O Christmas Tree

This year we decided to take the kids to a Christmas Tree Farm and cut down our own tree! Yup - we have come a long way from the artificial tree just a few years ago...

Ready. set. go!

It was a quick 45-minute drive out to the Walls Family Farm in Terrell Texas. We arrived around 10:30 and it wasn't too crowded yet...so we hopped on a hayride and they took us out to the trees!

We saw a tree almost immediately but decided to keep looking. 

We searched for a good 30-45 minutes and eventually came full circle - back to our original tree!

So we cut her down!

And dragged her to the pick up area and hitched a ride back on the tractor. 

While Kevin waited in line (it was pretty darn crowded now) we hung around and played on the playset.

A couple of things to note if you decide to try this out:

- go early to beat the crowd

- bring cash

- they have hotdogs/popcorn/hot chocolate/cookies to buy but you can also bring a picnic. They have picnic tables outside and even a fire pit for cooking. We saw a super prepared family bust out hotdogs and roast them on the fire! Next year we might bring lunch so we don't have to stop at McDonalds on the way home... 

Oh and you do have to strap your tree to your car yourself.  (They will provide rope.)

This was our first time and Kevin was really worried about it flying off on the drive home.  No worries though - he did a great job securing it!

Once we made it home we realized how large it was. (Kevin didn't believe that they measured it at 11.5ft.)  We cut a good 6-8inches off the bottom before setting it up and then trimmed the top down as well. 

There she is!! The kids (especially Grayson) were dying to decorate it. Kevin strung the lights - he took one for the team with that...so much sap! Finally we started decorating. 

Here she is! 

Grayson loves it and is constantly adding more ornaments and rearranging them. He is also very involved with keeping it watered...which is nice because I am not so great at that! I love how excited the tree makes him! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!  

The day before Thanksgiving we headed over to Sarah's house to help with the flower arrangements. 

Aren't they beautiful? 

A little action shot...

As I was scrolling through instagram I saw that Society Bakery had these Turkey painting cookie sets, so I made a quick call to reserve the last two they had! I will have to remember for next year because the kids LOVED this!

Ryan was so sweet to share his with his sister. 

On Thanksgiving Day we woke up and  headed to the Turkey Trot with some friends! In the past we have run this event, but with three kids we decided a nice stroll was in order. Mimosas too! 

Hayden rode in the stroller and on daddy's shoulders. Grayson didn't budge from the stroller...and Ryan actually wanted to run the race. Next time buddy...next time...

When we got home we were hungry for some turkey cinnamon rolls and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Gobble gobble!

We hung around the house and prepped for dinner at the Hales. 

Around 2pm we were all dressed up and ready to celebrate! So we packed up and walked drove over to the Hale's house. 

Watching the Cowboys...

I would like to say that she was so sweet with Tate but really she was just tolerant of him. 

Just hanging

We put the kids outside :)

After dinner...Hayden's face. I get this a lot. 

Another wonderful Turkey day in the books!

Grandparents & Special Friends Day at SJE

On Friday Ryan's school hosted a Grandparent's and/or Special Friends Day.  Unfortunately both sets of Ryan's grandparents were unable to attend so Sarah and I decided to be each other's child Special Friend for the morning!

After the kindergarten performance in the auditorium, I went with Audrey to see her classroom and meet her teacher and friends. She showed me her latest project.

She even drew family tree with me in it! I love that Audrey and I are so tan! lol

Love this sassy little girl!

We went and found Ryan and Aunt Sarah in Ryan's classroom

translation for Ryan's words: "they give me good food! Because they help me to build my robot."

These two took us out to the garden. Audrey had already harvested her cabbage but Ryan's broccoli is still growing! 

HIs first stalk! Looks like we will be having broccoli sometime soon!

Such a sweet little morning! 

The Weekend FIVE 11.20

1. Randoms from the week

 Even with a big ol suburban, these two prefer to sit in mommy's lap while we wait for Ryan to get out of school. That's ok, I totally over having personal space. 

Audrey reading her new book...upside-down. 

2. Thankful Cards

 Ryan's homework assignment was to make a thank you card for someone. 

 

He made one for his teacher - Mrs. Littlefield. So sweet!

Grayson also loves doing "homework" so he made one for his teachers too!

I taught them how to make hand turkey's (which is now one of his favorite things to draw) and then he kept asking me for sweet things to draw on the card. "Mommy, what else is sweet?" 

He went with hearts, flowers and hugs and kisses. 

3. Camp Gladiator Birthday Party

Ryan's friend Finn turned six and celebrated with a gladiator birthday. The kids had so much fun doing obstacle courses and my favorite was the tug-o-war! 

First it is was the kids against the moms. Holy smokes...they beat us. And I probably shouldn't admit this but it was legit. yikes!

Then the dads had a go. They also were surprised by the strength of the kids...and decided to surprise them back...

4. Soccer Award Party

After the birthday party we headed to The Lot for Ryan's end of the season party.  This season went much like the season's before...but less crying :) 

Getting his award - he was proud!

Meanwhile...I hadn't seen Grayson in a while....

Grayson and Jack are besties...even with the 3 year age difference.  They said that next time Thomas and Ryan had a playdate they could have one too! lol (Jack is Thomas's older brother)

5. Friendsgiving

The Jackson's hosted a little Friendsgiving celebration. Ben smoked a turkey and everyone brought the sides - it was delish!!!

Hayden taking care of one of Charlie's babies...

The moms were having a great time eating sans kids...until they found us!

Fun group of friends! (missing Terra)