Christmas Tree Search

The annual hunt for the best tree was today.  We went to our usual favorite farm Lake Forest Gardens to take a tractor ride & begin our search.  The competition for trees was fierce as they had many beautiful Fur & Spruce trees, but when Jessie & Daddy saw this lovely Canadia Fir, that was it.  Michael set to work cutting our tree down.  He was wise this year & brought his own saw as the loner saws the farm provides tend to be dull.  We had previously attended church to begin the Advent season & then went to our favorite brunch place prior to our tree search.  Although, a big & somewhat tiring job.  I'm happy to say the tree is up & decorated.  Thanks to Michael for always prioritizing family time & for doing all the heavy lifting today.  This has become one of my favorite family traditions as I love the beauty of the tree farm & doing this together as a family.  I may be 32 weeks preggo & admittedly very tired, but I didn't let it stop me :)

It begins....

And so here I am a few days after Thanksgiving, almost 8 months preggo & actually having time to add to the old blog.  My favorite time of year is upon us, Christmas!!  The girls have many beautiful dresses hanging in their closets, but I always like to get them something matching or coordinating to visit Santa.  We chose red sparkle dresses this year & they girls both look darling in them.  I wish Jessica would have let me style her hair a bit more for these, but it was just a few quick shots anyway, it kind of captures her where she's at right now in terms of trying to do everything herself, but really still needing some guidance.  Can you tell, Jessica is a ham?  She loves to show her 2 missing front teeth :)  Ella, on the other hand, poses so nice & always wants to look her best.  They are so different some times.  This year is a huge year for Christmas at our new house, Michael was busy being Clark yesterday & spent almost all day doing some exterior illumination, while the girls & I decorated the inside.  It's both fun & frustrating to find new locations for our well-loved Christmas decorations.  The season is upon us & I've already put up 4 artificial trees, the baby even has a small one this year, the girls insisted!  We go get our big live tree at the farm tomorrow, so we are keeping it low key today & finishing up some decorating/cleaning.  Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving break & the start of the Christmas season!

School pictures 2016

School pictures 2016 were a success with each girl picking out their dress & accessories.  The girls were very excited & told me they gave "pretty smiles" at school for their pictures.  I think they did great.  Another year for the record books :)

 Kindergarten 2016--5 & 1/2 years old

1st grade 2016--6 & 1/2 years old

Somewhere over the rainbow.....

So this was not the original costume that Ella chose, but I'm so glad I decided that her other one just didn't fit right.   I think Dorothy is a very fitting costume for her this year.  With her love of puppies & all things happy this is one especially for our Ella.  She looks like a little doll & just loves to carry Toto around in his basket.  So excited to see this little one trick or treat this year!  You're only 5 once, you might as well enjoy it :)

Pumpkin Patch 2016

Well, my favorite time of year has arrived & this weekend we kicked off October with our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  We took the much anticipated hayride out to the somewhat muddy, but always pretty patch.  The girls had a blast picking out the two biggest pumpkins in the patch they could find & they even picked a little white pumpkin for baby girl #3, which made them happy.  This years corn maze was even more challenging than years past, but the girls are fearless so they had no trouble completing it, even if it did take a little more time than normal.  Daddy is always such a good sport and typically ends up getting muddy as he is the designated pumpkin carrier from the field.  For the record, Jessica's pumpkin weighed in at 46 pounds & Ella's pumpkin was a close 2nd at 37 pounds.  We love this tradition in our family & are looking forward to seeing our 3rd little pumpkin playing in the patch next year.  Happy October to my blog readers :)

Me & our littlest pumpkin...24 weeks in this pic