Christmas tree Shopping

We decided to come back to VA on Friday night so that we could keep our tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  There was still some snow on the ground out at Snicker's Gap.  We did our best to find a tree up hill, so we could drag it down to the barn through a snowy path - some of the more worn paths were getting pretty muddy and I thought it might make a mess of the tree.

After searching for a bit, we found "the one."  It looked just right.  Brian had to lay in wet snow to cut it down, but he didn't complain and got the job done.

Pulling the tree down the snow covered path was a breeze compared to past years.  Brennan and Tyler were able to drag it much of the way on their own.

The boys were very excited to get the tree unwrapped and set-up.

It was all hands on deck to put up the ornaments after Brian strung the lights.  An overnight trip to NY followed up a drive out to the tree farm was a lot to pack into 3 days, but it was worth it!  We got the outside lights hung today and put the garland up the stair railing.  Now, I've got to get our little Elf out as Brennan expects him to arrive in the morning (our tradition is that Ogre arrives on December 1 and fills the advent house.)

Giving Thanks at KUC with Tyler

On Monday before Thanksgiving, I headed over to Tyler's preschool for the Family Feast.  I looked forward to attending this with Tyler and have such good memories of being there with Brennan.  The children sang the Albuquerque Turkey song and a little prayer.  Ms. Karen, Tyler's teacher wrote a name on each child's headband that indicated something about their personality.  Tyler was "Boy of Fairness."

We sat down to enjoy a lunch of turkey sandwiches, french fries, corn, apple sauce and dessert.

Below are two Thanksgiving crafts that Tyler made.  The pine cone turkey was part of the centerpiece on the table.  The other was Tyler's thankful turkey.  He said he was thankful for talking to Mom, Brennan, Daddy, Buzz Lightyear and the choo choo train.

Both boys were off from school on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we got a little bit of snow.  It was too warm to really accumulate, though it snowed for most of the day.  It was so wet that the boys were both soaked, but they really enjoyed it!  We got up early on Thanksgiving morning and headed up to Long Island to spend the holiday with Brian's family.  We got a nice visit in with my side on Friday before heading back to Virginia.

Fall Fun

 A couple of weekend ago, my in-laws came for a visit.  It turned out to be a beautiful fall weekend and we got to enjoy some time outside.  Tyler is always a happy camper if someone is willing to push him on the glider.  He loves to go as high as possible!

We hadn't done any raking up to that point, and the boys had been asking for weeks, so we got out the rake cleaned up the yard pretty well.  The boys are actually buried in the pile below.

They were having a blast jumping in and out of the leaves.

To keep the leaves from getting in their eyes, Tyler starting using my headband around his eyes and Brennan tucked his head into his shirt... they both kept asking for more, more and more!

When we had had enough with the leaves, the boys proceeded with their other favorite activity... Attack Dad!

Master Bathroom Renovation

Almost a year ago, Brian's parents generously offered to pay for our much needed master bathroom renovation.  It took almost 6 months to get estimates, but we finally got the project going and our contractor (Darin Hudgins of Oak Ridge Carpentry) started work on September 1.  The project took 2 months, which was a bit longer than estimated, but the work was well done and we didn't really have anything unexpected come up.  We LOVE the new bathroom!  Mom and Dad P, thank you so much!!

Our original master bathroom kind of had an odd set-up that involved a lot of  space that felt like it should be in the bathroom, but it wasn't.  The old entry was carpeted and had a linen closet.  The new entry includes a door where one should be and the tile of course covers the entire bathroom floor.

before

after

The old space had brass light fixtures and a lovely floating counter top without sinks or cabinets.  It was always a mess because we had no where to store our stuff out of sight.  We decided to knock out the linen closet and put in plenty of cabinetry instead.

before

after

Here is the old view of the entry to the original bathroom compared to the view today.  We got rid of the doorway, opening up that entryway.  We opted for a walk in shower where the tub and toilet used to be.  We moved the toilet to the former location of the sink.  Brian's closet was something we weren't willing to lose, so that remained in place.  It may seem a little strange to have a clothing closet in the bathroom, but it works perfectly for us and we were used to it being in that location!

before

after

Here is a better view of our shower and new accent tile.  I just love the accent tile!  It's really hard to take pictures in the bathroom, since the space is so narrow, but the shower does include a built in bench on the left.  We are thrilled to be using our new bathroom!  It is so bright, clean and organized!

Halloween Fun

The month of October was full of excitement over Halloween.  Wegman's parking lot was lined with a ridiculous amount of large pumpkins that caught the kid's attention every time we shopped.  Debby treated Tyler to one and then we ended up getting two more.  Brennan couldn't wait to roast the seeds and we finally got our act together and cleaned out and carved the pumpkins.  They looked great for a couple of days then 80 degree temps arrived.  By the time Halloween rolled around, the pumpkins were sad, wilted and falling into themselves.

On Halloween, Tyler's preschool had their annual parade.  Although Tyler asked to be Spiderman (and I purchased the costume), when the day came, he insisted on being Batman and wore Brennan's costume from 3 years ago.  He also wore this costume last year... we've gotten our money's worth out of it!

Tyler didn't know my parents would be at the parade and as soon as he walked by where we were standing, he looked at my parents and started crying.  He didn't want to continue in the parade, he just wanted Baba.  So, my dad was a good sport and joined the parade :)

That night, the boys were ready for trick-or-treating.  We had friends over for dinner and trick-or-treating, and when the time came to head out, it was a little hectic and I did not get photos of the boys on the stoop like I normally do.  This picture below was actually taken a week earlier, when we were heading to the Monster Mash at Brennan's school.   This year, the boys made it all the way around the circle trick or treating - about a mile!  They came home with their bags FULL!