Thanksgiving Week

Jenny and I split our time this week between both families. Monday I dropped she and the boys off with her parents, and I went on to my parents' for a couple of days. Then Jenny and the boys joined us on Wednesday, we stayed with my parents until Saturday morning, and we headed back with a stop back in for a full Saturday Thanksgiving Meal with her family.

These pics are all out of order, but here's a recap of our week.

Friday morning we had our first ever Elf on the Shelf Party. My niece's elf, Krispy Kreme, made his first appearance. Ben's Elf, Tiger, was waiting for him back in Conway.

Krispy Kreme left Luke some Cheerio's.

He brought snowballs (powdered donuts), chocolate covered marshmallow snowmen, hot chocolate, and a Christmas ornament for all three kiddos. My mom uses Fiesta as her everyday dish and Krispy Kreme knew just how to make it look great.

Speaking of Mom and Dad, I helped mom Monday and Tuesday as we got their house ready for Christmas. With Ben coming on Wednesday, we wanted to get as much of it taken care of as possible before he arrived.

I've been threatening to outline the entire house, and the picture doesn't show the scale very well, but their roof is taller than the two story house two houses down, and my parents will not let me do it. Guess with two knee surgeries and a broken ankle I should stay away from slopes and heights.

It is really stressing me out how so many people's Christmas Trees are starting to look just alike. I'm happy my parents' is still how I remember it. They began collecting Hallmark Keepsake ornaments since 1976. Not many people buy the series anymore, and their collection is just down to a few new ornaments each year, but it used to be far more than just going to Hallmark and buying random ornaments.

Every year they added to the same running collections:

Rocking Horses (they have all but the 1st one)

Frosty Friends (they have the entire series)

Nostalgic Houses and Shops (they have the entire series)

Here Comes Santa Clause (they have the entire series)

Tin Locomotives (they have the entire series)

Some of these puppies are worth a few hundred bucks - from an original price of about 12.95 back in the 80's.

We have our favorites, and they simply have too many to put on the tree. This year we put about a third on there.

I also love the angel. She doesn't have a single sparkle or piece of glitter on her, but she's just the way I remember her.

This one's for Dad - a Here Comes Santa. This particular year he was in a golf cart.

Here's mom's favorite. Another Here Comes Santa Claus...this year in a bumper car. She loves this because of a particularly memorable bumper car episode when we were at the State Fair of Texas as kids.

My favorite - Here Comes Santa Claus in a sleigh with brass reindeer. I've always loved it.

And of course, John's favorite. Here Comes Santa, in a Jeep. John's favorite vehicle of all time. This is as close as he has ever come to owning one.

Its funny - all of these are from the same series. Something about Here Comes Santa Claus, I guess.

This is my niece's tree in the den. You can't see but it's all red and white candy ornaments. These were the ornaments her mother used before she passed away, so we put them on a tree just for Abby. And we put it in the den because that's where everyone hangs out most of the time.

Mom and I were really proud of this. A few weeks ago they were in Conway and I took them to an antique shop where I had scouted a couple of things. The 1950's Toboggan was the base for our centerpiece, with presents and ornaments and snow piled up.

If you'll look closely you'll see the real inspiration - a set of graduated sleigh bells from the mid 1800's. I saw these and gave them a ring and knew they had to have them. The lady in the store gave dad a really good price on them, and they were totally worth it. I love to think about Ben and Luke hearing them ringing for years to come.

And this is Mom's masterpiece. She has seen these everywhere and learned how to do one on Pinterest. She was a little intimidated by it, but it was actually really easy to do. I just stuck the pins where she told me. The first morning it was out, her neighbor was out for a walk and had to come get a closer look. We've seen them in the store for 150.00 +, and this took about 40 bucks to make.

My sweet little niece Abby by her tree in the Den.

Here is our little family heading out to Thanksgiving with my dad's family.

And who could resist this little Turkey???

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving Week.

Our Little Pilgrim

Ben's Mother's Day Out program was the Thursday before Thanksgiving, and our little Pilgrim did great. He sang, did the motions, and did not show out (too much).

Grammy, Granddad and Pippi came to watch, and they all stayed after for the MDO Thanksgiving Lunch, which was a hit.

He stayed in his seat before the show...even when he spotted all of us.

He did all of the motions correctly...

Stood in place with the rest of his class....

And he only yelled out "Hi Grammy...Hi Pippi!" a couple of times.

This one was contemplating ways to get the attention off of big brother and back on to him. He didn't have to work very hard at that............he's pretty much a show stopper all by himself.

Catching Up

So we have been really bad about posting until the last few days, and we've posted several times. I'll try to do better about posting - it's just so hard. So, so hard. With two.

In the past few weeks...

Luke has moved out of his carrier into his big boy seat. He's still facing backward, but he has more room. And no, we won't be facing backward until two. Our boys are too tall. His knees are already to his chest in the car. We'll probably flip him around January/February.

We went to my parents' for a couple of nights. The trees were really starting to turn.
I love their neighborhood, and taking our dogs on long walks while we're there.

Luke was invited to his first birthday party. Here he is with his buddy Sawyer.

Here are the birthday kids...twins from Luke's Sunday School Class...

These twins have different birthdays - one was before midnight and the other after.

So cool.

Ben and I carved a pumpkin...

...scooped out the middle...

...and then he turned 12.

When did he grow up? He's not even supposed to be able to climb up on the couch. He's wearing size 12.5 new balance. Not stride rite. Certainly not Wee Squeak or Robeez. Size 12. And a half.

My parents have a bar-height counter between the den and kitchen, and I looked over and Ben was 2 inches taller than the counter. What is happening?

In Only Happens Once a Year

Last Tuesday I popped in Starbucks to find this...

(I don't know what's up with the image...)

But you get the message.

'Tis the Season.

Which Pumpkin is Which?

Benjamin and Luke...

...they just look nothing alike.

Who's That Lady?

Sadie. She's That Lady...

Or, "Sadie, My Pretty Lady" as Luke refers to her.

They're going to marry each other. And have a half dozen little Razorbacks. Running around our houses at Christmas.

They're getting married here...

The Rehearsal Dinner will be here...

And the cupcakes at the reception will come from here...

Geez, we better start saving.

Sadie isn't too sure about Luke. Luke's comfortable enough, however, to caress her thigh...

Sadie is an emotional roller-coaster...

Now she's upset.

Now She's Happy.

Now she's a pumpkin. And she's happy.

Oops, there we go again. Now she's upset.

Oops, no - now we're okay again.

And here we go again -

And doing better again...

Oops, no...spoke too soon.

And we're completely gone now...

Nope...False Alarm. All is well!

No, Wait, Wait...here we go again.

Someone has to keep a level head in all of this wedding planning...

It's tough being a ladies' man.

Brothers...

There are moments in parenthood where you feel like you've done something right.

Things just click.

Your boys - for a moment - love each other and are being sweet.

And in those moments, you feel like it's just going to be okay.

And then your three year-old chicken falls out backwards and is in a rotten mood for the rest of the evening.

Such is life with two little boys...

Here She Goes...

For months now my wife has been told that she "needs to start selling (this) stuff" that she has been sewing -

Everything from Rompers and John-Johns and t-shirts for the boys to hooded towels, burp cloths and tutus for other friends.

Jenny really has a talent, and she enjoys making things for people. She has a few regular clients, but she's wanting to pick up a few more.

SO...if you're in the market for baby/preschooler clothing/accessories, shoot her an e-mail or leave a comment. Every order is custom - she doesn't keep an inventory on hand, so your items will be unique for your child and extra special for you.

Visit her page to see examples of her work. She'll be updating it regularly.