Start to Christmas 2014

Now that my parents are in AZ (sniff sniff), it seems a little crazy to drive all the way out to Williams to get our tree (sniff sniff).  So yesterday, we kept things local and still managed to have a great start to the Christmas season!

We started off the afternoon with some coffee/hot chocolate at Arcedium.  We then visited the tree lot downtown STC.  

 

However, in the interest of full disclosure, we ended up getting our tree from the Costco lot instead. :)  We spent less than 1/2 what we would have had we bought the same size/type of tree from the other spot.  It felt a little off getting a tree from the back of a semi, but the kids didn't mind (and actually thought it was pretty cool to go in the truck), and we saved a decent amount of $$ on my favorite type of tree (Frasier Fir).

Norah slept in the car while the big kids picked out the tree.  With her hands in her shoes.

 Each year, the kids pick out a new ornament to add to our collection.  Here are this year's picks...

Meredith's

Caleb's

Shane's

Norah's

 

It's a tiny bit tilted...fixing that today!

After our busy no-nap (!!) afternoon, we decided to go to the lights parade in St. Charles.  It was so fun!  I wish I'd gotten more photos of the lighted floats....there were some pretty impressive ones!

My Girls

 I absolutely love these sweet ladies.

I love the dirty knee.  She may love pretty things, but she's no stranger to dirt and rough play.

 

Our Saturday

 The kids had their last soccer games of this season yesterday.  I unfortunately didn't get any pictures from Meredith's game (it was at 8:30 am and super cold, so I stayed home with the other kids while Kris went).   Here are a few from C's last game.  This was the first season of soccer for both the kids, and they learned so much.  And they really liked it.  We are planning to sign them up for the Spring session as well.

Some of big brother's biggest fans...

After a morning/early afternoon of soccer, we tackled the back yard.  It was literally covered in leaves...a brown and red blanket that went from fence to fence.  I wish I had taken a "before" picture!   Last year, we raked a little bit at a time.  This year, we waited until all (or at least most of) the leaves fell and just got it all done in one day.  It was a lot of work, but we had lots of little helpers which made it go a little faster.  At one point, Caleb's friend J came over and we put him to work also. ;)

Figuring out the best strategy to fill the lawn bags.