Christmas Bucket List Update

Happy last day of November!  I've been MIA on the blog this week because I'm basically just trying to keep my head above water.  I had 8 photo shoots last weekend that I've been editing like crazy, school is back in session with lots of work to get done before Christmas break, and Andy's new Christmas work schedule is in full swing (he's been very late every night this week), so we've just been surviving at the Smithson household this week.  Anyways, back to the bucket list update.  It's not even December yet and we've managed to complete most of the list already!  We'll knock more things off this weekend, so we're already thoroughly enjoying our Christmas this year!  The boys are very into it this year and are super excited for the big day!

• Go to a Christmas light exhibit 
• Drive around and look at lights
• Host a small Christmas party
• Visit Santa
• Date night with Andy {even if it's an at home date night}
• Special family ornament(s)
• Individual dates with all 3 boys
• Write a letter to Santa
• Make holiday desserts
• Make holiday crafts
• Christmas Eve PJs for the boys
• Read the biblical Christmas story 
• Do something fun & outside downtown 
• Take Christmas pictures of the boys
• Give a gift to the less fortunate 
• Make hot chocolate and drink it by the tree 

Friday Favorites {11/24/17}

Happy Black Friday!  I'm not a Black Friday shopper, so I'm not in the market for any deals today.  Pretty much all of my shopping is done online, and unfortunately, Amazon isn't running any Black Friday deals on any items on my shopping list.  We had a very busy week this week, so I thought I'd break down my favorites by the day.  Here's a look back at my favorites for the week!

Friday:

Friday afternoon I brought home one of our school science teacher's classroom pets.  We've been debating getting the boys a leopard gecko for Christmas, so he graciously offered us Caroline for Thanksgiving break to give it a test drive.  She's 4 years old, so she's pretty mellow and used to kids from school.  She's been a breeze, and the boys love her.  I was a bit worried about feeding her live food, but I bought her some mealworms, and it was easy.  Abel has been the most hesitant with her, and Clark has been the sweetest!  Santa may bring down a couple of geckos from the North Pole for Christmas!

Friday was his last night as a 6 year old!  Growing babies makes my heart hurt!

Saturday:

 Saturday was Cooper's 7th birthday, so we had a big day!  We had breakfast at Susan's, went to the Aquarium, went hiking, and had dinner at Mr. T's.  We bought him an electric scooter, and I was worried it was going to be too hard for him, but he caught on right away!  He loved it!  We got him some art supplies too, so those have kept him busy all week.  We sure do love that big 7 year old!

 Sunday:

Sunday we had Cooper's party at McDonald's.  He and his cousins had a great time playing, and he got some great gifts.  He got a pirate Lego set that he, Clark, and Andy put together Sunday night.  The boys have played with that all week!  Legos are like a foreign language for me, so I'm thankful Andy can handle those!

Monday:

Monday afternoon we got our Christmas tree!  For the last several years we've bought real trees, and we've always had success at Walmart.  This was a new spot for our tree because we've got some different furniture pieces in our living room, but it's growing on me.  You can't really tell from this picture, but about 95% of our ornaments are personalized or homemade.  Every year since Andy and I met, I've gotten us personalized ornaments.  The boys have gotten one every year of their lives too, so we've got a lot!  We're also starting to rack up on the homemade ornaments now that the boys are in school, and I love those!

Monday night we headed up to Rock City with my parents to see the lights.  We had a membership this year, and it ran out on Monday, so we got our trip in early for the season.  I absolutely love the lights, and so do the boys.  It wasn't too miserably cold that night, so we had a good time.  

Tuesday:

Tuesday night we went to see the movie The Star.  All five of us went, and since Abel likes movies at home, we thought he may like to see one in the theater.  Well, the movie was packed and he was restless, so he and I left about 15 minutes into it.  Andy and the boys loved it, so I'm going to go back with them sometime soon.  Andy said it was a great story for kids, and it was biblically correct, so I'm looking forward to watching it without interruptions!  While the big boys finished the movie, Abe and I strolled around Petco to do some Christmas research.  

Wednesday:

Wednesday night we didn't have church due to Thanksgiving, so I took the boys to see Santa.  We went to the Bass Pro Shop because they offered free pictures, but let me tell you, their system for checking in and waiting in line was a hot mess.  I was frustrated at one point that we just left.  I couldn't get any answers on what was happening, and the boys were melting down, so we just took off.  As soon as we got loaded up though we got a text saying Santa was ready for us, so we went back in.  Well, once we finally got to Santa, Abel was less than impressed, and cried frantically when Santa held him.  Poor Clark was trying his best to hold the picture together!  Let me tell you though, I absolutely love how the picture turned out!

Thursday:

I only took 2 pictures on Thanksgiving, but we had a great day!  I got up early and hit up the Y before the boys woke up.  I did my own 5K at the Y (on the treadmill), so I didn't feel too terrible about all the food I ate yesterday.  We spent lunch with Andy's family and dinner with mine, so we had a full, busy day!

We didn't get a family picture, but I sure am thankful for these turkeys!

Alright, I hope everyone enjoys the rest of your holiday weekend!  I'm off to Blue Ridge in a little bit for some pictures, and then Andy and I have a date night tonight!  Happy Friday!

What's Up Wednesday

1.  What we're eating this week:

This is our meal plan for the week, if you want to call it that.  Basically, all the cooking I'm doing is for Thanksgiving.  I cooked Monday and I plan on cooking breakfast food tonight.  For Thanksgiving, I'm in charge of mashed potatoes and cookies for both sides, plus deviled eggs and crescent rolls for my family's side.  I'm also making my peanut butter, chocolate chip, Oreo cheesecake too because I want to.  We're running low on food, so I need to order groceries, too!  I'm trying Food City's curbside pickup today, but I still prefer Walmart's.  It was nice though because I could pickup my order today, and Walmart you have to do the next day from when you order.

