We Wish You a Merry Christmas

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The Crafty Elliotts

While Ernie was having fun in NY for buisness (he did get to go to Madison Square Garden to see a Knicks game while he was there) last week, the kids and I got crafty.
This type of thing is not a regular occurance as it created a mess greater than that of playdough, so it was defanitely picture worthy.

Caleb helped a ton. Well, that is his take on it.  But I'm pretty sure Ernie did most of the work while Caleb ate the candy. And he has asked every day since if he can eat the whole house now.

Thanksgiving Feast

Every year my family has the same Thanksgiving traditions.  We have all grown to love our traditions.
We start off the day way earlier than should be humanly possible to run the "Catch the Gobbler" 5k. It is so much fun and the kids had a blast with it this year! Layne and I did the 1 mile with them. Although, I'm pretty sure Ernie can handle the 5k next time! He did awesome.  He ran the entire way and came in first! Like first place, the real deal! Caleb also ran nearly the entire thing, and I was trailing behind him as he sprinted to the finish line in fourth place.  (He would have been third, but an older lady speed walked right passed him in the home stretch. Have a heart lady!)  Anyway, everyone thought it was so cute and would cheer caleb on as he ran, he then would run a little faster.

Nat, Mark and Ernie after they finished

Claire and Ernie

Yeah dad! He took first in his age group! We were quite impressed. I can't remember his time now, but it was like 25 min or something. 

Layne was Ernie's mile run budy

Claire (she won't be able to do the piggy back pose for a ton longer since he will probably pass her up soon)

Caleb laid down in exhaustion after he was done.......

Which only lasted a few minutes and then he was racing Ernie

The proud 5k crowd (We missed you mom)

And I mention lastly that we were the proud winners of 4 turkeys this year!!!

Well, that about covers the first few hours of the day.  As for the rest of the traditions of the day.... a brief run down:

nap

get ready

eat

go to movie

and finally

home for pie with the Roskelley's

 Our movie this year was Fantastic Mr. Fox. And let's just say it wasn't my favorite Thanksgiving movie of all time. (But we know Layne and Micah, you liked it :)  My favorite was actually when we saw How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  We spoke in Dr. Suess inspired rhyme the rest of the evening.

We had a great Thanksgiving.

And yes, it is defanitely time now for Christmas. Even if I wore a skirt and flip flops today.

A Festive Pondering

One of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Chritsmas! But Thanksgiving provides an opportunity to ponder the things with which we are blessed.

Well, as Thanksgiving has now snuck up out of nowhere,  I decided to post a few of the things I am most grateful for.  I have found (as many of you I'm sure have) when I focus on all the the things I am blessed with it tends to make all of the problems I may have day to day rather insignificant.
(And these are not in any significant order!)

1- Faith
2- My family
3- power liftgate and doors on my car
4- a great marriage
5- pedicures
6- uplifting friends
7- chocolate covered cinnamon bears
8- snuggeling with my little boys
9- air conditioning
10- an amazing bed- like smile every time I get into it at night amazing
11- shoes- wait, let me make that CUTE shoes
12- modern every day conveniences (flushing toilet, washing machine, crock pot, you get the idea)
13- Scriptures
14- Parents (both my immediate and my in-laws) because, well hello they obviously raised great kids!
15- cafe rio/ costa vida salads
16- music
17- laughter
18- tevo
19-weekend trips to cabins- no boys allowed
20- cell phones
21- education
22- employment
23- pictures (so my memory dosen't fade quite so quickly)
24- Being able to saty at home with my quickly growing boys
25- massage- make that a great massage therapist

Oh, and my kids are some of the most blessed kids in the entire world.  Very few children have as many devoted grandparents and relitives as they do.

Luckily I could easily add to this list.

And luckily for all of you reading, I'll not add to the list :)  But this has given me an opportunity to start really recognizing every little blessing in my life. For instance, the blessing of my adorable children fast asleep in their beds long before 8.  I really am blessed!!!

The New Family Photogropher

I was downloading pictures the other day and I came across the following pictures.

I was pretty sure I had an idea of who the culprit was, but as I came across these self portrates all suspicions were put to rest.

I just realized I never posted pictures of the whole Halloween experience, only the costumes! so, here we go.

 Here are pumpkin carvers.
For some reason, 3 eyes were really in this year!

Here are my three men hanging out at the trunk o' treat

So, part way through the night, Ernie decided to ditch the Harry Potter getup and go as a missionary.
  He is a funny kid, and obviously inventive.

OK, so I must insert here how much of a rough evening we had trying to get him to get out of the car.  He was rude and belligerent and we couldn't figure out why he wouldn't go trick or treating with his costume. I was so frustrated with him.  He finally came up with this idea and he was all of a sudden in a great mood. He finally made a comment later on during the night that his costume was too long.  Aha! I finally figured it out, he felt a little bit like he was wearing a dress and all of a sudden got weirded out by it.  That's the

 I'm not sure what made him think of the new costume idea.  Luckily we were at the church trunk o' treat, so we went and found the missionaries so he could capture the moment with them. They supplied him with a B of M to compete his ensemble.  What a kid! That's all I can say! We thought it was awesome, and got over the beginning rough part of the evening.  (And I know, of all things to change their costumes into, how can a mother complain?)

The Adventure Hero Phase of Life

I'll be honest, I was a little sad as I was preparing for this Halloween.  (But keep reading, it gets better) As I was searching for costumes for 'older' children, I remembered how much fun it was to dress my little boys up.  We have had a lion, monkey, and buzz to die for (just to mention a few).  I thought that my days of cutesy costumes were gone because let's face it, Ernie just cannot be squeezed into a 4T.

But, as soon as their costumes arrived (you will be shocked, Indiana Jones was one of them) I was SOOOOO excited to see them get all dressed up!  And even if they no longer like to be animals or characters from animated movies, they're still pretty darn cute!

My Indiana Jones

My Harry Potter

 

 And I loved that this year was completely their thing. They picked their costumes, which built the anticipation up for them. They were So much fun!  And they really got into their characters.









How lucky am I? I really feel blessed to have such wonderful boys. They are so much fun. 
If you hadn't noticed by previous posts, I am a little sentimental. I sometimes think it will never get better than the moments I've had with them, and so I dread that different phases pass of their childhood.  I often dread that things are changing, that my youngest is nearly five. And having them grow up has been hard to watch. However, then the next phase hits and I realize that all of it is wonderful.  Every moment.
They develop personality; a sense of humor that out wits their dad, charm that would woo anyone, gratitude. They start to develop their own testimony of who they are and why they're here. They give you a hug and thank you for everything that you do for them as a mom.
I then wake up and notice the moment. And then I realize that I am proud and I am grateful.  Extremely grateful, for every fleeting moment.