Thanksgiving 2014

Even after all these years here, Thanksgiving is the holiday I really struggle to make it what I envision.  I always grew up with Thanksgiving being a constant chaos of lots of loud people and lots of food and Chex Mix that was devoured for breakfast which resulted in all of us begging mom to make another batch for the rest of the day - because obviously she didn't have enough other food to cook anyway....

Thanksgiving is so quiet here, especially now that our friends, the Marten's family, has moved away.  They were just like us, with no family near by, and we've managed to spend the last 4 Thanksgivings together, and they add a lot of fun and help make the holiday different from every other day.

My mom was here this year and we tried really hard to make the day special.  Jayden was still feeling a little under the weather, but we had puzzles and games and Christmas art projects and lots of food!

Started the Christmas puzzle

At the game table we played lots of Tenzi (a new game this year, but super fun!), Uno, and Ticket to Ride.

Games are exhausting, time for a movie break.

And I torture Sam with Chex Mis...

Lunch snacks before dinner

Thanksgiving with Willow's Class

We got to have a little Thanksgiving party with Willow's class!

They build turkeys out of Oreo's and candy corns.

And wrote thanksgiving notes to their teacher and make a turkey out of their hand..

Happy Thanksgiving!

Poor Sick Jaydo

Poor little Jaydo has pneumonia combined with asthma makes for a pretty sick little kid.  I was told to keep him out of public places, because his lungs were so bad that if he managed to catch the flu, he'd most likely end up in the hospital.  Guess we're starting Thanksgiving break early!!!

I like picking up his prescriptions at Target, because then we can pick up some new legos for him to work on.  If you are going to be home sick, you might as well have a project to keep you busy!

Christmas Tree Hunting 2014

We went tree hunting early this year!  Before Thanksgiving!!!  That right there is a major breakage of rules for Royal, but since we are flying to WA for Christmas this year, I thought it was totally appropriate to put it up early so I could enjoy it for longer!  :)

It was a cold and super windy day!

And thanks to it being opening weekend at the tree farm, Santa was there!  I'm pretty sure this is maybe the 2nd picture my kids have ever taken with Santa.  Jayden has never believed in Santa (little grumpy old man-child), but Willow, even with Jayden constantly shouting at her that Santa isn't real, really wants to believe and I always tell her we can always pretend to believe, and she agrees, so Willow and I secretly believe that Santa shows up on Christmas morning.  :)

The end of Football and Soccer

I'm not sure I'm totally excited about outdoor fall sports here in Kansas.  We went from way too hot, sweating it out, roasting in the morning sun to games being cancelled because it was too cold to play.  But Jayden LOVED playing football and Willow tolerated playing soccer, she liked it but she didn't love it.  I think soccer requires too many clothes - those big socks and shin guards are just too much.  :)

Willow did get a sportsmanship award for Leadership.  And let me tell you, she was quite the little leader out there, because I'm pretty sure bossing and leading just go hand in hand.   She was really good at passing the ball, but then once she passed it on, she ran beside her teammate now with the ball yelling at them to "run faster" and "kick it in the goal!"  She really likes to win.  :)

During Jayden's football games, Willow would sometimes get bored and dump out Royal's bag of footballs and flags and put on a fashion show.  I would have to play music on my phone so she had something to strut around to.  :)

Jayden had a great season.  He really improved in his confidence and it showed in how he played.  He was constantly looking to catch the ball or intercept the ball or run the ball, but mostly he liked to be the quarterback and throw it.  Royal had everybody switching positions every play, so they all got a chance to do everything.

End of the season trophies!

Willow Turns 6!

My mom flew out again this year to celebrate her own and Willow's birthday with us!  We started out Willow and my mom's celebration a day early by having a girls day at Fresh Spa Market and getting our nails done.

Willow's birthday fell on a Thursday this year, so she had to go to school first.

But then promptly came home, opened a present from her Aunt Kay-Kay, and proceeded to make the biggest mess possible with the makeup she got.  I'm not exactly sure how loose powdered eye shadow and blush that you have to take off with makeup remover are considered kid products, Kaylee assured me they were all from a kid store and were all natural and safe..... All I can say is....payback, my friend, payback....

Individual ice cream cakes for dessert!

The next night, it was off to her birthday party with her friends at Pump It Up!

Shoving everybody inside the wind machine to experience a tornado!

Seeing how many balloons you could shove inside a t-shirt!

Jayden even let us do it to him.  :)