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!!

friends and football

We had the best time watching football yesterday with our buddies.

It was a fun day of first watching the Ohio State game and then finally watching the Baylor game.

I have found a really great group of ladies to hang out with.  We always have fun and our kids and husbands have fun together too.  

We all love food and football!  We may not like the same teams, but we sure do have fun giving each other crap about who wins and loses.  It's all in good fun and I'm thankful for these friends who are so much like family to me!

little baby pine cone

I have a short walk to school with the kids every morning.  We are lucky to live very close to the school.  Every morning on the walk back home I take in the every single bit of the scenery. 

 Mornings are crazy in our house. Kids are getting ready, eating, brushing teeth, scrambling for book bags and putting on our winter gear.  Putting on the gear adds five extra minutes to the morning routine.  Heck, sometimes ten extra minutes.  

Sooooo when I walk home kid free I enjoy the quiet walk home before I beging my day of chores.

 Today I saw this cute little baby pine cone.  I can't wait to watch it grow every few weeks.  I feel like we are so busy and sometimes I don't stop to enjoy the little things.  I have a goal to be more present in the weeks to come, even with the chaos that the holidays bring.  

This little pine cone is going to keep me grounded.  Every day I see it will be my reminder!