Getting the Christmas Tree

The past few years, we've gotten our Christmas tree from a little corner-lot in Greenwood.  It's easy, quick, and they'll load it onto your car for you.  But, this year, Parker is so excited about Christmas that I thought it would be fun to go up to Pilchuck to cut down our own tree.

 

 

Here are a few cute photos of Cecily before Daddy bumped her face-down into a mud puddle:

 

Parker was SUPER excited about chopping down his own tree.

 

Our plan was to get a 2-3 foot Noble Fir to put on our end table (and out of Cecily's reach).  Unfortunately, when we got there, we realized that they don't charge by the foot, so all Nobel Firs were $65 regardless of size.  We weren't eager to pay $30/foot for a tree, but there was no way Parker would let us leave without chopping down something.  Fortunately, they had a $10 kid's trees section, so we picked out a spindly little 6-foot Douglas fir and chopped it in-half once we got home.

 

It turned out pretty good, especially for 10-bucks!

 

After we got the tree, we headed into Arlington to get lunch. 

 

Parker was pretty excited about the hot chocolate.

 

Apparently, Cecily was as well, I came back from the bathroom with Parker & my Dad was gleefully spooning whipped cream into her mouth.

Christmas Decorations

 

I'm trying to find a balance between decorating with my favorite Christmas decorations (which are all quite breakable) and not making the house a museum where the kids can't touch anything (particularly since neither of them listen when you say "don't touch").

 

I bought Parker a small fake tree that he can decorate over & over again all season, he has his own "Little People" nativity set, and I'm letting him play with the "skating rink" from my Christmas village.  Of course, within minutes three of the people were broken, so I bought a few new people at the dollar-store, glued magnets onto their feet, and let him go crazy.  At least one has been broken already, but it's no big deal.

Thanksgiving

 

Thanksgiving afternoon, we headed over to Keith's parents for Thanksgiving dinner.  There were 10 adults and 5 kids, I think two adults to each kid is about the right ratio.

 

We had a great dinner and a fun evening of playing Kings & Serfs, but all I have photos of is my cute pie.

 

Two weeks ago, this little girl HATED bath time, but on Thanksgiving, she was screaming to get into the bathtub with her cousins.  Five kids in one tub is a pretty tight fit, but they had a great time!

 

And now, bring on Christmas!

Thanksgiving Morning

We're going to Keith's Mom's for dinner today, it's weird not running around & cooking Thanksgiving morning, but it means we have some time to hang out as a family.

 

 

I asked Parker at breakfast what he was thankful for, his answer: "I'm thankful for crocodile, for penguin, for jaguar, and for zebra!"

...thanks kid.

 

I finally found an antenna that actually (kinda) works in our basement, so we let the kids watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade.  Parker told me he "loves this movie" 

 

Personally, I'm pretty darn thankful for these guys:

Today's Project ~ Christmas Wreath

 

This is perhaps the longest "easy" craft project ever...

 

I started this wreath three years ago when Parker was a baby.  After applying all $5 worth of Dollar-store ornaments that I'd bought, the wreath was only about half-covered.  I wasn't sure if I liked it enough to spend another $5 on it so I put it aside, then the next few Christmases were eclipsed by morning sickness & colicky baby.  So, I finally got around to finishing it this year.

 

I think I actually like it, and it's nice to know that if the children drop it, it won't shatter into a million pieces.

 

I also made a few glitter trees, not sure what I'm going to do with these, but I love the sparkle!

She doesn't sleep much...

 

...but she's sure cute!

 

As far as I can tell, Cecily has broken three new teeth this week.  This has translated into screaming fits from about 11:30 to 2am every morning.  I'm exhausted, but she seems to be fine.

I'm working Mama

Parker's been working a lot this week.

 

 

Yes, these photos are from two different days, yes he's wearing jammies in both, no, none of these photos were taken anywhere near bedtime.  You have a problem with that?

 

Parker is showing a determined single-mindedness when working.

 

Cecily is showing how "helpful" she can be when someone else is working.

 

Markers are one of her very favorite "special treats"

 

She doesn't get much ink on the page, but her face is always colorful.

Waking up

It is not unusual to find Cecily here when she wakes up in the morning:

 

 

Usually, she's screaming her head off, until I throw Parker in with her, then she's usually pretty happy.

Reading

Parker LOVES books, and recently he's started reading them to himself on occasion.

 

 

I'll spare you the video, but I took several videos this evening of him sitting & "reading" stories to us.  I personally, think it's adorable, but I can see how the rest of the world might not think he's the cutest thing ever (although they'd be wrong).  Some of the stories seemed to come out of thin air, but on several he did a remarkable job of following the actual story-line in his re-telling.

Our last dinner in the old house.

 

My parents are moving out of my childhood home on Wednesday.  Since we're all back on this side of the mountains, we got together for one last Sunday dinner before they moved.

 

 

The cousins had a great time playing together.  Parker & Cecily haven't really spent much time with Joshua & Nora, but they had a great time running around together.

 

Fiona's birthday is in a few weeks, so since we were all under the same roof, we decided to celebrate her birthday as well.  (I'd love to blame the mustard-yellow color of the frosting on my camera, but it was all me; I was going for bright yellow and ended up with deviled eggs, but they tasted good)

 

We even got a shot of all the cousins.

 

...or as best as we could, you try getting 5 kids to look at the camera & smile at the same time!

 

So long 8353, it was a great place to live! 

 

Considering how I reacted when we sold the cabin, I expected to be a weepy mess this evening, but so far I'm okay.  It could have something to do with the fact that my Dad hasn't packed everything up yet and all the furniture is still there, I think I'm in a bit of denial, I might have to run through the house one more time after the moving is all done to let it sink in.  ...or maybe I'm actually just ready for them to move, but my money's on denial.