Getting Our Christmas Tree

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went to get our Christmas tree.  It wasn’t too cold and the kids had a lot of fun running around and looking at all the different trees.  Brad wanted one that was at least 12 feet tall.  We have a very high ceiling in our new living room and he was so excited to have a tall tree.  I felt like 12 feet was a bit over board, but it looked really nice.

Everyone was helping Daddy

It is always easier to cut down a tree with a 3 yr old sitting on your legs.

Cecilia, Vincent and Joel

When we got home Joel couldn’t wait to set up the tree and for Christmas in general.  It turns out that this year he loves Christmas.  We set up our little pencil tree in the basement and he was in Heaven!  Normally he doesn’t like when it is dark in the basement, but when the tree was down there he insisted that all the lights were off so he could see the lights on the Christmas tree.  He danced around the basement singing “Its Christmas night.  Its Christmas night!” Cecilia was quick to chime in and Vincent was confused by the fact that they were making up a song.  The excitement was contagious!

Our first year to ever have a wreath.

Large tree, a lot of lights and not a great ladder, and a husband who thinks the tree should have been taller.

All the lights up and the star!

It took a day or two before Brad got the lights up and I (with a little help from the kids) was able to get all the ornaments on.  It involved a very wobbly ladder and wishing I was taller than what I really am.  This was the first year we haven’t had to have baby gates around the tree.  We did lose a few ornaments, but it had nothing to do with the kids.  Most of the ornaments toward the bottom were rearranged by the kids (mostly Joel and Cecilia) more than once!

Vincent woke up early to hang ornaments on the tree.

Joel decided to join in the fun too!  He LOVED Christmas this year.

The Martison's Visit

Brad's cousin Molly and her family were in town from Colorado for Thanksgiving.  They came out to our house one night for dinner.  We were excited to have them over and the kids were really excited to play with their little cousins.  Graham and Hunter are Joel’s age, but they are as tall or taller than Vincent.  Vincent had a hard time remembering they were little and not 5 years old.  Cecilia liked tagging along with the older kids but was very fascinated by Elliot who is 6 months old.  The boys had fun playing in the basement and upstairs and by the end of the night no one was being shy anymore.

Graham, Hunter, Joel and Cecilia playing Hungry, Hungry, Hippo

Dinner time was entertaining.  Vincent had set the table earlier and had picked out where he thought everyone should sit.  We were using our 3 bar stools at the table because we didn’t have enough booster seats for everyone.  Plus my kids think it is super cool to sit on the stools at the table.  Vincent wanted to sit by Graham and Hunter, but they both wanted to be by their dad.  Joel wanted to be in his blue booster seat and Cecilia insisted she was sitting on a stool.  After 3-4 seat changes Vincent wanted Graham and Hunter and himself to have the three stools.  Graham and Hunter ended up by their dad on chairs.  Vincent was in a chair near them and Brad, Kurt and I ended up on stools.  By the time all the rearranging was done Joel was done eating and off playing toys and the rest of the kids were ready to join him.  It was entertaining to say the least!

Most of the kids looking at the camera!

We had a great night getting to visit with Kurt, Molly and their 3 boys!  It is too bad we couldn’t all live closer together and see each other more often. 

Thanksgiving Morning

As usual we spent our Thanksgiving morning making pies.  I make 2 pumpkin pie, a cherry pie and 2 apple pies.  Not that we need that many pies!  Two of my dad’s cousins and my uncle usually end up with pies to take home.  Eddy takes the cherry, actually he usually hides it as soon as I get there.  Jimmy takes an apple pie and my Uncle Joe usually ends up with some of one of the pumpkin pies.  Brad is a lot of help when it comes to making pies.  He helps entertain the children and he peels, and cuts all the apples with a little tool that we have.  It goes really fast and he does a great job.  He let Vincent help him a little bit this year!

Cecilia found a golf ball!

Joel looking for golf balls

While the last pie was cooking I suggested we all go for a walk in the woods and go golf ball hunting.  It was pretty cold out so we all put on snowsuits to keep warm.  The kids can barely walk in snowsuits, but at least they weren’t complaining about being cold.  The horses were very excited to see us all outside and in the pasture with them.  They were a little too excited and wouldn’t leave us alone.  They just kept following us everywhere, which normally isn’t a problem, but when you are kneeling on the ground trying to dig golf balls out of the frozen ground it isn’t fun having them hover over you. 

