Oh Christmas Tree!

This afternoon after I picked S up from school, we switched all of our stuff into M's truck(his new, even bigger truck - hahaha!) and started our journey to find the perfect Christmas tree! 

I had done a little research on the Internet and picked Sugar Plum Farms in Plumtree, NC to be our 2012 tree destination!  We've cut one live tree from a tree farm before in 2008 but were not impressed with it at all.  So, 2.5 hours later, we arrived to a HUGE tree farm, complete with tractor hay rides, hot chocolate and a fire pit!  Awesome!!! 

We had some hot chocolate and played around with the trains while we waited for the tractor to come back and give us a hay ride to the top of the mountain so we could start our search!  The view from the top of the mountain was absolutely amazing - too bad the driver didn't stop long enough to let me get a picture! He let us off at a spot with trees in about the height range we were looking and we went to it!  The kids loved going through the trees as if they were a maze and we actually had a hard time keeping up with them(I did not wear the right shoes at all and M was carrying a saw so we were both a little slow!).  They had a blast!!  And we found our perfect tree!:)

Next year we will definitely go to a tree farm again and chop down a tree, but will make it an entire day trip rather than a half day trip so that was can stay around and enjoy everything just a little longer! 

Morning Time at the House

On Thursday mornings, C has speech... but not until 10:45am. This makes it hard to get out and really do anything beforehand, but at the same time gives us a lot of free time at the house. I was absolutely determined not to turn the TV on this morning, so I forced myself to get creative and set the kids about doing other things.  We read, played Candyland(ever tried that with a 2-year-old...sheesh!!),  worked puzzles, got out the Christmas stickers and pushed choo-choos!  It's a lot of work to keep two kids occupied who really don't have many shared interests in common!!!!

Streamlining Mornings

Our mornings have become a bit, er, trying lately!!!

I have been trying to come up with ideas that will make getting out of the house quicker and easier!  At least 5 days a week, we have to be leaving by 8:30am.  This may not seem early to those who work or have kids in grade school, however, it is so hard for us for some reason!  There is way too much whining and yelling and arguing going on and I am determined to minimize it! 

I've started doing a few things differently and it seems to help, but I am going to have to tweak it still to make things even more smooth!

It is exhausting just to get out the door - I can not imagine what it is going to be like when S starts Kindergarten next year and I am doing this all but having to leave even an hour earlier!!

PS - Did I mention I was D.O.N.E. with Christmas shopping as of this morning?!?!  YAY!  And it isn't even December yet:)

Together Tuesdays

We had fun today at the Bounce House!!  I was reminded when I read a friend's blog that I still had two free passes that expired at the end of the year so no time like the present to use them!:)  Free fun makes fun just that much more fun!!  HA!  Anyway, the kids had a blast and played and played and played a bit more!

One Last Stop

One our drive home from New Bern, we made one last stop in Salisbury, NC to visit with my other grandfather.  This was the first time we'd seen him since he has been living in a nursing home.  We were very glad to get a chance to see him, even if it was a short visit!  He is celebrating his 90th birthday on Monday with a surprise party, but we opted to wish him a happy birthday(and S colored him a birthday picture while we were driving and gave it to him - sweet girl!) during this visit rather than driving back up again on Monday for the party. 

Happy Birthday, PawPaw! 

Cousin Outing

As we have a tradition of doing, we took the cousins to the playground this morning at a church in the downtown are and let them get some energy out!  Then, we paraded our little group to see Santa. 

The town has the absolute cutest set up done for Santa with all the decorations around a little house where Santa sits.  The kids really really had fun!  Both S and C were all about sitting on Santa's lap.  C asked for a truck and S asked for a doll - maybe I need to see if I can change their current requests to match up with what they are getting:) 

Afterwards, I took the kids back to our house to have lunch and nap/rest before heading back over to Papa's for pizza and more crazy cousin fun! 

We had a great trip to New Bern and made lots of memories!!

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are in New Bern at Papa's house, as always, this year!  We went for a walk through downtown with Grandpa this morning.  We collected leaves and acorns as we went, walked along the River Walk and played on the pirate ship before returning to our house to cook and get ready to go to Papa's house to meet up with the rest of our extended family!

We had a HUGE crowd this year, with all but 3 spouses being able to join us(one was sick, one out of the country and the other visiting with her family in another state).  I loved it!  And so did the kids!!  We ate, ate, ate and played, played and played some more!  It was a wonderful day to enjoy all the blessings that we have!

Thanksgiving Feast

Today S's class had their Thanksgiving Feast at school.

Being the room mom, I was able to be there to help them prepare the food:) LOVED it! Her class was in charge of the turkey and mashed potatoes and all the kids mixed and stirred until there was nothing left to mix! 

Another mom and I took the mashed potatoes upstairs to the kitchen to cook them while the kids continued with their class. Once all the classes had prepared their assigned foods and we'd cooked it, we served up the plates, decorated the fellowship hall and waited for the Indians and pilgrims to come to their feast:)

It was so cute to watch them as they all came to the table, gave thanks and enjoyed the food with their friends!!!