Holiday's business

Things have been busy around the house! Thanksgiving was such a blur! We had a little family dinner the Tuesday before, so we could enjoy a family meal at home. The boys left to head to their dad's on Wednesday. I spent Wednesday cleaning the house and decorating for the Holiday's while the Princess was napping. She woke up in such awe and amazement. I don't think I'll ever forget the look of pure magic and joy on her face when she walked down the stairs and saw all the lights. She stopped dead on the stairs just to stare at the lights and garland over the window of the stairs, and then she saw more lights in the living room and so forth. So I was pretty excited to see how the boys would react to it.

Thanksgiving day, Kaitlyn and I first watched the parade in the morning. We then went to Mom's and had Lasagna with my parents and Ron. It was a relaxing dinner. We sat waiting to get the call that the boys were in the area and I could go get them. Ptolemy was a bit more hesitant about coming home, but once I told him we had a surprise at home, he changed totally. JD just was happy to come home.

We had our big family dinner at my parents. She put an extra table out for the kids. It's so different from when I was little I always thought it would be cool to have a big dinner. Here it was. The four grand kids got a table to play at. Mom printed off Thanksgiving place mats for them to color. After dinner, Kimberlee and the kids made ornaments. Dinner was good, as usual!!

Did Thanksgiving seem not as special or important because the boys weren't here. Well yes and no. Yes in only the way that Thanksgiving Day didn't seem like the real day, even though Princess and I watched the parade. But no because we got to spread out the festivities. We enjoyed our family dinner, then had a huge dinner. They got to leave and come home to the house all decked out for them. They loved seeing that.

We went and got our Tree yesterday. They all got to sit with Santa and tell him what they would like for Christmas/Yule. They also got to see the Reindeer and then help find our perfect tree. Now it's home and up in the living room. Tomorrow will be the fun day. We went in search of the lights, but I couldn't find any. So I'll pick some up while JD is at school, so we can decorate the tree as a family! It truly is a gorgeous tree, even came with a birds nest. Can't wait to watch the boys put all the ornaments on it. Truly a precious moment in this house!

Little nature lovers

My babies truly love nature. All three have sat at the window to watch what animals we get. They love going out into the woods, and to learn about animals. So when Ptolemy asked to get a bird feeder during one of our Mommy/Tati trips, I was only more then willing to do it! We picked up a few of the cheaper ones, as I wasn't sure what we would get, and some feed. When we got home, all three kids got to sit at the table and fill their own feeders. This in and of itself was such a joy to them! I hung the feeders for Ptolemy and Kaitlyn, and JD got to help hang his own! We also put out some old bread for the squirrels. Less then a few minutes after they went up, we had our first visitors.

We had some Junco's, Tuffed Titmouse, and chickadees. Of course the squirrels weren't far behind. We've also had some cardinals, blue jays, starlings and so many others. The squirrels finally succeeded in taking down 3 out of 4 feeders. We're in the process of replacing, but the kids love it!

Kaitlyn sits at the window with her little nature book. The boys come over and pick out birds with Kaitlyn. We enjoy morning time around the windows to see what we can see. I'm sure when the snow really starts to fly, we'll be finding more and more visitors.

I love that they enjoy doing this, and I love that they want to learn and do this. My babies are so amazing!!

Hike in the woods

Took the babies to the local park for a walk around the trails. We had a great time collecting pine cones, fallen pine branches, and other "winter" type things. We started talking about what it means for winter to be coming for the trees and other things in nature. We saw some squirrels searching for nuts, and JD asked what he was doing. So I was able to explain that he is gathering his food, like we do in our cupboards, so that he has food for the winter when the snow is on the ground. This lead to a full blown move from that topic to all about how he can't wait to go sledding. Love how the 3 year old mind works. Such innocent thoughts and happy just to be out and about.

JD got to 'walk' Amber and was so proud of himself. Thought he was the big boy, and oh so cute! Funny part was that she let him walk him so well, since she won't let me hold her leash. For me she lays down and won't move, for him she walked with her tail wagging the whole time. The dogs love that little boy!

