Christmas Card Holder

Tonight I finished an easy little project to hang Christmas cards that arrive. 

I love that Chris thinks nothing of me asking for a sander for my birthday  or using a staple gun in out bedroom at 9 o'clock at night. 

I can't wait for everyone's cards to arrive so I can hang them. And did you spot our card? This is a first for me- cards done before Thanksgiving. They are stamped and ready to go! 

Early Thanksgiving Celebration

Tonight we had an early Thanksgiving with the Crawford and Solinski side. It was the first in the new house and the first holiday we have celebrated with Esther or as the kids call her Baby Esther.

It was wonderful to all be together. I was in charge of center pieces for the table. Emmeline and I spotted and almost got in a fight over this purple cauliflower. We opted to share with the person and our good deed was rewarded with me finding more at Winco. Who would have thought a trip to the bulk bins would result in me spotting more of it.

I went for a center piece that wouldn't end up in the trash and could all be reused. 

Dinner was delicious and the company was fun and fabulous. 

The kids had so much fun with their aunts and uncles, Nama, Papa, GG, Atticus, and their favorite Baby Esther. It melts my heart to see them play together.

Have so many great memories of holidays with my family, my cousin, and family that we considered cousins. I'm so thankful that they are getting to build some of the same memories. 

Of course the evening would be complete without a photo shoot to document them being together. Nothing like trying to get 4 kids to all look in the same direction to get you to work up a sweat.  

The Big Game

Today I was lucky enough to go to the "Big Game" with my husband and two of our favorite people.  I'm so use to watching the husband coach and me be in the stands that it is hard to get use to. I love going with the guys and hearing them call the play before it is done. It amazes me how they can look at how they are lined up and guess that. After all these years the X's and O's still confuse me.

The game was a blow out. It was fun knowing a player in the other team. A few times I forgot who I was rooting for. After sweating in the stands thanks to the beautiful November weather we opted to leave a little early when we were certain Stanford had the W. The season tickets ended up being a ton of fun and something that I'm pretty sure we will do for years to come.

Master of disguise

Mr. Jackson makes me giggle every day. I don't know what happened, but Jackson has broken out if his shell and has quite the personality. Lately we are unable to get him out of the house without a hat, boots, and jacket or wings. And his hat of choice is either his Woody hat or his firemen hat. 

He can't seem to make up his mind if he wants to be Buzz, Woody, Luigi, or a firemen. His learned to get creative bad mix and match his outfits. The outfit that takes the cake has to be his Woody hat with swim goggles that he wore to a Bulldog football fame. The kid was tripping and falling from the goggles, but wouldn't give them up. 

Oh he makes me laugh. The best is the reaction I get from people when they see him. He tends to leave them speechless. 

The Crib is Gone

I can hardly believe that 5 years later and our house is without a crib in it. It makes me sad and makes me think we should work on fixing that. 

My baby is now in a big boy bed. A few months ago we turned his crib into a toddler bed and he did great. The transition was painless so we decided to move him into a big bed. The one bonus of being done with the crib is that we are closer to getting the boys to share a room and getting an office back. 

Look at my big boy who will forever be my baby! And yes he was taking advantage of the new big bed by spreading out and sleeping with every animal and book. 

Date Night postponed

 I decided a few days ago to plan a surprise date night for tonight thinking that the football season would be over. And then this morning I had to call the babysitter and cancel. Lucky for us she is a huge Bulldog fan and understood. 

It was a great game last night and a great  surprise win. The kids did a great job cheering on the dogs. They have been such troopers hanging out in the stands so I can watch the game.

Pheasant Day

Today we went to Pheasant Day. It was my first time going out to The Ranch in years. Last time we were out there we were celebrating a newly engaged Gabe and Tiffani. It's only been 6 years, but it's crazy how different out lives are now. Today instead of hauling an ice chest of beer, I had a box of Capri Suns and
goldfish crackers. 

