Spirit Week

Since the kids got a new principal at their school two yeas ago, slowly but surely many of the fun things the kids were able to do at their school, like PJ day and class parties, have been taken away. This principal is all about academics and less fun. Thank goodness they still get to participate in Spirit Week. The kids looked forward to the fun themes each day, their favorites being Mismatch Day and Favorite Team Day.
Yikes! The kids really came up with some great outfits that TOTALLY don't go together.

Xander even made sure his hair didn't match...one side up, one side down.

The team of our house is definitely the 49ers, especially during the fall and winter months, but of course Noah had to give a shout out to Steve Smith of the Panthers.

O, Christmas Tree

At the beginning of December we headed out to get our Christmas tree. Unfortunately Xander decided to stay home but Savannah and Noah did a great job picking out a nice, full tree.

What cute little Christmas trees; not as green as we were looking for, however.

Noah always wants to help!

The tree is up, now it's time to decorate!

This year was Noah's turn to put the moose angel on the top of the tree.

Being up so high made Noah a little nervous but he sure has a great smile.

Our beautiful Christmas tree!

Jingle Arrives!

Early in December our freaky little elf on the shelf, Jingle, showed up for another year of spying on the kids so he can let Santa know how they're behaving. This year, however, to announce his arrival he set up a fun, yummy breakfast for the kids to enjoy. Powdered donuts, cocoa with elf snowballs (marshmallows), and even some elf kisses were all part of the menu. The kids were so happy to see Jingle once again, especially since his arrival meant Christmas was right around the corner.

We really should have taken some pictures of Jingle's antics this year because, as Savannah put it, he really came up with some funny situations. One day he was found roasting a marshmallow over our candle, another morning he was tied up as a prisoner of a bunch of Star Wars legos, and yet another morning he had made a snow angel in the flour he poured all over my kitchen counter. Maybe Jingle spent some time looking at Pinterest!

Candy Packages

For Xander's pack meeting in November the scouts collected candy to send overseas to our soldiers. They also made Christmas cards to include in the Christmas packages.

Savannah and Noah also got in on the fun!

Look at all that candy! I'd say this Operation Candy was a success!

Savannah's Soccer Season

We had so much fun watching Savannah play soccer this fall with her team, Northern Elite. She has a really great coach that has helped Savannah develop into quite the little soccer player. She scored several goals throughout the season and earned quite a few soccer patches from her coach for best performance at practice, most improved player for the month of August, and player of the game. Savannah had 3 tournaments throughout the fall and the last one was up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We had an early morning start and boy, was it cold!

In between games there's a lot of waiting...A LOT!  So we try to find ways to occupy our time.  David can catch a few zzz's anywhere!

The boys love watching movies or playing their DS...

and Noah loves to pretend he's a little monkey from time to time.

Savannah's team did okay in the tournament, nothing spectacular, but it's always a pleasure to watch her play and cheer on her team.

As for the regular season, would we place second or third in the league? It all came down to a makeup game. The first game of the season had been rained out so the teams made up the game on a Friday night in November. It was SOOOO cold! The game remained scoreless for the first half and most of the second. Then, with about 3 minutes to go in the game, one of our girls scored and we ended up with the win and second place overall!
The girls team picture after their victory!

The team celebrated the end of the outdoor season with a pizza party.

Noah's favorite part of the party were these amazing cupcakes with blue frosting.

Mom, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled about them and their staining abilities!

Thanksgiving

Yes, I know, Thanksgiving was over 4 months ago but I am in catch up mode! Once again we spent Thanksgiving at home, just our little family. Jammies were the standard of the day as well as lots of munchies, the occasional nap, reading, and lots and lots of football!
David always prepares our turkey and this year it was a huge success!

Throughout the day we munch and munch and munch!

So grateful for a day of football.

After all our snacking during the day it's amazing that we have any room left in our bellies for more food but somehow we manage it. It's hard to resist turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, martinellis, and yummy sweet potato crisp.

Even the cats enjoyed their Thanksgiving turkey!

Savannah Earns ABBY

We were so proud of Savannah for earning ABBY Student of the Month for her class for October.

Along with her certificate she received a free kids meal at Joe's Crab Shack so David and I took her there for a celebratory dinner.