Live Christmas tree!

We've never gotten a live tree since we've been married and I'd been feeling the itch for a live one for a couple years. Since we'll be in town for Christmas this year (and because, well, 2020...) we decided to give it a try. There's a tree farm less than 2 miles from our house so we decided to shop local and pick one ourselves. There were lots of great options!

There it is!

Willow helped cut it down!

The kittens had to check it out! 

The kids enjoyed helping to decorate the tree. We  had to opt out of using some of the heavier ornaments because we were surprised how much the branches would sag under the weight of some. 

I always love a good flashback (2014):

The kittens have done a good job of leaving the ornaments alone. Tilly especially enjoys laying under the tree.

November fun

 November flew by in the blink of an eye! Here are some random happenings from the month:

We bought a camper! We're super excited to open up our camping season beyond what we did in a tent when it wasn't "too hot" or "too cold" by this mama's standards. I'm hoping to venture out and see some new country in it and have great memories as a family. For now...we figure out where to put it...

Owen is 100% invested in talking, living, and breathing about Minecraft. We've pushed through the frustrating first times of playing and now he's really enjoying it. We're glad to at least have something new to hear about besides Clones ;)

Willow and I continue to enjoy bike rides! 

COVID cases continue to climb at alarming rates. It's discouraging to continue to get calls about cases at the kids' schools. Thankfully, due to precautions taken, there haven't been technical "exposures" at school, so it's more of a reflection of people continuing to live their normal life rather than lying low. The first vaccines are being administered to front line workers this week so we hope to see this curve flatten and decline soon! 

I love our maple tree in the fall!

The kids picked to have their lunch in the saucer swing on a warm weekend!

The kids enjoyed s'mores and using headlamps in the backyard:

There was an open gym event at a ninja gym closer to our house. Owen had fun but the gym he's currently attending has more equipment to offer. He enjoyed the zipline though and playing around with a boy from his class.

You know you're an old fuddy duddy when you ask for a new microwave for your birthday. 

I couldn't be more thrilled with this one that has a turn table and DOESN'T burn every bag of popcorn. Win win!

Owen wanted to rearrange his room. Of course I didn't get "before" pictures but I think they're buried in the blog somewhere. Don't you love his style of artwork? ;)

mud + boy = mess

More lettering practice:

Thanksgiving

We were thankful to still be able to get together with family for Thanksgiving this year. The Drumstick Dash that we've done for YEARS ended up being a virtual run/walk, so we walked on a trail near Nana and Grandpa's house instead. The weather was gorgeous so we spent some time at the park too! 

They enjoy when the adults push them on this!

The "highlights" version of the Macy's Thanksgiving parade wasn't quite the same but the kids enjoyed watching for a bit. 

Life According to Owen

Owen has been excited about making videos and taking pictures lately. During the summer he made a lot of Stop Motion videos and found a few YouTube channels of guys who talked about Clones and Legos (his two favorite things at the time). He was asking about creating a YouTube channel so I made a separate channel for him on my account. It's called Cobra's Bricks and he'd be super excited if you decided to follow him (subscribe). We often hear him in his room talking but no one else is in the room with him, so we joke about him talking to all his "YouTube fans." At first he was making videos of Legos but decided to switch it to "my life." I accidentally uploaded a few videos to his channel and can't figure out how to switch them to my account so I guess it truly is "his life," which includes his sister's soccer season ;)

Here are a few of his pictures:

Owen snuck my phone and took a video of what was going on in the house. Be prepared to be blown away! ha! 

 

Backyard Pergola

Chris used his construction skills to turn this pile of wood into an awesome pergola in our backyard!

 Before:

After:

Before:

After:

And a few "during" pics:

Whiskers enjoys new hiding places during the building process:

It surprised us how the kittens tolerated the tool noises!

Chris did a great job on the step crescents!

We've already sat under it for more combined time than we had on the patio in the 7 previous years. We look forward to adding some lights and plants in the spring. For now, we're loving it as an addition to the backyard (and love the new view from the kitchen window too!).