Visit with Santa

I have so many fun pictures to post from our wonderful Thanksgiving trip, but I haven't downloaded them off of my phone yet. SO, in the meantime, here's a fun picture from our visit to see Santa yesterday at the mall.

Parker wasn't too sure about Santa. He didn't cry or anything, but he didn't smile either...no matter how hard the photographer tried.
Payton told Santa all about the Lego Ninjago set that he wants. Santa seemed to know exactly what he was talking about.

We've got the house decorated, the tree trimmed, and our annual photo with Santa... I'd say this Christmas season is off to a great start!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

...Christmas!!!

We will be traveling a bit over the Thanksgiving holiday week, so we decided to break the Cardinal Rule of "not putting up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving." However, we only put up the decorations that are kind of a pain in the rear - like the lighted garland that goes over the garage door, the front door and the entertainment center. It's a pain to put up every year, but it's so beautiful and really makes me happy once it's up. And, even though we put up those items, we aren't lighting the outside lights until after Thanksgiving. So really, we're still kinda playing by the rules. :)

Here's a sneak peek at the indoor decs:

(Entertainment Center garland with Christmas Village set up on mantel area)

 (Parker loves this by the way. He makes me hold him up and talk about each and every building and what's going on inside as he points to them and babbles at each one. So cute!)

 And the tree:

(Notice - no ornaments yet.)

I'm very excited to get home from vacation and get out all of the fun decorations. I have a feeling Parker is going to love the blow-up Frosty the Snowman this year. And Payton can't wait to get Percy the Elf out! So many fun things to look forward to.

And since I'll be taking a blogging hiatus this week with the boys being out of school and traveling for a couple days, here are some random photos from the past couple weeks to tide you over till I get back...

We had new attic stairs installed last week. Our old ones broke and the company had gone out of business, so we got some spiffy new stairs that are SO much safer. Even the boys can climb them (with supervision of course!).

  The boys had so much fun up there - I was tempted to close up the door and let them hang out for a while! :)

Parker and I enjoyed our first candy cane of the season at Publix last week. It was yummy. 

Now that Payton takes showers instead of bathing with Parker in the tub, the boys have found a new way to play together during bathtime..

Payton fogs up the glass with his breath:

 Then draws things in it for Parker.

Then they banter back and forth at each other.

Sometimes ending in a kiss-through-the-glass!

Brian and I went out to dinner with a group of amazing friends last week. We were celebrating a new job for our good friend, Neal. It was a celebration in the sense that we know he is going to touch so many lives and be a huge impact for God in his new church. But at the same time, there were some tears shed at the idea of them moving to Virginia Beach. We love them so much. It's going to be a very hard goodbye.

(sorry for the horrible pic - the lighting was bad, on top of having the hostess take the pic who didn't know how to use an iphone camera :))

Here's one of me & Neal's wife, April. Such a sweetheart.

And one last random pic to share. I never want to forget this stage of Parker's life.

He is a very strong-willed child, but at the same time he can be so sweet and cuddly.

This is his favorite position in the world. Sitting with his bunny, blue blankie in hand, paci in mouth and gently rubbing his nose with the corner of the blanket. It's just so. darn. precious.

Okay, that's it for me.

I'll be back in a few days to share fun vaction pics.

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving with your family & friends.

And remember... we all have so, so much to be thankful for.

Last week...

The weather has been amazing this week. Not gloriously sunny and warm, but kinda grey, overcast and cold. It was the perfect weather to snuggle up and get ready for the holidays! We did of course have some beautiful sunny, cool days in there too. Which of course call for us to be outside...all day!

Some days we go to the park, some days we go up to the Village, some days we just walk around the neighborhood, or sometimes... we just play in the driveway.

This day, Parker carried out his stuffed dog ("Foof," as he calls him) and his stuffed cat ("Nom," as he calls it) and played for the longest time!

That same week, he also took the same stuffed animals and made a little blanket sitting area in front of our fake fire place. It was a really chilly morning (at least 50 degrees for you Northerners - HA!) so we had the fire place space heater on and he grabbed his two favorite stuffed friends and set up a little play area. He loves watching the fake flames - it's hysterical.

 

Payton had a friend over on Thursday and they played LEGO's in his room. I was so surprised (and thrilled!!) when I walked in to find that they actually let Parker sit up on the bed with them while they were playing. Usually this is a "NO PARKER" playzone when the LEGO's come out - because he just destroys them - but for whatever reason they let him play. And he LOVED it!

Last week, I shared a link with you for a blog where you could print out Thanksgiving printables for free. I thought I would share with you how I used some of them.

Two of the most influential people in Payton's life right now - outside of immediate family - are his two teachers (he's in a co-teaching classroom this year). They are both wonderful and he is learning so much. So we wanted to give them a little Thanksgiving treat to tell them how grateful we are for them.

I printed off these "I am thankful for you because" templates and then had Payton fill them out for each teacher.

Then we baked mint chocolate chip brownies together and put them in little plastic containers. I topped each one with another printable.

And then put them in little gift bags with another printable for the tag.

I got notes back from both teachers saying how much they appreciated it. 

So now I am really anxious to see if that blog puts up Christmas printables. Stay tuned - I'll pass along the link if they do!

And since we're on the topic of Thanksgiving, here are a few Thanksgiving decorations we have been enjoying this month:

Payton made this cute turkey at school. The bag is filled with beans, so it sits up nicely.