The kids had a blast playing in the dirt, chasing the dogs, running around, and snacking on some delish food. They were pretty well behaved minus the one scream fest from Jackson. I'm sure the old men were wanting him gone, but in his defense the poor boy got bit by a yellow jacket. Of all places it got him on his middle finger. My little love walked around with a swollen, red middle finger. After some hugs, kisses, and a cookie and lollipop he was ready to play.

 They came home exhausted and covered in dirt which equals a successful time. 

Fall Fun

Today the kids and I had a great day playing in the backyard. We attempted to tackle the leaves again. After filling the green toter, having Caden stomp in it, and then repeating the process several times we tackled about a 1/4 of the leaves. The kids had a great time and lucky for them there are hundreds more leaves to rake on Tuesday.

And then there was Jackson. He was hysterical wearing the goggles and raking with a bat. Love my crazy boy! 

Taking Advantage

This mama is taking advantage of the final few weeks of football by getting some projects done after the kids go to bed. Tonight I tackled new Christmas Stockings. They are almost done. I just need to stencil letters on them. It's crazy that we are half way through November. It will be Christmas before you know it. 

Back with the Living

Today Daddy seemed to join the living again. The past 5 days he has been holed up in our room. He made a departure to go coach Friday night and then has been pretty much locked away until this afternoon. The kids have been very worried about him and have missed him. It's tricky keeping them away when they know he is in the house. They were excited to see him up and heading out to practice. And this mommy was even more excited he was home to read bedtime stories before he crawled back into bed. It has been a long few weeks with several sick patients. This mommy is very thankful for early bedtime, red wine, and brownie brittle (Tiffani you are in so much trouble for introducing me to this!) to get me through this. Praying that Daddy feels better soon, he has a full week with playoffs. 

Black and Blue

Tonight we cheered on our very sick Daddy and his Bulldogs from the comfort of our home. We had our black and orange jams on and popcorn and a movie and then the kids were in bed and asleep do I could follow along the nail biting Black and Blue Bowl. Thank goodness for technology. I am so grateful for the play by play text messages from my mother in law. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the game. After a nail biter first half the Dogs pulled ahead for the VICTORY. Now we are going to nurse our daddy to health so he can focus on playoffs. 

2 Down

The flu has gotten two of us. I should have known that my kids were way to calm for a sugar filled holiday. Caden woke up twice needing two breathing treatments :( I hate this time of year for him and then was wiped out and had a fever by afternoon. Emmeline had to come home early from school and spent the afternoon laying around and not arguing with her brother over what movie to watch during family movie night. (you know she is sick if she is agreeing.) Now we pray and hope the flu bug decides to visit elsewhere. 

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Mario, Luigi, and Princess Sophia or to keep with a theme we will call her Princess Peach. ;) 

I survived not making all of our costumes this year, bit I do think my last minute creation of Luigi turned out just as cute as the extremely short version we had. And I didn't get a picture of me with the kids. I went as a mushroom. After a few states I took my hat off and just traveled as a mom. :) 

We started our day off with some fun cupcake decorating with Miss Kelsey. Caden was so excited that it involved an Oreo. It's a spider that involved lots of messy frosting that he slowly warmed up to having on his fingers. I think I went through an entire roll with him, but so worth it. 

The boys spent the whole day in their hats avid Jackson wore his whole costume mustache included from 10 on. He even took his nap wearing his hat. 

After naps we started our rounds with a visit to see Great Pop at his nursing home. The kids love going there and they were so excited to see the place decorated. After that we headed to Grandma, GG, Uncle J and Aunt Cory, Aunt Elizabeth, and Nonie. Emmeline didn't seem herself and was tired so we headed home without seeing the DeTars - can't believe we didn't get to see our boys or get a group photo:( and we didn't make it to our church. Next year I guess we will start Halloween earlier in the day and make a pit stop first at the DeTars to get a photo.