Oh Christmas Tree.....

Don't let the smiling faces fool you. Our tree hunt wasn't always filled with oh so much merry or joy. It pretty much started off with a melt down on the car ride there (the child's name will be omitted to protect their privacy). That issue was solved by the time we got there however, and for a short while things were going great. We got our saw and tarp and headed off into the trees. The boys had their annual chase/hide-and-go-seek game with dad. Avery and I wondered aimlessly through 100's of trees. It wasn't until it came down to which tree we were going to pick did the arguing start. This one is too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny, why don't you ever pick the tree I like?, the top is not right and so on... After all of that a tree is somehow agreed upon and the boys get to work sawing it down. This is their first year working together to try and cut it down and by no surprise to me it didn't go very well. They started off great but attitudes came quick and then the tears followed. Jess and I stood by giggling to ourselves thinking WOW THIS IS FUN! After what seemed like a lifetime the tree fell over and the three of them carried it to the car. Amazingly the tears dried up at the mention of free candy canes and all was right in the world again. Somehow I think we will definitely remember these tree hunts.

MIA

Yep, I've been Missing In Action because nothing is going on around here. Shocking I know but ever since football season ended we actually have stayed home. No women's bible study, no life group, no sports (except basketball just started), no shopping......nothing. I'm beginning to think it's not such a good thing. I've become a hermit which has put me in not so much of a good mood. Definitely something to work on.

Trick-or-Treat

After all these years of trick-or-treating I have never walked with the kids door-to-door. Jess was always the one to endure the rain, sleet and bitter coldness. :-) Except this year Jess was gone elk hunting which meant my turn is now. In the beginning I thought it would be fun. That is until I was driving in the down pour of rain taking Avery to preschool realizing soon I would be out walking in it. In a bit of a panic I contemplated taking them to Target and letting them each pick out there own bag of candy or heading to the mall with the rest of the parents that wanted to stay dry or pretending that I looked at the calendar wrong and it wasn't Halloween at all. Thankfully the rain stopped by late afternoon and it turned out to be a beautiful night with only sweatshirts to keep us warm. We headed out around 6:30 and the kids barely slowed down the whole night. I'm pretty sure we made it to every house that had their lights on and finally back home around 9:00pm. Lucky for me I was the only candy inspector! YUM!!

Look who's 9!!

It's hard to believe he has been here for nine years and then other days it's not. :-) When Aric was little a lady told me once that she could tell exactly what he would look like when he was older. I laughed and smiled not exactly sure I could see what she was seeing. Now looking at his pictures from birth to nine I understand. He is my only dark haired, chubby cheeked cutie that has a smile that lights up the day. He is my adventurer, creator and leader of the pack. He talks non-stop and of course LOVES football. Happy Birthday Aric!

Birthday Parties

I am going to be completely honest and admit that I STRONGLY DISLIKE kids parties (Jess said I shouldn't say hate.) Don't get me wrong the kids were good but everything about these parties STRESSES ME OUT! I can say this because today was Aric's "kid" birthday party. I'm pretty sure it's the NOISE, chaos, NOISE, food, NOISE, smelly boys, NOISE, all in all craziness and did I mention the NOISE??? We had 7 nine-year old boys ride the bus home after school today to enjoy pizza, brownies, icecream and then off to laser tag. It was all I could do to keep from climbing the walls. Imagine 7 boys playing Rock Band all wanting to be lead singer or a game of football where it takes 30 minutes to decide who is on who's team. PLEASE! When does this stop? I know I need to get a grip but I can feel the number of invitees dwindling in the years to come. Like, lets say maybe one person.....would that be mean? Here is a short video of our car ride to laser tag....I think you will understand about the volume.

Cardboard Testimonies

I first saw this video on my cousins blog and thought it was AMAZING so I thought I would "pay it forward".

A hunting we will go....

One of the requirements of my marriage was that I would be able to "camp out" for at least 7 days without running water, hot showers, telephones, etc... After 12+ years I think I've passed. It's not every one's idea of a dream vacation but I can tell you that this was one of the best and we didn't even get any deer. You might be asking yourself what is so great? I'll try and sum it up for you: no schedules, no practices, no computers, no telephones, endless football games, mini bikes, hiking, BB guns, Dinosaur adventures, movie night, family, friends, sleeping in, going to town for icecream, riding in the back of the truck, reading books, coloring, card games, smores, snow ball fights, snow cones, wood stoves, no diets and endless amounts of candy! Who could ask for anything more.