December

Overall, December was a fun month for our family. I've tried really hard to establish some Smith Family traditions for Christmas. Here's a few...a construction paper chain that we start on December 1st, each day Noah gets to tear off a link of the chain and it says something fun that he gets to do that night (like eat popcorn with m&m's, look at Christmas lights,etc..). We also started the Elf on the Shelf this year. Noah named him Hotwheel the Elf. He is magical, he flies to the North Pole every night and reports to Santa about Noah and Reid. Each day when he flies back to our house, he lands somewhere different. Noah would have to try to find him every morning. We do Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve after the Christmas Eve Service at church. We have a nice breakfast Christmas morning and mom and dad toast to Mimosas. This year, I'm starting a new post-christmas tradition. I love all of the beautiful christmas cards that we get and this year, I'm going to put them in a book. We are going to pray for a different family each night at dinner. I think this will be a fun way to save the cards and remember to pray for our friends and family regularly. I'm always a little sad when December ends. Next year, the boys will be one year older and one year closer to being grown. Ugh..I don't like to think about that. These years are precious and I try to make the best of the Christmas celebrations with them.

Smith Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with the Smith family in Texas the weekend before Christmas. We enjoyed our visit with them. The boys were thrilled with all of their fun gifts. We posed for a family picture in the den.

Christmas Morning

Santa Came! Noah was at such a fun age for Santa this year. He really got into the whole experience. Before bed, we set out cookies and milk and then we put reindeer food on the front porch. He was so .....excited!! He woke up early Christmas morning and came into our room, he said "mom, I think santa came, I saw Reid's basketball goal in the living room". We woke Reid up, so we could all go in and check it all out together. Noah got a Wii and Reid got a basketball goal and a shopping cart. They were both really excited! It was so fun for us to see the sweet glow of excitement on their faces.

Hudson Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with the Hudson family (my mom's side of the family) on the Saturday after Christmas. Noah enjoyed playing with his cousin's Conner and Cy that he doesn't get to see very often. We had all of the 2nd cousins pose for a picture, but unfortunately we were missing a few of them.

Tillery Christmas

We celebrated with my family at my parent's house on Christmas night. We enjoyed each other and got entirely too much stuff. All of the cousins had fun playing. Karson and Noah both got Starwar's Helmets and Lightsavers. They played with them most of the night. They play really well together. Hudson and Reid were a little overwhelmed by all of their gifts and didn't really know which way to turn or which gift to play with first. You notice my mom dressed up in a goofy outfit with a crazy looking wig. Well, we have a tradition of playing a little game where she brings out a tray with lots of random stuff on it, and we have to memorize what's on the tray while she's parading around the room with it. Then, as a couple we complile a list of what was on the tray and what she is wearing for a prize. Ugh..Rod and I never win. It's also a tradition that I will always ask to see the list of the couple who wins..I want to confirm that they won. My sisters hate me for that. ;) The most treasured tradition is my dad reading the Christmas story from the bible. He has done this for as long as I can remember. I am so thankful that we take the time to read the story and focus on the true gift of Christmas.

Christmas Cookies

Rod and I started the tradition of decorating sugar cookies on Christmas Eve the first year we were married. It was so fun and romantic when we did it the first time. Then....came kiddos. Not so romantic anymore, but still loads of fun. They add so much spark and life to Christmas. We enjoy a lot of traditions, but this one is my favorite. This year I simplified things by preparing my dough during naptime, so that we would only have to cut out shapes and frost with the boys. Noah really enjoyed frosting and he was very proud of his masterpiece! Reid didn't enjoy the decorating part so much, but he loved eating the frosting. By the way...can you tell that Reid's a rascal? Look at that grin in these pictures....

Noah the Helper

Noah loves to help me clean the house. His favorite chores are mopping and vaccuming. The only problem with his mopping is that he doesn't quite understand the concept of ringing out the mop. He's an awfully handsome housekeeper, don't you think?

Happy Birthday Hudson

We celebrated my nephew Hudson's 1st birthday on October 29th. He is such a cutie. He and Reid are only 4 months apart, so I look forward to them getting older and becoming playmates. Right now, they're not so..sure of each other, but they'll start to appreciate being the same size and age soon.

Fall Festival

I'm a little late on posting this one, but I think these pictures are too cute not to post. Noah is getting so tall. He wasn't even 4 in this picture...and I think he totally looks 5 years old. He's getting too big too fast! The other picture shows him and his best friend Adam. He was pretty excited that Adam was a blue power ranger for halloween. Too bad Noah wouldn't wear his Mr. Incredible costume to the carnival, they would have been quite the pair of super heroes!!

A day at the park

On a beautiful October day, we went to the park with my parents, my sister, and my two sweet nephews. We enjoyed seeing the ducks and as always picking up sticks. Noah has always loved to pick up sticks, now Reid has also decided that he likes sticks. I'm telling you, they are 110% BOY!

I'm such a slacker

I'm so behind on blogging..I apologize to those of you who frequently check my blog for updates. I'll try to do better in the future!