Last minute decision....

We made a last minute decision yesterday to put up the Christmas decorations. We had a few extra hours and a motivated kid and so we went to work. I love our Christmas tree. We have way too many ornaments that fill every branch especially since Ryan ran out of candy canes (we had one) and decided that kisses would work fine too:)

Tyler woke up from his nap and enjoyed watching the action too. In between dusting and finding places for our other treasures, the boys tried to talk us into some video game action so the project lasted the whole day!

Ryan had a sleepover with Jake and Hailee and Xander at Uncle Rick's house. Good times. Mom is in the hospital with a stomach infection and we're really hoping she is home soon.

Looking forward to the upcoming holiday memories and alot of vacation time! Pictures soon to follow...I promise.

Holidays in Hand

I'm taking a free class over at JessicaSprague.com called Holidays in Hand...a way to help "memorize" holidays past and present. Looking forward to combining some of this holiday fun with my December Daily project inspired by Aliedwards.com (I love the holidays and I heart scrapbooking...this is a great time of year when the two combine:)

My homework today is to write about my family holiday values and what matters the most. Here are a few key words about what the holiday means to me:

family
togetherness
Jesus
laughter
food
decor
gratitude
Santa
Christmas Programs

Here's a list of my intentions:
Spend lots of time with family
Lights Before Xmas at Toledo Zoo
Decorate our home
Decorate Outside
Christmas Card Picture
Christmas Cards
Crafting-December Daily, Holidays in Hand, Advent
Thank you cards
Shopping
Making Pies
Be more prayerful. Worshipful.
Group Pictures

We're looking forward to a meaningful holiday!

Adult Adventure

Jim and I spent an evening together at Soaring Eagle this weekend. Grandma Vicki generously watched our boys so that we could enjoy some time together as a couple. It was very enjoyable. We had some fun gambling, eating a nice dinner, using the hot tub, and enjoying our King sized room. We even got to sleep in! It was so nice reconnecting with Jim and focusing on each other. Admittedly, there were quite a few quiet times...peaceful, not uncomfortable.

When we got home, Ryan told us he had alot of fun. "I wasn't even scared." He told us to go back and he would play more games with Grandma and Papa Ron. Tyler snuggled in my arms for about 30 minutes and smothered me with sweet kisses. Guiltily, I can admit that it was a much needed adventure and since we knew the boys were in good hands, we hardly looked back. But after we got home and I held the boys in my arms, I realized they were much missed:)

Ryan wants to go with us next time...he's all about planning an adventure. Good thing we've got a couple of tricks up our sleeve soon:()

I hate to blog with no pictures!

I've been a bad blogger this week...mostly b/c I haven't picked up the camera and I think the blog is so boring without a cute picture. It's been a busy week. 3 days this week at the 2nd job doesn't leave alot of time for anything.

Last night, Ryan decided he is not going to go bowling with Daddy anymore on Wednesdays. He stayed home and the 3 of us played video games and worked out to the Wii. The boys discovered a new aerobic exercise where you have to lay down, stand up, lay down, stand up...they thought it was hilarious. It was fun...but boy, it's not as easy as it sounds. Especially when you do it back to back to back. We worked out for about 40 minutes. Good night.

I stowed away a few scrapbook pages in their respective books and enjoyed looking back on the year. I'm going scrapbooking on Friday night with my mom and I am going to put together my December Daily album inspired by Ali Edwards. It's a book you put together before December and you just add pictures and journaling as the days go by. Super Fun.

The boys have really been good these past 2 weeks and Jim and I are both so grateful for the peacefulness of it. This weekend we are going on a getaway together for the evening and Grandma Vicki is staying with the boys. I broke the news to Ryan yesterday...fully expecting that he would object and would want to go on the adventure. He totally surprised me with the fact that he is genuinely excited to spend some time with Gma. "Grandma Vicki is really fun," he says to Tyler. "Do you want Gma Vicki to have a sleepover?", Ryan asks. Tyler confirms, "Dah." with his head bobbing. It's a plan!

Organizing....

I've been spending the last few days organizing baby clothes for a mom to mom sale this weekend. So far I have 4 bins of stuff and I'm still storing away summer clothes. Maybe I'll try a sale again in the spring to sell light weight clothes. I also fished through my storage unit and found several items that I had gotten as wedding gifts nearly 8 years ago that have gone unused. I loaded up the Tahoe and took them over to the church last night as a donation to the holiday bazaar this weekend. Feels good to get some of this clutter out of the house.

Dr. says I have bad, bad cholestoral. I have to start taking a prescription:( In an effort to feel better....I've promised myself to a 14-day workout commitment the first 14 days of Novemeber. I have really done well so far:) Tyler and I ran with Wii Fit last night for nearly 45 minutes. He also taught me a great boxing workout. The other night, Ryan said...but mommy...you said we were going to exercise every day!! He wanted to run on the treadmill. Nothing like a little confession to friends and family to keep you true to your commitments. Thanks guys.

Here's a picture from the sleep over we had a few weekends ago:

Caught the kids relaxing for a 5 minute period during a 24 hour stay:) Fun.

Game Night....Whoopie! cusion fun.

It's amazing how much fun you can have when you put away the electronics and get out some good ole fashion UNO and Whoopie Cushions. The whole family cracked up for hours.

What's that noise? Ryan demonstrates how to make a fart noise. It's a great way to scare away Casper on Devil's Night.

Casper continued to make obnoxious sounds between rounds of UNO.Hey, it's not as easy as it looks!

Story time with Papa T and some Connect Four challenges. Tyler loves to line up all of the red on one side and all of the black on the other. Papa T. thinks that is a great idea.I think Ryan is apologizing to Gma Ellen for "sticking it to her" with a bunch of skips, draw 2s and draw 4s. I bet she wishes she had a reverse!

We had Friday off due to working a 4/10 schedule last week and on our way to the afternoon Halloween party at school, Ryan asked if he could call Papa Ralph and ask him over for a visit. What a pleasant evening of game playing and lasagna eating goodness.

Halloween Fun

We always have so much fun spending Halloween at my mom's house. There are plenty of houses close enough to get some loot and we're also only a few blocks from church where there is plenty-o-fun awaiting. I love this picture of brothers caught leaning in on each other with smiles. (What? No hand flying and feet kicking...this must be a mistake:)

Xander, my great nephew, aka Batman, joined us for some fun. He is such a cutie!

And the only way we could Jakob in on a picture was to bribe him with some video gaming strategies!!! He nearly tackled the whole group. (Jacob, Hailee, Amanda, Tyler, Ryan, Grandma) It was cold...but the kids kept us running. Even Tyler was ready for more!