More Countdown Fun...

Stil working on our Countdown To Christmas fun...

Cookie Baking...

Our annual "put on your pj's, grab some cocoa & cookies, and look at Christmas lights" night!

Making one of my favorite ornaments...those little rolled up pieces of paper hold our favorite memories of 2010.

Day 11...Disney on Ice!!

The kids got a big surprise when they opened the door to Day 11 on Saturday morning! I was able to get them Disney on Ice tickets at a great price with an online discont code and they were so excited to get an early Christmas gift! The show was Toy Story 3 and it was fantastic! Little guy loved it and sat there mesmerized the whole time, clapping his hands when everyone else did!

This Week...

This week on our Countdown to Christmas activities we...

Made a doughnut tree...
and some soft pretzels to eat while we watched a Christmas movie...

and some puppy chow!!

...and watched a Christmas parade!!

Day 1 - Scrabble Tile Ornaments

We started our Countdown to Christmas calendar yesterday...it's 25 days of fun activities leading up to Christmas! I have such a good time planning this for the kids...

Day #1...Scrabble tile ornaments (all though the photos loaded in reverse order for some reason???)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

I went a little different on my mantle decorating this year and just LOVE it!! I bought the brightly colored balls 90% off at Target last year and Em talked me into buying that fluffy sparkly thing in the middle of the garland for 39 cents...I'm so glad I listened to her!!

Brothers...and other stuff!

Watching your children bond with each other is one of the sweetest gifts a mother can receive. I've noticed over the past few weeks as Samuel has become more active and is crawling everywhere and developing his own little personality that we all love so much that he has grown quite close to Nathan. It's so sweet to watch Nathan play with his baby brother and much Samuel lights up when they are together. They were playing on the floor the other night and Nathan got up and sat on the couch, Samuel crawled over to him, and reached up for Nathan to hold him, as soon as he picked him up he curled up on him and fell fast asleep. So precious and so thankful for the bond God has created in my boys!

It's hard to believe our little guy turned 10 months old last week! He weighs 19 1/2 lbs and is 30" long...he's going to be a tall drink of water!! He crawls at the speed of lightning, is creeping between the furniture and getting very sturdy on his feet. It wouldn't surprise me if he walked by Christmas! He's babbling lots of sounds, learned to clap his hands, and loves to dance!

A Perfectly PINK Baby Shower!!

I had the privilege of hosting a baby shower for my sweet friend Beth this weekend. This is baby #5 for her and her first girl! Needless to say there was a lot of PINK going on!!

Frames I made for a decoration (and part of her gift)
A pink candy buffet for the favors.

Everyone enjoyed filling their boxes with the candy treats!

Napkin Dresses...

Me, Beth (who looks amazing for being due in 3 weeks!), and my other friend Tonja who made all the food for us (she's a former Pampered Chef gal and made us lots of yummy snacks!)

Happy Halloween!

Better late than never...Happy Halloween from our little monkey, cupcake, and soccer player!

State Fair Day!!

Just a few pics from our trip to the State Fair last week...It's such a fun day that we all look forward to...and even more so this year that Samuel was here to go with us!!

It seems there is always at least one crazy fair food that everyone is talking about, this year it was the Krispy Kreme Hamburger! None of us were brave enough to try it...

We always have fun looking at all the foods you can deep fry!!

Hill Ridge Farms

Wow, what a busy month October has been...can't believe it is nearly over!! My hubby turned the big 40 last weekend and we had a great time celebrating with family & friends. Both of his parents were able to make the trip for the party (which I did not take one single photo of!!). Grandpa and Grandma Carol treated us to an afternoon at Hill Ridge Farms before heading back to New Hampshire.

GIANT slide!!!

Gem Mining...

Vote!!!

Have a few seconds?? Would you click this link and vote for Samuel?? You can vote every day!!! Help us win a Gap gift card!!

http://www.gapcastingcall.com/GapCastingCall/EntryDetail.html?id=19822

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!

My sweet Nathan turned 12 on Sunday...where does the time go?? He's such an awesome kid...helpful, selfless, kind, caring...the list could go on and on...I am blessed to call him my son! He asked for a homemade ice cream cake for his cake of choice. Growing into such a handsome guy...just like his daddy!

Enjoying his breakfast of choice...chocolate chip pancakes!

Opening some gifts...

Super Double Coupons!

So I haven't posted one of my coupon excursions lately but this one was too good to not share!! Just came home with all these groceries for a whopping 42 cents!!! I also walked away with $13 of coupons good for my next shopping order...this is my kind of FUN!! Disclaimer: I will NOT feed my husband & children all that Hamburger Helper and instant potatoes...but I will donate it to out church's bumper crop that helps stock a local food pantry!

Funny Guy

So, Dave and I both admit we had totally forgotten how much fun babies are!!! This sweet little guy has brought more laughter into our home than we ever could have imagined. Here are some funny moments from the past few weeks...

I also seemed to have forgotten how incredibly messy those teether biter biscuits are...
Sometimes lunchtime can be exhausting!!

Swinging outside is one of his favorite things to do!

He really does not like this rug!!!!

He loves to share with Princess...and she doesn't seem to mind at all!