christmas parade and other holiday cheer

The kids were both under the weather Friday and Saturday, but were back to normal by Sunday and were able to enjoy the annual Mechanicsville Christmas parade!  We love that our house is on the parade route!

 

 

Max, the dog from The Grinch, was my favorite "float".

 

Bryce loves the monster trucks!

 

Santa comes through on the fire truck at the end!

 

Oh hey, Santa!

 

Our neighbor cut Bryce's hair two weeks ago to look like Bryce Harper.  This weekend he styled it into a Mohawk for him.

 

The kids may have sung on stage at church after his hair was styled.  Oh my! 

 

We had our hanging of the greens service at church on Sunday night and this was the only shot I got. 

 

My mom got me this fun new Christmas picture that I had my eye on at Cracker Barrel.

 

Last night I planned a fun Moms Night Out for my MOPS group.  We met up and went to the Jefferson Hotel to see their Christmas decorations and then we went out to dinner.

 

Emmy helped me bake cupcakes this morning to get ready for a birthday party for Jesus that I'm hosting for MOPS tomorrow.

playing catch up

How many blog posts can I title "playing catch up" this year?  I feel like that's all I'm doing and there is no sign of slowing down until about May/June! 

 

Emmy clearly feels my pain about how exhausted I've been these past few months!

 

 

My girl loves taking selfies. 

 

We spent Thanksgiving in North Carolina.

 

 

We went to a book signing event for Emmy's teacher.

 

 

Bryce has been growing his hair out so he could get a Bryce Harper haircut.  He finally gave us the green light last Sunday!

 

Bass Pro Shop fun.

 

We made our annual Santa visit to Bass Pro Shop this week.

 

Emmy went with me to Bryce's school to help at the book fair this week.

 

I may enjoy the book fair more than Bryce!

 

We went to Math and Reading night at Bryce's school on Thursday night.  It was a cowboy theme if you're wondering!

 

I had a LuLaRoe party get canceled for Friday night so we drove around and looked at Christmas lights instead.

 

We've been busy, but we're making the best of it and making memories as we go!

festive fun

Emmy had her Thanksgiving lunch at school last Thursday.  I planned a fun little time for the kids.  We made these turkeys and then I read them a fun book.

 

 

Next up was lunch with all the fixings!  We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, fruit and pies!!!  The kids actually ate the food!!

 

Friday night we went out for a little shopping and of course ended up at Target.  We went to a different Target than normal and the kids were fascinated by the "target" so they sat in it and asked me to take their picture.

 

Our main reason for going out was to see the Christmas tree at our local outdoor mall.  I saw them setting it up last year, but we never actually saw it once it was lit so we made sure to go this year.  I love how it starts on the ground and goes up to the second level.   

 

I was pretty fascinated by the size of these reindeer!

 

 The second level of the tree had a walkway through it to get to the other stores.  They were playing Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas music when we walked through and the kids loved it!

 

 Hope everyone had a great weekend!

always playing catch up

Emmy is always asking when she's going to get homework like Bryce.  This came up in conversation with her teacher so she sent Emmy some homework last week.  She was so excited!

 

 

We went to a Mommy and Me event last week and Emmy got her face painted.  She chose a snowman all on her own.

 

Someone stole my hot chocolate.  Good thing she's so cute!  And a red cup is a pretty good accessory.

 

Bryce went to a birthday party for one of his classmates on Sunday.  The boy's dad is an elementary school PE teacher so you can imagine how organized a birthday party at a gym was!  Both of my boys loved it!!

 

This boy was built for speed!

 

Bryce and Thomas are not in class together this year so they love any chance to get together.

 

The birthday boy and his twin sister both invited kids from their classes!

wintergreen weekend

We had a much needed weekend away this weekend!  I feel like I have been going non-stop since the end of July!  We went on a whirlwind of vacations and then I went into crazy mode preparing for my duties as hospitality coordinator for my MOPs group and vice president of the PTA.  And before I could ever find my way, I started my own business.  To say I needed a breather is an understatement.  I don't know if anyone else is like me, but I cannot relax in my own house!  There is always something that needs to be done and I have to do it right now! 

 

Friday night we headed up to Wintergreen.  We had dinner at Devil's Backbone and then settled into our condo for a relaxing evening!  We slept in on Saturday and moved at our own pace to get ready!  Everyone in our group split up the meals so I didn't even have to fix my own breakfast on Saturday. 

 

 

After breakfast we headed out for a day of wine tasting.

 

Our first stop was Pollak Winery and I think it was my favorite.  Their wine was my favorite and the setting was just perfect.  The inside was warm and cozy on what ended up being a cold and rainy day.  I know the view outside would have been just as beautiful with some sunshine!

 

Next we headed to Afton Mountain Winery.  Their wine was not my favorite, but the scenery was beautiful.  They had a nice covered picnic area with a fire and a great view.  Another friend brought a yummy lunch of meat, cheese, crackers and such.  It was so good!

 

Views from Afton Mountain.

 

Another couple was originally going to go with us, but weren't able to make it so Jason ended up being the only guy.  He was a great sport and a great DD!

 

Doesn't get much better than this!

 

Our third and final winery for the day was Flying Fox Winery.  I actually sat that one out so I can't rate it, but the other girls raved about their wine!

 

Since Jason was such a great sport about the winery tour, we ended the day at Bold Rock Cidery.

 

It was really fun watching the bottling process.

 

We could have watched for hours, ha!

 

I'm not a beer drinker, but their hard cider is so good!  We sure did luck out with the fireplace seating!  After our tours, we went back to the condo and I fixed chili for dinner and then curled up under a blanket and read a book and watched college football.  Just what I needed!

 

And while we were away, the kids were at home having plenty of fun with Nana and Pap.  My mom was so excited to take the kids to the Peanuts movie!!

 

 

Now I'm ready to tackle another crazy busy week!

halloween weekend

We started our Friday night off with Bryce's last baseball game.  Emmy and Emily sure did have fun playing together during the games this season.

 

 

After baseball, we came home and watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and carved our pumpkin accordingly!

 

The kids requested donuts for their Halloween breakfast.  We went to Dunkin Donuts out of convenience and it sure wasn't Krispy Kreme, but they were happy!

 

Next up was Bryce's end of the year celebration for baseball.  His coach planned a really fun "strike or treat" and the kids got to run the bases and to the outfield positions and trick or treat!

 

Emmy was there for the fun!

 

After getting candy, they got trophies.

 

The unofficial team picture.

 

After trophies, there were snacks.

 

Bryce's coach also coaches our friend/neighbor Will's team so the boys got to spend the morning together!

 

Once the "kids" were all dressed and ready, we headed to visit grandparents before going to trunk or treat at church.

 

We opted for an easy theme this year and did a teal pumpkin themed trunk to bring awareness of this program and children with food allergies.  Since we live with a peanut allergy, I thought this was a good idea!

 

Church friends ready for trunk or treat.

 

 

Today we hung out with our neighbors and had a little archery fun with the leftover pumpkins!

 

It took me 6 shots, but I finally hit the pumpkin.  At least a few hit the target too!

 

It was a perfect weekend full of family and friends!