Christmas Tree Tradition

We kicked off Christmas with cutting down our Christmas tree. This is our favorite Christmas tradition! We make a picnic lunch and spend the day doing hay rides, playing and finding the right tree! Scott challenged me to hold the tree over my head...so I did, haha! The lady who took the picture said, "oh, is that heavy?!" Ummmm...yes, a 7.5 foot pine tree is heavy! But made for funny pictures and good laughs!

We found the right one! The boys picked it out, and we spent a lot of time making sure before Scott cut! I tried a few ninja tricks, which ended up with pine sap all over me. But, again, good laughs! The boys were all about the tree farm this year. Faith Ann was just along for the ride and had fun! This will be a tradition we continue!

We got home, put on Christmas pajamas, made hot chocolate and cookies...then it was time to decorate! We turned on Christmas music and let the kids totally decorate all by themselves. I put on the lights, but they did everything else. Scott held them up for the higher spots. Of course, our Mickey Mouse hat makes for the perfect star!

I shop all year long for my entire family. I do all the shopping my mom used to do. So, I buy for all the "grandkids" and for my siblings on behalf of my mom and dad. My dad wanted to continue the tradition of gifts that my mom used to buy, but he didn't even know how to start! So, I have taken over this since mom passed 10.5 years ago. I've become a pro! I even have them all wrapped! So, this is what our tree looked like the night we decorated it...full gifts and Christmas cheer! The kids love to see the gifts all month, knowing that I bought them to honor my moms love for Christmas! Welcome Christmas season...we are ready for you!!!

Thankful Thanksgiving

Scott and I had a fancy date night, which rarely happens! His business friend got married. The kids had a slumber party at my brother Chad's house, which they were so excited about! Scott and I got to take our time getting ready, toss the clock and sleep in too! The kids had a great time at Chads. They love their cousins! Veronica had everyone tucked in bed, and Uncle Chad yelled at 10:00pm "who wants cookies?!!!" Ha!! Good times for all!

Sis had an adorable Thanksgiving dress, and she is really learning how to pose! She is so photogenic. She totally looks and acts like a little girl these days. No more baby!!! She says that Ally is her best friend, pink is her favorite color, and she loves to have dance parties!! We dance in our driveway often with my car music blaring...one of her favorite things to do!

Sweet Trent!!! His first soccer season has come to a close. He was amazing. He is an athlete for sure. Scott handed out trophies, and I captured this great picture. You can see how proud Scott is! He plays hard and sleeps hard too! I loved this picture of him taking a nap. The boy crashes!!! He is starting speech at Rummel Creek soon. We have had a few evaluations, and the teacher has found some consistent errors that she wants to work on. He is excited that he gets to go to "big boy school," and I think he is excited to get the tools to communicate even more clearly.

Trent had a Thanksgiving program at school. It was a grandparent event. All the kids got to spend alone time with their grandparents and show them how thankful they are! My mom would have been ALL over this, but my dad was eager to take part. Trent is really becoming goofy these days. He makes silly faces at the camera and is always chuckling in the background...always up to something!

Hunter made this thankful sheet at school. He wrote what he was thankful for, and I just love it!! He adores his brother and sister SO much. They balance each other out so nicely, and Hunter continues to take on the 'care taker' role. He calls Faith Ann "sweetie," wipes soap out of Trent's eyes in the bath, holds Faith Ann's hand when she is walking up a step and so much more! He just has this steady love and compassion for them! Hunter also had a Thanksgiving play at school, it was adorable!

We went to Chad and Veronica's for Thanksgiving. I made mom's dressing...from scratch! It is so time consuming to make, but always a hit. We all pitch in and bring different dishes. Their house was filled with kids and noise! It was a great, laid back Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for. I pray my children will grow with thankful hearts and continue to appreciate God's blessings. While cooking, I found a note from mom!!!! She dated it "Thanksgiving 2003." It was so amazing and refreshing to see her writing and read her words. Especially the night before Thanksgiving....it's like she sent a personal message and God's timing was perfect for me to find it! I love her note to "treasure each and every holiday, and make your house a home!" That is my number one goal this holiday season!

Scott and I continue our adventure dates. Ally comes over to babysit after church, so we can have an outing. I planned a ballroom dance lesson. It was SO much fun! We got a private lesson, and we chose "East coast swing." We laughed so hard, and we actually did pretty good! Wonderful memories!

