Christmas Time

This is a wonderful time of year, and we are so enjoying all of the fun things that are going on!

The kids upcycled some egg cartons by making Christmas trees out of them. They are so cute: I have them hanging up in the kitchen!



Our church started a service initiative this season called "light the world." The kids get excited about what they can do to help others. Lincoln suggested that we take our neighbor's leaves, since she has a bad arm. We even got our other neighbors involved!














This was the first year in a long time we have a real Christmas tree. Our little town is so sweet: while we were picking out our tree downtown, Santa was waving to the kids from across the street. We crossed the road and had some good talks with Santa. Lincoln had quite a long list and Drake said, " I want whatever my brother said."

We took our tree home, decorated it and watched the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. Dave made homemade pizza, since that was a tradition when I was a kid. What a fun night!



The next day, mom came down with Penny and Carson to see some Christmas lights. Our plans got totally changed, cell phones died, and lines were really really really long, so it wasn't super enjoyable for the adults. I'm pretty sure the kids still had a blast though! We ended up at McAdenville, and walked through "Christmastown."








Lincoln started basketball. This is a first for him, and I'm proud of him for trying something new.





Another reason we love our town at Christmas is because of the parade. I had Dorothy strapped on my back, so she didn't make it in the pictures.





This Saturday was a busy day: we had 3 parties!! Our first was at the church. We made toiletry bags for a local refugee organization, decorated snowmen and ate cookies.







Cleve, mom and the kids came down for a baking party and sleepover. We made 4 different gluten free Christmas goodies!









That night, Dave and I went to his Ju-Jitsu party in South Carolina. We had a great time together and he was excited for me to meet all his friends! We didn't get home until 1 am, and Dave had to go to early morning church meetings. We both crashed hard during Dorothy's nap.




Even though it was cold and a little rainy, we still made it to the gardens Sunday night. This is one of our favorite things to do as a family. We even got to see some hula dancing; the boys weren't that thrilled but Dorothy was mesmerized.















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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is seriously the best! There is no rush to get things done, everybody enjoys eating, and I love to be in the kitchen baking. Plus, you are surrounded by people you adore!

This year, I got to pick up my grandma up from the airport a few days before Thanksgiving. We had a great time with her! It makes me so happy that my kids love her as much as I do.














Because the boys have had excellent grades and behavior at school, grandma and I took them to Sky High. It was great timing, because we were getting new countertops, so we were able to get the kids out of the house while the men worked.




















Thanksgiving day was beautiful! The boys were outside most of the day throwing footballs and playing in the playground in Hickory.








Mom made most of the food, since my kitchen was out of order. She did a wonderful job, and Cleve made a delicious turkey!








I had to get a picture of 4 generations of ladies.








Spending time with family is the best!!







Dorothy and I were looking at the photo album from last year. We got to the beach pictures at Thanksgiving, and decided we couldn't give up our 5 year tradition. Dave and I booked a hotel for a few days a north myrtle. Just our family of 5 headed out thanksgiving evening, and were swimming in the pool before bed! We spent most of the time at the ocean and pool, even though it was a little chilly. The boys liked watching cartoons on tv and playing cards. Drake hated to leave after just a few days, so next year we will stay longer.
























































We even had a bonus day with Grandma before she had to head back home.

Some of November

I was able to visit the book fair with each of the boys. I let them pick out 2 books each, even thought their wish lists were crazy long. Lincoln got a book on the computer program Scratch. It's a fun program, where you can make your own video games online.





My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, and I refuse to skip it! The kids and I made Thanksgiving crafts and decorated Thanksgiving sugar cookies.




I'm thrilled the kids enjoy baking as much as I do: Dorothy helped out with some pumpkin muffins one morning.











Drakie's class celebrated the 50th day of school by dressing up from the 50's.




I love discovering these selfies and I love how sweet he is to his baby sister!




On Election Day, the kids and I took a mile hike for a Scouts requirement.







I wanted to go to my "happy place" on election night, so we watched The Sound of Music together. The boys were kind of interested, but after every song Dorothy said, "I like it."

My little buddy and I went to Sams club for something totally different, but we ended up with this...





We have been trying to spend more one-on-one time with the kids. Lincoln and I ate at Waffle House at 6:30 am one Saturday. He is always the first one up, so we took advantage of that.





Sometimes I feel like I'm at a mountain retreat at our house during the Fall.




The kids and I spent the night in Hickory over Veteran's day. The kids got their dog fix!








Lincoln's creations are all over the house. I know I will miss this when I'm an empty-nester!





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