A Bit of November

Reese in his new jogging suit from Aunt Amy and Uncle Darnel

 We spent a day helping my mom at her house.  My dad had a lot of hats and we each picked some to keep.  I also picked a couple for the boys.  Reese loved his hat!

 Watching football

 My silly boys!

 A day at the winery with my wonderful friends!

 Reese loves to sit in the lego box and cover himself with a blanket to watch tv.

 Max is becoming a little more tolerable of the boys.  He used to hang out on the back of the couches, mainly for safety.  The boys are learning to be more gentle and loving with him.

 Watching Rudolph

My mom did some clearance shopping after Halloween.  She found an Iron Man costume and a Spider Man costume.  The boys loved them.  Dane played so hard he fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor.

 He put the mask on in the car and fell asleep.

I have had some sad days.  Roses from my boys made me smile!

 Pulled out the ornament that dear friends gave me when my dad passed away.

I keep this poem in my purse.

 I pay special attention to this ornament everyday!

Joe's 3rd Birthday!

Saturday we celebrated Joe's 3rd Birthday!

It was a construction theme and was so cute.

The party favor boxes

 Cookies

 An adorable cake

 I tried to get a picture of the birthday boy, but he was fast moving!

 Dane in his little construction hat.

 My grandma got some good snuggle time with Molly during the party.

 Lunchtime

 Happy Birthday to Joe!

 Cupcakes!

 My mom getting some snuggle time with Molly.

The boys ran hard all day.

We had a great time celebrating with Joe!

Thanksgiving

Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Dane and I went with my mom, Katie, and the Frost family to the Kirkwood High School Pep Rally for the big Turkey Day Game, which was played on Thursday.  Taylor is a senior so this was her final pep rally and she was also in the senior skit.

Dane was so excited to see the football players.  Taylor found a football player she knew so that Dane could get his picture taken with him.  Dane loved it!  He told me that was his favorite part of the night.

 He was also excited to have his picture taken with Taylor.

 My dad always did a lot of the cooking on Thanksgiving.  One Wednesday Amy, Kara, and Katie were off work so they went to my mom's and helped her make a lot of the food that he usually made.  

My dad always made two turkeys.  The son in-laws fried a turkey and we made one in the oven.

 T.J. and sweet baby Trey hanging out.

 My sweet family

 My mom and all of my siblings!

 Daddy and his boys!

It was a hard day, but we were all thankful that we were together!

A Weekend to Kick Off the Christmas Season

Last weekend we kicked off the Christmas Season at our house.  We usually don't do this until Thanksgiving weekend, but with Thanksgiving so late and busy, busy schedules we had to do it a little early.

Friday night we decorated our Christmas Tree.  We usually put a silver and glass tree upstairs and our keepsake tree downstairs.  Our downstairs family room has also turned into half playroom, so right now there really isn't room for a Christmas Tree.  So we decided that with the boys at the ages they are at we would just put the keepsake tree upstairs.  That seemed like the best decision for my sanity and to protect my very fragile ornaments.

Saturday morning we got up and went to meet my mom and sisters to take the kids to the Kirkwood Holiday Walk to see Santa.  It was so cold that Santa was sitting inside the train station.  The past few years it has been warm enough for Santa to sit outside.

The line was long, but the kids did pretty well waiting.

 We saw Mrs. Claus for a few minutes to pass the time.

 Dane wasn't so sure about wearing reindeer antlers.

 Reese loved ringing the bells.

 Joe loved wearing the reindeer antlers.

 Finally got to Santa.

Claire jumped on and off his lap so fast I didn't get a picture!

Joe was busy checking out Santa's fur on his outfit.

 Delaney and Trey

 Reese was laughing so much at Santa.

 He would look at him and then turned around and laugh!

 Happy boys on Santa's lap!

 We grabbed a little lunch and then took a trolley ride around Kirkwood.

It was a fun kickoff to the holiday.