Light up Charlestown

Tonight on a last minute whim, we piled in the car with our buddies and headed up to Charlestown for their fabulous Christmas light show. :)  Chris and I just bought a used expedition to use for towing the boat and when we might need it to pile in the kids...it came in handytonight.  It was fun all being able to ride together.  We stuffed our faces at Charlestown pizza then bundled up and went across the street to dance under the lights. For you out of towners, they sync the light show with the music-it's pretty cool!

Loving Ethan's poses :)

Family Pics

Recently we got some new family pictures taken with the fabulous Emily Burke.  She does such a great job if you ever need someone. :)  We wanted a few updated pics and some fun ones for our Christmas card.  I thought they turned out really good! Can't believe how big my boys are! Looking at these pictures of my little family sure remind me of how blessed I am!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Last week, the day after Thanksgiving it was time to pull out the Christmas stuff. I always look so forward to this day. The crazy thing is it seems like I literally just put the stuff away a month ago! ha.  Time really does fly!! It's crazy.  The boys were super excited and much bigger helps this year.  Braden is a pro now and Ethan is big enough to be interested in decorating. It's going to be such a fun Christmas with their ages this year. :)

Braden started decorating his little tree. Ethan helped by knocking it over several times. ha! 

The big tree was ready to decorate..speaking of big tree, I finally have one!  I've had two Charlie Brown trees for years and thanks to my sweet friend Christy, she gave us her old one.  :)  Since it was so big and wide, I actually had to go get more lights and ornaments. ha!  But I am grateful to have it for sure! 

Ethan with his typical pose....:) 

This must have been Ethan's favorite spot. ha! He was working out this branch. :) 

All decorated...although it's much prettier when you can tell the lights are on. :) 

That night Elfy arrived sometime while we were sleeping. Braden was so cute when he spotted him in the morning. Ethan wasn't sure what we were so excited about yet.  

Elfy left us a letter telling us he was glad to be back with us and he was watching over us to ensure that we'll be good.  Let's hope it works! ha! So far we've found him in our tree and this morning he was eating bread in our kitchen. Isn't it interesting that Elfy is here to make sure we're being good, yet everyone's elf is mischievous?! :)

Chris' show

Last week on Thanksgiving Eve, Nervous Wreck played another show. This one was a treat for the boys because Papa T & Mimi brought them up for a bit of warmup and a few songs.  This was their first time hearing Chris play in a band so they thought it was pretty cool. Once they started, the stood in the booth and stared. It was cute! I think they were proud of their daddy. :)

Check out Ethan's belt! ha! That goes to a costume and he wore it for 2 days and slept in it. crack me up! 

Excited! 

Alicia was there with her dancing shoes on of course :)!   

Looking good guys(or sounding good rather). 

Hangin' with Janelle, Christy and Amber 

Good job babe!

My cuties!

My boys love to dress up and last night Ethan insisted on wearing this wolverine costume to bed.  Who could resist this cutie so of course I said, "sure, why not?" :) 

 

Today Braden got to dress like a farmer for kindergarten. They made a big breakfast in class to go with their farm theme.  He was a cross between a cowboy and a farmer but it worked!

Tonight Braden lost his third tooth! The one on the top left.  It has been loose and shifted over forever...then tonight while I was brushing his teeth (and actually arguing with him about how mean he we was being to Ehan) it popped out in the sink and super mom had to have some quick insincts before it rolled right down the drain. ha! Shoowee...it was a close one!  He was moaning and groaning about bedtime but then went right away knowing the tooth fairy will come! :)

Noble talents

Braden's school had their talent show last week and the kindergartners did a couple songs.  I LOVE seeing kids this age on stage! You never know what you'll get. Braden did great and sang the songs and did the movements. The funniest was the head and shoulders song because he went SOOO fast on knees and toes. Chris and I were cracking up!

 

 

Tooty ta (tongues out on this part)

Ethan doing a little Picasso finger painting. He wasn't sure at first if he liked the messy part...he wanted me to wipe his fingers here and there even though he'd dive right back in.  He worked until the whole canvas was covered though so I was impressed! 

 

Looking good buddy!

