Merry Christmas 2014

From our family to yours, may you have a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Decorating!

This is what happens when 2, almost 3 year olds have never really been exposed to Christmas decorations (we were traveling the last two years).  They think that stockings are really socks... and yes, at one point Joy had one on each foot!

Noah has been the most into decorating this year.

Here he's giving the sisters tips on how to hang ornaments.

Hope is pointing out the Curious George ornament.  They were having great fun naming all the ones they recognized.

Let me look a little closer...

Joy's turn to check it out.  They really didn't have much success hanging their own ornaments.  The finer points of hooks were lost on them still.

But it's fun to look!  Cory was moving so fast that I hardly got any pictures of him, but here you see him in the corner, possibly helping Hope hang hers.

We get a small tree so we have to choose which ornaments get hung, but it still represents lots of memories. 

After we decorated our tree we went to my parents the next day where the boys made sure that every.single.ornament went on their tree.  It was quite impressive when done!
And now we are at Grandma and Grandpa's house and tonight we helped Grandma decorate her tree.  I think the novelty has worn off for most of them, but Noah persevered the longest.  He loves turning off all the regular lights just so he can see the Christmas lights.

We have done a lot of decorating this year!

Tea Collection Semi-Annual Sale Starts Now

*This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated a small amount if you make a purchase after clicking on one of my links. 

Update: take an extra 25% off sale prices now through Monday with code Take25. It's a great time to stock up for next year! 

It's the "best" time of the year... for purchasing clothes on sale!  Tea Collection has just started their semi-annual sale, clearing out merchandise from Germany at up to 50% off.

"This collection features bold colors, cool color-blocking, geometric prints and graphics of local sports, playful animals and the towering Alps."

There are some beautiful styles this year and now is the best time to stock up for next season!  Some stock is limited so make sure to check it out soon!

Be sure to take a peak at the limited edition Global line called Citizen Blue as well, there are some timeless classics available right now.

Kid Quotes

Noah has had a couple of good quotes as well as the sisters so I'm including them all.

When Hope sneezes she says "Bless Me"

Noah got a piece of pineapple down his sleeve while eating pizza the other night.  When Brian asked how it got in there he said "a catapult".  Which devolved into a bunch of random ways it got in there.

Noah playing a video game and doing well, Brian says, "You're cleaning up!" and Noah goes, "I'm cleaning the bathroom!"

The girls sing a great mix of songs, "The ants go marching down to the ground, to get out of the rainbow, boom boom boom" and "The ants go marching, won't you ride along with me?" (Mr. Rogers)

When we wash our hair we use "condition-on-er"

If you are wearing a skirt or dress that makes you a princess, because you can twirl.  If not, you are not a princess according to Joy.

Wordless Wednesday: Uncles are Awesome

This was from a week ago, "birthday dinner" at my parents' house.  Uncle Kevin reading to Hope.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: Thanksgiving Weekend

These are the crazies that Grandma got to put up with all weekend! 

Grandma and Grandpa were coming for a week for Thanksgiving, but on their arrival here in town Tuesday night they went straight to the hospital because Grandpa had a heart attack on the drive over.  (We won't talk about the crazy couple of hours we had playing phone tag and trying to figure out exactly where they were!)

So Grandpa missed Thanksgiving, spending 2+ days in the hospital and then was pretty tired.  The kids all understood that he was "sick", but they sure were sad to miss playing with him.

Grandma spent more time at our house playing and doing things with them, but it sure wasn't the Thanksgiving weekend we were expecting!  This is the only photo I really have from the weekend with them all together and I have none of Grandpa.

We are thankful that he is okay for the most part though!

A New Christmas Tradition: Hog Hollow Farm

We had a rather eventful Thanksgiving, fodder for another post, but Saturday is our traditional day to get our Christmas tree.  This year we opted not to trek out into the woods on our own in hopes of finding the right size tree, but instead visit a farm run by my friend Molly's family, where ALL the trees are potentially the right size!

Hog Hollow Farm isn't too far out of town and they provide the complete experience!

Park just off the pavement and ride up to the farm in your own tractor-pulled hay wagon.  Music provided by Nana's new lyrics to Jingle Bells.

It also got really cold this weekend so we wore ALL our layers.

Once at the farm there are plenty of options besides just cutting a tree.  Try out your face as an ornament (or three), roast your own marshmallows (free!) or hotdogs ($) over the fire, and finally, just find that tree already!

We aren't too picky, just need one that will fit on a table top!  The boys had a go at sawing together with sister, Hope, supervising. 

A little help was required by Daddy, but finally, "timber"!

My tree warriors!

They even hauled it back to the trailer themselves! 

Now off to explore and help Nana find just that "perfect" tree for her house.

Once you are thoroughly chilled, head inside to pay for your tree, have some complimentary hot chocolate with a candy cane stir stick and check out all the fun knitted creations for sale!  Crowns by my friend Molly, hats by my other friend Melanie, and lots of other cute Christmas decorations.

Did I mention we are small town?  This is my friend Molly.  We ran into some other friends while we were there as well!

Micah took the group photo as we prepared to ride back down to our cars.

A very successful tree hunt, a fun new experience, and quite a bit simpler than what we've done in the past!  Besides the cold (did I mention it was cold?) we even got fresh snow on our way there!

Hog Hollow Farm graciously provided us with a free tree, but we were going anyway.  And I think the pictures speak for themselves!