Deck the Halls-Part 2

Christmas lights purchased and now we can move forward to decorate the tree!  Andrew found my nesting dolls--I've had them since I was a little girl.  For some reason they do seam magical and mesmerizing!

I love this picture because it captures Rory and Andrew's personality perfectly!

Rory was SO excited to put the angel on the tree.  With some much needed help from Dad, he topped the tree beautifully!

It took us 2-3 days to get the house decorated and this year our tree was a hot mess.  Only 20 or so ornaments on the top half of the tree and the lights at the bottom were so bunched up.  Andrew would pull them off and I would put them back on.  Ha!  By the world's standards it was a sad tree but it was our tree and that is what mattered!

Deck The Halls-Part 1

Trimming the tree is a little more stressful than I had anticipated with an almost 2 year old.  Ha!  Our tree is older, the kind you organize by color and put in color order on a metal pole.  It never fails, one year we get something mixed up and our tree is a less than perfect shape. :)  It gives it character!

Andrew was crazy busy--to say the very least.  He had a fun time running the tree pieces back and forth, back and forth...and back and forth! I think this is the first year that Rory was helpful--he is 6 1/2 so it was fun to actually do something "with" him as opposed to "directing" him the entire time.  I'm looking forward to this phase of life with him.

The boys really enjoyed the time getting the tree out and together.  That is about as far as we got the first night, because, as always, half of our lights have burned out since last year.

I just love these boys and their spunkiness--it's hard to catch a good picture of Rory these days where he isn't talking or making a goofy face.  Can't get enough of these brown and blue eyed boys! 

Being December 1, we started our advent.  We haven't quite settled on a tradition quite yet but for now we've done chocolate calendars.

And...the most important picture.  Rory took this and was quite proud of his photography skills.  It's always interesting to me to see his perspective on life. :)

Thanksgiving 2016

Yes, I know this is out of order but better late than never. :)  This post also makes me realize I don't take enough pictures.  I found about 10 pictures from Thanksgiving Day--well, now I have a goal for 2017!

We had two Thanksgivings; one at our house with my side of the fan and the other with Josh's side.  Lots of turkey and yummy food!

Now that I have a few years of motherhood under my belt I've learned to come up with a few crafty things to help pass the time on holidays.  Josh worked so we didn't eat until about 5:00.  Rory and Marnie were busy making turkeys out of chocolate covered pretzels and oreos.  Delicious!

Overall, we had just had a nice couple days relaxing with family. :) And I cooked a fresh turkey for the first time.  I'm not sure I could tell a huge difference like people say but it was really yummy!

Christmas Trains!

In the past, Rory and Dad have always gone to see the train display each year.  With Rory in school, we decided to take Andrew out to have some one on one parent time.  Rory and Dad have a date set to go back just the two of them soon.







Our train display, is set up at the library downtown.  I've never been and it was an amazing building--so beautiful! Andrew enjoyed the trains--and we ended up being there at just the right time for preschool story time.  We had lots of fun!  The trains were pretty amazing--a very detailed set up!

I think, as parents, we've enjoyed creating and maintaining these simple traditions for our children.  We want them to look back and think of the fun things we did as a family.  Memories are much more precious than things.

...and sometimes...on the car ride home, you just need to hold your mama's hand. :) Love this sweet boy!  (For the record, I was not driving!)

4 years ago....

I looked like this....It's so hard to believe that was 4 years ago!  (In my defense, those darn hospital gowns make everyone look HUGE--I was not THAT big!)  So excited and waiting to see how our lives were going to change.  Josh and I did not find out at the 20 week ultrasound if we would be having a boy or girl and we kept all of our name ideas a secret--there was so much excitement and anticipation---maybe a little pain too.

After a long, very long, and eventful day we met Rory for the first time.  Such a sweet little face.  He melted my heart then and he still does today.  

It's just unreal to me how fast, truly blazing fast, time has gone.  "They" said that it would-"they" said it happens in the blink of an eye, "they" said enjoy these times, "they" said these are the best days of your life.  "They" were right--

These times truly are going too fast and as much hard work as it is to train a child up it's also a lot of fun but I need the fun to slow down a little.  Geesh--so we celebrate and enjoy each moment-yes, even the rough ones!

We generally end each night with a song, prayer and then:

"Goodnight, Rory"

"Goodnight, Mommy"

"I love you, Rory"

"I love you, Mommy"

"You are my favorite Rory"

"You are my favorite Mommy"

Be still my heart-- I hope he still says that when he is 14, 24, and 34.  He will always be my favorite Rory.

