Heading into the Holidays!

I just love Christmas time.  I love the crazy cheesy lights.  I love sending out cards and checking my mailbox each day to see if I've received any.  I love decorating, especially with a 4 year old boy touch on it all.  I love time with my family.  I love the magic that Sam brings to our home during the holidays. I LOVE treats!
We are doing an stocking advent calendar this year... here are the first few things we've gotten up to as we prepare to Christmas.

Sam received a letter from Santa this year in November.  Rumour had it that Sam was so nice this year that Santa needed his help.  Sam filled this bag with some of his old toys for Santa to take back to his shop to give to other boys.  We left it on our step for Rudolf to pick up.

The next morning the bag was gone!  Here is Sammy with his very own Rudolf that was left there in place of the toys! 

Our advent calendar!

Day 1 - mail out Christmas cards!

Day 2 - put up the Xmas tree.  Sam decided on this night that he'd like to start sleeping in his undies to be more like his dad.  He also decided that ornaments are very breakable so this soft mitt on one hand will ensure that he didn't damage anything.  Yep... he's just as crazy as me! 

"Look it says Sam!" 

Just a little insight into my life... gonchies - check, reindeer antlers - check, favorite decorations out - check.  Doesn't get much better!  It did take us 3 days to get everything on the tree.  It was a very step by step process... lots of shifting things around and making sure everything had a good spot.  Sam seemed particularly concerned that I wasn't focussing on the back of the tree.  He had that covered!

Day 3 - Sam's Santa letter... he wrote the top part and then we glued his three things from his wish list onto the page.  Santa needs to find a race car track, a dragon and a robot puppy.  Let the shopping begin! (Before you panic, I have started my shopping but just not my Santa shopping list!) 

Day 4 - Breakfast for supper including a snowman pancake.  Only one melt down and a minor burn, success!

A Perfect Night for Ghosts, Ghouls and Minions

I think back to last year trick or treating and how MISERABLE it was.  If it wasn't for our determined little batman, we would have just visited the next door neighbours and then went home.  This year however was absolutely perfect.  The air was still, the temperature was warm and our little family spent an hour touring around the block.
Sam was really funny... he inspected each house and decided whether or not it was Halloween-y enough to trick or treat at!  So fun!

All ready to hit the trail to trick or treat!

This is the house that Sam talks about for all of October.  It was his mission to go there, even though it was a little bit scary.

Brave little minion!

This is another super spooky house on our block.  Sam obviously not terrified by this one!

And our last stop was at Sam's friends Rylan and Cameron's house.  

Sam and his dad too charge of the pumpkin carving this year.  Sam drew the face and Shaun cut it out.  Happy Halloween friends!

Being Grateful for Fall Fun on the Farm

As always we headed to Central Alberta for Thanksgiving weekend to be with family and enjoy the beautiful scenery of home before the snow falls.  With so much to be thankful for and fresh air in our lungs, we had a perfect weekend.

Thank God he's a country boy!  I love that we have a place in the world that Sam can be that he's free to be busy and dirty and discover baby kittens.  Somewhere he can feel the breeze on his skin while quadding with his Daddy.  Somewhere slow and quiet and fresh.  These are things that I'm so thankful for.

Sam found the last of the apples on Gramma's apple tree.  There were lower ones but it's more fun to have to jump for them.  The were no longer good for eating....

... but excellent to feed to his favourite fur friend!

Lots and lots of leaves.

Best of friends.  For those of you who have known me for years, you may be surprised to see my little man so close to a large dog (I'm not the biggest fan of big dogs).  However, watching Sam chat with her and watching Roxy follow Sammy around the yard, I've chose to trust that she loves this little bot through and through.  She is a silly mutt but an amazing companion for Sam.  As long as you don't tell anyone, I think she's pretty alright too.

Guess how many times that leaf pile was raked and re-raked!?!?

Awesome huge pile perfect for jumping in!

My fall boy

Content, loved, healthy, happy, smart, funny, beautiful, strong and confident.  I couldn't ask for anything more.

Fall Family Photos

Here are some of my favs from the photos we took in August for Shaun's mom's birthday gift.

The beautiful Kaili

The grandkids

What handsome boys I have!

My favorite picture of the day... Sam was under the tripod making jokes making everyone laugh.  Such a beautiful family.

Getting tired of photos!

Little loves!

So for harsh noon light, photo shoot time change, hungry tummies, lost sunglasses, a rascally pup and this being the first family photo since the mid 90s.... I think they turned out just fine.  So proud to be part of such a loving family.  I am blessed.