Beginning to feel...

A lot like Christmas.

Shortly after waking up this morning, it started snowing!! Nothing like the first snow fall right before Christmas to make it really feel like the holiday season. In addition to the snow, we got the Christmas tree decorated and shining brightly in the living room (will post photos). I am happy to report, in the process of decorating, we only broke TWO ornaments this year, which I consider pretty decent since Mae was tearing them all out of the box and throwing them on the floor.  They were asking to stepped on.

Now I am lazing on the couch, enjoying the warmth of the house, Whit napping, Pearson watching football, and Mae playing with her dolls. I don't think it gets much better then this.

Zoo Lights

The weather yesterday was in the 60s. And with Whit deciding not to nap for three days in a row and Pearson not coming home from work, I decided we need to get the hell out of the house for the afternoon/evening because I might lose my mind. So we decided to go check out the zoo lights at the National Zoo and attempt to get some Christmas cheer started. To add to the fun, we brought Will, my nephew along for the fun. We had a great time, despite me scanning the dark for all three kids and making sure I didn't lose anyone. 

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 

PS- I have no idea how to take pictures in the dark so everything is just god awful blurry but you get the idea. 

Happy [Belated] Thankgiving

I had the best of intentions of writing a post this year about all the many things for which I am thankful. The big things like my two beautiful, healthy, and funny kids, our family and friends and the small things like the new Nespresso machine that Pearson recently bought. The recognition and celebration of the holiday didn't get away from me just getting the opportunity to put pen to paper (or in this case keyboard to computer) about it all did. 

We decided to spend this year's Thanksgiving in Oak Island. As always, this place holds so much magic for our family. Despite it being a little chilly, it was a wonderful time. We were able to slow down and focus on us. We were also fortunate to be joined by my parents. Here are a few photos from a couple times on the beach and our ferry ride to the NC Aquarium. 

Giving Back

All in all, the weekend has been pretty chill for us and today has been rather chilly temperature wise. We have had a pretty low key weekend and it is just what we needed around here. We all needed to recharge our batteries since Thanksgiving is this week and we then head into the Christmas frenzy. Did I mention we have decided to spend it at the beach this year! 

In the meantime, here are photos are from Tuesday when I volunteered at Mae's school. They packed lunches for a homeless shelter, including decorating the bags. I was lucky to snap some photos of Mae in action and with her whole class. Have I mentioned how much I love her school? And I love that they are teaching the importance of giving.