Big day for Braden

     Tonight we had Braden's parent-teacher conference at school.  I knew he was doing well but it was nice to sit down and actually chat about him.  Chris and I are just so so so proud of our big boy!!  She went through specific academic areas and he's doing great in all of them!  She said he is "so good" all of the time and even showed us a note from the sub from last week that said Braden was so good and helpful in class.  I'm just beaming I tell ya!!  I love that he wants to do so well and tries to do so well each day.  I am so grateful for a loving teacher that is just perfect for him.  Braden Noble....You sure make your mommy proud (and almost cry!).  Keep it up big boy!

    After conferences we had Braden's first basketball practice at Graceland.  Due to the birthday cutoffs he got bumped to the 6 year old league just barely.  I was really hoping he could have been in the 5 year old league since he's never played.  It's crazy to think at this age that he's already behind.  It was VERY evident that all the kids on his team had played and understood the game.  Bless Braden's heart...he tried very hard and listened so intently to his coach but he was definitely in a different league.  I'm sure he'll catch on quickly though.... And if not, Chris said he's buying a goal tomorrow so we can practice. ha!! 

Just hangin' at home

Lately I just LOVE having days where we don't have to be anywhere!!!  I can't believe how busy life can be sometimes...would love to figure out that balance of on the go and home.  So today was a day Ethan and I were home all day (besides a little Y time) and then after school Braden hung out with us.  We got out games, puzzles, legos and made our thankful tree.  Poor Ethan was sick yesterday so he's been extra snuggly and wanting to just hang. I guess he got the stomach bug that Braden got. :( It was sad because he threw up for the first time ever and was screaming from his bed. I ran in there and he said, "mommy, my bed, my pillow, my jammies." He was so concerned with the pukies on his stuff.  Poor baby.  Anywhoo, on to our hangin' at home pictures. :)

Braden got a new lego set from Gma Cindy last night and of course he whipped it out in no time. He's a Lego pro these days! 

Ethan and I did this floor puzzle. He liked being as big as it. ha!

He was proud of his pattern block pictures. Love that sweet smile! 

I saw a friend on facebook made this thankful tree for November. The kids write one thing they're thankful for each day until Thanksgiving. I thought it was a great idea and an easy way to remember how blessed we are so we did this today too.  Braden wrote "food" for his first leaf and then I asked Ethan. I figured he'd say "pontoon" (which is his answer for everything b/c he loves that song), or I thought he'd say "poopy butt" or something gross that he's not supposed to say. ha! But he said, "My family!" I didn't even think he knew what in the world we were doing but I guess he did. It was super sweet.  I sure am thankful for my boys and my perfect little family. :)

Halloween Night

Last night Mario and Spider man were ready to get their candy collecting on!!  Gma Cindy, Pop, Jeremy, Brandi and cutie patootie Stella came over before trick-or treating for a fabulous dinner prepared by Cindy. :) Then we hit the neighborhood for some candy....boy it was cold but we had fun!

How cute is Stella? I can't take it! 

 

There is no serious pictures with these two these days!  Such comedians! 

Ethan was so excited to get candy at each house and he'd always look right in his bag! 

 

When we got back to the house the boys vegged on the floor to go through their candy and hand out our candy. 

The boys were so cute handing it out...Braden would hold the door and Ethan would dig into the bowl.  One of the few moments where they weren't killing each other. ha!

Braden's Halloween Party

I was so excited I got to go to Braden's class Halloween party. It was a day I worked but thanks to my awesome staff I got to leave half day. :)  The party was of course over the top fabulous!!  In hindsight I'm SOOO glad I'm not the room mom because I had no idea how fabulous these parties were. ha!  There were about 20 activities to choose from and they were all so fun!!

The class listening to directions 

Doing the monster dance 

Yummo! 

Check out this watermelon monster...and guess who made it?!? Yep, me! ha!  This was my assignment when I checked the box that said "I am willing to make something for the party."  Who knew? I did a little googling and it wasn't too bad actually. :) 

Pumpkin picture frame 

He and Ellie were having fun doing the monster puppet show 

He loves Ellie. She is such a sweet girl and I'm friends with her mom.