Holiday Prep...

Although these pictures are coming a couple weeks after the fact, we definitely did not slack on our Christmas tree setup this year. Just like always, the first week in November Christmas starts at our house. Because we were both terribly sick, however, it took about two days to just get the boxes out of the garage then another day to open them. So glad we are over that.

When we were first married we bought a six-foot, $20 tree at a Family Dollar store. That was our family tree for five Christmases until last year when we finally got a 'grown-up' tree. So this Christmas, we deeded our six-footer to the kids which will be home to all their ornaments over the years. They banked three ornaments each last year from us and a couple friends so the tree is definitely off to a good start.

You can see how engaged they were in the setup process... Let's hope they become more helpful in the future. :)


Wondering what Zachary is sitting in? We have a two-part papasan chair and the kids play in the top which is why it's not pictured but often times Zachary likes to hang out in the base of the chair. That day he looked like a hamster in a wheel...


For the kids' ornaments this year, we are just going to make them. Clark has some pretty cool homemade ornaments from when he was young so now we're just brainstorming to come up with a good ornament activity we all can do come Christmas Eve.

We let them choose their stockings before we put them up. That probably won't be the best activity in future years because of potential fighting so the stocking they chose is the one they will have forever. Caleb chose the reindeer, Leah the polar bear, and Zachary the Santa. I'm sure there is no significance to their choices but it was interesting nonetheless.


Ok, enough about Christmas and the fact that we've watched six Christmas movies so far and that I've practically memorized Justin Bieber's Christmas album. Enough about that.

We recently visited a local jump house for an activity one afternoon. A friend recommended it from a website and it looked so fun that we went the next day. The main appeal of the place was that it had a toddler ONLY area for kids three and under with toys and bounce houses that were suited to fit them. I've been struggling to find activities outside the home that are good for the kids' age. Since two of them still crawl and they still stick everything in their mouths, I can't seem to find things to do. Even going to the park is stressful because Zachary is running far and fast while the other two are eating the wood chips. So lately it's been either playing in the backyard or running errands. So this was the perfect activity to break up the monotony. It was $3 per baby, which is a steal in my opinion, for two hours of jump time. There was a kitchen, a log cabin, corr poppers, rocking dog, and of course two large bounce houses.


Who wants to play in bounce houses when there is one of these thingamajigs?


Caleb is our smarty pants and typically passes on all the fun stuff to do more challenging activities. I had to force him in the bounce house because he wouldn't tear himself away from this toy and the kitchen.

Zachary was all about the bounce house. He just loved running around and falling without getting hurt. The little entry slides were quite the hit as well...




At one point all three were in there with me and we were having a blast! I couldn't wait to get Clark there because this is right up his alley. We did all end up going a couple weeks later and like I anticipated, Clark loved it and went home to measure our living room to see if we could get one to fit. :) We were exhausted and the kids were totally zoning out on the way home. I think we all slept pretty well that night.

We are currently preparing for a Thanksgiving trip...in the car...26 hours...with three one year olds... This should get interesting. So I'm signing off until we get back in December! I'm sure I'll have lots of crazy stories to share.

Happy Early Thanksgiving!