Decorating the Tree

Last week we picked out our Christmas tree and decorated. Cory was able to take a day off and we spent one complete afternoon doing the decorating tradition. In our family, you just can't decorate a tree without junk food sitting around to pick at all afternoon. We had fun and it sure does get easier to do this kind of thing as our kids get older. I don't have to stress about the ornaments breaking or stepping on lights or being electricuted. I also have given up control and just let my kids do most of the lighting and hanging of ornaments. It may not be perfect but they have so much more fun!





There was a little bit of a war between Cory and Sydney this year... apparently they both thought "their" ornament should be the highest on the tree. Guess who won? I'll give you a hint... the taller one :) As you can see, my kids can hardly wait for Christmas time. Before we even had a tree, all those presents you see were already wrapped and tagged. And, those are just the ones that they have bought. I love to see them get excited about what they want to give instead of what they want to get.

Camping

We had our first family camping trip last weekend with some friends. It was a quick trip for us because we didn't get there until Saturday morning and left first thing Sunday morning. But, we did have lots of fun and so did the kids. Jordan has been begging to go since I keep going on camping trips with my Girl Scout troop. I have already mapped out several dates to go again in the New Year.
This time, we decided to bring bikes for the kids. They loved it and rode all around the campground.


How many coolers does it take to feed 5 families?

Nothing quite like sitting around the fire with friends and chillin'


This is how Sydney and Allison attempted to keep the smoke out of their face... and our little scorpion friend that the kids found in a pinecone they collected from the ground! Ewww!

GS Camping Trip

Last weekend, I took my Girl Scout Troop camping for the weekend. We had a great time and here are some of the highlights...
The girls cooked all meals and started the fires themselves. For breakfast we made egg muffin sandwiches. We cooked the eggs in muffin tins, toasted the english muffins on the grill and added some cheese.


This is the finished product... They were actually very good!


They also each took turns on a team that was the Hostess for our meals and they set the table and decorated with nature :)


Each girl also took a turn on the "clean up" crew. They all worked hard and did wonderful!


Reading in the cabin... and some crafts for charities.


Here are a group of girls starting the fire in the fire pit.


You always have to be ready to face one of these yucky guys. They have huge webs and they are the size of my hand!

We also did a geo caching hunt and had to search in some strange places for those little boxes.




It was a fun weekend... The weather was perfect.... Can't wait to do it again!

Avery's 1st Gymnastics Meet

Avery competed in her first Meet a couple weeks ago. She did great and had a great time! We are so proud of her!
She placed 5th in the bars and she is getting ready for the state competition in 2 weeks. It's so much fun to watch her do something she loves and excels at. Looking forward to the upcoming Meet :)

Fall Party

Jessica hosted a fun Fall Party at her house. Most people brought 1 pumpkin per kid. I brought 1 for my 4 kids to share. Why, you ask? Well, I only have 1 kid that will actually stick her hand in that thing and clean it out :) Avery really does enjoy this tradition (started with Jessica, not me, btw).

Sydney tried a couple handfuls and then went to the spoons :)

Look at all these fun foods! Jessica has quite the nack for finding creative and fun ways to decorate for a party and serve unique food.


Josh really would rather not touch that pumpkin at all! This was his face the whole time :)

Austin just decided to "hang out" for the party!

We had a great time hanging out with family and celebrating the Fall season. I sincerely appreciate when other people have the creative juices that I lack and choose to involve my kids. It helps me feel like my kids are missing out on that experience as much :)
We did have a lot of fun and have lots of fun stuff planned for this holiday season. It's going to be a good one!

Avery's 11th Birthday!

Yes, I am catching up on these birthday posts :)
September and October are crazy birthday months around here. But, last week, Avery celebrated her 11th birthday. The day of her birthday (Friday), we were in NC (see last pic). So, to celebrate with the Orlando crew, we waited until Sunday for lunch.
She asked for a cookie cake with icing on top. And, that is exactly what she got with her name written in chocolate chips!





We had a fun day celebrated her life and the difference it has made in ours! Avery, you have the most serving and sensitive spirit I know. I love you and Happy Birthday!

Morgan turned 12 in September!!

Only 1 more year and I will officially have a TEENAGER!
That's right, Morgan turned 12 last month.

For her birthday dinner, she decided on chicken nuggets, mac n cheese and green beans. Yum!

She wanted to make her own cake in her own way. We had vanilla cake with strawberry's and whipped cream in the middle and chocolate frosting. She loved it and it was good!

Happy Birthday Morgan! You help keep us all on track and following the rules. Love you girl!