Christmas 2016 - Part 1

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year! The boys loved everything about Christmas. The lights, the Christmas trees, the Elf on the Shelf (we have 4. See below if you don't believe me), the cookies (because of course), Santa! And presents of course.

This year's Christmas card turned out amazing! Thanks to Miranda for capturing the most amazing pictures of my family! (More of those coming soon!)

And I just LOVE all the cards we received this year too! (For the record, I keep all of them. Forever.)

Our tree actually survived the entire year. I can't say the same for our ornaments (RIP Otis and Elf on the Shelf ornaments, and others without names). I had to remind myself they are 2 and they are sooooo curious and the tree is soooo pretty! Logan asked to turn it on every day. And he may have learned how to do that on his own too. Oops! I can't even count the number of times I said "don't touch the tree!" The boys started saying it too. But they still did it. Shocking I know.

Mason even put himself in time out for touching the tree. Ha!

Then I put presents under the tree and they just couldn't control themselves. I had to rewrap a few of them more than once.

We upped our Elf on the Shelf game this year and got 3 new elves. They don't have names. They're assigned by color though. Every morning they asked to go find their elves! Mason especially wanted to find his "elp on shelp" every day. Cutest. Thing. Ever. Makes it all worth it.

Oh and we went to see Santa. And no tears!! I thought we weren't going to make it for a minute though. We got to the front of the line and Lolo announced "I don't like Santa." Mason ran to him. And James was excited but a little timid. So they were all their normal selves.

I think it helped that Santa came to school the day before we went to see him at the mall. So bonus - a second Santa picture!

And what did they ask for? Cake pops of course. Hopefully they'll always ask low. Makes it way easier for Santa to come through on the big day!

After Santa we walked through the mall because we had a little shopping to do there. And we made the big mistake of going in a toy store. Won't happen again. Mason and Logan refused to leave. They wanted to take these cars home with them. Nope.

We loved looking at Christmas lights this year. We went the long way home from school most days. Of course they loved the blow up ones the most. James would identify all of them. Santa, snowmans (I couldn't correct him because it was just too cute), Mary, Baby Jesus, and Joseph. And the Humpty Dumpty Snowman. Yep, there was a humpty dumpty snowman and my kids made special requests to go see him. Ha!

We went to Garvan Gardens with Nina and our cousins and they boys had a great time! I didn't get many pictures because we were too busy looking at lights! But here's a few!

Addison made Christmas cookies and they were amazing. I kinda wanted to make more. But guess who ate most of the first batch? Me. And I also ate most of the other cookies and candy. Candy cane Hershey kisses are my new addiction. Luckily they are only for Christmas time.

Brian and I also got into the Christmas spirit. With our neighbors. At an ugly sweater party. Brian and I took the dressing up to the next level. Ha! So fun!

We weren't the only ones who dressed up! We have the best neighbors. New and old and honorary.

 We tried to use a selfie stick but apparently we are special and we couldn't figure it out. We called Addison to come over and take the group picture. Ha!

Oh and the boys had the 12 days of Christmas dress up so they dressed up several times over the last few weeks. Pj day, candy cane (red and white) day, Christmas socks day, and my favorite one - Christmas hair day. Red and green hairspray for the win. James of course didn't like it so he didn't participate. 

And here's a few more Christmas season pictures. Just because they're cute.

And last but not least, a DB/LB airport Christmas tree picture. There will be a running airport hug upon return. I'm already preparing.

Stay tuned for Christmas Part 2! 

Thanksgiving 2016

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. I am over a week late with this post. Nothing unusual there I guess. 

We started our Thanksgiving in Little Rock with the other Manns. 

Contrary to what you may think based on this picture, my kids did NOT eat Thanksgiving food. They each ate their roll. Mason and Logan ate ONLY their roll. And James ate his roll and some cranberry sauce. All 3 of them ate turkey BEFORE dinner but then said "I don't like it" when it was time to eat dinner. This is how many meals go these days. "I don't like it" and "it's gross" are pretty much favorite phrases around here. 

We had all but 1 cousin together and they had so much fun! And we got a pretty decent picture too.

And I got a few more pictures on Thanksgiving. Mason sweeping the backyard and Logan selfies.

Oh and I introduced Lolo to Cool Whip. And taught him the best way to eat it - off your finger straight from the tub of course. He loved it.

Later that night I basically tortured Logan because I put footie pjs on him. So dramatic.

Mason didn't mind that his feet disappeared.

We went to Memphis to see my family the day after Thanksgiving. The boys were pretty good in the car. James fell asleep on the way there. With 1 boot on. (Mason and Lolo did not fall asleep and they had 0 shoes on).

The boys figured out that Nana doesn't know the word "no." And she has bacon.

 

And my parents had an old table in the attic that was perfect for the boys. My dad made a 3rd chair and painted the chairs in MLJ's colors. It's perfect!

The boys loved playing with Alan. He's basically a kid so it worked out perfectly. And he can read so that's a plus.

 

And Nana also had some old magnets (see where I get my hoarding tendencies from?) and the boys loved them!

And of course they loved looking a the "big cars" out the front window. They are obsessed with all vehicles. Lolo especially. We were convinced he only knew how to say "vroom vroom big car" for a while.

Oh and our elves showed up in Memphis too. And they got Grizzlies jerseys. Because of course.

We also played football outside. The big kids played football. The little kids played with leaves. And may have helped some of the leaves off the tree.

I love the look of wonder and amazement on their sweet little faces.

And of course more selfies. Their idea not mine.

Joey and Brian threw leaves on the boys' heads. They loved it so much they tried to do it themselves. So funny!

We also got to see Liam, Stephanie and Uncle Cliff while we were in Memphis. The boys are still talking about it. "I eat dinner Liam. I eat hot dogs."

And we were in Memphis on Friday so of course we had cake pops! Nana got the boys special turkey cake pops. I think they liked them.

And the aftermath. Ha! This kid is crazy.

And they slept on the way home. It was so quiet.

So, we had a great Thanksgiving. And I had a 3 day trial last week after Thanksgiving. The few days off for Thanksgiving was a much needed break for me. Oh and I won my trial too. Now on to Christmas. We do have a tree and so far it is still standing and it still has ornaments. Even on the bottom. We'll see if that lasts.