Christmas Program and Parties

We kicked off the Christmas whirlwind with Shadowbrook's Christmas program followed by the boys' school Christmas parties.
Shadowbrook
Since Caden is older, the 4's and Kindergarten have an evening program instead of a daytime program like the younger kiddos.

He looked so handsome!

He wasn't into singing very much but he loved using the bells when they sang Jingle Bells and the maracas when they sang Feliz Navidad...maybe he'll be a percussionist like his Dad????

 He kept looking our way during the program :-)

 At the end of the program, the kindergarten class performs the Nativity. Ethan did this last year and was a shepherd. Super sweet to see the little ones participating in this!

 When the program was over, Ethan and I went to pick up Caden in his classroom so we had to have a picture, of course! I love these ladies so very much for the love and attention they have given to both of our boys!

Ethan's Party 
The next day was Ethan's Christmas party in his classroom. There were several stations set up for the kiddos to rotate through. They made a snowglobe, reindeer food, decorated sugar cookies, and made an ornament. Sadly, I didn't get too many pictures because I was running a station :-(

 
 Reindeer food was super important this year, we even had to sprinkle it in the rain!

 Then it was treat time! He had a super fun party with his friends!

Caden's Party 
The day after Ethan's party was Caden's class party. He had a super cute party as well!

 I love little friendships!

 Their first activity was a nativity scavenger hunt. Cute!

 Then cupcakes

Followed by "Tree" decorating...SUPER cute idea!

 Making beaded candy canes

 A Nativity ornament

 A beautiful frosted mason jar nativity candle

 Followed by presents!

A wonderful time was had by all! Such a crazy busy super fun week!

Randomness

Ethan and I ran to Home Depot the other day to grab a spotlight for our wreath on the front door. As we walked in, he immediately saw several of these cut-outs and went running for them, yelling "Mommy, take my picture!"  

Then these came home from school...

Oh my word! They both look like such big boys!

  

They're growing up so fast!

Visit with Santa

On Monday, I picked the boys up from school and we made our annual trip to Bass Pro to visit Santa. It is so interesting to see how their interaction with Santa has changed over the years. They knew exactly what they wanted and were very comfortable with him. And as always, Santa was awesome!

 Then it was play time! The boys love this as much as seeing Santa himself!

First up, a little target practice...

 Then Mommy made them pause long enough to snap a quick pic in front of the tree.

I love Ethan's pose!

 and Caden's sideways smile

(saying, "Hurry up, Mom there's stuff to do here!")

 Then a little racing...

 And some practice with a bow...

 Another convincing moment for Mom to snap a quick picture

 Followed by some 4 wheeler riding

 Hanging with a moose

 Some monster truck off roading... 

 And testing out the train track

 

 What a sweet moment!

 Then a quick ride on the carousel...

 Last, the Ethan and Caden checked out the big boy vehicles. Caden was quite intimidated by these and Ethan had to explain to him that he couldn't turn the engine on and it wasn't going to go anywhere. Once he understood that, he had a blast! 

 Love his concentration!

 We ended our visit checking out the huge fish tank

We had a wonderful time this year and walked straight in without having to wait in line! It was great to allow the boys the freedom to play without being in the midst of the masses that are usually visiting at the same time we are :-)

Until next year, Bass Pro

Thanksgiving festivities

Caden's Shadowbrook program and feast
We started the week before Thanksgiving by celebrating with this guy at his feast. The students sang a few songs for us in the sanctuary first.

I knew I had better get a picture as they were coming in because once the stage filled up, there would not be a good shot left.

Our little pilgrim

The staff prepares a full Thanksgiving meal and the students prepare the tablescape with handmade items. It has been very special to collect these over the last 5 years.

Caden and Daddy

 Ethan's Kindergarten classroom program and feast
Next up was Ethan's feast in his classroom. The kiddos made corn and green beans and parents brought in the rest of the meal.

My big guy

Ethan and his buddy, Johnathan

Then the class shared some special songs with us

Thanksgiving at Mimi's
When the boys were finally out of school, we headed to Mimi's. They look forward to this week every year because we get to spend the whole week at her house! The first thing on the agenda was a little flag football. Daddy has been teaching Ethan and Caden the finer points of the game.

Collier comes from a very athletic family so she wanted in on the action, too ;-)

Hut, Hut

A gentle pass from Uncle Ben

Cousin love

For the first time, Maw-Maw was able to come and stay several days. It was so nice to spend extra time all together! She and Doc brought their Winnie so there would be plenty of room for them and their 4 dogs. Which is definitely a good thing since between Mom, Chad, and us we have 4 dogs also running around. Collier adored Maw-Maw and spent more time with her than she did either Mom or myself...we were only a little jealous ;-)

My favorite time of day while we are at Mom's is breakfast. Some mornings we cook and some mornings we don't. But we all hang out around the table to have our coffee and catch up. I guess this was breakfast round 1, though, since there are just kiddos in this picture.

Now, this girl was totally making herself at home in Gunter's bed. He weighs about 5 pounds compared to her 50 so it was hilarious watching her turn around in circles trying to fit in his bed...

But she figured it out...

and made a cozy spot for herself!

We managed to fit in a visit to Mimi's office one day.

And we can't forget THE 2015 Black Friday list. It has now become a tradition to scope out the Wal-Mart ad in advance and make our list since that is about all the town has to offer. But it's perfect though, one stop and back home! Then we wait until the crowds die down the next afternoon to go back to town to finish up at other stores.

I did a very poor job of picture documentation at Thanksgiving this year! I will definitely have to do better at Christmas.