Tree Time

On Friday I was feeling in the Christmas spirit so Cole and I decorated our tree. Let me start by saying that our tree is kind of sad this year which is a good representation of my feelings this holiday season. Just kind of sad.

The past couple of years we have gotten a nice, big, beautiful live tree, but I knew I couldn't tackle that on my own. So, I went to Ace and bought a 6 ft. Gatlinburg tree. It turned out pretty cute and I can use it in another room in the years to come.

I cranked up K-Love and Cole and I got to work. He had so much fun helping me. I am pretty anal about these sorts of things, but this year, with this little tree, I just didn't care as much. I let him hang ornaments where he pleased and we just had fun with it.

The finished product. Not sure why it is leaning to the right, but I can't get it to stand up straight so I gave up. I think it gives it character. :-)

The stockings were hung...

After our hard work we had some pizza and a picnic in the living room.

Christmas is such a special time of year. My theme word this year is JOY. More to come on that later, but you will find this word throughout my house in my decorations.

Merry CHRISTmas!!

Rain, Rain Go Away

Cole wants to go outside and play! Once the rain stopped Wednesday afternoon it was the perfect weather to get outside and splash around in. It was around 60 degrees so the temperature was great for a late November day. We take advantage of any opportunity to play outside so weren't going to let a little water stop us.

Cole put on his rain boots and was ready!

In action splashing down the gutters where the most water was.

Bryce came down to play.

And Kaitlyn too.

He even took a picture with me.

And this last one is a little x-rated, but too cute not to share. He put on my rain boots when we came back in. I had to get a picture, but I did ask him to cover his "private parts". ;-)

And a random picture of his new, super cute shark hat. He was so proud of it and wore it all afternoon, even to Wal-Mart. Not sure what Roxy was thinking in this picture. That we are crazy, maybe? :-)

Having a little boy in the house adds a different level of fun (and stress at times), but I sure wouldn't change it.

Thanksgiving Day

Cole and I started our Thanksgiving out in the kitchen. We made pumpkin pie, sweet potato casserole and mac and cheese.

He was very happy to be helping me. This is his newest smile when I tell him to say cheese. It cracks me up. You will see it multiple times in this post alone.

And here he was eating pure sugar. I stopped this shortly after the photo. The last thing a high energy 2 year old needs is pure sugar!

Getting ready to head over to Carisa's for lunch. The cheese face again. :-)

Showing off his cute turkey shirt courtesy of Etsy.com. I love that site!

Cole, Andrew and Adam eating the sugar covered pecans. They sure were good!

Mommy and her turkey

Topping off the meal with a turkey cookie

Getting ready for bed in his new Christmas PJ's. The shirt says, Dear Santa, Define Good. Very appropriate for this mischievous lil' guy.

We had a good Thanksgiving and are so, so blessed! I will admit it was very hard being apart from Jonathan today. After 10 years together we have never missed a holiday so this being the first was especially tough.

I am looking forward to spending Christmas in Alabama with all of our family!

Siblings :-)

Disclaimer: Roxy is NOT allowed on our bed and she knows it, but she does sleep with me when Jonathan is gone. I was getting ready for church Sunday and found her like this when I walked back into the room. I did make her get down...but had to get a picture of my two kiddos first. ;-)

Cole loves animals and he especially loves Roxy (most of the time)!

Not sure she was enjoying him being all over her, but she tolerated it well. She really is a good dog, even if she drives me nuts sometimes.

A son and a daughter, what more could a mother ask for? :-)

Weekend of Fun

Saturday afternoon we went to Kaden's birthday party at Spirit Express. What a great place for a party and for kids to get their energy out.

Cole was ready to play!

In the bounce house and pointing to the birthday boy Kaden.

Jumping down the trampoline.

Wee! Troy was bouncing them and they were loving it!

My lil' guy and me

Cake time!

On Sunday after church we went to McDonald's for lunch. I was just going to go through the drive thru because we were heading to the commissary, but Cole wanted to dine in. So, dine in we did. :-) Here he is enjoying his lunch. Gotta love the ketchup all over this face!

The weekends usually seem so long with Jonathan gone, but we have been keeping busy so it helps to pass the time.

Random Fun

Last Saturday night Cole and I met Katie and Ty and Tiffany and Brody at the Chick-fil-A located on the UCM campus. After we ate some yummy food we headed to the bowling alley which is in the same building.

This was Cole's second time to bowl and Ty's first. I couldn't get them both to look at the camera at the same time so this is the best I could get.

Cole in action.

Tiffany and Brody cheering us on.

Katie and Ty

Me and my oh so silly boy

On Monday Roxy had a vet appointment on the base so we stopped by the park on the way home. Cole was happy to be free to run and play!

We are trying to take advantage of the weather and get outside as much as we can before winter hits!

A Christmas Story

The other day I scored a great deal online for the Fisher Price Little People Christmas Story. My neighbor has one for her son and after seeing it last year I knew I wanted to get one for Cole.

It arrived yesterday and we tore into the box to open it.

See how excited Cole was to get it. This is how my face looked when I got the great deal on it.

: -)

Here he is in action. For the price it came with a lot of animals and people and the barn plays Away in a Manger.

Here is Cole showing me the Baby Jesus. I was so excited to tell him about Jesus and point out which person was his mother Mary.

I think it is so important that children learn the REAL meaning of Christmas and I believe the younger you start them, the better. As we embrace upon the holiday season I am reminded even more of how blessed I am!

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

Craft Day

On Friday morning a few of neighbors came over (Katie, Dani and Tiffany) and we crafted it up. We made Thanksgiving/Fall shirts as well as Christmas shirts for our boys. Katie brought over donuts from my favorite donut shop so that started the day off just right. :-)

Cole thought so too!

Dani and Tiffany hard at work!

Ty and Brody playing

Kids! The downstairs was a hot mess, but it was for a good cause!

Katie sewing. I will admit, I have no confidence in my sewing abilities (even though I have had my machine for 4 years) so I did the prep work and let Katie do the sewing. Good call on my part!

The finished products! Love how cute the shirts turned out.

Thanks for coming over girls and thank you Katie for doing all my sewing. I sew (pun intended) appreciate it! ;-)

Silliness

Cole was so proud of himself yesterday...he ran into my room to show me he had put his socks on his hands. Oh it's the little things in life when you are two! :-)

Birthday Celebration

We went out to dinner on Thursday night at Player's for Dani's 30TH birthday! We had quite the crowd with 10 adults and 8 kids! It was a little crazy, but considering we were there for 2 hours all the kids did really well.

Cole giving me a little smile while he was plopped down next to Mr. Scott.

Tiffany and Brody. Love these two!

Me and my sweet (most of the time) little boy! Gotta love him, even on those hard days.

Scott posing with the delicious chocolate cupcakes.

Ty was not liking the flash on my camera. Too bright for him.

The birthday girl, Dani and her hubby, Troy.

All the girls, plus little children's heads popping up. :-) All of these ladies hold a special place in my heart, now more than ever.

What a blessing it was to celebrate Dani's birthday and all be together. I love you girl! :-)