Christmas Tree Hunting

Today my family came up and we went to Preston, ID to cut down Christmas trees. It was so much fun traipsing all over the mountain searching for the perfect pine tree. It even snowed on us for a bit, making it feel just a little more like Christmas.




Jackson took the job of tree hunting a little too seriously. He didn't understand that the little trees on the mountain would actually be HUGE in our house. He cried as we yelled timber and cut down our tree because it just wasn't big enough. When we got it in our house, and the top 2 feet still had to bend under our vaulted ceiling, he said, "oh!"



Lola loved donning her new winter coat, hat and gloves and hiked around like a little pro. She walked most of the way, grinning the whole time. She kept saying over and over that she was in search of a princess tree. Not quite sure just what she was expecting.

gRatEfuL

So grateful for. . .

• Jacks and his responsible nature and for being such a good buddy
• Miles and his smiling face and his love of life
  
• Lola and her loving ways and endless hugs
• Being married to my best, most favorite friend, even if he is a little goofy most of the time

Family Pictures

Here are a few favorites from our family pictures last week. Yes, more than a few, but I had a hard time choosing!




It's always so great to have recent pictures, but such a dreaded day in the life of a mom. Gathering outfits, keeping those outfits clean for the camera, trying to have everyone's hair in a decent state, all the while trying to keep a smile on faces is quite the job.





Miles did manage to step in a cow pie while traipsing around this barn. Not only step in the cow poop, but somehow smear it all over his pants and sweater. Only Miles would be that talented.





This one pretty much sums up the afternoon! Lola was not about to make this an easy task.

Princesses and Such

In the chaos of September, with school starting along with Jacks' and Lola's birthdays, I didn't have time to post these pictures of Lola. My friend Sam invited her to her daughter's princess party. . . thus introducing Lola to a whole new exciting world of princesses, fancy high heels, wands, makeup, and jewelery! She was so cute that morning, insisting that I do her hair in 'princess curls,' and sitting so still while I did it! She was in awe of the pretty Cinderella at the party, keeping her distance just a bit, but soaking it all in. Lola has not been the same since. She loves everything princess, roams the house in her fancy shoes and dresses, and tells me, "goodnight princess-mama" every night at bedtime.

It's so amazing to me the difference between my boys and my girl! The things that thrill them are so different from so early on. It's so fun to have a little of both. . . to be able to enjoy the chaos of the boys trucks, tractors, and action figures and the softness of my daughter's baby dolls, princesses, and purses!

Big Give

I'm a member of a group in my neighborhood called the 10 Club. Basically once a month, we get together, each bringing $10 and pool our money to do some kind of service. It's a good way to still get together for a girls night, but do service at the same time.

For our December project, we wanted to do something really meaningful for a couple families so we're doing sort of a "Big Give" type thing. The only problem is that I can only donate my usual $10. Each of us is trying to collect as much money from donations as possible, seeing how much money we can raise.

Thus bringing me to the point of this post. . . if anyone out there would like to help me with a donation of $10 leave me a comment!

Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween! I think we managed to fit in about 2 weeks worth of festivities in just one single day, leaving us all purely exhausted at the end of it all. We started our day off on a sweet note with delicious pumpkin-chocolate chip pancakes and then met 3 other moms and their kids for trick-or-treating downtown. After a little break, the costumes went back on, we went trick-or-treating to my sister Tierra's work, to the school Halloween Carnival, across the street for a neighborhood chili party, and then trick-or-treating through our neighborhood. The weather was amazingly warm making it so nice to be out. Lola didn't quite last through it all and conked out, fully decked in her costume about 7:00!