a treasured tradition

Our kids LOVE Christmas time. I mean really really love it. Ross went out to the garage last Tuesday night and grabbed the 3 huge storage boxes labeled 'Christmas Decorations' and brought them inside. Wednesday was to be spent Christmasing up the house since the boys were home for Thanksgiving break. Oh the excitement! It took poor Mason hours to fall asleep Tuesday night and then he woke up at 4 AM and couldn't fall back asleep. When I got up in the morning, the boys had already gotten most of the decorations out and had hung the stockings up among other things. Pretty soon they'll be old enough to hang the lights on the house and on the Christmas tree...yay!

And for the past 5 years, the day after Thanksgiving has been the day we head out in search of the perfect Christmas tree. I usually spend the night hanging the lights on the tree and the next day the kids get to hang all the ornaments we've collected over the years while we listen to Christmas music. It's always one of the boys' favorite things in the world. Lily had fun helping this year too. She also loves to put the Santa hat on and say, "Ho ho ho, I'm Santa. What you want for Tristmas?" in as low of a voice as she can. I love it. Even Stella enjoys looking at the lights. It's going to be a wonderful Christmas this year.

goofballs

Lily was watching me take some pictures of Bo today. He was being his usual goofy self and it must have inspired Miss Lily. She hopped up on the table and goofballed it up for me. She laughed and laughed when she came over to look at the pictures on the camera screen.







and a couple serious ones...

football

Well, the boys' football season is finally over. They've been playing since August. Their games were so fun to go to. Mason's team, the Raptors did really well with only one regular season loss and one tie. They made it to championship game. Sadly, they lost that game. Mason was #40 on the black team and played cornerback and receiver along with a couple other positions here and there.

















Ross helped coach the team again which Mason wasn't a big fan of. Honestly though, it was probably good for both of them.



Bo's team had a great season too. They went undefeated and won their championship game becoming Nampa pal flag football champions complete with medals and trophies. Very exciting for Bo especially since it was his 1st ever trophy. He loved every minute of his season and can't wait to play tackle next year. Bo mainly played running back mixed in with a little defense. He was #15 in on the blue team.










About to chest bump his buddies after winning the championship game.






Both boys made it to the all star game. Mason's game was at night so I didn't bring my camera cause it was too dark. But here's one from Bo's game.



Lily thoroughly enjoyed every game. She always found friends to play with and she loves to be outside.

Till next year...

last warmish weather

I thought I'd take advantage of the nice sunny day we had last week and take a few pictures of my Stella. It's about to get way to cold to photograph her outside. Isn't she just a doll! I just love that red pilot hat on her.







She was in such a happy mood until a super loud motorcycle drove by and scared the bejeebers out of her. The poor little thing.

lucy and isabelle

It's been a little strange not having any pets since Bosco died. So when Lily and I were at the petstore a couple weeks ago and Lily kept saying, "Ohhhh they're so toot" about the baby rats I decided I'd get a couple of them for the kids. Lily loves them. She'll plant herself in front of their cage and laugh at them quite a bit during the day. She doesn't want to hold them quite yet, but she asks me and the boys to get them out all day so she can pet them. They really are the easiest pets. You just have to clean their cage out once a week and their food is cheap. They are very sweet too.







Here's Lily saying, "Oh, she's soooo toot." She can't say the "C" sound yet.



She loves to pet their tails.

some cute shots

I've got a few pictures I haven't shared yet. They are some of my favorites...

Lily just adores her Pop.









I needed a picture of all the kids that I could use for personalized checks so we headed to the front yard the other day. They are even all smiling at me.



Stella is starting to really love her her bathtime. It always takes her a few minutes to get comfortable with being in the water, but then she really enjoys herself.

his party

We celebrated Mason's birthday last night. I made one of his favorite dinners...french toast, hash browns and fried eggs. Mmmmm. Then he opened his presents. He was so hoping that he'd get a DSi. He's probably thought of nothing else all week. (Notice Bo's face in this 1st one.)




A little jealous.



The proud new owner of lots of new cool stuff.



Checkin out his DSi for the 1st time.



Even Lily thought it was cool.



Stella was entertained too.



Ross & I came up with the candy gram the other night. I didn't find a lot of candy at Walmart that would work well so we had to make due with what we had.




Hope you had a very happy birthday Mase!