Pledge of Allegiance

This happens every time he sees a flag.




Love him.  ♥

We're Getting There

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We celebrated ours at the new house.  Besides being in a house with nothing on the walls, hanging out on a couch with a missing pillow, and seeing bags and laundry baskets of home decor sitting around, it was very nice.  We moved all of the kitchen stuff first, so aside from our turkey platter which was still packed up, we had everything we needed.



We almost have everything moved over from the old house.  All that's left is part of the garage and then, of course, a little bit of cleaning to final out.  Unfortunately, the new garage is the same small size, so Jason wants to build some shelves so everything fits better.  We will have it all finished up this weekend and then our final inspection is on Tuesday.  (Thank goodness!!)

At our new place it has been interesting and a little stressful trying to put together our home and get Christmas decorations up at the same time.  It's getting better now, but there were a few days there that both Jason and I had the "bah humbugs."



Brennan on the other hand has just rolled with all the changes.  He had a little trouble on the first night falling asleep in his new room, but from then it's been great.  He's already showed he can make just as much of a crafty mess in this house as he did in the last one. : )



So I'm off to go find places for more of our stuff.  Have a great day!

Friday Photos

It's been awhile since I've done a random post, so I thought I'd share some random photos from our week.  Since I always have tons of random this and that, it might even become a regular thing. : )

Taking some snow pictures. (I really need to check to see what's on his camera.)



Pumpkin Spice Latte



Brennan thought his hot chocolate needed some attention, too. :)



A rocket ship.



Some of Brennan's treasures.



Little Globes



Singing me a song.



A Smiley Balloon



My jar of hearts



Mmm....Doughnuts.



My favorite boys (and dog.)



Have a great weekend!

p.s. Monday is moving day!  Yay!  Which also means I may be MIA for awhile.  I'll be back as soon as I can.

A Growing Girl

Chloe when we brought her home.



And here she is now.



: )

Checking In

We have big news around our casa!  Big as in we are moving to a bigger casa!  We will be gaining 300 square feet, an extra bedroom, and a dining room.  Yay!  The backyard is also much nicer, larger and in a square shape instead of an "L."  The landscaping isn't great, but then neither was the landscaping at this house, but we quickly remedied that.  Remember our Yard of the Month award? : )

We don't get the keys until the 21st, and we have big goals of getting all moved in before Thanksgiving.  Not impossible, but we'll have to see how many helpers with trucks we can round up.

Of course, there will be some things we miss about this house.  We really like the neighbors that moved in next door, and their little miniature schnauzer too.  He and Chloe are good buddies.

And then there are the amazing sunsets we can see from the backyard.



On the bright, or should I say less sunny side, our new house is oriented so that the patio will be shaded in the afternoon and evening.  It will be nice to hang out back there without feeling like we are sitting on the face of the sun.

Did I mention we will have an actual dining room?  Yep, I am excited about that.  It will be so nice to not have carpet under our dining room table!  It will be great to have a living room that's not trying to be a living room/dining room/office/playroom!

So, I have lots to organize and purge in the next week.  I'm sure our garbage can will be full and I will have a couple loads to take to the thrift store.  I'll take pictures as soon as I can.

Have a great day!

A Thankful Tree

This year Brennan is able to comprehend what being thankful means, more than just using good manners and saying "thank you," when someone gives him something or does something for him.


We have also been reading this book (everyday) this month.

No pilgrims or turkeys included, it covers the basic spirit of Thanksgiving; being thankful for the people you love and the things that make you happy.

In comes the Thankful Tree.

Every day we write down at least one thing we are thankful for and hang it on the tree.  It has been the greatest thing!  One of the first things Brennan asks every morning is when we can put more leaves on the tree.

And anything goes, whenever he thinks of something that makes him feel thankful, we put it one the tree.

Last night he was spinning circles in the living room, and wanted to put circles on the tree.  Circles make him happy, so on the tree the went.

I think it will be neat to save the leaves from year to year, and see how many things change and how many stay the same.

We have a lot to be thankful for.

p.s.  I've been changing up the blog, so it's been looking a little crazy the last couple days.  Pardon my mess, I'll be finished soon. : )

Our Thanksgiving Mantel

I was going to preface my mantel pictures, by saying that our mantel this year is pretty much the same as it was last year and then link to that post...but then I went back and checked, and apparently I was a slacker and didn't do a post about our Thanksgiving mantel last year.  Oops!

