O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum....

We love Christmas in our house.  LOVE it.  And while there's plenty to cherish about the holiday (The birth of Jesus!  Noel!  Rejoice!), we *really* enjoy putting up our Christmas tree.  There's something about the warm glow from the lights that can make any house seem cozy. 

After last year's ornament-breaking fiasco (I think we lost 3 within 2 minutes), we decided to only let the kids hang up the shatterproof ones this year.  Much less nerve-wracking for us.  Much less micromanaging for them.  Much more enjoyment for everyone. 

 When she's really concentrating hard, she sticks her little tongue out.  It's so cute.

I remember when I was younger, I had a Garfield comic from the newspaper taped to the bookshelf on my room.  The comic strip was a Christmas one, and it showed Garfield and Odie decorating the tree.  The final frame of the strip shows Jon, Garfield, and Odie standing back and looking at their beautiful tree together.  I think Jon said something like, "Good work, guys.  This is the prettiest tree we ever had."  Which is a pretty standard statement to make each year  (I remember my mom saying it frequently while growing up, and Jared and I have said it a few times ourselves.).  But the reason it was so cute, and the reason I cut out the comic and saved it for so long, was because only the bottom 6 inches of the tree had ornaments on it. 

I had completely forgotten about that comic strip until Leah and Isaac proudly hung up all of their ornaments.

And as they stood back and surveyed their work, there was a (possibly slightly misty-eyed) part of me that thought, Well geez.  This is the prettiest tree we've ever had.  

I'd like to say we left the tree like that and just enjoyed it's toddler/preschooler decor.  But after the kids went to bed that night, we rearranged the ornaments so they were dispersed a wee more evenly throughout the tree.

Since I couldn't decide which video of the event to post, I decided to share them all.  Even the crooked, have to tilt your head to the side to watch it one.  :)

Oh, the excitement!

Must.  Touch.  Every.  One.

Ohhh, thank you to the creator of shatterproof Christmas ornaments!  May all your Christmases be merry and bright!  Oh, and also?  Tilt your head to the left right about....now.

Busy Bags

There are a few (read: way more than I should actually spend time reading) blogs that I follow.  Some of them have useful information, some of them just waste my time, and some of them lead me into the mode of "if only".  If only I could decorate my house like that, if only I could be as "together" as that stay-at-home mom of 3 who not only homeschools her kids, but also bakes, cooks, crafts, and runs a non-profit that helps starving orphans in Africa, etc etc etc...

But every once in a while, I'll make something useful out of that time spent surfing the interwebs.  Like these Busy Bags, for instance.

 This one is called Pom Pom Stuff It In.  Because ya know... you take the pom poms and stuff them in.   The Busy Bags are great because they give the kids something to do during times when I really need them to be busy.  Like the last 15 minutes of trying to get dinner on the table.  Or trying to get myself dressed and normal looking so we can all finally get out the door and go to that appointment we should have left for 20 minutes ago.  You get the picture. 

 Lele likes this one best.  She gets to string the felt pieces onto a ribbon and make a long snake. 

 Whereas Isaac prefers this.  Unraveling twisty ties and putting them into this empty bottle.  (Why yes, that IS a Medela milk storage container!)

Busy Bags, busy kids.  Happy mama.  :)

November!

We spent a lot of our time outdoors this fall, perhaps because there were so many beautiful days to enjoy. 

Leah and Isaac enjoyed burrowing into the leaves and throwing them way up high in the air around them. 

A few random shots of the woods in our backyard (side yard?).  I just liked the contrast of colors, but I don't think I was able to capture it  very well with our rinky-dink camera.

Matching jammies!  Leah doesn't really like long-sleeved pants and shirts.  So about 5 minutes after bed, she changes into her typical shorts and tank top.

My little kitchen assistants, helping me scoop out the pumpkins for our delicious pumpkin soup!

Such fun!  And in dire need of a haircut!

Scooping is tough work!

Thanksgiving day!  We had a house full-- 10 adults, and 6 kids age 4 and under.   And here you see the typical "kids table".

My little pilgrims.  The week of Thanksgiving, we read about the Mayflower and the pilgrims and Indians.  It only seemed fitting to make proper hats for the event.

After much searching, we finally found the perfect swing set for backyard.  It's quite the monster, but Craigslist scored us a pretty good deal.  Unfortunately, after Jared took it apart, it took 3 people to get it into our backyard so he could set it up again.  Leah was so excited watching the process, and we've been outside on it almost every day since. 

Cute UD shirts, eh?  Since we're in-state, we figured they may as well get used to the idea of going there for college.  Thus, the indoctrination begins...

By looking at the woods in the background, you can tell these pictures were taken towards the end of the month since almost all of the leaves had fallen.  (As opposed to my earlier shots.)

Not impressed with Sid the Science Guy, Isaac decided to read The Story of Christmas instead.  'Tis the season!

Riding a horse isn't enough.  One must read books simultaneously for full enjoyment.

October

Since I can't seem to keep up to date with this on a regular basis, I'll just take the time to go back over the past few months and share some sweet photos and special occasions.

 Picking out some flowers on the Judy farm

 It is just impossible not to love this happy face.

 The pups enjoying some autumn air

 We had some visitors in October and really enjoyed introducing the fall season to our Texas friends.  It was so very wonderful to spend time with that Davenport clan again.

Some late afternoon apple picking.  I just love how Leah and Micah are sharing a special giggle in the background.

The apple picking (eating) crew!  Followed up by the "most delicious apple pie ever".  In Mia's opinion anyway.

 We made some goo on Halloween.  Leah really enjoyed it...

 Isaac, not so much. 

 That evening we dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, and the grandmother. 

 Oh!  And don't forget the woodsman.  He's the one that, depending on which version of the story you read, either picks the wolf up upside down and shakes the grandmother out, or scares the wolf off into the woods while the grandmother jumps out of the closet where she's been hiding the whole time.  Either way, Jared basically just got to wear his work clothes. 

 At the end of the night with some tired kiddos.  I'm pretty sure the Big Bad Wolf uses a paci when he gets stressed out in the story too, right?

Revived by all their loot!