Christmas Palooza

Christmas Palooza (our created day set aside for traditions and celebrating the start of the advent season) seemed to come upon us so fast this year. We were out of town a couple days for Thanksgiving and then poof there it was. We usually start off the morning with some delicious fresh baked goods...it's a good thing I had pumpkin scone dough in the freezer. 

We spent the rest of the morning selecting the perfect tree

And the afternoon decorating it. Sadly, Jack had a birthday party in the afternoon and with Max sleeping it was just me and my girl.
The past few years we've had a pizza picnic for dinner but who can pass up BOGO at Qdoba?

and so we ended the evening with pj's and for the first time watching 'Elf'

Thanksgiving

Here's a little snip-it of Thanksgiving...

My mom had the kids over the weekend before to do a little thanksgiving crafting.

Over the holiday we spent two nights with Josh's family at this little house in the middle of nowhere. Friends of his parents graciously let us stay. The outside doesn't look like much, but the inside was totally redecorated...one of those where the refridgerator looks like just another cupboard and the dish washer like a kitchen drawer...It was beautiful inside

And because Instafriday was replaced with black friday...

 Ellie and my niece Kennedy were taking turns being the photographer as we enjoyed a little fresh air. I think I had over 100 pictures to delete by the time they were done, but it wasn't for nought. I think they got some keepers.

Instafriday

This week Ellie found old "footie" pjs of Jacks and the hat I pulled out for Max to wear this winter. This girl couldn't be happier with her brothers' stuff.

riding shoulders to the Rockford football playoffs

Oh sweet face, he looks so much like Jack did

Loving leaves!

Family Love

Where did the time go? Look how big they are! First grade already! I'm living out of my car back and forth to school so much. 

Life seemed so simple with the kids not in school. I could hang out at the house all day crafting, playing, cooking, cleaning, my choice. I loved those days and sometimes wish myself back there. There are certainly things I don't like about school age, but the thing I love the most is watching them learn...everything. It is amazing how much they soak up daily. More often I find myself saying "I never learned that in school." Recently we've found ourselves during our morning prayer (in the sunroom or in the car before school) praising and thanking God for our mind and our brains that we learn so much and use our knowlege to serve him and bless others.

parent teacher conferences this week...Jack's teacher had them all write a little note. He specifically asked if he could write to all of us instead of just parents. It's so sweet, I think this is one we'll keeping around for a while :)

Deal of the Day

I truly enjoy after Holiday shopping and all the great deals and discounts. 

Halloween 2012...I couldn't resist. For $5 my Max will be Max!

Vader, a cat and a cowboy

Of course, lots of fun 'trick or treating' on Monday.

Eleanor brought along one of her friends from school this year.

This girl loves her brother soooo much! If I had a nickel for everytime I said "leave your brother alone" or "Ellie, put him down"... She just can't get enough of him and is always trying to grap and wrestle or pull him on top of her...you name it! It really is sweet how she loves him. I love it, but sometimes it drives me crazy :)

ArtPrize

Somehow I totally missed posting about ArtPrize.

For those who don't live in Grand Rapids and are unaware of this super cool, take over the city art competition, you should check it out... 

ArtPrize is a completely open competition to any artist in the world who can find space and open to anyone who wants to create a venue. The winner is chosen by popular vote. It completely takes over the downtown area for over two weeks and it seems like during that period I hardly had a conversation that didn't talk about art in some way. 

Eleanor's favorite was 'Glitter Girl.'  Made from thousands of multicolored sequence pinned to a board

This guy painted a canvas live every night and kept adding them throughout the week.

Behind Ellie is a field of flowers that was made from plastic water bottles painted with acrylic paints.

There were tons of really cool pieces this year. I wish I taken more photos. 

'Grizzlies on the Ford'

One of the top ten finishers and a kid's favorite was these giant grizzly bears carved only with a chain saw. There were about 10 of them all in around a the fountain at the Ford Museum.

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