A Visit With Santa -- Without Tears!

At the last minute, I decided to take the kids to the mall to see Santa. Last year we went close to Christmas and the lines were extremely long. It was the Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving and surely everyone would be at home cooking. Well, not everyone. There was a line but it was short and it gave the kids time to watch Santa from a distance and warm up to him. I had Karis take Kyle around the corner a couple times to see Santa and every time he came back saying, "I scared." It wasn't looking good...

The girls were excited to talk to Santa to tell him about the Rapunzel and Ariel dolls they want for Christmas. Makena, our more fearful one, said Santa was nice and that she liked him. 

I love how Santa and Karis have the same looks on their faces!

While the girls talked with Santa, I had a talk with Kyle. He had a worried look on his face and kept telling me, "I scared." I really wanted a photo of him with Santa but how could I just throw him on Santa's lap? Thankfully, Santa gave me a few minutes. I used my last resort -- fruit snacks. Sure enough, Kyle was willing to stand in front of Santa with fruit snacks in hand. 

A perfect picture ... once I crop out the fruit snacks!

Fallen Leaves

These California kids have never seen so many fallen leaves! Daddy gathered all the leaves into one big pile, and the kids enjoyed jumping in and playing in it. 

 

Daddy had to rake, and re-rake...

Karis got a little carried away. Look at their facial expressions!

The pile was almost as tall as the kids. Daddy was pooped so we all helped put the leaves in bags. It was a fun afternoon working and playing together.

And then mommy had to vacuum all the leaves and debris the kids brought into the house!

Thanksgiving Day

I am thankful for each day I get to spend with my family and Thanksgiving day was no different. We spent the day with Aunt Stephanie's family in Combine, TX. I loved watching my kids run around and play in the big backyard. They fed the neighbor's horse, raced each other, made a dirt-leaves-twig salad, played with a box and washers, and took the family's two boxers for a walk. 

There was plenty of food, football games and good conversation. We had smoked and fried turkey. Karis only like the fried one, Makena only liked the smoked one and Kyle knew no different and may have preferred the ham over both. The sweet potato mash was definitely their favorite -- "Mom, is this dessert?" "Mom, can we have this at home??" (the sweet potatoes I make for them are not drenched in brown sugar, butter and marshmallows!). 

 

Kyle declared no more pictures of him!

It was 7 o'clock and the girls were still going strong, but it was time to take our little mister home. He didn't take a nap on this action-filled day. We thought for sure he'd fall asleep before we pulled out of the driveway, but he stayed awake for the hour drive home -- singing "Jingle bong, jingle bong ... mumble mumble ... hey!" to the tune of Jingle Bells. It was a sweet end to our Thanksgiving day and the start of the Christmas season!

Maverick of the Week

Karis was chosen as one of the Mavericks of the Week! We are so proud of her for being recognized for her character.

We celebrated by going to Chik-fil-a (her choice) for dinner and ice cream. 

When I Grow Up

If you ask Makena what she wants to be when she grows up, she'll tell you she wants to be a mommy. She used to love playing with baby dolls and loves babies and taking care of her little brother. She understands that in order to have babies, you have to be married... and that means leaving mommy and daddy. 

She drew a sad picture of herself and told me it is her when she grows up. She explained that when she grows up she has to go bye-bye to have babies. She is so torn between wanting to be a mommy and leaving us. I assured her she wouldn't have to leave us until she was good and ready. My sweet girl!

Halloween Night

My butterfly, sheriff and Hello Kitty!

We met up with some friends and went trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.

The girls were so excited for candy. Unfortunately a lot of people weren't home and they had to go to lots of houses to fill their bag. But they didn't seem to mind!

Kyle joined us for just part of the time because he wanted to go back to our friends' house where Daddy was. He was happy with just a handful of candy. 

Like last year, we let the girls have unlimited candy for two days and then they would be done with the candy. Last year, they were so sick of candy before the end of day two and it worked out great. This year was quite different. They ate so much candy and actually finished most of their bag (thankfully it wasn't that big of a loot). Makena started picking through our leftover candy because she had eaten all the ones she liked from her bag. That wasn't part of the deal! I was surprised at how much more candy they could consume this year compared to last year. But after day two and multiple teeth brushing throughout the day, the candy was gone and we didn't have to deal with it anymore.

Preschool Open House and Fall Festival

Here are a few pictures of our time at the preschool. We had one less class to visit this year. After talking to Makena and Kyle's teachers and seeing some of the kids' work, we went to the fellowship hall to play games and jump in the bounce house. 

Someone gave me a sheriff costume for Kyle, but he cried and cried when I tried to put it on him. The costume ended up being too big but I didn't want to go buy another costume with no guarantee that he would wear it. Luckily I found a sheriff pajama shirt and decided he would wear that instead. He wore the boots but he wanted nothing to do with the hat. I told him that if he wore the hat he would get popcorn at school. He wore the hat, so he ate popcorn all night long.

The Search For The Perfect Pumpkin

Last Saturday, we took the kids to a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. 

There were lots to choose from!

  

I figured paying a premium for our pumpkins would be worth the cute photo I would get of all three kids. I told the kids, if mommy doesn't get a good picture, no one gets a pumpkin! So the girls obliged but Kyle didn't!

But in the end, everyone found their perfect pumpkin!