All that hard work paid off

By Monday, the rink was finally frozen and ready to enjoy!!

A common sight around our house....

the trimmings, the trappings...

As a kid, I remember how exciting it was when my mom would pull out all the bins of Christmas decorations and we would reminisce about when we got the items in the bins, where we put them and any memories that each item held for us. My kids seem to feel the same way and it brings a smile to my face to see the same excitement in their eyes. 

Sadie and Blake discussing the nativity scene

Blake pretending to go fishing with the stick that goes in my tree-waterer 

(If you don't have one, you have GOT to get one...see my previous post.)

Checking out the kids' nativity

Leave it to Pops to let the boys stand in the window and jump over the chair!

Of course, it wouldn't be time to decorate the tree without the traditional bottled Cokes

And while everyone was eating dinner, I was putting the lights on the tree (a tedious process that I have a love/hate relationship with)

Blake examining his 'hand ornament' from when he was just a few days old

Blake found his fire engine ornament--he had been asking about this one all day and I couldn't believe he remembered it!!

Wyatt checking out his 'First Christmas' ornament

Pops, Nani and Aunt Mary Jo

Blake cleaning up

A common expression on my face when kids are hanging ornaments on the tree....I am happy to report that only one broke this year!

And every year we get the kids new Christmas Pajamas that we give them when we decorate the tree.... I think they liked them!!

Family Photos

We recently had our family pictures taken by a friend in our small group and I wanted to post just a few of my favs.

My favorite of the kids---three genuine smiles all at the same time!

And in the interest of keeping it real...

Black Friday

With shopping out of the way, we had the entire day on Friday to relax and enjoy! Well, I take that back. We had to carefully watch the rink all the day while it was filling with water (it took two hoses over 15 hrs), and Matt and my Dad made a few last minute adjustments. But they ended up getting it done in perfect timing, as the temps quickly dropped and the rink was skate-able within a few days.

But to say there were a few tense moments would be an understatement! Let's just say a hair dryer, the close watch of a neighbor and extra plywood were all utilized.

After Wyatt's hockey practice, we headed up to Cambridge to my aunt and uncle's tree farm to get our tree. And thank goodness it snowed a bit, because that always makes it feel more like Christmas time!

The first true cold day of the year--and we were in a bit of shock!

Blake found a warm spot, sheltered from the wind, in between these trees while my parents and Mary Jo and Matt all cut down trees.

TIMBER!

My Dad dragging out my parents tree on the left and Matt and Wy with ours

Blake was content to watch them do the work!

Waiting for the hay ride to come pick us up out in the field....it was quite cold, so we did some crazy dances to keep us warm!!

My kids' favorite part--picking out their ornaments that my aunt Adie lets them get each year. This was always one of my favorite things to do and I love that my kids look forward to it as much as I did.

Our family with my Aunt Adie--notice Wyatt and Sadie both holding two ornaments..making that final decision is always a tough one!

We had to have one person sit on the floor and Sadie was excited to have her turn on the way home!

I took this pic on my phone--not too often you see a car with three trees on top!

It was an exhausting day--some eyes stayed open to watch the Christmas movie we had brought along. others caved to the exhaustion and others had to use their arms to prop up their heads!

Once we got home (this was around 6:30pm), some relaxing was in order and the tree would have to wait to be decorated until Saturday. Poor Wyatt was beat from hockey practice, little sleep (he was just too excited to sleep the night before) and walking out in the fields.

A few pics from Blake's perspective

We had an awesome day--and we still had two more days to the weekend!!