Sorry Ray, but we don't need your help.

Using sticks to dig out golf balls

Golf ball hunting was hilarious.  We found 30 golf balls which is a new record in one trip!  Some of those were hard won because they had been stepped on by the horses while the ground was muddy and that day everything was frozen!  We had no tools with us and kept using little sticks to dig the golf balls out.  Brad and I were being very dramatic about it and narrating what we were doing and acting like it was a matter of life or death.  The kids thought it was hilarious and joined right in.  At one point we found a pink golf ball that was stuck in the ground and Cecilia just had to have the pink golf ball!  While we were trying to get the pink golf ball out of the ground I pocket dialed my dad.  I had no idea but he later told us that he listened to us for a couple minutes as were trying to get the pink ball out of the mud.  Just after we got the golf ball out my timer went off for the pie.  I took off running up the hill and back to the house to get the pie out.  Golf balls were falling out of my pockets and Vincent was running behind me picking them up!  It was a great walk and hopefully a new tradition.

The elusive pink golf ball.

Joel came to help supervise!

Wagon of Cars

Joel is very possessive of any toy that he considers to be his.  It goes in spurts as to what he loves to play with and what toy(s) he is guarding with his life.  He loves the movies Cars and Cars 2 and Planes and anything that has to do with those movies.  Between Vincent, Joel and Cecilia we have several toy cars and planes from the movies.  Most of them started off as Vincent’s.  Then Joel acquired some for his birthday and Christmas.  Then Joel took Vincent’s cars and then Vincent and Cecilia and Joel got some more cars and planes along the way and then Joel claimed them all.  He has used many different things to carry them around but his current mode of transporting them is one of Brad’s old toy tractors.  Then he can also use the tractor for Lightning McQueen to go tractor tipping. He used to sleep with all the cars in his bed and they would have to travel with us!  We are happy these days that they mostly live in basement.

Our Cars Friends!

Climbing Trees

With all of our trees around the kids (mostly Joel) have been climbing trees and loving it!  One day we climbed trees in the pasture and Ray even stuck his head in the tree to watch.  Joel found a tree that is in the backyard he likes climbing.  It is growing at an angle and it is easy to climb up.  Cecilia and Vincent also like to climb trees but mostly because Joel does it.  

Joel.

Cecilia, Joel and Vincent.

Joel in the apple tree.

Vincent said he was a sloth.

One day it was drizzling out and Joel insisted he was going to play outside, so I bundled him up and sent him out.  He played on the slide, in the sand and then I looked out the window and we was crawling up the tree.  He was just perched there and happy as can be!   The rain started and he finally came in the house.

Cecilia in the apple tree with crazy hair.

Vincent in the apple tree.

Cecilia climbing again.

Joel in his tree in the back yard while it was drizzling.

Fall Colors

I have enjoyed fall so much this year!  October was so beautiful by us with all of the fall colors.  Our house is surrounded by trees and the color was amazing.  I just couldn’t believe it.  I took a lot of pictures by they didn’t do the color any justice.

View from the back door.

View from the back patio.

Somewhere in the backyard.

Looking from the front door toward the road.

Joel's climbing tree in the backyard.

Front yard.

With a lot of trees, comes a lot of leaves and our yard was full of leaves!  At first it was so much fun because you could easily make a pile for the kids to jump in.  At our old house it was a struggle to get enough leaves to make it fun, especially when it was windy.  At our new house I made 5 very large piles in about 20 minutes!  We had piles under the tree that Joel likes to climb.  Brad even made a big pile at the bottom of the slide.  It was a blast falling into it!

Cecilia, Vincent, and Joel and a lot of leaves.

Cecilia, Vincent and Joel in 1 of my leaf piles.

A pile of kids in a pile of leaves.

Vincent.

That pile is huge and there are so many more leaves!

After a good week or two of having fun in the leaves Brad and I realized we had a big problem.  The leaves weren’t going to leave on their own.  Even the windy days we had were not moving many leaves.  They were so thick that you couldn’t find the grass or see the bricks on the patio.   Brad used a leaf blower and mower and made a good dent in the yard.  It is definitely a new experience for us!

Looking from the road toward the house.

View from the pasture toward the east.

The trees in the pasture.

The magnificent color toward the east.

Somewhere in the pasture...I just love the yellow.  It was so much better in person.