It's almost time for ELF to be back!



Chrismas Tree (Chris for short) the Elf will be returning to the Black household this Saturday and I am thinking about letting him host a breakfast for Carson and Caleb to let them know he will be watching them everyday until Santa arrives with his bag of goodies.

 

Pinterest has really given me an advantage this year on some clever ways for Chris to move about the house. When looking back on last years adventure, he had some pretty good places that might be repeated this year.

 

If you are doing elf on the shelf (and I recommend it for ages 2 and up) here are some ideas for your elf. ENJOY!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Elf on the Shelfing!

10 More Days of Thanks!

11. Health - For the most part (besides snotty noses ALL the time) my children and family are very healthy. It breaks my heart to hear stories of people struggling with sickness and I thank God daily for the health he has given my family.

12. Our Material Possessions - My kids have toys running out their ears (which keeps them very busy and Mommy very happy) and Garet and I have a great house, reliable cars, and all of the electronics we could ask for. In this category  Garet would be thankful for his new man room TV. At church last Sunday the preacher said it's OK to like your possessions - and we are very thankful for ours.

13. The Weather - I am not a cold person AT ALL, and the weather has been gorgeous thus far. I know it will get cold and then it will get unbearably hot next summer, but for right now I am in love with these 75 for the high day.  

14. Mother's Day Out - Last year Carson attended his first "preschool" and we had the best experience possible. This summer I really started my part time job so we found a school that would take Carson and Caleb two days a week. Carson's old school doesn't take babies, so we continued with the school that they attended during the summer. We could not be happier AGAIN! My boys love their teachers and they love them. The great thing about a church preschool is the love and affection they GET to show the kids. Caleb gets greeted with kisses by his teachers everyday. I am so thankful for their first school experiences. 

15. Social Networks - I am very thankful I get to keep up with family and friends that I don't get to see or hear from on a daily or weekly basis. Yes, they can be annoying on occasion (election month or cowboys game) but then I get to see precious baby pictures from high school or college friends and it makes it worth it. 

16. PINTEREST! - I will admit, I am addicted. I am thankful for this wonderful addicting website. We have benefited with good easy dinners, decorating ideas, and hopefully more to come. I have a lot of boards pinned with lots of ideas :)

17. Living Close to Family - I LOVE living within a few minutes of my family, and in the next month my parents will be moving closer to us. Garet's parents also live fairly close. 3 and a half hours is not bad at all and truly either group could travel the distance at any time. Garet's Mom and Dad made the move from Chicago to Houston with 3 small children and left their entire family up north. I am so thankful that we can stay near our families and don't even have to make a decision like that. 

18. Activeness - Garet and I both play indoor and outdoor soccer and we enjoy it so much. I am thankful we are physically able to stay active. Our competitiveness is still alive and we love being weekend warriors (sometime weeknight warriors too).

19. Electronics - I know I mentioned our possessions earlier, but I love the ease of keeping pictures, sharing pictures, sharing ideas...I could go on and on. I know some people think that technology is not a good thing, but I think it is great when used the right way. It will be amazing to see what kind of technology will be out there when my boys are older and teaching me how to do things. 

20. Thanksgiving - My family had our thanksgiving early on Monday night and it was amazing to see almost our entire family there. If you know my family we are big and scattered all around Dallas. We had 28 people at dinner and it was a wonderful gathering. Tonight we are making the trip to The Woodlands to have thanksgiving with Garet's family and EVERYONE will be there as well. It will be fun to get pictures of the little ones and let the cousins play and spend time together. This holiday reminds us to be thankful and I am thankful it brings families together. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family whether it's a small group (my parents ran off to Vegas so there actual Thanksgiving will just be 2) or a group of 28 or more!

10 Days of Thanks

Several people on my facebook are doing daily Thankful posts. I love that my friends are thankful for their blessings but after about day 3 I was annoyed with the process. With that being said I am going to do (try, hopefully) 3 different posts on what I am thankful for.

1. My God - Without him I would have nothing. I learned at a very young age to trust in the Lord and he will not fail you. Everything is in his plan, the good and bad, and with that I have an amazing life with MANY blessings.

2. My Husband - Who knew going to Hardin-Simmons University would bring Garet and I together? Neither one of us had ever heard of the school before our recruiting trips, and we had both planned on going somewhere else before we chose HSU. Garet is my best friend and the love of my life. He also is a tad OCD and likes to clean and do laundry - I know its a rarity and I love him even more for it!

3. Carson - My first born, 3 year old son. There is never a dull moment around this one. If he isn't talking your ear off, he is probably running circles around you. He is way smarter than he should be and very loving. He is going to be our giant (size) super star.

4. Caleb - My sweet as pie baby boy. This little one is going to be my watcher. Yes, I know he won't be perfect forever but God knew what he was doing when he gave me Caleb after Carson. His little personalty is coming out more everyday and I can't wait to watch him grow more and more.

5. My Parents - Anyone need parents? Because my parents will "adopt" you in a heart beat. They are two of the most caring people I have ever known and would do anything for anyone.