My ninja adventures continue too! I just did a team competition. These guys (who are on the "A team" in ninja world) asked ME to be on their team. I was slightly intimidated, but ended up doing awesome. It took me out of my comfort zone to be with such skilled ninjas, but I have learned that the world is a better place outside your comfort zone. I love pushing myself! Speaking of...I tried to ride a unicycle. HAHA! That is way harder than I thought. That, for sure, took me out of my comfort zone. And gave me a good laugh! All in all, wonderful Thanksgiving full of countless blessings!

Happy Halloween and More

Happy Halloween! We had an action packed week. Full of school Halloween parades, parties and pumpkin patch visits. Hunter was an emoji, which he was so excited about. Trent was a deer, which he thought that was so funny! His little tail cracked me up. Faith Ann was a bubble gum machine. She kept telling everyone, "I'm bubba gum!" Our neighborhood has a party and Trick or Treating the night of Halloween. The party was chaos with tons of kids, but it was awesome fun! Faith Ann ran behind her brothers the entire night, from house to house. She kept up and loved yelling "trick or treat!"

Faith Ann had many costumes throughout the week! She had so much fun and thought everyday was a party! Look closely at her Hello Kitty dress, she is wearing earrings! Uncle Greg gave the kids some Halloween goodies, and he gave her some dangle earrings! She feels like a big girl!

It is still HOT! So, we have done some swimming...in October! The kids are really playing so good together these days. Faith Ann is communicating clearly and having a blast with her brothers! We have had a few rainy days, which the kids love playing in the rain. They run back and forth in our front ditch 100 times. Nothing better than simple days of playing in the rain!

Trent's first soccer season is going strong. He is awesome. I have a feeling he will be good at football because he doesn't like anyone to "get in his way!" He hustles!! I adore his soccer pictures. Scott is the coach and our friend, Alex is assistant coach. Alex has gone to school with me since 1st grade! We have all been friends nearly our entire lives! We all went to LSU together too. It is so neat that their boys are on the same team! I also LOVE Trent's "individual picture!" Scott couldn't help it! He had to get in the picture with him. Scott loves him too much! We are so proud of Trent for so many reasons. He always tries his hardest, is so so kind, giving, tough, consistent. He is one of a kind!

Every once and a while, I have a moment that shows me that we are doing something right! The kids ate dinner without us the other day. I leave the room and hear Trent saying prayers! I spy and see him folding his hands and praying "thank you God for police officers and the people that make a happy world. And for mommy making a happy house." MELT MY HEART! Meanwhile, Hunter is attempting a handstand on his chair and Faith Ann is stealing Trents food while his eyes are closed! Trent is a breath of fresh air! And yes, that is a tire in our front yard ditch! They were rolling each other in the ditch. For our family...a tire can provide hours of entertainment!

Hunter has decided he wants to be an author when he grows up. He comes home from school and writes a book everyday. He says he really wants to be the illustrator! He is so dang smart. He even took some of his books to school to try to sell them to his teacher! He needed a book for a Halloween book parade. Rather then getting a book, he wrote his own book to carry in the parade. This makes me proud!! His future holds something great! On to hair now...I cut Faith Ann's hair the other day. She had this rat tail going on. So, I cut it and shaped her hair. It is so cute! I did it myself, and she sat so still!

My dad, Pardner, comes over often. He came over to babysit Faith Ann the other day. He can babysit for an hour or so. He can't pick her up and has limited mobility, so I try to limit his babysitting time. An hour is perfect for me to run a couple errands and he gets some alone time with Faith Ann! The other day, I came home to Faith Ann doing my dads hair. He said this brought back so many memories for him. I used to do his hair for hours! He said the only difference is that Faith Ann doesn't hit him with the brush if he moved! haha!

I have moved my afternoon ninja class to Monday mornings. Ally was coming over Tuesday afternoons to babysit while I went to the ninja gym. However, the class is now moved to during the school day. Ally was upset that she was "fired." So, I rehired her for Sunday's after church for a couple hours. That is now our date time. Scott picks the date one Sunday, and I pick the date the next Sunday. Last week was my turn, and we took a boxing class. It was SO much fun. Amazing workout, so challenging, and so fun! Scott and I had a blast. I look forward to our weekly date...lots of memories in store! We welcome November and look forward to a season of Thanksgiving!