It's Christmas Time!!!

Oh my gosh…. I cannot even wrap my head around how busy we have been around here! Being a mom of three kiddos, I have to say the holidays are definitely the craziest time of year for me! We have been having lots of fun, I've been rushing around doing Christmas shopping and wrapping and decorating, we have been baking treats for everyone…. It's been go, go go!!! I love this time of year though, and even though I'm tired and our schedules are getting a little thrown off (my gym time is suffering a lot!), it's all worth it!

Last weekend we spent Friday night at the "Surprise Party". It's our town's little Christmas celebration, and there is a carnival and booths and Santa and hot air balloons. This year we went to the carnival, which we hadn't done before because the kids hadn't been old enough. We only bought a few tickets (because, hello, expensive!!!) and I took L and L2 through two of the fun-house type "rides". They loved it!!!

(So Blurry!!! But I still love it!)

(I think this is one of my favorite pics of L2 and me ever!)

(the whole family…. I love them so much!)

On Saturday we had S's work party. They switch it up every year, and this year they brought in the circus again. Although I have mixed feelings about circus's, because of the animals, this is a pretty fun event and the boys love it. Also, there is only one act with animals and they seem to be well treated. R and L2 were both more into the fact that they got to eat popcorn, but L was pretty enthralled by all the performances. And they all love any occasion where we get to drive out to where Daddy works!

(This act was seriously crazy. I've never seen anything like it. These people must be the strongest and most flexible people in the world!)

And finally, my house smells constantly like baked goods! This is not necessarily good for my waistline, especially since I've been so busy I haven't been making it to the gym as often as I normally do! But, you know, life is too short not to enjoy some cookies once in awhile! Plus I really love doing homemade gifts for the neighbors, the boys teachers, etc. This year we made cinnamon sugar almonds and a new vanilla cookie recipe and, not to brag, but they were pretty delicious!

I also think doing the homemade gifts is a good way to teach the boys that this season is not about spending a lot of money or getting presents. It's about family and giving and generosity!