Good Bye Present

Christopher was just about to leave for Dallas when a HUGE snow storm came through and gave us a few feet of snow. It was actually quite spectacular. I made sure to get Christopher outside shoveling so he would appreciate Dallas's warm weather.

Snow & Service

After a little blizzard the kids got tired of waiting for our HOA to remove the snow and took it upon themselves to clear our sidewalks and porch.

Gavin and Bear even went the extra mile and cleared our neighbors sidewalks and porches too! They were very thankful and graciously thanked them which the boys appreciated. Such cute boys.

We HEART Repunzel!

We took the kids to see Tangeled Thanksgiving weekend and absolutely LOVED IT! It was by far the cutest Disney movie as of late. LOVED IT. So did Bear and Gavin. Reese dressed up in her Rapunzel dress up clothes for it even. When we got home they got into the office paper clips and made their own Rapunzel hair.

Our Month of Thanks Giving

During the month of November we were really striving to teach the kids about being thankful and serving others. I put together this jar and filled it with questions about giving thanks and service. Each night at the dinner table each kid picks out a question and answers what's on the paper (Then they return it to the jar. If they draw a question they have already answered, they put it back in.). It was so fun and the kids really enjoyed answering the questions that we ended up doing the entire jar each time just passing it around and answering the questions. This is what was written on each paper-

What food are you most thankful for?
What friend are you most thankful for?
What is the nicest thing someone has done for you?
What are you most thankful for at church?
What nice things does Mom do for you?
What nice things does Dad do for you?
What are you most thankful for in our family?
What season or holiday are you most thankful for?
What animal are you most thankful for?
What nice things do you do for other people?
What nice things does your family do for you?
What nice things does Heavenly Father do for you?
What piece of clothing are you most thankful for?
What nice things do you do for our family?
What is your favorite food at Thanksgiving?
Tell the story of the first Thanksgiving.
What is the best thing about the gospel?

As you can imagine, at first their answers were quite silly but as the month grew on they became much more meaningful. We will for sure be adding this to our yearly traditions.

We also had a FHE on Thanksgiving and service at the beginning of the month with questions and I happened to jot down their answers. Again, silly, but as the month progressed and Thanksgiving came around, their answers were much more meaningful and Christopher and I really felt the Spirit of Thanksgiving and Love.

GAVIN

In the morning I'm thankful for- my bed

When I play I'm thankful for- toys
At FHE I'm thankful for- oxygen
At dinner I'm thankful for- food
Late at night I'm thankful for- video games
When I pray I'm thankful for- my arms and legs, body
When I'm at church I'm thankful for- sacrament
Something that's really hard but I'm still thankful for- my bones
I'm thankful when my family- is kind to me
I'm thankful when Mom- is happy
I'm thankful when Dad- when he takes me to awesome places

REESE

In the morning I'm thankful for- good night sleep

When I play I'm thankful for- picking berries to eat
At FHE I'm thankful for- spend time with my family
At dinner I'm thankful for- food
Late at night I'm thankful for- watch movies go to sleep
When I pray I'm thankful for- I like jesus when he answers my prayers “there I said it!”
When I'm at church I'm thankful for- for people teaching
Something that's really hard but I'm still thankful for- a door I mean a house with a door
I'm thankful when my family- nice to me
I'm thankful when Mom- make me dinner
I'm thankful when Dad- bc he doesn’t give me spankin’s that much

BEAR

In the morning I'm thankful for- sitting on mommy’s lap

When I play I'm thankful for- barging out of windows.
At FHE I'm thankful for- play games.
At dinner I'm thankful for- dinner
Late at night I'm thankful for- so excited for christmas
When I pray I'm thankful for- love to have air and blood
When I'm at church I'm thankful for- I love to stretch out and take pictures “and that is all”
Something that's really hard but I'm still thankful for- hard to open candy
I'm thankful when my family- love to play around mommy
I'm thankful when Mom- love you
I'm thankful when Dad- love him

DADDY

In the morning I'm thankful for- not anything in the morning

When I play I'm thankful for- a healthy body
At FHE I'm thankful for- children’s hymns
At dinner I'm thankful for- a wife how makes me yummy dinners
Late at night I'm thankful for- very soft comfortable bed w. lots of pillows
When I pray I'm thankful for- my family, priesthood, job
When I'm at church I'm thankful for- the holy ghost
Something that's really hard but I'm still thankful for- kids
I'm thankful when my family- is not fighting
I'm thankful when Mom- is happy
I'm thankful when Dad- can give blessings

MOMMY

In the morning I'm thankful for- if I’ve gotten enough sleep

When I play I'm thankful for- my family.
At FHE I'm thankful for- gospel
At dinner I'm thankful for- FOOD
Late at night I'm thankful for- my bed, time alone
When I pray I'm thankful for- loving hf that listens to me
When I'm at church I'm thankful for- behaved kids
Something that's really hard but I'm still thankful for- having patience
I'm thankful when my family- listens to me
I'm thankful when Mom- got a fat pocket
I'm thankful when Dad- helps around the house

Out to Lunch

Christopher typically takes dinner leftovers to work the next day for lunch. The day after Thanksgiving he was particularly excited with the thought of another feast. As he went out to his car he realized that his car doors were frozen shut and set his lunch on top of the car as he climbed into his car from the trunk (it has a hatchback). Excited to be in the car and warming it up he forgot about his lunch and drove off.

