Getting Ready...

...for Christmas!!

Thanksgiving weekend is when the preparation for the holiday usually begins in our house. The tree goes up, ornaments are placed, decorations are put up, presents are wrapped, cookies are made, and the only music you will hear played in our house or vehicles is Christmas music :)

I LOVE IT!

This is the first year in a long time that I was much more prepared for the start of the season. By the time Thanksgiving came, all my presents were bought & wrapped, most of the decorations were hung, and our tree was put up. This actually worked out quite well for the kids sake (and my own sanity!) because when they came over, everything was ready for them to jump right in and do the fun stuff that they enjoy doing and they didn't have to wait around for Jake and I to do the all the necessary stuff (as they try to "help." Which is so kind and thoughtful but anyone with children knows it's not usually nuch of a help!). After one weekend with the kiddos, our house is officially ready for Christmas.

Emma, Abby & Nate did a wonderful job decorating the tree... And of course, we had to take our family photo for our Christmas card. I always have this grand idea that this is going to be a fun event, and somehow it never really turns out quite that way. Typically it doesn't turn out fun because one person in particular always decides not to cooperate. Hmmm....any guesses who that could be?!

Yes, Mr. Nathan.
This boy can be so sweet sometimes (actually, most of the time) and then he can be the most stubborn little boy at times. No worries, we ended up getting a good picture. Nate's stubborness quickly fades as soon as chocolate brownies enter the scene. Yes, I bribed him. Sometimes that's just the way it has to be!

Later, Nate and Jake worked hard on putting together our new Christmas train set...

A job well done, boys!

While the boys were busy putting together the train, the girls and I were busy baking sugar cookies which were later decorate with frosting & sprinkles...yummy!

And then last night (at their weekly Tuesday night dinner) Amy, Jake and the kids worked together to make our Advent Chain that will travel back and forth from our house and Amy's for the next 25 days....

So, our house is ready for the holidays! Is yours? :)

The Longest Blog Post Ever

I have neglected our blog. This post is long overdue. I have so much to share with you! We had a very busy October! It was filled with new schedules, school, soccer practice, gymnastics, play practice, sickness, birthdays, holidays, pumpkins...oh my! I am happy to share all of this with but do apologize that this post is so long! I promise to work on blogging more frequently. Hopefully that will become easier soon as I build a good argument with my husband as to why it would be a good idea to get Internet at home :)

Our month began with someone losing his first tooth...

Nate discovered he had a loose tooth just a couple weeks prior to this photo. As you can see, Nate was successful at wiggling that loose tooth right out of his mouth! He even pulled it out himself! Nate was also quite pleased with his first visit from the tooth fairy. I think that smile says it all :)
Nathan was also the first (and only thus far) person in our house to get sick this season. Poor guy didn't feel good for about a week and missed a few days of school. But even sick, he was still a sweet boy. Look at him smiling even though he had a fever and terrible cough...

Abby was busy on Saturday mornings taking gymnastics. She LOVED it! She has never taken gymnastics before, but watching her you would never know. She did everything so well and with great enthusiasm.

From tumbling...

...to handstands, she did it all with such ease.

We kicked off October with a hayride and pumpkin picking at a local farm.

Love this picture Abby & her Daddy....

It was a beautiful fall day...

They each found their perfect pumpkin...

The kids and I enjoyed the last few warm (actually, very warm, spring-like weather) days of fall at the playground after school.

Isn't she gorgeous?!

So cute...

Handsome little man...

Abigail & Nathan both had birthdays in October as well. We celebrated Abby's a little late and Nate's a little early with a double birthday party at a bowling ally with all our family in Mass.

Everyone had tons of fun bowling...

Joseph & Nate

Abigail & Elizabeth

Emma & Deija

Connor was more interested in dancing in his bowling shoes thane he was with bowling...

...So, my Pepere joined in on the fun and took Connor's place bowling for him! You are never too old to have fun!

Emma, Luke & Logan

Grampa Daly even brought Toby along for the fun...

And the fun continued after bowling with pizza, cupcakes, and presents!!!

Abigail & Nathan received so many wonderful gifts from all their family. They got everything from clothes, sneakers and rain boots to Zhu Zhu Pets, Moon Sand, Playdough and Hot Wheels to roller blades and walking/barking toy dog!!! They also each got new bikes which were desperately needed at our house since they had each outgrown their old ones.

Abby's bike is Pretty 'n Pink...

And Nathan is ready to ride!

It was such a fun party! Thank you to everyone who came and for all the wonderful gifts!

Our exciting weekend in Mass didn't end with the birthday party. The next day, Nana took us to the Apple Festival at Mt. Watchusett.

There was face painting...

Slides, moon bounces, and game...

Lots of sights to see.

A wonderful bird show...

And even pony rides...

Thanks, Nana, for a great afternoon and lots of happy memories. We love you!

Our fall fun continued at home with painting our pumpkins...

And creating Jimmy-Bob (named by the kids)...

Jake, the girls and I had fun making Jimmy-Bob. Nathan had no interest in participating with the makings of our jack-o-lantern. He was perfectly content watching the rest of us get our hands dirty while cleaning out the pumpkin :)

Yes, our pumpkin is white. This was not supposed to be our jack-o-lantern pumpkin. It was the one I was painting. However, sometimes things don't go as planned (a hard, hard lesson to learn, ha!) and we ended up with a white jack-o-lantern.

Do you think Emma is enjoying this process?

The kids had a blast trick-or-treating not once, but twice this past weekend. On Saturday the kids and I drove to the King of Prussia Mall (where Jake works) and went trick-or-treating through the entire mall (and I mean the WHOLE mall. Both buildings, first and second floors!)! Our first stop was Daddy's store of course where they were treated like VIP's and given extra candy :)

It was a lot of walking, but they did it and they sure got a LOT of candy!

And the next night they were back out! We drove over to Amy's neighborhood to trick-or-treat with their friends.

The kids' neighbor and friend, Shannon, tagged along with us. Jake and I escorted the Mad Hatter, Little Red Riding Hood, a blue crayon and Peter Pan throughout the neighborhood. It was a very cold night, but so much fun!

We ended the month the same way we started....with a missing tooth! On our way out the door to go trick-or-treating, Nate lost a second tooth!! At the rate he's going, he may be singing "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" very soon!