Merry Christmas 2017

HO HO HO!  The kids are ready to race down to the tree.  But alas, they know the drill.  No one allowed downstairs until Ryan goes down and turns on the Christmas lights and music.  Waiting can sure be tough!

This is our first Christmas in our new home!  I have loved decorating for Christmas and I love how my new house is turning out.  

After we did our family Christmas we headed over to Jenni's for round 2.  The Angels Camp house is under construction currently for the attic bedroom.  We decided this would be easier.  And I have to say, I loved having it at home.  It made Christmas so much easier! But I do love Camelot too.....

Nativity 2017

Our annual live nativity happened this week.  This year it was at the Serpa's farm and we used lanterns.  It was quite magical.  (Too bad the iphones don't do as well taking pictures in the dark.)

Don't ask me why Dexton is dressed as a hippo.  Someone brought the costume thinking it would be hilarious and of course Dexton thought it looked just right for him.  And after that there was no talking him out of it....

Christmas Prep

Sugar cookies and Christmas? Yes, please!  Trying to get these sugar cookies made has been very tricky with all the activities going on.  But finally I just said enough is enough and here we are!

There is not much I love more than a good sugar cookie with frosting.  Yum!

If you can't tell, we are getting ready for Christmas, Dexton loves our nativity.  We are trying to teach how to be gentle with the nativity....

Shayli participated in her 1st grade singing performance today and you'd better believe we were there to cheer her on!

The Cafferty's were generous enough to give the whole Reese clan tickets to Aladdin.  We went to the Orpheum theater and loved every minute of it.  The costumes and special effects were spectacular!

Happy Fall 2017 and 38th Bday to ME

We are crossing all of our fall traditions off our list. Our Thanksgiving runner is filling up fast and is one of our favorite traditions.

Here is a glimpse of our Halloween pumpkins. That picture got missed on the last post...

And want to know what else happens in November?? Oh that's right, I celebrate the day my mother gave birth to someone very special.....;) Happy birthday to me and Amber!

That's a lot of candles...

Happy Halloween Viking Style

We went with a family theme for Halloween this year and the kids all pitched in and helped make their costumes.  Vikings with their pet dragon!  It was really fun and a lot of work.....one costume would have have been fairly easy.  But 5?  That took a bit of time. ( Actually I guess it was just 4 since Dexton's was store bought.)  Happy Halloween!

Dexton's Day with a "Heleskin"

Halloween is upon us.  And with that comes all the creepy, spooky things that are loved or hated.  In Dexton's case, it's both - a love and hate obsession. He thinks skeletons are creepy and the thought of touching one can bring him to tears.  But he can't help but be fascinated with it all.  Aunt Liz has a plethora of skeletons. I decided it was high time we show Dexton that Halloween is fun and not scary.  We borrowed her little skeleton which just so happens to be the exact height of Dexton.

We picked up our friend and buckled him in.  And although the picture shows Dexton grinning in this moment, he was definitely unsure about sharing the car with a "heleskin".

I told Dexton that the skeleton was his friend and he was going to hang out with him all day.  I propped that thing right up there for breakfast.  As the day progressed Dexton started to really accept his new "friend."

He played with him.

He fed him.

 He snuggled him.

And when the night came, he tucked him in.  With his beloved binky.  I think we made a giant leap in the spooky Halloween department because major fears were overcome!  Happy spooking!

Shofield House Reno

We got countertops! I have to say that I am sick and tired of using the bathroom and the outdoor hose to clean our dishes.  I feel like we are camping.  I am thrilled to have  nice beautiful farmhouse sink!  

Our house is coming along.  We have adapted to our construction home and it hasn't been sooooo bad.  It's rather amazing what the humans can adapt to.  Ryan was been working his tail off after work and on weekends trying to get as much done as he can.  Its slow going but we are making progress.  Here are some pics of the house.

We removed the pony wall that was directly in front of the stairs and its amazing how much bigger the house feels.

Floors started going in downstairs.  We finally hired out the downstairs portions because Ryan just doesn't have the time.

Casing out the windows.  There are 4 windows that don't have window treatments.  We have rollers and roman shades to cover them.  We also want the wood trim so they look nice.

Ryan is also casing out all of door ways.  It makes a huge difference and everything looks great!

Countertops are in!!

Backsplash is up!

Solar Eclipse

The solar eclipse is happening!! I decided that watching a solar eclipse is legit education so I took my kids out of school for an hour so we could have first hand experience.  (We drilled it into Dexton's brain that he could not look at the sun or he would go blind.  But he really wanted to look so we told him to cover his eyes.  And shockingly enough, he listened.)

I did not have any special glasses for the viewing but thankfully we had friends who had prepared.  They were happy to share.  We went to the Maxfield's to watch the sun get covered by the moon.

The whole day was a little hazy and cooler and the temperature dropped even more when it was at the peak for our area. There were tons of half-moon shadows everywhere, It was fascinating to watch.

I was little jealous of my Wyoming family who got to experience the eclipse at 100%.  But it was cool to see all of their posts about it.