Decorating the Christmas Tree!

I always love to put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. I enjoy having the house decorated for as long as possible- it makes the house so cozy! Now that the kids are 2 and 4, they really can take part in all the decorating and get into the Christmas Spirit. James & Owen were great little helpers, even if I did get a little stressed and uptight about the possiblity of them breaking ornaments... We managed to get everything put up with minimal damage and no time-outs, so I consider it a successful experience!

Owen the Christmas elf

Decorating so carefully...
Owen wore this Santa hat all day today!

Working on the tree together.

Paige is One!

Yesterday we celebrated Paige Kennedy's first birthday at a fun party at her house. The birthday girl was adorable in her barely-ponytails and toddling all over the place. One is such a fun age, all of us with older kids enjoyed watching and playing with Paige- ah, how quickly time goes by!Paige & Owen admiring the beautiful butterfly cake.Birthday girl!

All of the kids at the party table! Time to EAT CAKE!yum.

The two-year-old buddies- Taylor & Owen
The four-year-old buddies- Renton & James

Ah, the chaos of gift-opening time! Always my LEAST favorite part of birthday parties!

Our Holiday in Sierra City

During Thanksgiving break we spent a few days in the mountains visiting my parents. We all love going up there- the seasons are all so beautiful and we get a chance to relax. Both boys absolutly love going to Sierra City to visit their grandparents. They have their own room there full of toys and books. For the first time, Owen slept in their room with James and it worked out perfectly! Below I have posted some of my favorite shots from our trip.

We always take many walks when we visit and I took most of my pictures on these walks. At our house, we have lots of pine needles, but not many oak leaves. The boys had a blast playing in the deep piles of oak leaves in my parents' neighborhood.

J & O throwing leaves.

The whole family walking around the block.

Owen was really into stringing beads with Grandma's craft stuff. He sat cozy by the fire and beaded for hours!

Owen "helped" Grandma make the whipped cream for our pumpkin pie...

Noodle Names

Noodles, it turns out, are not just for eating! James has been learning so much about words and letters lately and he got quite creative with his dinner the other night. First, he decided to spell Owen for his brother, followed by his own name and his mom & dad's names as well. The boys enjoyed eating- and playing with their noodles! You just can't beat playing with your food!

Christmas Preview in Downtown Chico

Our first annual holiday tradition to kick off the official holiday season is to attend Christmas Preview in Downtown Chico. We love this event and have attended it every year since the boys were born. The streets are crowded with people and the shops are all open serving cookies and cider. Kids are dancing in all the store windows and T.J. Farms brings their beautiful horse-drawn carriage (which all the kids are convinced is Santa's sleigh). It is a very festive event and the boys and I love attending it with their Grandma Sally and friends. It's official- Christmastime is here!!!

Ok, so I know I am the meanest mom, ever, but I love, love, love this photo of Owen screaming on Santa's lap! He has been so excited about seeing Santa and has been saying his name non-stop. Isn't it just like a 2-year-old though to completely freeze up and scream when it comes down to actually seeing the big guy up close and personal?! It is part of being a kid, a rite-of-passage. We've all got to have the screaming picture with Santa, it just has to happen! Owen may end up with years of therapy to repair the damage done tonight when his mother forced him to sit on the lap of strange, a scary old man with a long white beard, but oh, it was so worth it for this classic photo!

See, Owen cheered up right away, so he's not too damaged. I think the candy cane helped...

James & Owen loved watching the kids dance in the shop windows.

Frosty the Snowman was giving out candy at Powell's Candy Shoppe downtown.

Giving his girl a kiss...

James was very impressed with the fire trucks and the nice fireman who let him climb inside!

Owen was quite the lady's-man tonight- first kissing Charli, now snuggling with Skyla! What a cute pose though!

Petting the police horse with grandma.

Charli, posing like a perfect princess.

The McGregor wagon saved the day- so did the dads who hauled it! Thanks Todd & Chad!

Thanksgiving Celebration With Our Friends

Yesterday we held our first (hopefully annual) Thanksgiving Celebration with our friends. Chad and Kristin brought the turkey and Chad deep-fried it. This experience, being the first time any of us had given deep-frying a bird a try, was the focus of the day and most of my pictures ended up being of the turkey! What a wonderful day we had! The kids are all such good friends, the food was awesome and we all enjoyed being together all day.

I did get a few photos of the kids and our friends and I've included the highlights below:

I made these turkey shirts for Owen & James using their handprints. When I asked Owen to show me his shirt for a picture he yelled, "HAND!" Cute that he rememberd me tracing his hand to make the shirt!

Owen & Keegan- buddies! Keegan is a good friend to have, no one will mess with this mean little dude!
Keegan, Owen, Charli & Brian rocking, rocking, rocking...

One of the many turkey pictures- Chad & Kelly getting the bird ready.

Kristin & Charli- cute picture!

All the girls! Tara, Kristin, Sonya, Charli, me, Kelly

Time to take the bird out! Jason & Bob took it out of the hot oil- very, very carefully!A beautiful turkey!"Hmmmmm..... what so we do with it now?"

Best Buddies- James & Renton on the Harley. James got on the back, patted Renton on the head and said, "Ok Renton, I'll be the girl!"

Brian took Owen for a ride too!

Time to EAT!

My pretty Thanksgiving table.

Todd & Jason hit the buffet line!
The kids enjoyed the PIES the best!!!