The Stockings are hung.....

(a little blurry) Jackson's reaction when he noticed Santa was around.

Jackson's reaction to Santa when he got up close. Not so sure;)

Kate with her new stocking.

Jackson when he got his stocking in the mail just in time for Christmas.

.........by the chimney with care!!! The lights are up and the tree is decorated! We are ready for Christmas before Thanksgiving! I can't help it. It just all goes together for us! We love Thanksgiving and normally, we would put the tree up the weekend after, ............well, who am I kidding? I usually have everything up before, I guess. Justin likes to tell everyone how one year when he was gone on a business trip (before I had kiddos), the weekend before Halloween, he came home and the tree was up. I got a little bored and decided to go ahead. We were trying to sell the house we were in at the time and the next weekend we had a showing and Justin happened to be at the house and he overheard the realtor say, "maybe they keep it up year-round". Well, actually, Justin wanted to say, "my wife is actually a little Christmas crazy"! It's just too much fun!!!

It's November 25th and we've been to a Christmas tree lighting, seen Santa and his reindeer, which by the way, if you haven't been to the new shopping center in Allen, you've got to go. They have the greatest Santa set-up with real reindeer and a little village for the kids to play in. They let us take 2 of our own pics with Santa and the kids and we didn't have to buy their picture. I don't know about you, but I am not a fan of purchasing the $14.95 blurry picture of Santa and the kids.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for each of our family and friends, our church, my husband, Jackson and Kate, and most of all, God, who is so good to us!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

Halloween Fun!

The cousins
Our ladybug

Brooke dressed up like she's living in the '80s.

Having some pre-Halloween fun at another fall festival

Jackson, the T-Rex

Carving our pumpkins!

Campout

The Set-up
Justin, Jackson, Sydney and Carson

The next morning

The City of Allen had a campout for whoever wanted to do so at a nearby park. They showed a movie, played games, bounced in bounce houses and slept in their tents! Justin and Jackson participated in this with their cousins and Uncle Joe. They had so much fun! I went to "help" set up. I took a lot of blankets and made Justin bundle Jackson up because we had just had a cold front come through and it got down into the 40's at night. Kate and I stayed at home in our warm house with Nanna that weekend. Justin said he had been preparing Jackson all evening that they were eventually going to go to sleep in the tent, hoping it would be easy to do so. When Justin went to zip them into their tent, Jackson wasn't so sure, but once they got into their sleeping bags, he was ready to go to sleep. They had a blast!

6 Months

We've moved out of the carrier and into a "big girl" car seat.

I'm reading ; )

Yes, it's already been 6 months since our little Kate has entered the world! She is learning so much everyday. I had to throw in a picture of her trying some peas. She's quite the messy little eater. She's almost sitting up independently. A boppy helps;) She loves being held (A LOT), loves toys she can put in her mouth, a warm bottle, her mommy and daddy, and especially Jackson. If Jackson is anywhere in sight, she notices and immediatley starts smiling. It doesn't take much, and Jackson will have her laughing hysterically. She gives mommy and daddy "a run for our money" when it comes to getting her to laugh. But, I'm glad she sees her big brother as someone she looks up to and loves so much!