a project..

the daycare kids will be working on this week....
and this awesome idea was also found on pinterest
have I mentioned I love pinterest?

another idea

found on pinterest....
the plan is when we drive around to look at Christmas lights
we pick our three favorite decorated houses and leave these behind
as a thank you
(and yes looking at Christmas lights is another thing on our bucket list)

Something....

we haven't done in years....years.
decorate outdoors. for several years these little ones have
asked "can we decorate our house too?" And for one reason or
another it didn't happen. This year when we were creating our Christmas
bucket list (yes I did create a bucket list for Christmas since so often those
things that I wanted to do just simply never happened, so the theory was if I made a list
perhaps we would actually do it) one of the first things the kids mentioned was to decorate
outside...and so a trip to buy outdoor decorations was completed and in the warm temps
Friday night we decorated....much to the excitement of those little ones in our home.
and it appears that the bucket list is working since we have checked off a few items from
that list and it isn't even December yet.

and of course...

once all that decorating was done, we needed to take a few pictures

Anthony

it was his year to put the angel on top of the tree....

decorating for Christmas

she is fascinated by the tree

it seems that every year our tree leans one way or another

the day after Thanksgiving is the day we transform our home for the holidays
putting up the trees and other decorations. I found that the trend of less is more
continued with Christmas decorating too. We hung stockings, and brought out the
Christmas books. I found that much of the "stuff" that used to be placed remained in
the box this year...I rather liked the simpleness that fewer items added to our space created.
loved how the lights reflected on those wood floors, enjoyed listening to the chatter as one
treasure or another was unpacked, even Jack found the perfect spot (under the tree of course)
to watch all the decorating.

Johnny has returned....

the day after thanksgiving Johnny arrived

the table was set for breakfast, complete with "snowman" donuts

there was a pair of socks for each little person
a book and a chocolate Santa

a letter from Santa encouraged each child to be on their best behaviour
since Johnny would be reporting back to Santa each night...
a classic Christmas movie was tucked into the table decorations...
A lot of excited chatter as they discovered that not only had Johnny returned but had brought breakfast and surprises with him.

Happy Feet 2

After putting up the Christmas decorations this morning we decided to get out of the house and go to a movie. Grandma Betty joined us. I think she was more excited than the kids to see this movie.   Reyna made it thru the entire film. Amazing the difference a year can make  the afternoon was a success   after the movie we headed to Walmart where we heard there was a parade in town to welcome the holiday season so we extended our stay to take in the parade. Warm temps made parade viewing quite pleasant.
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A beautiful night

To watch a holiday light parade. Reyna loved the horses sporting twinkling lights. Yahaira was thrilled with the hot chocolate she got. What a perfect night with the temp near
50  we barely needed jackets. What a great start to the holiday

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Holiday parade

Waiting for the parade to begin

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Happy Thanksgving!

from our family to you....

too much

thanksgiving for that two year old...

pictionary

an annual tradition
where linette and I rock!
and every year the rest try to beat us
and every year they fail.
(yes, it would be safe to say we are competitive.)

fishing for shells

Anthony spotted a shell near the shore and by balancing on rocks he was able to reach it.
Rosie spotted Anthony's shell and wanted one too...just one problem none were near enough to the shore to reach
and even tho Rosie was quick to offer to go wading we vetoed that since there was ice on the surface of the lake and
most likely she would have froze her little toes off. so this is how we come to Cassandra hanging off the dock, out over the water
in order to retrieve a shell and then another. (she was the tallest and lightest in order to hang onto.) What a trooper, what happy little sisters, always an adventure...always.

a walk by the lake

despite the ice on the lake the temps were amazing

searching for seashells