Parker made this "turkey" at Miss Patty's last week. She said, "I let him put the pieces wherever he wanted, so it's a little art deco." LOL! :)

 I love that she used his little hand prints - that's a keeper!

And I printed off a few Thanksgiving poems for Payton to read to Parker:

However, I'm a little sad to say these decorations are now up in the attic.

Why?" you ask? Well...

...this is what went up in our house this weekend!

More to come...

End of Another Season

Payton wrapped up his second season of baseball this week. And although he says he "might" want to play again in the Spring, I am happy to have the rest of this holiday season be baseball-free. That will free up two additional days in our week, and with all that goes on around Christmastime, it's nice to know that our schedule is freeing up quite a bit.

The main team coach hosted the end-of-the-season party at his house. It was perfect because they have a huge backyard where the kids could run around and be crazy, but they also had a huge outdoor patio area where the adults could hang out and talk.

I ended up collecting money from everyone and purchasing the coach's gifts. I think they turned out pretty cute.

After the kids filled up on chips, pizza and Capri Suns, they all gathered for a few more encouraging speeches from each coach and then trophy presentations (definitely the kids' favorite time of the season!).

Payton was so excited to get another trophy!

 (Sorry for the crazy look, he was just really excited!)

Then they all huddled together for one last "Gooooooo Yankees!"

What a cute bunch of kids. And what amazing coaches we had this season!

Until Spring, we bid adieu to baseball!

Thanksgiving FREE printables - yay!

I have a ton of super fun pictures to post from Payton's end of the season baseball party last night, but before I do that, I wanted to pass along a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving web site for any crafty moms out there.

I got these AWESOME Thanksgiving printables for FREE and you can too. So simple, just follow the steps and download them to your computer. Print off as many as you like. That simple. DO IT! Your kids will love them and there are tons of fun party tags for teacher's gifts, etc.

 

 

http://amandaparkerandfamily.blogspot.com/2012/11/free-thanksgiving-printables.html

You can thank me later. :)
Baseball pics tomorrow...promise!

Veterans Day & More

Payton's school had a Veteran's Day ceremony last Friday. I thought it was really nice for the school to do a big assembly and recognize all of the family members in attendance who were Veterans. I don't think Payton fully grasps  Payton doesn't have a clue about the sacrifice that comes along with having a family member in active service.

We have new neighbors that have 2 little boys around Payton's age and the father is serving in Afghanistan. The mom is hoping he can come home around Christmas, but he hasn't seen the boys in over 6 months. Payton could not understand why their father was never around. He just can't wrap his brain around the concept of someone from our country going far, far away to defend us and help others.

But I am trying to do my part to explain this to him and help him gain an understanding - and more importantly - a respect, for our Veterans and active-duty service men & women. I am always in awe of my girlfriends whose husbands get deployed for months - even years - at a time and they are left raising their children as a single parent.
It blows my mind.
And makes me feel so grateful.
Thank you.
To all of our Veterans and active duty military...
Thank you for all that you & your family do for us.

So, this is what Payton wore to the assembly on Friday at school. His Cub Scout leader told him that it was a sign of respect to wear their uniforms. So he did. And he got to participate in the flag ceremony.

I think he's starting to get an idea of what it means to have pride in our country.

The rest of our weekend was pretty low-key. Friday afternoon the boys just played at home.

(Parker trying to be one of the "big kids")

On Saturday morning, we had our pictures taken for our Christmas card, and then went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Since it was chilly out, they had the fireplace going. I asked if we could sit nearby and they placed us at the table right in front of it.

Parker spent the ENTIRE meal saying, "Oooo! Hot!" And trying to blow on the fire like it was a candle that he could blow out. He was so worried about the fireplace, that he wouldn't even eat his breakfast! Note to self: Next time, wave "hello" to the fireplace on your way to table far off in another corner of the restaurant.

Of course a candy stick and rocking chairs afterward made everything right with the world again!

Saturday afternoon was Payton's last baseball practice of the season. After a little bit of practicing, the coach surprised the kids with a full-family participation kickball game. The kids had a BALL (although I think the Dads had the most fun!).

 Then, on the way home from practice, Parker was getting fussy, so I asked Payton to read to him. Parker was silent the entire rest of the ride home. He loves it when Payton reads to him!

Yesterday, Payton had the day off school, so we headed to Busch Gardens with our neighbors and their cousins. The weather was perfect, the lines were short, and the boys had a great time. Parker is at such a great age right now for Busch Gardens. Even though he can't ride a lot of the rides, he is so enamored with the animals. 

We rode the train around the park and saw all of the safari animals.

 We would sit and have snacks or "people watch" while the big kids rode rides.

Then we hit the Sesame Street area, which is like a huge playground for someone Parker's age!

We watched the Sesame Musical show:

And the characters would walk up and down the aisles. 

You can see Elmo behind him here. He really wanted to hug Elmo!

Then Elmo came back and made his wish come true!

He was SO happy!!!

Then we went to the water area and hung out there for a long time.

Payton ran into a friend from school while we were there so they rode the "Air Grover" rollercoaster together a couple times and then we headed out.

Parker looked like this about 5 minutes after getting in the car...

That's the sign of a good trip to Busch Gardens!

Tonight is our end-of-the season baseball party. More on that tomorrow...