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Holidays

I Am Grateful For…

November 23, 2017

This time of year it is so easy to get swept up in Black Friday deals, planning meals, the quickly growing holiday to-do list, and arguing about what kind of cranberry sauce is best (canned, of course!). So this Thanksgiving, I am trying my best to intentionally take at least a few minutes to notice what I have been blessed with and be truly grateful.

I am thankful for a house over our heads that may not look like we want, but it keeps us warm and safe and we have the ability to put time and money into making it ours.

I am thankful for a husband who works hard for our family every day to make sure we have what we need. A man who leaves before the rest of us are out of bed and will still go by the store on his way home if the kids and I haven’t made it out.

I am thankful for two children to love and care for. Kids who wake me up early on a Thanksgiving morning to beg to make pumpkin muffins. Kids who tell me to close my eyes and then surprise me with a bear hug and a kiss. Kids who can drive me crazy and melt my heart all in the same minute. (Even if they refuse to smile for pictures because taking a family picture is keeping them from playing with their cousins.)

I am thankful for a church family that blesses us and gives us opportunities to bless others. A church that feels like home and shows the love of Jesus to our kids.

I hope you are spending today with loved ones and can find a minute to focus on why we celebrate this holiday! What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Halloween 2017

November 1, 2017

Since this was our first Halloween in our new house, I wasn’t sure what trick-or-treating would be like. Or if we would even be able to go trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood. I grew up in this neighborhood and there were no other kids when I was little. Things have started to change though. One of our neighbors hosted a pizza party for the whole neighborhood before the kids went out to knock on doors. It was one of the best Halloweens yet!

Apparently, Cullen is getting too old to let me make them theme costumes. He went back and forth between being Spider-Man and Coyote Peterson. He ended up going with Coyote Peterson (from his favorite YouTube channel Brave Wilderness). I gave Colette a few options and no one was surprised that she went with a flamingo, her favorite animal!

Colette’s dress, tights, and bonnet are from June and January. I used felt to make her feet and nose, and felt balls for her eyes.

Cullen already had everything except his hat. He wears this vest every time he goes outside to look for bugs. We added a hat and a toy lizard to complete his costume.

Once they were dressed and we had eaten pizza and chatted with our new neighbors, the kids set out to get as much candy as they could. Cullen has always loved Halloween, but even Colette really seemed to get into this year. At nearly every house, she would announce “Another door!”

These two really do make every holiday so much more fun!

Holidays Thanksgiving

A Weekend to be Thankful

December 1, 2016

This Thanksgiving has to be one of our best so far. We had lunch with Corey’s family, and then dinner with my family. We filled our bellies with all of the best turkey, dressing, mac and cheese, and my take on this cheesecake. It was all absolutely amazing! Colette ate as much as some of the adults, and Cullen had a blast playing with his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Between lunch and dinner, the kids spent the afternoon jumping in an enormous pile of leaves. And what is more fun than a leaf pile?!

We completely skipped Black Friday shopping, like most years, and had breakfast with my family followed by ice skating lessons from soon-to-be Aunt Sarah. Cullen skated until his feet hurt, and Colette wanted to get out on the ice so badly. They can’t wait to go back!

For as long as I can remember, we have cut down or bought a real tree on the day after Thanksgiving, but because we are a house of allergy sufferers, we opted for an artificial one this year. After not-so-patiently waiting all day, Cullen spearheaded our tree decorating operation. He hung all of the non-breakables (which all ended up in the same section at the bottom of the front of the tree). I have not even re-arranged them once. (Yay, me!) Colette, on the other hand, thinks the ornaments are there just for her to play with.

After such a wonderful start to the holiday season, I am excited for what the rest of the year holds!

Easter Holidays

Easter 2016

June 14, 2016

It has been well over two months since Easter, and I just realized I skipped over that holiday over here too. I am really failing at this recording memories thing lately. Oh well.

We started our Easter morning by digging into baskets to see what the Easter bunny brought. They each got a couple of outfits and books. Cullen got some of his favorite candy, and Colette got a few new headbands.

Cullen wanted to eat his candy right away of course, and Colette was more impressed with the eggs.

After Church we went to my parents’ for lunch and an egg hunt. We usually have a big get together with the whole extended family, but that didn’t work out this year, so it was just Cullen and Colette hunting for eggs. And Colette fell asleep so Cullen hunted his eggs and then found some for his sister as well. He was just as excited to find eggs for her as he was for himself, which was just the sweetest!

In all that egg hunting, Cullen also came across a little inch worm. What could be more fun for a little boy than to let a worm inch its way across your arm?!

