Doesn't Take Long...

Until the Nativities start looking like this...

This year is was less then one hour from the time I set up this nativity until there were suddenly a lot more pieces to it then I originally put there.

A Nativity just isn't complete without a barrage of cars, trucks and Star Wars guys.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was so wonderful this year.  We stayed home and didn't have any family come visit us, but we had such a nice long weekend together as a family.  Wednesday in particular was so much fun.  Bret took the kids to a movie, we hung out and played games, the girls help me cook, the weather was nice and they played outside while Bret got Christmas lights up.  It was perfectly low key!

Abby grabbed my camera and took some pictures of me cooking.

Abby and I making the crust for pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving day we went over to the Evans house along with the Harris family.  I didn't get any pictures of the food or eating dinner, but it was all delicious.  After dinner the moms took the kids out for a walk to a barn to play in the hay while the men stayed home with sleeping babies and did the dishes.  

Caleb and Jonah and Abby and Gavin

McKenna and Mae

Emily and Claire

I love this group of kids!  They get along so great and really love being together.  We couldn't ask for a better group of friends.

Throwing the football around

After the walk we went back to the house and had a little program/talent show, had dessert and watched Elf.

Wonderful company, food, and weather makes for one great Thanksgiving Day!!!

I've been busy....

getting all caught up!!!

Zachary's orange belt here
Soccer Saturdays here
Halloween here
Sandy here
Virginia is for lovers here
Apple Picking here
Abby's birthday here
Zachary's birthday here
50th anniversary here
Virginia Beach here
Gavin's first day of preschool here

Maybe not the best journaling, but hey...at least these things are now documented even if just slightly! :)

Now maybe I'll get on with things like Thanksgiving break, Elisa's wedding, and the worst birthday present my kids have ever given me.

Happy Birthday To Me!

This year the kids gave me the worst birthday present ever...

The stomach flu.

I woke up at 1:30 in the morning feeling so so sick.  At 5:30 I started throwing up and didn't stop until 3:00 that afternoon.

I never left my bed.

But on the bright side...I never had to leave my bed.

My girls even made a cheese cake...which I had a bite of two days later.

The horrible stomach bug made it's way through our entire family in the span of a week.  All except for Gavin that is.

Which is ironic because when the big kids fell ill he promised us he didn't have germs and wasn't going to get sick because "he could control his body."

Come to find out I guess he could control his body after all!!!

I'll be happy if I never get this present on my birthday ever again!!!

Blackrock Gap

We had so much fun with our first free Saturday in months.  We did chores in the morning (gave Grayson a good nap) and then headed out to try a new hike in the afternoon.  It was the coolest hike.  About 3/4 a mile up and then what looked like piles and piles of granite dumped on each other.  

It was the funnest day and just so nice to be together and create our own agenda.

I won the award for best hiking shoes...that's what happens when I'm helping so many other people get out the door that I don't even think about what I might need to do.

Orange Belt

It was a little bit of a struggle to get to this point, but we did it!  And Zachary got his Orange belt in Karate.  

I had to push him a little to stick with Karate this fall.  It's hard as a parent when you see something that is really good for your child, that they are really good at, and you truly feel like it's a good thing for them to be participating in...and at the same time you're having all these feelings your getting push back and complaint about not wanting to do it anymore.   How much are you supposed to push a child to do something?   But we persevered through and now he is so happy with Karate.  He has decided that he is committed to Karate through this school year and then will reevaluate again next year.

A hug from Sense Gage

Look at my little orange belt!!!!