A Family Tradition ~ Festival of Lights

I love family traditions, especially around Christmas time. One of my favorite traditions is a family outing to our local Festival of Lights.

It was pretty chilly but there was plenty of hot cocoa and corn dogs to go around and we had lots of fun on the rides!

It was a wonderful family outing full of laughter and fun!

Christmas 2007

We had a wonderful Christmas. It wasn't grand by any measure but for us, it was perfect! The kids decorated their own small Christmas trees for their rooms.

We all went to see Santa and I think this is the last year the kids will be going. We've been going to see the same Santa since the boys were 4 and 2 years of age!

~ An angel on our tree ~

It was a magical and wonderful Christmas season!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

As a child, I grew up having a small tree with lights and decorations in my room and I just loved the holiday season and falling asleep bathed in the florescent lights of the tree. 
 The boys are old enough this year so we decided to start the tradition with them. They were so excited when Aaron got home with the trees and ornaments. 

I think they both decorated and re-decorated their mini-trees at least three times!

Halloween Fun 2007

I’m so behind on posting all of our Halloween Fun. The kids had a blast this year! I didn’t get hardly any pictures at the Pumpkin Patch but we did get some excellent pics of the pumpkins that Dad and the boys made.

Pea Jr. and Lil' Pea with the pumpkin’s they chose at the Pumpkin Patch.  Dad helped both boys carve out their pumpkins ~ They turned out really nice and the boys had a blast!

We attended our Fall Festival our neighborhood had. Our oldest went as a hobo and our youngest went as a Pirate Hobo. They both won medals at the costume contest. 

Pea Jr. showing Lil' Pea his medal.

A VISIT FROM THE GREAT PUMPKIN!

The kids went through their candy and reluctantly graciously set aside 2/3rds for the Great Pumpkin. 

That kind Great Pumpkin left our boys a A Creepy Crawly Bug Making Oven!!!

The boys spent most of Thursday through now creating creepy crawlies and setting them out for me to find and be “creeped out”! 

I do have to say the spiders, if set in a dark hallway really do look real….especially at 6 am on the way to the bathroom ~ LOL!

The Great Pumpkin is Coming!

Every year my kids attend our homeschool Trunk or Treat and usually also go trick or treating around our neighborhood too. That leads to LOADS of candy. We Mom's try to forget what those sugar highs can do to our kids, right???

A few years ago a friend shared some wonderful advice. She started having her kids keep 1/3 of the candy they got and then they gave the rest to the Great Pumpkin. They would sort through their candy and keep their favorites and then they'd set their bags of candy out for the Great Pumpkin on Halloween night. The morning after, there would be a present left for each of her kids.

We tried it with our kids two years ago and it's been a hit every since! They get to enjoy the candy without overloading too much (LOL) and they get a great present as well. We try to donate the candy but if not, Aaron takes it in to his work and his co-workers enjoy it.