The downside of being so busy is that I'm weeks behind in uploading photos and posting to the blog. The upside of being so busy is that there aren't a lot of photos to go through. Post-holidays have been rough - the only person to escape a barrage of illnesses has been Dan (knock on wood). At one point, both kids and I were on antibiotics, and even the dog was medicated for his allergies. I heard our asthmatic cat wheezing yesterday. Replacing the air filter is going on my to do list this week.
Before the plague(s) hit though, we escaped for Thanksgiving to visit Dan's family. I've
mentioned in the past that Dan's mom is a wonderful cook and that still holds true. Given how many people come to her house for Thanksgiving dinner, everyone agrees! I was on sous chef duties again, so I didn't take too many photos, but I did manage to get a few of the youngest members of the family. Wesley and Connor are four months apart. I see lots of fun-filled adventures between these two in the future.
The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing. Well, as much as one can relax while chasing a toddler. He even entertained his Great Grandpa Harry during the OSU game.
Evan lent his skills to helping Poppy pick out a Christmas tree.
When we got back home I finished decorating our house for Christmas. Heaven help me, we now have two Christmas trees to decorate. I barely liked decorating one, how did this happen? Sadly our old tree was too small in the new living room, so it was moved to the basement and became the "kids' tree," displaying Evan's handmade ornaments and the ones we've acquired with the kids' names on them or that are otherwise kid-centric (e.g. Elmo playing a drum in a Santa hat, 'cause why not?). So I bought a new tree for the main floor, and with the help of my friend Amy "themed" the tree in green and gold and travel ornaments. I have to admit, I kinda' love it and I actually look forward to putting it up next year thanks to my post-holiday ornament markdown purchases. I thought I'd try my hand at taking some tree photos, aiming to get the starburst lights. Yay for getting my camera out for something besides snapshots of the kids!
But I have plenty of those too...
From Evan's participation in the children's advent service at church.
To Connor "helping" me decorate.
And the boys playing in their Christmas pjs.
More soon!
That kid just can't get enough of Star Wars and light sabers.
Connor, like most toddlers, enjoyed the gift wrap the most, but that shirt is pretty darn cute too.
And Dan really enjoyed 
Not sure what he thought was in there...
Happy boy, happy grandparents.
Connor got a little more into it this year too.
I have so many pictures of my smiling boy looking at the camera. Six is a magical age.
He even posed with me for a couple photos. <3
Dan takes Evan shopping and lets him pick out a couple gifts. This mug, which he picked for me, just became my new favorite.
Connor, on the other hand, well....
He was diagnosed with the flu two days later, so I'm surprised he was as happy as he was. He did finally come through with a little Merry Christmas wave to the camera. What a great day!
As luck would have it, his bestie dressed up as Jango Fett, which made for some fun photos of the two of them.
[Phone shot, courtesy of Jango's mom]
A bunch of neighbor kids and some friends from summer camp gathered to trick-or-treat together (with parents). What a fun crew!
[Photo note: I had to do some photoshopping on this one. Not my best job, but I'm amazed that of all these kids, only one wasn't looking. I need to move my watermark so it's not covering the eagle's face - which, by the way, isn't that the coolest costume?]
A couple of weeks later, Evan's first grade class put on a "Pumpkin Play" for parents.
Video courtesy of another mom who went to the previous day's performance.
