Festival of Trees

Excited for the Illini tree!!

Waiting in line for Santa.

Waiting for the train to cross.

This afternoon we met up with Grandma and Papa at the fairgrounds for the Festival of Trees.  It's one of my favorite things to do, but we have to wait until after Thanksgiving before we can do it!  The kids loved seeing all the trees, but their favorite was the watching the trains go around the gingerbread village or maybe eating the gingerbread cookies.   OK, maybe riding the train was the highlight.  Alex enjoyed seeing Santa, but Amelia was a little unsure of him.  No actual tears, but more of a stranger danger thing.

After spending a few hours together, the kids left for a sleepover with Grandma and Papa which included a trip to Toys R Us, a train ride at the mall, and Steak and Shake for dinner!  Mom and Dad headed to the movies to see Catching Fire followed by a nice quiet dinner at Saputos!!

Sammy is back!!

Today, we woke up to happiness and sadness!  First, Sammy has made it back from the North Pole!!  Woo Hoo!!!  He was impressed with our lights and tree!!  We think that's what made him decide to come back.

Bad news, the Christmas tree fell over!  I can't believe we didn't hear it come crashing down!  There were so many ornaments broke, that Nana had painted or bought for the kids.  These are irreplaceable, but at least there are many more years to collect them.  Daddy got it back up and so far we're good.  Fingers crossed!

Christmas Decorating



 

She kept telling me 'I'm a big helper Mommy.'

Daddy's favorite ornament from when he was little.

 

I am a huge stickler for one holiday at a time.  Alex keeps asking when we can decorate for Christmas, and I keep telling him not until Thanksgiving is over with because we only celebrate one holiday at a time.  He has seen several yards with lights in them and he keeps asking me "Mom, what is wrong with this people?"  So, I'm clearly teaching him the right way!

 

Well, today Thanksgiving is over and Alex is ready to decorate!!!!  He was a big helper of collecting all the pumpkins, leaves, etc and helping Daddy bring all the Christmas decorations from the basement.  So we are in full fledged decorating mode, including Daddy hanging lights outside.  We even ventured out this evening to pick out a tree!  We lost a few ornaments to Amelia's aggressive handling, but the excitement the kids had was worth it!!!  We had a busy day, but a fun one.  I loved dancing to Christmas songs with Alex in the kitchen and seeing Amelia get so excited when I pulled Santa Claus out of the tote.  This is what the holidays are all about. . . family!!

 

Potty Training

 

 

We're home for the next several days, so we're going to put some focus on peeing in the potty.  She seems on board, but time will tell.

Thanksgiving Art

Pumpkin pie

Alex's hand turkey

 

 

Alex's class has been very busy with Thanksgiving art.  I always love a good hand art project, but the recipe for turkey is my favorite!!!

Happy Birthday Zoey!



 

 

 

Not only is today Thanksgiving, but it's Zoey's 4th Birthday!  For a few days Thomas, Alex, and Zoey are all four years old!  The kids enjoyed wearing the party hats and blowing the noise makers.    Glad we were able to celebrate with Zoey!  I think she was ready for everyone to leave so she could just play with all her new toys!  Not to mention, every time one of her uncles and a few of her cousins would see her they would sing Happy Birthday to her.  She had had her fill by the end of the day!!