It was a low-key, simple Easter, but we had so much fun just being together. I am looking forward to next year and seeing Colette get in on the egg hunting fun!

Holidays Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2015

January 22, 2016

So apparently I never shared anything from our Thanksgiving, so why not now. Better late than never, right?!

We started our Thanksgiving with snuggles with our littles and took our time getting out of the bed. Then our first stop of the day was Corey’s parents’. We filled our bellies then went outside to jump in the biggest leaf pile ever. Colette had her first dinner roll and Cullen made a new friend in their neighborhood. That evening, we had dinner with my family, where we had my new favorite cake, so delicious!

I don’t have very many pictures, because we really just spent the day eating and enjoying time with our loved ones. Nothing really exciting or noteworthy, but a wonderful time just being together. It was exactly what Thanksgiving should be.

DIY Halloween Holidays

All the better to see you with, My Dear…

November 3, 2015

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! This was our best yet!

I started thinking about Halloween costumes back in June. I wanted to do a group theme because who knows how long the kids will actually let me have a say in what they dress up as. After going back and forth between several ideas, we decided on Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, her grandmother, and the woodsman. (The main reason we went with this story: Corey didn’t really have to dress up.)

I made Cullen’s mask and tail and sewed “fur” onto a shirt and sweatpants. The plan was to take the fur off after the holiday and he’d have some comfy sweats. He informed me that the fur has to stay, so I guess he gets to be a comfy wolf! I made Colette’s dress using this pattern and designed the cape on my own. This is the first time I’ve successfully sewn clothing, and I must admit, I am pretty darn proud! At the last minute, I found the cutest play food for her basket; I’m all about purchasing things that can be used again and again, not just for one night.

Cullen practiced his wolf growl for weeks, but when it came time, he refused to wear his mask and tail any longer than it took to take pictures.

Cullen helped me make some popcorn snack mix earlier in the day, meaning he ate most of the ingredients. If you have not made this yet, do it now! My parents and Corey’s parents came over for dinner, so we all filled up on chili and cornbread before trick-or-treating. Most years, costumed kids are ringing our doorbell before we can even get dressed to go out, but this year it seemed like everyone waited for the Clemson game to end, which made all the men in our house happy.

Still working on perfecting my chili recipe!

We left the Papas and Gigi at the house to watch football and hand out candy, while Corey, Mimi, and I took our eager trick-or-treaters door to door. Colette napped in her stroller the whole time. Cullen, who seems to have taken on the roll of family safety patrol, carried a flashlight and warned us of oncoming traffic as we walked through the neighborhood.

I was expecting Cullen to be as wide open as he was last Halloween, dragging us from house to house, but this year, he was much more hesitant to walk up to the doors. He was very polite and said “Trick or Treat” and “Thank you” at every house. My favorite part of the evening? When Cullen sang his Halloween song between houses. He will make up a song for anything!

“Halloween is fun.

Halloween is fun.

Halloween is fun!”

There was one slightly traumatic event at one of the last houses on our street with a man and a mask and tears, but Cullen went right back up to the house to get his candy after recovering from the scare. I was so proud of the way he handed being scared and didn’t let it stop him from going to the last few houses!

I think Colette enjoyed her stroll around the neighborhood and Cullen definitely had a great time! But more than getting candy, I think he enjoyed handing out candy when we got back home. He is such a people-person, he loved telling everyone that came to the door “Happy Halloween!”

I am already planning next years costumes, and can’t wait to get both kids fully embracing the holiday!

Easter Holidays

Easter Weekend

April 7, 2015

Since things are a little crazy around here these days, we didn’t get to enjoy all of the usual Easter traditions like dying eggs. And the Easter Bunny may have forgotten to put candy in Cullen’s basket. (Oops!) But overall, we had a pretty great weekend!

Saturday morning, we took Cullen to our Church for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. He road a train, jumped in bounce houses, made some crafts, hunted eggs, and of course had a blast!

Sunday morning, Cullen woke up to see what the Easter Bunny left in his basket. This year, his basket was filled with a new book, everything needed to catch bugs this summer, a bunny shirt and a grass growing kit. He went straight for the bugs and completely ignored everything else. But he has played with those bugs non-stop since then, so I’d say the Easter Bunny did pretty well this year.

Then we headed off to church in our matching outfits. I think my two boys looked pretty great in their matching ties.

After church, we joined grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for a yummy Easter lunch and another egg hunt. Since Cullen is so much younger than all of the other kids, he had his own area to hunt eggs and he took full advantage of it. He took his time and opened every egg as he picked them up. Money went right into his pocket and candy was thrown on the ground. It was pretty hilarious to watch.

