Poor Thanksgiving doesn't stand a chance this year! It's all about Christmas! I am so excited this year I can't stand it! I have always loved Christmas- but this year, I do even more so. I don't know why I am so excited... Maybe it's because last year we moved just ten days before Christmas, Put the tree up just a week before, and didn't even put out any of the other decorations. I usually like to decorate the day after Thanksgiving but this year I did it a week before. Dallas thinks I'm crazy. I even put up lights outside and that is something we have never done before. The year after we got married, I bought a bunch of lights for the outside of the house and here we are, 9 years later, and those lights were all still in their boxes- never been used because I could never get Dallas to put them up. So this year, I put a few up myself! and while I was at it, I put the tree up too! I ws a little upset because as I was getting out all of my christmas stuff, I realized that a box is missing. It must have gotten put in the wrong pile when we moved and ended up at the DI. So, both of my nativity scenes and a bunch of other decorations are gone. I'm over it now though- It gives me the excuse to buy the willow tree nativity. I have wanted it for so long! I will just have to buy a few pieces every year though because it's a bit pricey!
Up until last year, we had a tall, skinny tree with white lights and pinecones and I would decorate it all matchy and I wouldn't let the kids touch it because I wanted it to be perfect and I wanted the ornaments a certain way. Last year though, I thought about decorating the tree when I was little and remembered how colorful and fun it was and I decided that I wanted my kids to have that so I bought a tree with colorful lights, and let the kids pick out the colorful ornments, and I now let them decorate it themselves. It is messy. In some spots there are no ornments, while in others, there are clusters of them but I think it's absolutely perfect! I can have a matchy tree when I'm old and don't have any little kids- and then I will probably miss my messy tree!
I bought these trees to go outside on the front porch. They didn't last 5 minutes. The wind blows, and down they go. So, they are now inside trees.
The kids also have trees for their rooms and they get a few ornaments every year to add to their trees. This one is Gavin's 
Of course, Mackenzie and Avery's is pink!
The trees hadn't lost any of their leaves and the snow was very heavy so we had several branches break off of our trees. Dallas wasn't home so I thought it would just have to wait till he got back but thanks to some good friends, it all got cleaned up that day. Hopefully we can survive the rest of the winter without any more damage to our trees!
This is Gavin's team. I was his coach this year. It was a lot of fun. The kids are adorable but I am so glad to have it over with! 
Avery found the rocking horse and fell in love. It has been in the garage and my plan was to leave it there until we got her out of her crib and into her big bed so the horse could take the place of the crib in her room. Well, now we have it in the living room Avery LOVES it and wouldn't let it stay in the garage. 
Then she put them back in.
and colored on it with a marker. This was her finished product....When she was finished, Mackenzie carved it for her.
Mackenzie and Gavin working on their pumpkins..
All finished! 
at the trunk-or-treat. Gavin dressed up as a cop. 
Mackenzie ws a vampire. We painted her face for the school Halloween party but she didn't want it painted for trick-or-treating 
She even had a bat in her hair
and Avery was the cutest little elephant I have ever seen! We had to put a flower on the ear so she wouldn't look like a little boy.
This is the candy thief.. Gavin went to bed and had stashed his candy on his shelf. A little later I realized I hadn't heard Avery in a while. This is where we found her... She had dumped all of Gavin's candy out and was eating it as fast as she could open it. Gavin slept through the whole thing.
And after....
This is the 3rd time I have chopped off her little mullet. The back keeps growing but the top just will not grow! It took me quite a while to cut it because she wouldn't sit still but I think it turned out pretty dang cute! 
I had to throw in these 2 pictures. Avery's new thing is she loves to wear Gavin and Kenzie's clothes. Especially Gavin's swimming suits and Kenzie's pj's. She will go into Gavin's room, pick a swimsuit and she will not give up until she has it on. 
