Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

Every year the day after Thanksgiving (or sometimes the Saturday after Thanksgiving if I am planning an epic Black Friday--thank you family for accommodating) we head out to the woods to cut down our Christmas tree. It's been a rather full season this year and I am just now getting a chance to post this. 

We were fortunate enough to have some snow for the boys to "sled" on.

And in addition to tree cutting and sledding we have hot cocoa and coffee thanks to Nana Roxanne.

Nana and Papa...now everyone can see where Ryan gets his good looks :)

Uncle Drew (another benefactor of the good lucks) and Kuna

THE tree.

The MOST expensive dog in the world.

And this handsome guy? He gets his looks from his Daddy...Kadyn, not the snowman. ;)

As does this handsome little guy.

Hubba hubba

And just when you were jealous, we also get to enjoy chili off the camp fire AND homemade fudge. Again, compliments of Nana Roxanne. YUM! Now you'll be begging to come next year :)

Kadyn was so proud that Boulder fell asleep on him on the car ride home.

What a fun and truly special time. I love the holidays. I love memories that get made. And I love spending time with family.< Sigh>. Bliss.

Happy 3rd Birthday Kai Isaac

November 22 Kai turned 3. We celebrated with a family gathering for taco soup and cake. When it was time to open presents, Kai insisted on having all the adults there take turns having him sit on their lap while he opened each card. Too cute. Kadyn was a great sport in letting Kai have his special day and even tried taking pictures of Kai's cards.

 

 

It's hard to  believe our "baby" is 3. Where have the last 3 years gone? Happy birthday Kai Isaac. Your mommy, daddy, and big brother sure love you to the moon and back. 

Kadyn's special day

A few weeks ago now Kadyn's preschool teacher had pulled me aside when I picked him up to tell me "what a wonderful young boy he is, how well he listens, and how well he leads--even when other boys are doing things they shouldn't be doing." She proceeded to complement Kadyn for another minute or so and it sure made this mama proud. I wanted Kadyn to know how proud both Ryan and I were of him so I told him what Miss Dana had said and that when Mommy and Daddy get wonderful reports like that (and acknowledged how it can be so hard to do what's right when people you care about are doing the wrong thing and how proud of him we are for that) it was a cause to celebrate. 

So I asked him what he would like to do to celebrate with Mommy and Daddy?

His choice...a hike. To somewhere we haven't been, or haven't been in awhile. With Mommy and Daddy. And Kai. And since it's a hike, Boulder should come too. So a family hike he got.

This is the typical "hey boys, give me your best smile" face.

Way to go buddy! We're so proud of you. And even more so that you decided to share your special day with your brother too. 

Superhero Birthday

Despite being 2 weeks before Kai's birthday and 5 weeks before Kadyn's birthday we decided to have their party anyway. This was a very different experience for me than it has been in year's past. I love making a big to-do out of their special days...crafts, games, themes, food, etc. But the past few years have also brought disappointment with not as many people showing up as originally planned which was, for the first time last year, very hard on Kadyn (and as a result, hard on this mommy). 

SO we opted to change a few things. 

1. We have typically had the party at Grammy and Pops. Our house has always been too small for the actual number of people that rsvp they are coming, but we usually end saying 'we could have had this at our house after all.' And yet, we thought that it might be a better idea to have it at a more neutral spot enticing preschool friends of Kadyn's that might feel awkward if it were at a house since we don't spend a lot of time with them. Bouncing Off The Walls it became. (It's an indoor inflatable gym where the kids can bounce like crazy and get all their wiggles out. By doing this I scrapped the capability of control. Almost completely. I couldn't decide when...we had to take the last available time slot of the weekend we needed which happened to be on a Sunday (November 6th...that's how far behind I am in blogging) during the lunch hour. And it meant that we only had 30 minutes in the party room--not enough time to eat lunch, cake, and open presents.

2. I did ask the boys what "theme" they wanted but couldn't do a lot to incorporate it (nor did I want to do a whole lot with only 30 minutes to enjoy it) because part of the price included plates, napkins, cups, capri sun, and balloons. However, the boys wanted a superhero party, so a superhero party I tried to make it. And Grammy offered to make each kid a special superhero cape complete with lightning bolt on the back--thank you!!  

3. As far as crafts and games...scrapped. And pictures? I don't have too many since they were so busy bouncing the whole time. :)

4. Food? I wasn't planning on doing anything except cake but when I realized that the time slot we had for the party was from 11:00 - 12:30 the day of day light savings (meaning it was normally 12:00 - 1:30) I knew that we had to offer something more than cake. I frantically, last minute, tried to find fixings to make mini sandwiches. And the boys had seen a superhero cake at Safeway that I knew I didn't have time to replicate so I purchased it...which I never do because I always love making their desserts.

And how did the party turn out? Pretty darn well even if it wasn't what I imagined. Almost every single one of their friends came and the boys had SO much fun--which was what we were shooting for and what a party is truly about. 

The cake they wanted.

Look out evil villains--Kadyn and Kai trained their superhero friends!

Will we do it this way next year? Probably. Like I said, all their friends came! And the boys had a blast.