Advent Begins

Advent begins at the dawn of tomorrow. We are very excited to start the Christmas season. Howie is giddy about it this year since he is old enough to know what is coming. With the help of my amazingly creative friend, I have created some advent traditions that will hopefully be fond memories for the boys in years to come.
This ribboned structure houses 25 devotionals for our little ones. Inside each bag is a different activity. For example, The first day prompts them to read the beginning part of the Christmas story in their Children's Bible and add Mary, Joseph and Jesus to the manger scene (the manger resides under the bags when Johnny isn't chewing on the camel). Some of the activities are service related, like how Mary and Joseph were probably cold so the boys have to find an old article of clothing to donate to someone in need of a warmth this season. I made sure to leave a few items sticking out of the bags to provoke interest and excitement. I am looking forward to helping the boys reflect on the true meaning of Christmas this month.

Of course, we have a few other fun activities about to start too... Our Elf on the Shelf (Zeke) is coming back, the branch in the kitchen has been decorated with tinsel in hopes of new ornaments to be made and hung, and we are counting down Santa's arrival with our candy cane that moves each day.










Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a great Thanksgiving celebration with Nonnie and Paw Paw. Nonnie taught me how to make my first turkey dinner, that was a learning experience that was long overdue! The grown-ups feasted on the traditional yummies while the boys ate rolls. All of this yummy food and they only wanted the pre-made frozen bread. Oh well.
The Christmas decorations were brought up from the basement and the house decorating lasted all day. Johnny has been enjoying the ornaments that he can reach; bringing them to us as he gets them off the tree. Howie is loving the holiday themed books and he spent many moments wrapped up in someone's lap with a read aloud time.

Trick-Or-Treat

Did someone say "Candy"? The boys were so excited to go trick-or-treating this year. Howie was excited about the candy, Johnny was excited because Howie was excited. There was lots of rolling around in the grass prior to the knocking on doors. Our sweet friend Georgia joined us and our first knock was Miss Sandy's door. In this last picture, Johnny has his little hand in the candy dish, grabbing away...

Warm November Days

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Time in the Woods

Our friends just moved way out into the country. It's beautiful! We had a great time exploring their property and letting the boys "be boys".

Fall Pictures

Today we took a walk to photograph our neighborhood friend, Georgia. She is our sweetie pie friend! A few fun pix of the boys were snapped too...

Guarding Pumpkins

Tonight, Howie and Daddy carved out a pumpkin.  Naturally, Howie did not want Johnny to get into the pumpkin (a brotherly thing), so he decided to tape it shut.   Here is a picture that tells the whole story... imagine a big "NO!!!!!" to go along with the image.

Brozilla

At Halloween time, Johnny evolves into a more sophisticated version of "Brozilla"

PJ's and Shoes

Johnny's PJ's were not designed for hardwood floors. Poor guy slips around everywhere after 8 pm. Tonight, we did PJ's a little early so I slipped some shoes on him which looked ridiculous, but did the job. About time I invest in those gripper socks from One-Step-Ahead.

Fall Leaves

The boys have been working hard at raking the leaves these last couple of days. Well, actually they have been just moving them around which creates a game that never ends. As you could probably guess, the hardest part of the task is sharing the lawn equipment.

Johnny is "DONE"!!

Sunflower Festival

For the past four years, we have been attending the super fabulous Sunflower Festival at Gorman Farm. This year was the best year yet. The sun was shining, the sunflowers were in full bloom and we enjoyed the day with friends and family.
What is there to do at the farm? Well... in addition to petting all the barnyard animals, they have a children's garden were we stopped and did some digging. There was a corn maze ("Maize Maze") that demanded exploring. The children found walnut balls and enjoyed launching them into the woods (no, this was not a farm organized activity). We also got to ride behind a tractor that pulled us through the hills and around the crops.
Howie likes the event because he gets to run around outside. Johnny likes the event because there are sheep, chickens, pigs and goats there. And Mommy and Daddy like the event because once you pay the $5 admission fee, they don't nickel and dime you. The tractor ride was a highlight as well as Uncle Jason launching a small pumpkin with a catapult at a goat target. And of course, the sunflower field was the reason we came...