Getting ready for Christmas

Seems like just a few days ago we finished our Thanksgiving feast, and now Christmas is in full swing. I even went shopping at midnight on Thanksgiving day and got all the kids presents bought before the weekend was out. Feels so good to have that done!

We put the tree up Thursday night and were very selective about the decorations we took out this year... Last year we just had a small tree on a table (thanks to the self-control issues displayed by our 11 month old little Alex at the time!). This year I decided to try the big tree, but not the usual keepsake ornaments with breakable glass or homemade irreplaceable angels and santas... I went to Target and bought some cardboard snowflake ornaments that, when thrown across the room, will remain intact and indestructible. So far Alex has only thrown a couple of them and I think he's lost interest.

You will also notice that we have our Elf sitting in the tree. This Elf, which Adam has affectionately named Jerry, came the day after Thanksgiving and he reports back to Santa every night as to whether or not we've been naughty or nice. When he comes back the next day he's in a different spot in the house. So, you can imagine the excitement in our house at 6:30am when we all jump out of bed to find Jerry. Even Alex is in on the fun.

The beauty of the tree is somewhat diminished by the plastic on the windows.... just got that done the other day, too. I love my old house, I love my old house, I love my old house. The plastic sure helps keep the drafty north winds out though.

Couldn't help but throw this photo in here - Alex, Rachel and Adam (his buddies) messing around last week over some snacks. I love Rachel's smile. She came home from China only a few months ago and is fitting in just fine!

Santa came to the Holt potluck dinner last night. Alexander didn't cry this year! Funny, because he may have sensed something that made him feel more comfortable.... if you look carefully, you might recognize this guy in red and white. :o). Adam was excited, however, because it was the REAL Santa who came. He went to visit him but no photos of Adam ... sorry.

Finally, this afternoon we did what Adam will say is the most important Christmas task of all. The letter to Santa. Signed, sealed and about to be delivered. He only included three things this year - an aircraft carrier (hopefully not a life-size one), star wars toys, and a bionicle. I hope Santa gets the letter!

The Bird.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had dinner, drank wine, blah blah blah... but let's get to the real Nebraska Thanksgiving tradition...

TOM OSBORNE

HERBIE HUSKER

NDAMUKONG SUH

Tim and Jerry went to the game and Tim took his camera. He got lots of great shots of the team and the stadium inside and out, but these were the classics! Yay for the Huskers.

Now, onto Turkey Day itself. We had a fun day! We tried something new and ate later in the day so we had all afternoon to cook, drink wine, eat munchies and watch football. Alex got to nap, too. This worked out very well. The Grandma's may not think so, however... they were challenged to an UNO game that no reasonable person could ever win. Adam was cheating (he would, of course, deny this) and Alex was pulling all the cards off the table as they were playing. All we could hear from the other room was lots of hooting and hollering and laughing. I thought maybe it was the wine, but no... it was just UNO.

Tim and I did most of the cooking but we relied on Grandmas to bring the best part of the meal - the pies. We had a yummy day and so much to be thankful for!

We got our leaves cleaned up just in the knick of time... The boys LOVED jumping in the giant pile and we had a nice day to do it. Just a few short days later we are faced with single digit windchills and snow flurries. Winter is here.

Birthday Boy.

Happy Birthday Alexander! Today we had a little party for the guy... he truly enjoyed it and seemed to understand that today was all about him. He blew out the candles before we were done singing, and he clapped and clapped. It looks like Christmas morning around here with all the gifts. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family to share these special moments with.

We have a 2 year old!

Halloween 2010

The month of October through the eyes of a 6 year old = PUMPKINS and CANDY.

The Browns did multiple pumpkin patch visits (although we opted for the small, cheaper version rather than the large, expensive, carnival version) and ended up with a multitude of pumpkins to display in green, orange, yellow and even white. All the big ones were carved and were quite scary.

Enter the candy... the giant bowl of "treats!" as Alex calls it. First thing in the morning the day after halloween Alex comes in the kitchen and says "treat!, treat!" while jumping around and clapping. oh my. Hopefully sometime soon the kids will forget where I hid the stuff and begin focusing on what comes next (Santa, of course).

All in all we had a great halloween and had a nice evening walking the neighborhood. We made it 3 blocks, which is farther than ever before and Alex was very involved this year. He said "trick or treat" and "thank you" for all the candy. Here's a family photo. I have no idea who the skeleton farmer guy is?!