2.  What I'm reminiscing about:

I'm reminiscing about our holiday season last year!  Last year we were in a very different stage of life - we practically did everything with our friends.  We had a Friendsgiving, we were constantly on the go doing something all the time with friends, and it hasn't been that way this year... it's kind of nice.  Don't get me wrong, we still have friends that we do stuff with, but we're not overwhelmed with it this year like we were last year.  We've focused much more on our family of 5 and our immediate family, and it's been refreshing.  Andy and I have a few close friendships that we work very hard to maintain, but the ones I want to work hard on come very naturally, so it's been a breath of fresh air this year.  Sorry to get off on a tangent, but we've just started our holiday season off completely differently than we did last year, and it's been nice.  I've been reflecting on that a lot this week.

Last year at Rock City

3.  What I'm loving:

I'm loving that my house is decorated for Christmas!  We got our tree Monday (we use a real tree), and I put everything up once it was up.  I don't have a ton of Christmas decorations (just enough to decorate the main living areas of our house), so it didn't take me too long.

4.  What we've been up to:

We've been recovering from Cooper's birthday weekend, and are getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!  We've partied, decorated, and knocked a few things off of our Christmas bucket list.  We've been to Rock City, a movie, and we're planning on seeing Santa tonight.  I've also been planning away on what the boys are going to get for Christmas!  I really like to be done with shopping early, and with the exception of one gift (it's living), I think I can be done in the next week or so!  We've also been hitting up the Y a lot this week since we're out of school!

5.  What I'm dreading:

I'm very thankful for Andy's job, but I always dread the busy Christmas season a little.  He'll work 6 days a week starting next week until Christmas, with lots of late nights, so that's always a bit exhausting for everyone (especially him).  The boys miss him when he works longs hours, so it can be hard.  

6.  What I'm working on:

I'm working on Christmas stuff!  Decorating, shopping, planning, everything!  Christmas season fills up my little photography business calendar, so I've been working on pictures a lot, too!

7.  What I'm excited about:

Not to sound like a broken record, but I'm excited about Christmas!  I'm excited about Thanksgiving too, but I'm really ready for all the Christmas fun we have planned.  We start our advent calendar the day after Thanksgiving, and that's usually when Pal arrives as well.  I'm also starting to get really excited about our trip to Disney World!  It's less than 3 months away!

8.  What I'm watching/reading:

Here is my most recent reads.  I just finished A Stranger in the House too, and it was really good.  I'm waiting on a series by Elin Hilderbrand to open up in the correct order as well, so I'm in between books right now.

Last night was the season 5 premiere of Fixer Upper, and I'm so excited it's back!  I'm also watching the mini series Big Little Lies because I just finished that book (it was great!), and I'm still working my way through Gilmore Girls.  As I type this, I'm watching A Curious George Christmas with Abel, and it's one of my absolute favorites!  I've got so many Christmas movies recorded on our DVR that it's ridiculous.

9.  What I'm listening to:

I've been listening to a lot of Pentatonix Christmas music!  I also listen to lots of music on the Christmas Radio station on Pandora.  In the non Christmas music genre, I've been listening to lots of old school Matchbox 20, and we've got a NeedtoBreathe concert coming up in less than a month, so I'm getting myself ready for that, too!

10.  What I'm wearing:

I've been wearing all of my sherpa pullovers a lot the last few weeks!  I need some more long-sleeved shirts and sweaters that don't require ironing, so sherpas have been my best friend the last few weeks since it's cooled down.  This week I've been wearing lots of workout clothes and pajamas!  I'm hoping to get to the Lytle Barn this week and buy a pair of Kancan jeans I've had my eyes on for awhile too.  I've also been living in these shoes from Target.  They're fabulous!

11.  What I'm doing this weekend:

My schedule is absolutely full with pictures this weekend!  I'm driving to Blue Ridge Friday morning to take pictures of the sweetest family, I'm booked Saturday night for a going away party for a young man joining the military, and then my afternoon is full Sunday of Christmas mini sessions at the Choo Choo!  Andy and I are sneaking in a date night Friday, so I'm excited about that, too!

12.  What I'm looking forward to next month:

Christmas!  Need I say more?  I'm looking forward to all the parties, the fun activities at school, all our little traditions, and the excitement of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with children!  I'm also looking forward to our NeedtoBreathe concert!  It's been over a year since I last saw them, so I'm excited!  It's an acoustic show, and we've never seen one like that, so I can't wait!

13.  What else is new:

Not a whole lot else is new in our family.  We're debating on putting our house up for sale after Christmas, so we're just weighing the pros and cons of that right now.  Several houses have popped up lately that we're interested in, so we'll see where that goes after the holidays.

Bonus:  What does your Elf on the Shelf do?

As a bonus for this month, the blog I follow that does this post asked what your Elf of the Shelf was doing.  Here's what Pal has planned for this year!  The boys can't wait for him to get here!

Cooper's Birthday Party

We celebrated Cooper's 7th birthday yesterday.  I took the easy route again and did a very small family party at McDonald's.  We did this last year, and it was the best thing ever.  I'm telling you, easy parties are the way to go.  We let them choose what we do and where we eat on their actual birthday, and then we do simple parties with just family.  On his birthday, Cooper kept us busy with breakfast at Susan's, a trip to the Aquarium, hiking, and dinner at Mr. T's.  For his party yesterday, all I bought  was cake plates, napkins, candles, and forks, and that was it.  Andy's mom made his Ninja Turtle cake.  We took over the Play Place and the kids had a ball.  I know they'll want more involved parties with friends and the works when they get older, but for now, they're happy with simple ones... and so is mom!