December Fun
We have been having so much fun this holiday season. I won’t get wordy and let the pictures speak for themselves. 
The many Christmas shirts of Mikey-
This shirt was a gift from a neighbor. Mickey lights up and blinks-
Naughty or Nice?-
His shirt says it all-
Handsome little dude after his haircut-
Some friends invited us for an afternoon of fun at a place called Rebounderz. Check it out here www.rebounderzsterling.com. It is basically a HUGE indoor trampoline place. The boys had SO much fun. They were tired and sweaty after 90 minutes of fun on the trampoline-
They had to wear helmets and everything-
Even the walls were trampoline (so they could bounce off the walls, haha)-
You could jump or flip into this big pit of foam sqaures-
Mikey was laughing every time he landed in the pit and worked his way out-
We took the boys ICE skating for the first time at this beautiful outdoor pavilion. On the way there I kept saying how I would leave em’ in the dust since I skated so much when I was little and lived in Canada. Well, it is NOT like riding a bike and I almost busted it as I skated out onto the ice assuming it would all just come back to me. Umm, not so much! After a few rounds on the ice I got better, but it was definitely NOT easy. Mike on the other hand was a pro-
I am SO happy that hockey is not Braeden’s sport of choice. He had a hard time on skates, but bless his heart kept wanting to try-
He didn’t let go of the wall much 
Mikey was HILARIOUS! He LOVED skating and didn’t want to leave. He was so brave and laughed every time he fell (MANY times). His little bottom was red and bruised when we got home, but he had so much fun-
I went to Braeden’s classroom Christmas party. Here’s a picture of him and his teacher-
They had pizza, chips and cupcakes. They decorated their own cookies and made these hot cocoa ice cream cones. SO cool. It’s hot chocolate powder, chocolate chips, marshmallows and then a chewy gumdrop on the top-
Braeden made this in art class. These homemade crafts are my FAVORITE Christmas decorations-
Mikey had a Christmas performance at his preschool. It was SO SO cute. I of course was crying before the kids even came out. As soon as the director of the preschool mentioned how the kids are getting so big and how they will be in KINDERGARTEN next year, the tears came. The tears continued during the performance, but were mostly due to the fact I was laughing so hard I was crying. Mikey was hilarious. Check out the pictures. I took a video, but for some reason I can’t find it on my computer. 
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Mikey was a lamb (with a floppy ear)-
Home for Christmas
Our Halls our decked….have been since a week BEFORE Thanksgiving. I finally went around and took pictures of our various decorations. Check em’ out-
So, this picture does our house NO justice. It looks GHETTO in the picture, but it really does look pretty. For whatever reason my camera doesn’t take good pictures of lights or anything bright. The “bulbs” in the front light up nice and bright. The candycanes switch from red to green and the Santa lights up too. The flag is a Christmas one with Santa on it-
Our skinny, but beautiful little tree. It’s the same one we had last year. I worked hard on it this year, bending and shaping each little branch. I did forget to put the lights on first and let me tell you, it is not an easy thing to do once all the decorations are on-
Stockings-
I replaced the pictures on our corkboard with this Santa-
These are my FAVORITE. I got them a couple years ago at Hallmark. The figures all dance to Christmas music. SO cute!
I try to limit myself to one new Christmas decoration each year. This is what I got this year. It is much brighter and prettier than in the picture.
Our stuffed Rudolph that Mikey HAD to have last year. If you press it’s ear it’s nose lights up-
Snow Globe. Awesome T.J Maxx find about 5 years ago. It also plays Christmas music-
Nightlight-
Towels in half bath-
Door “bells” haha-
Not sure what I love more, the wine or it’s hat
Candy Bowl-
The boys baseball place mats have been replaced for the holidays-
Mikey’s favorite Christmas decoration…..Polar Express train. We only take it out at Christmas and he LOVES watching it go around the tree-
I love when I receive Christmas decorations as Christmas gifts and can pull them out every year (Thanks Robyn)-
It wouldn’t be Christmas time without fuzzy jammies-
Braeden is too “big” for fuzzy jammies (insert tears here), but he LOVES his Phillies Santa Hat. He has worn it every night (and morning) since we pulled out the decorations. Yesterday, he walked out the door with it on and realized half way to school that it was still on. I asked him how he realized it and he said, “my head felt warmer than usual.”
Cutest 4 year old I know. Sporting his holiday attire-
Cutest 5 month old I know. OMG, look at that smile and sweet face. I kiss on those cheeks all day long. I bought him the little Christmas outfit he is wearing. I couldn’t resist and am a sucker for cute baby clothes.
