Tree Farm: Nothing Says Christmas like an Ax and Pine Needles

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving ushered in a weekend of family, friends and decking the halls around our home. On Thanksgiving, while Chris was out running the turkey trot with 14,000 other crazy Buffalonians, the boys and I stayed home eating homemade cinnamon rolls and playing Monopoly while we watched the parade in our pjs. It was the first time we actually watched the parade from beginning til its Santa end. The boys loved it and I admit to tearing up a bit watching Santa on his sleigh. It brought back so many memories of my own excitement as a child.

I love lazy mornings that turn into lazy afternoons until it is time to get ready for dinner and we all have to change from pjs into real clothes at 4 pm in the afternoon. Holiday perfection.

We spent Friday decking the halls. We decorated every inch of the house and dug out the christmas ornaments to ensure we were all ready to deck out the tree on Sunday. Our Elf on the Shelf, Buddy, made an appearance fresh from the North Pole. And I surprised the boys with special christmas blankets on their beds to bring their bedrooms a bit of holiday cheer.

We had friends over for dinner on Friday night and then I was off with my dear friend Danielle to see the almost final installment of Twilight. (Who says vampires and turkey don't go together? Perfect match, particularly after a couple of glasses of wine.)

On Saturday, we were off to hunt down the perfect christmas tree. We had to find a new tree farm this year after our traditional family farm shut down for good last season. (So very sad.) Chris decided that this year we would cut our own tree down. We were off to the very rural country in hunt of a tree farm Chris found on google.

We all loved it. With hot chocolate in hand, we hiked in to the forest of trees, searching through rows and rows of trees to locate *our* tree. Discarding tree after tree, until we finally found our chubby, much too big for our room but we like it anyway, perfect christmas tree. Chris got out the saw and cut that bad boy down, to the accompanying oohs and has of his much impressed male offspring. There is nothing that says holiday cheer like an ax and the smell of pine needles.

On Saturday night, Chris and I left the boys at home to join the rest of my family at the Sabres game. My uncle had secured a box, food and drinks for all of us to enjoy the game together. Hockey games are always fun, over the top of events in hockey crazed Buffalo, but add in watching the game and hoopla with my nana and grandpa, cousins home from college, aunts and uncles, and it becomes something amazing. The Sabres must have known because they played like they were on fire.

On Sunday, we decorated the tree. I always have this hallmark version of what our tree decorating should be, but instead it essentially involves the boys fighting over the ornaments, throwing them on the tree and my rearranging every single ornament the moment their backs are turned. I just can't seem to help myself.

It's Christmas time. My favorite time of the year.

Thankful

Brennan is thankful for "mom, dog, dad toys." I just like that the dog came before the dad in his thankful list.

On Family

Reason one million and one that I adore my family:

My aunt decided to host an impromptu family dinner this upcoming Sunday. She invited all of us over to her house for "italian food and cake." The invite was sent out via group text messaging. This has meant my phone has been going off with text messages from aunts and cousins all afternoon. I love them.

Reason one million and two that I adore my family:

My 80 year old grandfather not only texts, but regularly uses the term LOL in text messages. It's the first time that LOL really did make me laugh out loud.

Reason one million and three that I adore my family:

My 81 year old grandmother buys the happy meal at mcdonalds every time she goes just because she likes to save the toy prizes for my boys. She saves them all up until they can fill a grocery bag. My kids act like it is christmas every. single. time. she brings out one of these grocery bags full of happy meal toys.

And apparently she goes to mcdonalds quite a bit. That's all I'm sayin.

Bad, Bad Word

"Mom, do you know any bad words?" Aidan asks me.

"Sure. I know bad words," I reply.

"You do?"

"Bad words? What kind of bad words?" Brennan jumps into the discussion.

"Baaad words! Words you should never, ever say," Aidan explains to Brennan.

"Oh, you mean like a beaver builds a DAM bad word." Brennan says to Aidan.

"A beaver builds a what?" I ask.

"A beaver builds a DAM, Momma. A DAM."

I laughed for a good ten minutes. A beaver builds a dam, indeed.

Mom, Grab the Camera!

It was a few minutes until we started the bedtime routine and the boys were wrestling each other in the family room. I wasn't really watching them, but was seated nearby at the desk in the living room working on my computer.

Then I hear, "Mom, grab the camera! Mommy, take a picture! Look at us!"

Oh my boys. I couldn't have planned cuter or sweeter pics if I tried.

Halloween 2011: Trick or Treating

As is our custom, we hosted a group of friends and family at our house for pre-trick or treating festivities. Pizza, sugar cookies and beer! (for the adults, of course.) After the kiddies gulped down their obligatory one slice of pizza, they were off outside to run wild in the front yard. They ran in circles, hooting and hollering, until finally, finally, we were off to trick or treat our way around the neighborhood.

I love our neighborhood. We go house to house, the adults chatting it up with the other groups of adults, while we all watch the kids race from house to house in feverish excitement. Griffin made it for about half of the trick or treating, until he turned to me, grabbed my hand and told me he was ready to go home. We said goodbye to our group and headed home.

We had quite a walk back so I asked him if he'd like to hit some houses up on our way home. He shook his head, smiled and said, "No. I have more than enough candy. My bag is so heavy I can barely lift it as it is!"

I offered to carry his bag, but he refused. I think the heavy spider bag bursting with candy was his badge of honor.

The rest of our group made it home an hour or so later. The kids promptly dumped out their goodies and started a candy trade fest in between fighting over who got to answer our door and hand out candy to the trick or treaters.

It was a perfect holiday. Good friends and wonderful kids make for a great tradition.