dropped all 6 of his tickets in. But no such luck this time! We didn't even win a door prize this year! But thats ok! We made our way to the photos where the boys took the most adorable photo with me! (Again, picture to come!) And then it was time for GAMES!!!! So many fun games. We played and played and played!!! It was a great evening spent with my favorite fellas!!!

Harvest Festival at Grace

Every year, around the birthday of our church, we have a huge festival to celebrate! The last few years, the weather has been amazing and a Sunday evening outside with our church family was the perfect plan! Lots of games, rides, tattoos, food trucks! Good times!