Laying Low

We are trying to recover from a week of being sick, and I broke a tooth and had to get a cyst removed from my back... we could use a quiet few days. So we are laying low as much as possible. We made gingerbread cookies today and hung out around the house. Hopefully there is nothing else to report until the weekend when we have a few fun holiday events planned! 

Noro-Plague

We have the plague in our house... okay maybe not the plague but Norovirus for sure. It's gross and horrible. I had it first so I am ground zero on this one, also known as "carrier monkey."  I was out of commission last week for a few days, Ryan got it Saturday night, Audrey got it Sunday morning and Don got it tonight... 12 hours apart for everyone but me. Luckily I am well now so I am able to hold down the fort. I don't think it would have been possible for someone sick to take care of puking kids....  that would have been even more of a disaster then it already is.
I hope that tomorrow everyone wakes up better then they were when they went to bed. If you don't hear from us by the middle of the week... pray for me!

Photographers

I let the kids take pictures of each other with my camera. They had a lot of fun with it, I might have to get them their own cameras so that I don't have to actually hold the camera when they shoot. The last one I took since they were in such a good mood having been able to take pictures themselves. 

Lights on the Neuse

We went to the Lights on the Neuse Christmas lights. We first went on a hayride through the whole farm (about 30 minutes) and then roasted marshmallows for s'mores and did a walk through a 3-D Christmas House (which was way more creepy then cool). It was a fun event made even more fun by the fact that we we went with good friends! 

Creepy Christmas House

Decorating the Tree

Our family tradition is to decorate the Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving. It allows us the have a whole month to enjoy the decorations, and we have all day to do it so it doesn't feel rushed. We also have Uncle David in town for Thanksgiving so he is able to help us. This was the first year that the kids were able to decorate the tree almost entirely by themselves (Thanks in part to Shatterproof ornaments). Ryan was really good at it and was very proud of the final product. It now officially feels like the start of the Christmas Season! 

Picking out a Tree

The last few years we have had a fake tree. It's actually a really nice tree and looks beautiful when decorated. This year to celebrate our first Christmas in our new house we decided to get a smaller real tree in addition to the fake one. The kids spent the whole time running though the rows of trees chasing Uncle David, but they seemed to get into the spirit. They had even more fun when we got home and they were able to decorate the real tree all by themselves (and I was happy because I got to decorate the fake one! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

After a tough year I am especially thankful for: 

Friends and family

The health of my children

Living in a safe and comfortable home

Being married to the best guy ever

That my brother is hopefully moving home very soon

... and pie :) 

Pullen Park

Fall Day at the Park