Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We had a really low key Thanksgiving this year, which was fine with me. It was just our family and my  dad. My mom went down to Santa Rosa, CA to spend time with my sister and Andy. Andy and Sarah also had their 20 week ultrasound and they are having 2 little boys. We are so excited for them! I am excited that Gibson is going to have 2 boy cousins around his age.
We spent Thanksgiving eating lots of good food and watching lots of football. I got the cartoon of "The Lion, the Whitch, and the Wardrobe" for this kids to watch this year. They watched it three times! Once again I see how they are a little obsessed. This year I was smart and got a lot of the prep work done ahead of time. This made for a very chill Thanksgiving. I was even able to sit down for an hour while I waited for the Turkey to be done. I enjoyed this because I was able to sit down and look at the black Friday ads. I LOVE shopping on Black Friday! I love it so much I even went by myself this year. I got up at 3:45 and got to target around 4:00. I couldn't find parking until around 4:15 and then going inside was a madhouse. I finally left their around 6:00 and headed over to the GAP. The GAP had everything at 50% off which was so much fun. For Christmas this year Randy gave me money to spend on myself for Black Friday. I was able to buy a shirt and a couple sweaters.
On Saturday we went and got our tree. I found a little Christmas tree farm that had nobles for $30. Every year I think that I can skimp and get a douglas fir, but when it comes down to it, I just love the way Nobles look. After getting our tree we went to Mcmenamins. The kids had a special treat at Mcmenamins and got their very first hot chocolates. Needless to say, the kids were thrilled! Autry said, "Mommy this is the best thing that I have ever tasted." We went home and decorated the tree.  Normally I spend a really long time on the lights, but the kids were so excited to decorate that I decided to put up the lights as fast as I could. They don't look as nice as normal, but the kids got to decorate and that was fun. Looking over our ornaments I realized that we have so many ornaments that have to do with football or baseball. Over half of our ornaments have to do with some sort of sports. We definitely like sports in our family.
Our house is now completely decorated for Christmas and I am looking forward to the holiday season. I love everything about this season. I love Christmas music, Christmas decorations, and Christmas shopping.  I love most of all that we get the privilege of knowing Jesus and knowing the true meaning of Christmas. I am excited to pass on this love for Jesus to my kids.

 It is really safe to let your three year old hold a saw

 We look really tall because the camera was on the ground

 All of a sudden I know how to french braid, I am really proud of 

her hair. Even if Claire's hair is so fine it was falling out almost immediately. 

I am in the process of making an Advent Calender. It should be done in the next couple days, stay tuned...

Gibson 3 months

Here is Gibson at 2 months and

now he is 3 months!

My cute chubby little boy. I don't know for sure how much he weighs, but I am guessing around 16 pounds. He is doing really well. He has started to go to bed around 6:30, and has started to be a very easy baby. I should say he is an easy baby as long as I keep him on his schedule. I wasn't super big on getting the other 3 on a schedule, but Gibson thrives on a schedule. He smiles a lot, and has just started to laugh. I am very much enjoying our little bundle of joy. 

What Prince and Princesses Do

Kids Playing "Prince and Princess"
Autry: "Claire I have 50 days off from battles"
Claire: "I have 50 days off from Weddings"

Zoo Day with Daddy

 The Polar Bear was swimming all over the place, and Adelaide

was wearing her cute new birthday boots (we had to make a

 rule that new birthday dollies stay in the car.) 

 Autry is a scary bear and Clarabelle spots a bird

 The dinosaur exhibit was done, so for some reason the zoo thought it would

be a good idea to have a decapitated taredactyl  hanging out on the zoo path.

You add Gibson and I to this picture and you can imagine the looks

we get from people. Sometimes I want to turn and say, "Yes it is true

I do have four kids 4 and under" 

 The elephant was very exciting for Adelaide

 Three cute kids looking at the elephant

Randy got an iphone a couple of weeks ago and is enjoying all the fun things that it can do. These last four pictures were taken with one of the cool apps on his phone. It is amazing what technology can do these days. 

Addie's "Birthday"

Birthday Clothes

 She was so excited about every present she opened.

Her favorite presents so far were her baby doll with a binky and bottle and 

a new pair of pink boots.

The girls playing with Addie's new toys. We have to keep reminding Claire

that these are Addie's new toys.

 She wanted all her new clips in her hair

 Feeding her new baby

 Grandpa "The Reading Maching" 

 Her Purple Blackberry Cake

 Yummy Cake

     We celebrated Addie's 2nd birthday today. Her birthday isn't until October 11, but all the grandparents were able to come down this weekend so we treated today like her birthday. Adelaide had so much fun today. She got a new birthday outfit, lots of new clothes, 4 new dollies, a horse from Autry, hair clips,  and a new pair of boots. Addie had a lot of fun and was loving having so much attention.

A Saturday in Newport

Visiting the Dukes

We recently went to visit the Dukes in Jefferson. The kids love playing with Isaac and Adrie. I love talking with Shannon. The entire time we were there I barely even saw Isaac and Autry. They were playing outside in Isaac's stick fort, pretending to hunt deer, and playing pirate. Autry and Isaac are boy through and through. Meanwhile Claire and Adrie are inside playing dress up and putting make up on each other. Then there was Addie just wandering around the house. It was a lot of fun. The kids want to go down to Jefferson every day and play. 

Random Times in the Poor Family

Gibson 1 Month

Gibson is 6 weeks old now, but here are his 1 month pictures.