For Old Time's Sake...

Here is a picture of Hunter (my cousin) with Levi this past Thanksgiving.  Hunter is 10.

And here is a picture of Hunter and I from Thanksgiving 2002 when Hunter was 2.

Thanksgiving

This year my grandparents rented a house for the entire family (32 people-including seven kids 5 and under!)  to spend Thanksgiving together!  We shared bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and even a stomach bug, but it was such a fun weekend filled with great food, lots of laughing and a great football game to top it all off.

My mom is a hard worker...this is what she did the entire weekend.  

Well, that and chase after Levi which I think she enjoyed.  Thanks Mom for all of your hard work!

Here are some other favorite pictures from the weekend:

 Mom and Meemaw

Deep in conversation... 

My mom was prepared.  She even brought these sticky bubbles for the kids that were easy to catch! 

Like Father, Like Son

Pouting on the dock 

Isn't that the cutest hat you've ever seen?  

Holt, Hunter and Amy showing their Aggie pride.  There were 35 of us there watching the game, and the Longhorn fans were greatly outnumbered.  We enjoyed the game- so much so that we woke Levi up.  He stayed up and played with us for a few hours (until about 12:30!) and then happily went back to sleep.  

We have so much to be thankful for this year- especially this little guy!  

Family Pictures

My friend, Megan, has her own photography business.  She is amazing and recently took some great pictures of our family!  I will share a few of them here, but I'm keeping some secret until after Christmas.

I'm adding a link on my sidebar for the next time you need some family pictures.  :)  

Thank you Megan for capturing some great pictures of our family!

50 Free Christmas Cards

Mat and I have never sent out Christmas cards before.  Last year, I had just sent out birth announcements and decided that was accomplishment enough with a newborn, so I didn't send any out.  This year though we have a precious 1 year old (and some GREAT new family pictures...more on that later) that we want to show off to all of our friends and family!  I found THIS promotion from Shutterfly, and I have already started a couple of different cards- it's going to be tough to decide which one makes the final cut!

Shutterfly has lots of great designs, but here are a few of my favorites:

We've got some great new family pictures, and it's hard to just choose one to put on a card.  This collage card would solve my problem!

I love this one too...it's not very "Christmasy" but it's very "me"

I love that this one gives you room to add a little note about the things going on with your family.

I have also started a photo book of the posts I wrote each month for Levi.  I can't wait to see the finished project.  I know it will be something I cherish forever.

These photo calendars would make great gifts.  You can even add personalized dates with small pictures.

Check out the special deal for bloggers and get your free cards!

Playing Chase

Levi becomes more interested in George every day.  He also gets faster and faster at getting around!  The other day, George had finally settled down, but as soon as he laid down, Levi headed his way and fell on top of him!  George looked at me as if he were saying, "Seriously!"

This entertained Levi (and annoyed George) for about 20 minutes.  George would lay down, Levi would walk over and fall on top of him.  Then, George would get up and move.  Levi had so much fun!

 So happy!

Camping

A few weeks ago we braved a weekend camping...in a tent...with a one year old, and I have to say it worked out better than I expected!  We spent time with great friends, played with the kids, and enjoyed being outside and away from TVs, cell phones, and computers.

 Building a great campfire!  

 A few helpers...

 The "playroom"

Heading out to kayak

Funny story about our tent- Mat and I have actually never set it up.  The only 2 times we've ever used it we've had conflicts that prevent us from being at our campsite at a decent time to set up, so our friends have taken care of it for us.  Apparently it's a difficult tent to put up.  We're thankful to have great friends to help us out!  

Levi says taking it down isn't too difficult!   :)

Levi's schedule was off and he didn't sleep as well as he usually does, but overall he did great!  He seemed to enjoy being outside and didn't mind being dirty- all boy I guess!  He also ate a lot of dirt!

Notice the dirt ring in the shape of his pacifier!  YUCK!

Looks like he enjoys this camping stuff...

We had 3 kids (Levi, Aubrey and Brooklyn) at our campsite- and a tent for each one of them.  In each tent was a white noise machine turned up as loud as it would go.  I was thankful for the extra noise when the boy scouts started their scavenger hunt during naptime!  It was funny to walk over towards our tents and hear this loud whooshing noise.  :)

Tim and Megan kept telling us it gets easier every time you go.  Mat and I are already looking forward to the next trip!

Halloween

This year for Halloween Levi dressed up as the cutest little lion I've ever seen.   Unfortunately, I didn't take any good pictures at Trunk or Treat.  I've put off posting this for a week with hopes that I would get a better picture of him- one where he's actually smiling at the camera, but no such luck!

 He was so upset when I made him come inside, 

so I opened up the tupperware cabinet and let him play!