So we walked around the trails, and then the kids were able to run around the upper part of the park. We checked on the Coi fish that have been there since we started going in the spring. We found they were still there, but under the ice. The kids found the fact they could swim under the ice really cool. We had a great day, even if it was cold! I love spending time with my babies! Being outside is that much better! We can't wait to enjoy more outdoor fun come winter!

Halloween

One of my favorite times of the year has come and gone already! I honestly feel that this last year has flown by! I can't believe we're into November already! Black Friday ads have started to show up, and for the first time ever, I'm looking at them and considering what I can do to get out and get some of these goodies for the kids!

But Halloween was a good time. As usual, I decorated early. But found a lot of my stuff missing, but it's ok. I did what I could with what I had. Maybe I can go find some of the stuff all on sale now for next year. I always want to do more. :)

This year I let the boys decide what they wanted to be, and I had a Spiderman and a Captain America! *sigh* I miss the cute little costumes, and I can only hope that next year we can be something cool again!! My princess was a little pink monster wearing her older cousin's dance tutu! :)

We went to Mom's on Sunday to do Trick-or-Treat with her. They had an opening thing at the church with donuts and cider, and then did a Halloween parade with the kids. They did judging for 0-4, 6-8 and 8+. I have to say I wasn't expecting anything out of it. There were so many kids in the 0-4 year range, at least about 30-40. However, my little Princess took the Cutest award! :) I mean, I know she's cute, but I'm her mom! I've looked back at some pictures of her as a baby and have been like; "Wow, what I thinking that was cute!" haha. But she did wave at everyone and "Rawr" for them...so that is always cute! The boys enjoyed meeting their "twin" costume buddies!

We walked around town and got a pretty good haul of candy! Then we headed back to Gaga and Papa's and had dinner with them and Uncle Ron and Kimberlee. They all loved that part! And heck, you can't beat Lasagna either, especially when Gaga makes it!

Then JD had a Halloween party at school on Tuesday. They have been gearing up all month for it. They did a day at the Pumpkin Patch (to learn about how pumpkins grow), Pretend Ghost day, Nice Witch Day, a day to make decorations, and a day to carve a pumpkin as a class! He's been having so much fun. On 'Nice Witch Day' I of course volunteered to do snack that day, and he brought Witch's Hats that I made. The kids enjoyed them, and the other mom's thought they were cute. He does seem to have a good class, and he LOVES going! I'm so glad I did decide to send him. And he's learning a bit too. But one thing I have to figure out, why is it that my son has to learn things on such a high level. Haha. They are not pumpkins you know, they are "Jack-o-Lanterns"... *shake head* But cute none the less!

But as we were discussing, he had his Halloween party, and of his 8 kid class, there were 4-5 other Spiderman costumes. So at least it's just not mine that can't be creative, but at the same time, I wish he didn't have to be like everyone else!


Then that gets us to Halloween night. With Hurricane Sandy hitting the area early in the week, I worried they would have to miss it all. But she didn't hit us as hard as others! (And my thoughts and prayers do go to those along the Coast, in NYC and NJ that did get hit and have lost so much!!) But here we had a little wind and the kids we able to head out. JD tripped and seemed have sprained his ankle right before we headed out, so he ended up sitting out going door to door. He chose to just sit and rest his foot instead of going up to people for more candy. Poor little man!! But Kaitlyn and Ptolemy got to go up to people, and were having a great time. But as I was walking around in the dark, I could see why so many people do end up going to Tribes Hill to hit their T-or-T during the day time. Even with the kids having glow sticks on them and glow bracelets, I still worried I would lose one!! Good thing for the wagon! But we hit houses for a good hour and a half, and only went to the 3-4 blocks right around our house, and the kids got so much loot! One house was even giving out 8 packs of Oreo's!

But as usual, these 3 are my inseparable threesome.. and I love it! They give me something to always look forward to and feel blessed about!

When we got home about 8pm, we did a late dinner and the kids headed up to bed. I did some of my night time meditations and spent time thinking and honoring my loved ones that have passed. And that leaves us here.. November. The Pagan New Year!! Time to let the past remain in the past and be excited about the future. And only 2 more months left to the year! Where has the time gone!