Once at work, he gave me a call and asked if his lunch was in the driveway...well, it wasn't and so the kids and I got in the car and went searching. This is what we found near the round about near the lake...

Needless to say, his lunch was destroyed along with his lunchbox! And he ended up with TacoBell for lunch. Poor guy.

Oh, and since I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving just know that it was very low key and wonderful. We ordered the Turkey Holiday Feast catered from Mimi's Cafe and ate it at home (no cooking for ME, YAYAYAYAY) and then promptly put up Christmas decorations and napped, followed with visits from family. WONDERFUL!

Ice, Ice Baby

Nothing like collecting icicles! It is their latest obsession.

Financial Security

Christopher has a little money bank that his grandfather made back in the day. It's quite excellent craftsmanship and even has an old fashioned combination lock. (next to Reese in pic) Reese doesn't have a piggy bank and has been collection her monies in a little baggy (or my wallet). She decided one day that she wanted a combination lock and so she wrote her "code" on her baggy. I just thought it was funny and had to document it.

Christmas Countdowns

This year everyone in the family is involved in a Christmas countdown. First, my dear friend, Brynn made me this adorable muffin tin countdown! LOVE IT! I have seen these before but was never creative and crafty enough to pull this off. I love it! Candy behind the numbers and after Christmas I get to use the tin for baking...doesn't get any better than that!

Reese got a Barbie advent calendar and she couldn't be more thrilled. It's got such cute goodies inside and the girl is literally jumping out of bed in the morning to run over and open the door of the day!

Gavin has the Lego advent of course. He's been in love with Lego for well over 4 years now. And Lego really does awesome advents with every year a new design. Love it!

Bear is doing our snowman calendar and we put chocolate santa's inside each day as he moves the tree he takes a chocolate.

He also is doing the Oriental Trading Co.'s Santa's beard countdown which he enjoys doing with me every morning. Christopher isn't doing anything b.c he is in Dallas for almost the entire countdown to Christmas on "business" which we all now is really vacation. Yes, we are jealous!

First Dump

Our first dump of the season happened just before Thanksgiving. We got over 13 inches on our patio! The kids are still in love with the novelty of snow, but I'm sure come January...or MAY we'll be ready for it to leave us!

If I had a million dollars...

While McDonald's was having their Monoploy game piece "Win a Million Dollars" promotion Gavin was obsessed with winning. I asked him what he would do with a million dollars and he told me he would buy Tuna and Chicken Noodle Soup. Then, with the extra money, he'd give it to me. This kid is AWESOME.

His favorite things to eat are tuna sandwiches and Chicken Noodle soup, but not the classic Campbells soup, has to be Progresso or my homemade soup.

He's such an easy kid to please! And thank heavens his other front tooth has FINALLY made its appearance! This goofy looking stage in the mouth is really....goofy! But I love it! And a million dollars would buy lots of tuna and soup!

Finnie's Funnies

Finley girl is such a character. I absolutely LOVE HER! She is so expressionate and quick to pick up new things and take direction. Seriously, this girl would make a great child actress! And I've never said that about any kid.

She has a face for everything. Evil eye, pretty please with complete eye bat, you name it. Her fake cry is soooooo cute! While at Chick-fil-a the other day (is this our new Friday tradition, Chels?) she was putting on a show and I was LOVING every minute of it. Girl makes me laugh so hard. And melts my heart.

She kept doing her fake cry (pic above) for me for like 10 minutes. I loved it.

Then I pulled out the camera and she decided that she'd had enough. She's got some serious sass too! BUT, I did get a little good stuff. I'll need to do it again early on before she gets bored and wants to go play in the playland!

Dolphins Doing Good

Both Reese and Gavin joined a school club called "Dolphins Doing Good". Their school mascot is a Dolphin and the club is a service club "doing good" throughout the school and community.

They meet once a month and do some sort of service project. For the month of November they made gratitude leaves and strung them up in every teachers room and left little treats. This month (December) they are putting together canned goods to take to the local food bank. It's a wonderful opportunity for the kids to get involved at a young age with service. I LOVE it! And better yet, they do too!

Caden and I went to pick them up and Gavin continued in the spirit of service and gave Caden a lift with his wheelie backpack to the car! What a guy! lol

And yes those are giant holes in Gavin's jeans. I bought him 10 new pairs from Gap and Old Navy before school started and already 6 pairs have holes! What am I to do? I need a new jean budget for this kid! He plays hard! Any ideas on jeans that don't gets holes? lol

Bear's Thanksgiving Feast

The week before Thanksgiving Bear's pre-school class was having a Thanksgiving feast. He was in charge of bringing the turkey slices and boy was he excited. I just couldn't help taking a few pictures that day. Cute, cute boy!