While I was checking on that, I also noticed that I jumped the gun and started blogging about Christmas on November 4th.  Aren't you proud of me, we're a third through the month and nary a word about it, even though I have been working on some Christmas craftiness!  (That just means look out come December, haha.)

So, back to our Thanksgiving mantel.

Ta da, here it is!

I made the burlap thankful banner last year with some stuff I had hanging around.  The pilgrim people are the first Thanksgiving decorations we owned!  Jason bought them for me, well, let's just say, a lot of years ago.  I had to give both of them a makeover, Mr. Pilgrim was losing his head, and the Mrs. was showing her age.  A little glue, paint, and sealer, and they are both strong and youthful again.  (If only it worked that way for real, right?)

And here is the bottom.

Some little homemade fabric pumpkins.

Come back next tomorrow to see the rest of our Thanksgiving goodies.

Hello Snow!

Well, the snow decided not to wait a couple weeks to show itself like I had hoped.  It had to go on and intrude into Autumn's loveliness.  Winter...pfft...such an attention hog!  Stick to your own season why don't you!


Regardless of how I feel about the snow crashing my fall lovin' party, I have to admit it is beautiful.

But...does this tree look like it was ready for Winter weather?

Nope, not a bit.  We didn't have any damage at our house, but there were several trees around base that had broken limbs.

Of course, Brennan couldn't wait to get out in it.


Daddy showed him how to make snow balls.


He's so proud of himself.  (Just keep those things away from me, ok?)


Since the little man is getting into snow playing, I guess it's about time for the mama to update her Winter gear.

In case you were wondering, rain boots don't keep your feet very warm.

At first Chloe was not a big fan of the snow.

I just know she was thinking, "Eww!"

Jason made her some snow-free tracks.

Which we later called the Doggie Expressway because of the way she was zipping around.

After awhile she decided to channel her inner sled dog, or maybe it was snowshoe rabbit, ha. : )


One happy boy.


"No thanks, Mommy doesn't want any snow."


Time to get toasty.

Ahhh, my favorite part.

Looks like it's time to stock up on hot chocolate! : )

We Have A Super Hero Living at Our House

He's so fast he's a blur.


He wears a super cool magic bracelet, and he knows how to use it.

Most recently he used it to turn Chloe into a bird, and Daddy into an armadillo.  Of course, it only works with the magic words, "Presto, presto, turn Daddy into an armadillo."  Don't worry, Daddy wasn't stuck that way. The next magic spell was, "Presto, presto, turn Daddy into a real boy."  : )  (I think Chloe still might be a bird. Sometimes she does sound like a parrot.  Hmm.)

He has super shades that he can use to see to China, and he can fly.


Fly, little man, fly.

I Think I Have Found the Perfect Time to Blog...

It's 4:30 in the morning, and I am awake and blogging.  What?!  It's so nice and quiet.  Nobody is running, yelling, barking, needing to pee, fighting, banging Tonka trucks into my chair, wanting drinks or snacks, scaling cabinets, slamming doors, or wanting to sit in my lap.  Ahhhh...

Really, I am sure I am going to pay for this later today.  Hopefully, my insomnia from the last couple of nights doesn't continue, but while it's here I might as well blog, right?

I think I will break out a numerical list and blog about lots of things.  Wow!  I know, fancy, right? ha : )

1.  A Little Bit o' Happiness: Last Minute Lavender

Our lavender bush decided to send out a few last flowers before winter.  They don't smell as strong as the Springtime flowers, but they're still just as pretty.

2.  Soccer is Over.

I'm glad.  As it turns out, being a "soccer mom" is not my most favorite thing in the world.  I think Brennan got something out of it, though, so I guess we'll have to do it again next year.  

3. I forgot to tell you, I had a good birthday.

Jason took the day off, which was a great present all by itself.  To top off the greatness, I even got an ice cream cake.  Yum!

4.   The ducks and geese were still at the farm.


A few more farm pictures.

John Deere Brennan

I wish you could have heard his tractor noises, too. : )

Checking out the chickens.


The John Boy goat.

My Grandma had a much larger version of this kind of goat.  They all answer to John Boy.

Petting the Horses


The farmhouse.

Can I move in now?

6.  Hmmm...My OCD self really wanted to finish this list on an even number, but I can't think of a 6, so just pretend I did. : )

 Happy Friday!!
(Hopefully mine will include a nap.  I'm sure I will need it!)