The Holiday Hustle

This time of year is always a bit crazier than other parts of the year. I actually enjoy trying to figure out what I still need to get, what last minute things need to be done, and just getting out and about during the holiday season. I'm guessing I inherit this from my mother as she always saved her Christmas shopping for December 23rd after her finals were graded. I, of course, don't have that excuse, but it just seems more "Christmas-y" to me when you are running around the week of December 20th getting things done instead of October.

This week has been busy, but not stressful which is nice. Drake is enjoying 3 days at DU's School Days Off program. He has been doing the rock climbing wall, the Inflatable Obstacle Course in their pool, ice skating, basketball, parachute, soccer, and much more. So far, his favorite activity has been the ice skating. I'm so proud of him for getting out and trying new things with a group of kids he doesn't know.

Last night after I picked up Drake from DU, we ran some holiday errands. We dropped off some holiday treats that Drake and I made this weekend, had dinner out, and went to Target so Drake could do some shopping. He really wanted to buy gifts for me, Tanner, and Marshall. I gave him a budget of $10 a person and we brought a bag so he could hide the gifts. It took much longer than I would have liked, but I was so proud of him for wanting to be giving gifts this holiday season. He also asked for a pen and paper and he calculated how much he had already spent on each person and then asked "Mom can you spend (aka afford) $30?", after figuring out how much each person was getting. It was very cute and ended up being a great math lesson for him - i.e., if you have $3 left to spend, you can't buy something that is $3.99.

And to top it all off, when we left the store, it had started to snow and we sang "let it snow, let it snow" as we went to the car. This type of experience with my boys is truly the magic of Christmas for me.

Holiday Birthday

This month, our youngest turned 3 (sniff, sniff). Although I know a December birthday is not ideal, I really do remember what a magical Christmas it was with a new baby in 2006. It was 60 degrees when we brought him home, but soon after, we got over 2 feet of snow. Thanks to the trajectory of the storm, Marshall's parents did make it in for Christmas and we all enjoyed a very wonderful Christmas that year.

We were lucky enough to have Marshall's parents here to celebrate Tanner's 3rd birthday this year. Their visit was short, but we were able to enjoy Zoo Lights, breakfast with Santa, swimming, a family birthday party with hats and balloons, and opening Christmas presents. It was a great weekend and always special to have time with family.

The Tree! The Tree!

The Christmas tree is finally up thanks to some help from the boys. The bottom of the tree has all the "special" ornaments that boys really enjoyed putting up.

As I have been gone the past two weekends, we had to put the tree up in stages over the past week, but we got it up in time for Gramma and Granddad's visit - whew!

Christmas is in full swing at the Peavy house and I love it!

Minneapolis Weekend

Drake and I took a quick trip to Minneapolis to spend some time with my family. The adults enjoyed catching up, watching football, and tiny bit of shopping. The kids enjoying swimming, running around the hotel with their cousins, a slumber party at Aunt Jacki's, and of course the Nickelodeon amusement park at the MOA. The mall was crazy, but the lines for the rides were not (thankfully!).

Drake was a super traveler and we enjoyed spending time with the Karlens.