our very own frosty the snowman

We got beautiful snow this weekend.  It was so amazing and the kids had a blast building a giant snowman with Gary!

Layla made tons of snow angels.

And of course I went into a picture taking craze.

Lily got all snow hyper.  She had a blast catching snowballs in her mouth.  She's a winter dog for sure.

The kids took building Frosty very seriously.

There I am...proof that I was there!

Look at the size of those snowballs.  I tried to help Gary lift one on top of the other and I couldn't.

That snowman had to be over 300 lbs.

Layla's face is so funny!

snowball eater....

Look, it's Frosty!

He's huge!!

Thanks dad for the amazing snowman!  We love him!!

smoothie love

My kids love smoothies lately.  

It is awesome because I can just throw a bunch of fruit into the blender and serve them breakfast.  I'll add some protein powder for added nutrition and they slurp them down.  

The smoothies above have Shaklee protein, frozen peaches, a banana, Greek yogurt and almond milk.

Layla's favorite is peanut butter, chocolate almond milk, Greek yogurt and a banana.

I think my all time favorite smoothie is organge juice, a frozen banana and frozen strawberries.  I like to add yogurt to all my smoothies for thinkness.

An easy and healthy breakfast is perfect for us on busy mornings before school!

What is your favorite smoothie?

feeling festive

It has been a fun week of getting the house all Christmasy.  

Our elf, Griswold, made his appearance.  He isn't full of mischief like many other elves.  Griswold just moves around the house to different areas to see how the kids are acting.  Thankfully our elf is a sweet guy and doesn't give this momma any grief.

The kids are thrilled about eating a chocolate every morning!  They love their traditional Advent calendars.  In years past we have done them at night, but this year we are doing them in the morning over breakfast.

Nothing says Christmas time like sausage balls.  They were so tasty and were gone in a flash! 

I love watching TV at night with Gary and seeing the tree glowing!  We are enjoying making fun Christmas memories.  I love this time of year!

a visit to the Christmas tree farm

Last year we had a fun time picking out our first real Christmas tree.  

We had so much fun we decided to do it again this year!  Every year before we moved to Ohio we've just had an artificial tree.  We started a new tradition upon moving north!

We walked through the rows of pre-cut trees and couldn't find anything we liked, so we walked up the hill with a tarp and a saw and picked our very own tree!

It was a real Griswold family moment, minus Audrey's eyes freezing! 

Look at this view.  It is amazing!

There she is!!!!!!

She is the perfect tree for our family.

Gary sawed her down in 3 minutes flat.

Layla showed real muscle by helping daddy pull the tree down the steep hill.  She did great.  We all got so muddy.  The tree farm was a nasty mess, but we had a fun time for sure.

And now we must decorate her!

Thanksgiving 2013

We started our Thanksgiving day with traditional mimosas.  

The kids were big helpers in the kitchen!  They had so much fun cooking with us.

I did what I normally do each Thanksgiving.  I eat at least 3 or 4 plates of food.  I love to put the food away on my favorite holiday.  It's the one day I really eat a ton of food!

We had a fun day celebrating and watching football.

I love my family!  We are blessed!

playing in the snow

The kids had the best time playing in the snow today.

Lily was so funny.  She was running and chasing the kids.

They were laughing and giggling and Lily was barking at them.

It was so funny to see her little personality shine when she was playing with the kids.  She's a great pup and she really is a good companion to the kiddos.

I'm glad the kids got some energy out.  They needed to run and play.

I have to be honest, I barely stepped out of the house because it was too cold for me.
I'm glad they had fun though!!