christmas legos

up with the tree

per tradition, daddy hauls the tree (and the numerous christmas bins) up the stairs and the kids and i decorate. they hung in a lot longer this year! i actually think they helped until the tree was almost done instead of losing interest once they get 'their' ornaments on the tree and moving on to the other christmas goodies. it might have helped that i let them use the "tall" ladder this year. love.

church pictures

i was walking down the hall after picking up maddux at church and saw these cuties on the wall (matt usually does the big kids pick up on sundays). love.

parent selfie

here is my "oh yeah, we didn't take a picture together" shot before taking them off to the airport. i fixed my hair and wore make-up everyday. but did i take a picture? no. at least we have one! love.

playing tourist at the pro football hall of fame

we have talked about going every time big pop has gotten to visit, but today we made good on it! this too has become a "black friday" tradition.

"that is NOT my name!"

notice that madelyn's hand isn't all that much smaller...

he's not "big pop" for nothing!

legs as large as a child...

old folks selfie

county parks mascot

madelyn being crafty

two peas in a pod. i think we could have left them both here all day.

fun day playing tourist and the kids were happy with their "kid day" goodie bags. we even got some browns gear this year! love.

signing "i love you"

manning's first time signing "i love you" - he was SO proud of himself! love.

christmas tree festival

after our meal, we went out to walk it off at my favorite family tradition - the christmas tree festival! the trees are decorated and donated as a fundraiser for the children's hospital. i take pictures of the kids next to their favorite trees (every tree was mason's "favorite"). none of them will let me take anything but an individual picture. we have four pictures of almost every tree... sigh. here is a selection of some of the best pictures:

this 'tree' was made from jeans and belts. isn't it cool?

sock monkeys for nana

this one was pretty cool - a bunch of pvc pipes cut down and arranged in a tree shape. i was thinking it would be a cool thing for matt to make our church hallway. the littles would love pulling out the items.

and back home to celebrate the birthday boy with frozen pumpkin pie - his favorite!

so much to be thankful for today! love.