Happy Thanksgiving
I am thankful for so many things this year. I am thankful that life has really slowed down for us and, therefore, I am able to type this post just 2 days late!
I am thankful for:
My little turkey-
…..and the fact that he is loving his school. He can’t wait to go every day and in fact, when given the option of going an extra hour to have lunch with his friends, he is ALL for it! He is learning so much too. It amazes Mike and I how much a change in location, and teachers have helped his learning process. He has learned more in the past month than I think he did in a year at his other “school.” We thought we would show our thanks by giving them each a pumpkin candle to take home and use on Thanksgiving.
For Nik and Ashley (my new bosses)-
Thomas and I made the frame in the above picture for his Mommy and Daddy for Thanksgiving. They truly are a blessing to me, and our families intersecting is most definitely an answer to a prayer (that I would find a job where I would be appreciated and cared about). Every night when Nik picks up Thomas he hugs me goodbye and expresses his genuine thanks and appreciation…..EVERY night! When they got home on Wednesday night and opened their Thanksgiving present, they called me in tears thanking me for the gift and expressing how special it was to them. It is because of moments like that, that I continue to DO for others. All it takes is 1 person to share how much something I did meant to them to make EVERY unappreciated deed worth it!
That Mike has such a fantastic job, is done training for his new position and got to meet this handsome dude…..
…..YES, that IS Ben Affleck and Mike DID meet him!
That despite his plane to Chicago leaving without him, Braeden had a safe and fun trip to Chicago (he got on a flight an hour later) and is home safe.
I am so incredibly blessed with SO much…..far more than I can type in a blog and far more than I am deserving of. I am thankful for a God who is SO good and who continues to capture my heart and guide my life; for a husband who loves me with a capital L; for 2 amazing little boys who amaze me daily and light up my world; and for YOU if you are reading this.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Baseball season is over, now what?
Besides the winter camps Braeden is participating in with his travel baseball team (so they can train together through the winter and prepare for the spring season as a team), his baseball season is over. MLB is done, now what????
FOOTBALL?-
Or cheering on the Winnipeg Jets via text with Lisa and Lorne. Thanks for the shirts!!!!
Or I can post pictures of Braeden in uniform that I FINALLY took on the weekend of the end of season tournament! Braeden and his team finished in 4th place overall. There are 10-15 teams in the league so not bad. Braeden pitched the first game of the tournament which was huge because he’d only pitched an inning or two the entire season. I guess the coaches saved him for when they really needed him. He did SO great and we won 17-5. The second to last game was the best game of the whole season. We were playing a team whose players, coaches and parents were bad sports- throwing dirt at our players, calling our pitchers slow and our base runners “scared.” At one point we were losing, so coming back to WIN the game was so awesome. Usually I feel a tad sad for the team that lost, especially if the game was close, but this time I felt nothing except wanting to say, “Ha ha take THAT!” I am so proud of our Bulls players and coaches who did not “fight back”- at least not with words or dirt……we did with our bats though-scoring more runs! I’ve really grown to not be amazed by much that people do and say, but I truly was shocked that a 9 year old boy and his DAD said nothing in response and even gave us a dirty look as we walked out to our car and Braeden said, “Nice game, we’ll see ya’ in the spring” to a player on the opposing team. YIKES, I mean I take baseball pretty serious, but I can’t imagine being THAT sore a loser. What kind of lesson is that man teaching his son?
Speaking of Father and son…..for the record, Mike was louder than me during ALL of the playoff games. He got SO into it and Braeden loved it-
Or I can hang out with the new baby boy that is now a big part of our family. A little boy that I did not have to endure 9 months of pregnancy, give birth to, or have sleep interrupted for to be able to love on during the day AND get paid for it. Not a bad deal. He is a cutie too and pretty laid back. He is almost 5 months old, but pretty tiny (about 12 pounds) since he was 2 months premature. The boys LOVE Thomas! Mikey has really amazed me. Instead of acting jealous or being clingy to me, he wants to help with everything. He is so sweet and gentle and is actually a really big help. It goes without saying how much Thomas LOVES Braeden- ALL babies do. He is just a natural around them and will be such a great Dad someday…..like when he’s 57 or so.
Or I can enjoy the holiday season now that the hard work of decorating is done. We sure did break the rule of not decorating until after Thanksgiving, but Braeden leaves on Sunday for Chicago and we wanted him to be a part of it. So, we decorated last night. I will post pictures soon. We are going to a tree lighting tonight- Santa, hot chocolate, crisp temperatures, Christmas carols, LOVE IT! The town of Gainesville likes to decorate before Thanksgiving too!