Turkey and Trees

It's been a great November! 

 

We took a super quick trip down to DC. Though it was a bit short for our liking, we always love getting to see DC again. The boys loved the fountains at WWII. Lewis especially loved the Lincoln Memorial. For some reason, he decided that it should also be called a "concert". And, he noticed all on his own that a penny in the reflecting pool had the same building as the big white one in front of us! 

We met up with Kyler and Melyn and had a quick picnic. After that, we had some time to relax and enjoy catching up at the Kronmillers. Then I scooted off for the evening and headed to Richmond to attend the wedding reception of my dear Rachel Givens. What a treat to see her and her husband and family, as well as some familiar faces from my Richmond days. I just wish it had been longer! I drove back up the same night, and then we headed home first thing the next morning. Too short! 

We've had a couple fun trips to the local children's museum. 

Beau had a haircut...and not just a trim this time! Pretty good, huh?
We didn't know he could get any cuter, but he did!

Look at these two!!! Like father, like son! :-) They both love snuggles and sleep!
And, Beau is such a Daddy's boy. He gets so excited to see his Daddy in the morning and just wants Daddy to hold him!

Here is Lewis with his teacher, Mrs. Lingerfield, and his friend Caroline after their Thanksgiving celebration at school. 

And here's me after a great shopping outing with my cute nieces to H&M!

We woke up on Thanksgiving morning, ready to have a relatively relaxing morning of a little cooking and cleaning. Then I remembered that there's a Turkey Trot at Rosedale Park in Pennington. So, off we went! I ran the race, and Mike jogged to the race with the boys to cheer for me at the finish line! He is so sweet! I can't believe he got both boys fed, dressed, off with snacks in hand, AND made signs...all in about 20 minutes!

He's right. I am definitely not "so" fast! "Pretty" fast works for me though! I ran it in 27:52...great for me! And, it was a really fun race - very family, community, pretty. A fun morning!

It did mean we were a bit rushed to get the cooking finished and the house ready. But, it all came together! Here is Mike's turkey this year. The picture doesn't even do it justice - she was beautiful! And delish!!!

We had Jake, Mish, and girls over, along with their neighbor, Diana, and Mish's sister Kimberly and family. We were so glad to spend the holiday together. Jake and Mish came down to spend Thanksgiving with us in C-ville when we were first married. Since we've lived here, we've been gone every Thanksgiving except for one, and they were gone that one. We HAD to celebrate together this year since they will be moving soon. So happy for them - so sad for us.

It was a great Thanksgiving. Tons of delicious food! 5 delicious pies! Lots of fun and laughter!

The day after Thanksgiving, Mike sent me off to the gym with the kids in the morning. I was told not to be home until 11am. When I walked through the door, I was greeted by the whole Thanksgiving crowd again, this time with balloons! And then...this!!!

It was a birthday feast and my very own Family Feud!!! Mike was so sweet. He had a number of family members respond to a few questions about me. Then he created a whole Family Feud game with the answers. It was really, really fun and made me feel very special. The boys got a kick out of the whole thing!

Buzzing in to take the round!
They gave it to me since it was my birthday!

We had fruit salad for dessert. Not trying to be overly healthy. It's just after the 5 pies and tons of picking at the leftover pies, fruit sounded perfect!

This boy adores his Uncle Jake!

That same evening, we headed into Princeton for the annual tree lighting. It's such a fun event with lots of people, music, and an appearance by Santa. Lewis was not too excited about having to take a picture...he wanted to go and find where Santa had gone!

The next day, we headed out for my favorite event of the year - cutting the Christmas tree! We've gone to the same Christmas tree farm ever since we've lived here. It's a family-run, local place, and it's perfect!The boys had tons of fun running around and looking at the trees. And, Lewis was a big helper with pulling the wagon.

Lewis showing how big this one is!

This is the one!!!

 

We managed to get lights on it that day, but waited to decorate until the following evening.

We had a big evening to prepare for! Lewis and Mommy went out on a very special date...to the Nutcracker! It was such a treat to take Lewis. He was so excited! We had been listening to the music, reading the book, and watching clips on the internet all week. Lewis was so thrilled to get dressed in our fancy clothes and go out with just Mommy for a very special evening! He was good as gold. He just sat, mesmerized by the whole thing! He told me that his favorite parts were the snow fairies and the candy cane dancers. But, he also loved the sugar plum fairy! What a sweetheart!

The following night, we finished decorating! Then the boys sat in their special chair and we enjoyed the lights, after singing a rousing round of "O Christmas Tree", of course!

Lewis has had a lot of excitement recently! He also seems to be getting a little nervous about sleeping in the dark. So, we keep finding him with the lights back on. On this particular evening, Mike found him sound asleep when we went up to bed around 11. We had to sneak a picture!

Trick or Treating and then Snow!

Lewis was pretty darn excited about trick or treating this year. Beau was thrilled to be inducted into the fun once we got going. Before we got going, he wasn't so sure. We never did get him to wear the cow head-piece. Thankfully we had a second cowboy hat! 

 

  

And, the Halloween fun continued on! Since all the schools were closed the week of Halloween, Lewis' party was rescheduled for November 7. That's right. We went to the Princeton Halloween parade on Oct 26, and our last parade was on Nov 7. That's the way to do it! 

Our cute tiger boy with his boots!



Here are a few pictures from our first snowstorm of the year! It was quite the site. All the downed and chopped up trees from Sandy covered now covered in snow. Fall leaves on the trees...with snow.

My boys were hard at work, shoveling the sidewalks for me. Lewis had a grand old time. Beau...not so much. It was just one of those days! We lasted about a half hour and then headed back inside!