The way our schedule worked out this year, we decorated for Christmas the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Ornaments are the very favorite part for everyone. The kids always sort them into piles before we hang them up.
Reminiscing when and why he got each one. I love that the majority of our ornaments have special meaning.
Each kiddo has gotten a school themed ornament the year they start Kindergarten. It was finally Coco's turn.
Our trip ornaments are the favorite. Cruz got to hang our newest sting ray ornament from Grand Cayman.
This one was also a big favorite because it leans when it hangs.
We had a pizza lunch
And we're reading for a fun filled Christmas season!
We started a new Christmas tradition this year by adding the Jesse Tree. The devotions are supposed to start on December 1st but since we'll be traveling, we are starting a few days early. I'm so looking forward to this Christmas season.
We had a fun Thanksgiving break. The kids were off the entire week from school which was wonderful. Cora had her best friend Claire over to play all day Monday. On Tuesday, we caught up on some chores around the house and the kids had time to relax and play at home. Wednesday we put up the Christmas tree and Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving together. Friday we made the 6.5 hour trek to Morton to celebrate Grandma's 60th birthday. We came back on Sunday rested and ready for the season ahead!
The name tag torch was passed to third and final child. Clearly I've gotten more lax in giving name tag instructions over the years, ha.
We played a marathon of Monopoly.
And just hung out together.
I didn't snap a picture of us watching our Christmas movie but we did keep up that tradition!
Here is our annual Thanksgiving Video. Rowan's reference to his "gold coins" is a family joke dating back to our first Thanksgiving video in 2012.
Grandma Turns 60!
We had a super special weekend celebrating Grandma! She made a delicious dinner for us all right after we arrived including pumpkin pie! We had cake, sang happy birthday and played games!
On Saturday we had pictures taken. I grabbed this sneak off SPIRIT Photography's facebook page. I'm so looking forward to seeing the rest of the shoot!
We had a sweet but chilly day at Gentry's Farm with Cora's class. This field trip was originally scheduled for October but had to be rescheduled to November 1st due to rain.
Willy Wonka Jr:
The GCA Middle Schoolers (6, 7, 8 grades) put on their annual fall musical at the beginning of November. This year they were doing the show Willy Wonka Jr. and invited some of the elementary school students to try out to be Oompa Loompa's.
To my surprise, both boys wanted to try out! They were both so excited to be a part of the show and did a fantastic job.
Ready to go for show number two!
The boys stood nowhere near each other. Cruz was up on the floor in front of the stage. We got seats close to him for the first show.
I'm really proud of Cruz since performing anything in front of people is not always his cup of tea.
Cruz Video (Red Shirt, Green Buttons, Front Row)
The second show I helped in the Oompa Loompa room backstage and then for the third show, we sat near Rowan. He was one of the Oompa Loompa's performing in the aisle.
Rowan Video (Teal Shirt, Blue Buttons, Second in line)
The whole group of elementary Oompa Loompa's.
Cora was a great supporter of her brothers and enjoyed the show both time she saw it.
She had fun sitting next to her friend Claire and Claire's family.
Fall Photos:
A mom of boys in both Rowan and Cruz's class took some pictures of the kids in September. More to come on our Christmas card.
Rowan Christian: 10 years old
Cruz Emerson: 8.5 years old
Cora Grace: 6 years old
Fall Drive: Natchez Trace Parkway
We were about three days late for the peak of fall color here in Nashville but it was still gorgeous anyway!
Turkey Disguise:
Coco came home with a cardstock turkey and instructions to disguise him so that the didn't become Thanksgiving dinner. Cora wanted to disguise him as a cupcake. I think he turned out pretty good.
Indoor Soccer: Cruz
A mom in Cruz's class was putting together a team for a six week season of indoor soccer. Cruz said he wanted to give it a try and he is having the best time with it.
Its a 10U team based on the birthdays of the older kids on the team. Being only 8, Cruz is one of the youngest. He has also never played before. I'm so proud of him for trying something new and holding his own out there! He's doing great.
Sweet #5. He's always so willing to pass the ball to his teammates too. I love that about him.
Tennessee State Capitol Field Trip:
Roger and I got to join Rowan's fifth grade class for a tour of the state capitol building as well as a morning of fun at the Tennessee State Museum.
We learned a lot of interesting things including the three presidents who were Tennesseans (Jackson, Polk and Johnson) and the TN state capitol is the only one to have a former president buried on its grounds.
We visited the Senate and House of Representatives. We learned how in this room, woman officially gained the right to vote. Tennessee was the last (36th) state needed and the vote passed by one.
Such a fun field trip with out big boy. We couldn't be prouder of the kid he's growing into. I got a text yesterday from a friend of mine who had 32 week preemie twins a couple of weeks ago. She said that she saw Rowan at school and that he stopped to ask her about the babies. He has such a sweet heart. I love hearing stories like that.
