'Tis the Season!

Two weeks ago we put up our Christmas tree.  Yes, I know it was early...but considering my dad put up 3 of his Christmas trees on November 1st, I was late.

As everyone knows, I LOVE Christmas time! I've been conditioned to love Christmas thanks to my dad making Christmas special every.single.year. Even now in my 30s, he still makes sure it is magical and unforgettable. So this year on the suggestion of a friend who 'does' Pinterest, we started what we hope will be a new tradition to kick off the holiday season!  And it was super fun and the kids loved it.

Last Friday night, we put up our Christmas tree.  The kids love putting the ornaments on the tree.  Of course, they only put the ornaments on the bottom foot of the tree, but they love placing every single ornament on the tree (and in many instances, many ornaments all on one branch).  After putting up the tree, we had hot chocolate and cookies and then read the Elf on the Shelf book.  We got the kids really excited about our Elf coming the following morning. It was a really fun night!

The following morning, "Jack", our Elf on the Shelf, made his debut!  The kids were so excited when they woke up and ran downstairs to look for Jack.  Jack brought the kids little presents to kick off the holiday season and wrote each of the kids a sweet note.  Thankfully, they don't know my handwriting yet!  We had a big breakfast to celebrate his arrival too.  It was super fun and Kahn and I loved watching the expressions on their faces as they were greeted by Jack that morning and as they were opening their little gifts from Jack.

I'm not sure what we will come to call our kick-off to the holiday season when Jack makes his arrival, but I am excited to start a new tradition.  As it does every year, putting up the Christmas tree gets me so excited about the upcoming month of Christmas festivities and all the memorable and magical moments that the holiday season brings!

I love these three little angels more than life itself and I look forward to making the holiday season as special and magical for them as my dad did for me all these years.

Happy Holidays!

Rockin' the Vote

Call me crazy, but I voted today with 3 kids in tow!  Three kids 3 and under! And it was a success! (Well, I guess it will be officially a success--or not--once the winner is decided later tonight...)

I set off for the polling place prepared with a bag full of snacks and toys and books and the iPad and the Kindle and was expecting to wait at least 30 minutes to vote.  I was dreading that 30 minute wait, in the rain with 3 kids, but much to my surprise and apparently my impeccable timing, we had no wait...walked in and walked out!  The kids didn't even have a chance to act up.

No matter what the outcome of the election ends up being, I am thankful to live in a country where we can vote and today I am so, so, so thankful for all 3 of my children cooperating and not throwing a complete tantrum at the polling place so I could exercise my right to vote!

Here's a few pictures of our adventure today!

Thanks for rockin' the vote with me today, kiddos!!!

(un)Happy Fall!

Well, another year passes where I don't get the super cute picture of my kids at the pumpkin patch that I have been dreaming of! With the way this particular day started, I should have known it was going to be a complete disaster.  Of course, Kahn and Olivia wouldn't cooperate and instead of the fun, memorable pumpkin patch visit that most families have, my kids whined and fought and ran around like complete monsters and did everything in their power to ignore the camera.  Bribing didn't even work.  Ugh!

So this is as good as it got this year...

Really makes me look forward to trying to capture our annual family picture for the 2012 Christmas card! That photo session's going to be a complete joy!

Happy Fall!