I can't imagine what life would be like without Rory and I'm so excited and anxious to see what the future holds for our little guy. 

Here is a little peek at our fun filled day:

Rory specifically requested this cake over 6 months ago.  It had to be pink.  Pink.  Not sure how other Moms would take it but I found it hysterical for two different reasons.  First, if you've ever read the book, "The Jolly Barnyard" the farmers wife makes the farmer a big, pink cake at the end of the book.  I'm fairly certain this was the source of his inspiration BUT secondly, my grandfather, who Rory never met, always wanted pink icing on his cake.  I never knew why but he always wanted pink icing so my Mom or Aunts made it for him.  Maybe pink icing is in our genes?

Happy Birthday to my sweet, loving, life of the party, best cuddle buddy, TV loving, soccer playing, bike riding 4 year old!

"The days are long but the years are short"-- a very wise friend.

Merry Christmas 2013!

Our Christmas festivities were spread out over an entire week which made the fun last as long!  Our first stop was to see my side of the family.  Forgot the camera so minimal pictures with low quality.  I could just kick myself every time I forget the camera!  We had a such a wonderful time--and of course, the day went by way too fast!

This was the first year we held the festivities in my parent's basement.  I had to inwardly giggle because growing up we always had Christmas in the basement at my Grandma's house.  It's fun knowing that Rory will have those memories too.

Rory has tons of fun playing with play-doh and so did my Mom...and Josh!  We made a complete mess but as my Mom says, "just let it dry and it's easier to clean up."  :)

(Note the absence of any children playing with play-doh!)

Christmas Eve was just me and Rory.  I had to work but Rory came to work with me for the last hour of the day.  Then we headed to church for the Christmas Eve service--it's my favorite service of the year and something I look forward to every year.  The music, lights, candles, family, it's just magical.  I think I love Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day--the pure excitement and anticipation gets me every time.

I let Rory open one present before he went to bed--new pj's and an ornament for the tree.  He was pretty psyched about being "Fireman Rory."  

I was the first one awake in the morning with Rory quickly following.  He really had no idea what to expect because we haven't pushed the whole Santa thing or really talked about it.  Everything he knows he's picked up from other kids at school or TV--we really want him to know why we celebrate Christmas and that it's Jesus's birthday. We haven't burst the bubble yet--after talking to quite a few parents if he wants to believe that's OK with us--we just haven't confirmed or denied anything.

He was really excited about his new "guitar" aka ukulele!  He started strumming and singing a song right away.

We grilled steak and potatoes for lunch.  Rory picked out Mississippi Mud Pie brownies for the birthday celebration.  It was fun to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and indulge in a sweet treat.

Later that evening we drove around the neighborhood looking for Christmas lights and fun decorations.  We topped the night off by watching Rory's new movie, Planes.

The day after Christmas we headed down to spend the day with Josh's family.  It was our nephew, Carl's, first Christmas!  I think he was more interested in the paper than anything else but it was fun to watch him and remember what seems like yesterday, literally, that it was Rory's first Christmas.  My how time flies!

Carl is so close to crawling!  I think at one point or another everyone one of us was on the floor next to him, either showing him how to crawl or trying to entice him to move with something interesting.

We finished our night with 2 games of Five Crown, a card game.  Not that I want to rub it in but I'd like  to point out that I won both games and was the only one to stay under 100 points during our second game.  **wink wink**

While we played games, Rory helped Grandma bring in more firewood and kindling.  Such a good helper!

This Saturday we spent the day in Indiana with some of my extended family.  We always have fun when we get together.  LOTS of yummy food!  We always end up playing an exchange game rather than exchanging gifts.  Some people call it "Dirty Santa" but we dont' have an official name for it--all the gifts go in a pile, each person selects a gift based on their number and you can steal other gifts if you like what someone has.

We are definitely family and think a lot alike because quite a few of us went home with the same gift we bought--and only because someone else bought the exact same thing!

It was fun to watch the 3 "grandsons" all play together.  As you can see, Rory wasn't too thrilled at first but he came around to the idea. 

I had Josh take this picture---it may look like one set of hands but it isn't.  One hand is mine and the other is my Aunt Janell's.  It's funny to me how much our hands look alike.  I cherish those family connections and little similarities.

We had a wonderful 2013 and I hope that yours was as blessed as ours.  Here's to an even better 2014!