6. Sean and Shanda - my brother and sister closest to me. The 3 of use were in the last "litter" as I call it. My parents were both previously married and had kids with those marriages and then got together and had the 3 of us. We fought so much growing up and now we are the best of friends. I'm even more blessed to live so close to both of them and their families.

7. My In-laws - Terry and Tony are two of the sweetest people I have ever met. The love for their children and grandchildren is unconditional and like my parents, they would do anything for any of us. After hearing horror stories of crazy, controlling in-laws, I am VERY thankful I have the ones I've got.

8. My Best Girlfriends - you know who you are! From elementary, to high school, to college I have been so blessed to have met girls that I know without a shadow of doubt will be my best friends for a life time. We will literally be in the nursing home together, checking out old men, and talking reality TV :)

9. My Husbands Job & My Job - Our last few months in Houston were sad ones because Garet and I both dreaded going to work. It was a situation where we liked what we were doing and we had good people around us, but there was one person that just spoiled it all. It added so much pointless stress and ultimately pushed us out the door and to Dallas. Our jobs now provide for our family and we are happy with them.

10. Rogue - Our official FIRST born. Rogue has been the best first dog for our family. She turned 5 years old last month and she has been such a great dog. She is awesome with the kids, barks at strangers, and doesn't chew up anything (unless she is showing off for other dogs).

 

10 days of Thanks...What are you thankful for?

ONE

I am SOOO happy to say that this will be the last post of this kind because on October 30th Caleb turned One year old!

 

This post will include his 12 month stats and information along with some birthday party pictures and dish that occurred the weekend before his birthday.

First thing is first...

Length:30 inches (50-75%)

Weight: 22 pounds and 4 ounces (25-50%)

Clothes: 12 and 18 months, size 4ish shoes

Diapers: 4 and we LOVE the walmart brand diapers

Sleeping: morning and afternoon naps 1-2 hours and sleeps great at night but an early riser

Food: We are eating all kinds of table foods but becoming pretty picky. I think it's a texture thing because he will stick things in his mouth and spit them out. We are down to breast feeding once a day, one bottle in the morning, and milk or water with a splash of juice in a sippy cup the rest of the day. I thought he was going to be so easy getting off the bottle because for a week he didn't mind the sippy cup at all. Then he got sick and refused to drink anything all day except nurse his one time, so I gave in and let him have one bottle in the morning. Hopefully here in a few days/weeks (who knows) we will be able to drop that as well.

Activity: We are taking steps and standing on occasion but continues to prefer crawling. When he wants to walk he will walk. This momma isn't rushing anything. He LOVES his toys, balls, riding toys, and books. All of this new birthday presents are definitely getting their use.

Other Random Things: We have started some temper tantrums. My sweetest, most loving, cuddle man gets angry and screams and kicks his feet and won't move an inch when he is having a tantrum. He still has his sweet loving moments but the tantrums happen regularly as well. He continues to love his paci and we are now thinking about when we are going to be the paci Nazi's and take it away. Not anytime soon, but hopefully he won't be a toddler running around playing with a paci in his mouth.

All in all it has been a WONDERFUL first year and we are so happy to have Caleb in our lives.

 

Now onto Party!!

 

Theme: Mickey Mouse!

 

(The only show or character he is interested in)

Guests: Family and Family Friends

Food: 6 ft sub sandwich with fixing's, chips, and pasta salad

 

 

and CupCakes!

 

Lots of Presents and One year firsts

 

He had a wonderful party with a lot of attention and love.

 

We are so blessed to have such great people to call family and friends!

Trick or Treat, Smell my feet...

2012 Halloween was a big one this year. Carson was in full force with the idea of getting as much candy as humanly possible and Caleb was willing enough to be in a costume and enjoy the ride.

We started off the weekend before Halloween with Caleb's Birthday party (I will post about that one day) and Trunk or Treat at my parents church Prestoncrest Church of Christ. Although it was pretty chilly the kids enjoyed a few bounce houses, games, food, and a lot of different car trunks decorated and handing out Candy.

We took a pretty good picture inside the church, because of the weather, of Angry Bird and Caleb the hotdog.

Side note: Caleb's costume is one of Carson's old infant costumes that a baby would wear kind of as a swaddle. We cut leg holes in it and it worked great. I LOVE when I can re-use things that are worn once a year like costumes.

On Halloween day/night we went to Daddys office first to fill up the buckets then did some old fashion neighborhood Trick or Treating. Carson LOVED going to each house and exploring the neighborhood. Halfway through the night we hooked up with my sister and her girls and it was fun watching Avery and Carson race to the front doors to see who could ring the doorbell first.

Once we got back home Carson was so worked up and excited that he was pacing the entry way waiting to give candy to other kids. It was priceless to see his excitement because Garet and I want our kids to enjoy holidays just as much as we did when we were younger.

Great quotes from Carson on Halloween night:
"look at the parade of costumes!"
-groups of kids walking the streets

"I want to go see the foooogggyyy pumpkins!"
100billion times

"When are the kitty cats coming to get candy?"
I accidentally called kids kiddies....

"Mom I DID IT, I said trick or treat!"
Yes, and you've said it to the past 30 houses? What's the big deal?

Halloween 2012 - Done and very successful

Almost too successful when a 3 year old little boy is already anticipating next year.