After lunch and the egg hunt, we went to Corey’s parents just to hang out and relax. And the boys worked off all of the Easter candy they ate with a game of backyard baseball. Cullen even hit the ball once without any help. It was so cute to see him so proud of himself!

It really was a great weekend getting to spend so much time with family and watching Cullen explore and enjoy this wonderful holiday!

Halloween Holidays

Halloween 2014

November 4, 2014

This little Strongman had an absolute blast trick-or-treating this year! The grandparents came over to hand out candy so Corey and I could take Cullen door-to-door. Cullen quite literally drug the two of us down the street to get to the next house as quickly as possible. We couldn’t get him to say “Trick-or-Treat”, but he did wish everyone a Happy Halloween when they gave him candy. He also tried to give kisses to everyone’s dogs. I think Halloween is he perfect holiday for this social little boy!

He requested that each piece of candy be opened as soon as he got it. So he snacked on pretzels and skittles between houses. And once we went to a respectable number of houses, we headed home where Cullen’s grandparents sneaked him even more candy, and he helped hand out candy to other neighborhood kids.

I loved watching his face light up every time he was gifted a piece of candy and every time trick-or-treaters showed up at our door. We all had such a great night watching him really experience this holiday!

Holidays

Our Fourth of July

July 9, 2014

I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. We certainly did! We had Corey’s family and my family over to grill out on Friday. Cullen greeted each grandparent with big smiles and huge bear hugs. He was beyond thrilled that everyone was there to see him! Because let’s face it…that’s the real reason everyone came to visit. 😉

I made sweet tea and a summer punch, Corey manned the grill for burgers and hot dogs, and everyone brought a side to share. It was all so yummy!

After we ate (and got the leftovers back inside away from the flies) we pulled out Cullen’s water table and pool to help him cool off. It wasn’t too long before all of the adults joined in too. In case you are wondering, three adults can comfortably stand in the baby pool at once. Cullen drank water straight from the hose and shared with everyone else. Nothing says summer more than drinking from the hose on a blistering hot day. I loved watching Cullen play with his grandparents, aunt, and uncles. It melts my heart to see how much he loves each of them!

Cullen went to bed as the sun started to set, and the rest of us got the fire pit going to enjoy some smores and neighborhood fireworks.

Before everyone left, we pulled out some sparklers for some last minute fun. All of the ~~big kids~~ men got in on the action and let me play around with my camera while they ~~danced around~~ played with the sparklers in a manly way. LOVE was the only four letter word we could come up with, but the picture turned out pretty great! (For a first attempt especially.) Maybe Cullen will stay up long enough to enjoy the sparklers and fireworks next year.

I love any excuse to have everyone over, and this holiday is always a great time of food, fun, and celebration! How did you spend your July 4th?

Easter Holidays

Our Easter Weekend

April 22, 2014

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! I have been excited about this Easter for quite a while, and it by far exceeded my expectations!

We started Saturday with a huge Easter Egg Bash at our church complete with three egg huts, interactive story time, crafts, food, and inflatables. We played and hunted eggs with Cullen for the first half of the event, and then Cullen went home with his Gigi to nap while Corey and I worked the registration table for the second half. Even with all of the rain we got that day, we registered over 1,700 people and hid over 15,000 eggs (they only planned to hide 6,000 eggs)! It was incredible! Cullen had a great time hunting eggs and we loved getting to meet so many new people from the community. We are truly blessed to be a part of a church with such a heart for sharing the gospel! I am always amazed at how God can take our plans and, even on the rainiest of days, go beyond what any of us expected to reach so many people!

I stayed up late Saturday night playing Easter Bunny for Cullen and Corey. I probably have more fun filling baskets than they do opening them. Corey and I helped Cullen dig through his basket, but he was clearly more concerned with getting breakfast.

After church we went to my parents’ house for lunch and another egg hunt. Before digging into the delicious array of goodies, we attempted a family photo. We got one pretty good picture and the rest looked like this, which pretty much sums up life with our little man.

After stuffing our faces, and after Cullen ate an entire adult size piece of cake, we headed out back for the highlight of the day. Being the only little one, Cullen had an entire area to hunt for eggs by himself. And he took full advantage of it. His egg hunting strategy goes something like this: Find an egg. Shake the egg. Open egg. Dump candy or money on the ground. Put egg in basket or throw it on the ground. Repeat. He had an entourage of people following him around picking up the contents of his eggs and taking pictures. And since this whole process was pretty much the cutest thing ever, we may have put some of the eggs back on the ground for him to find again. Cullen was in heaven!

I love how much fun holidays are as Cullen gets older. I think he had THE BEST Easter! And because I can’t resist a few more adorable pictures, here is Cullen’s reaction to an empty egg.

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