Catching Up Again

Lately we have spent time getting ready for Christmas, decorating and enjoying one another. We have had a lot of family time and I love it!!! This week we have a little going on this week and then a busy weekend. Friday Avery has his Children's museum field trip and then he and Silas have a bowling alley trip after school. Saturday is our annual shopping day. Steve and I will do ALL of our shopping while Sarah Records is here with the kids. Sunday is the Dotson/Moss Christmas at the Lions Club. It's that time of year!!!

Here are some recent pictures from my phone:

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday

This year Steve's birthday fell the day after Thanksgiving. We celebrated with my family at our house on Thanksgiving and with his family at his parents today. We feel very blessed that my grandma was able to make the trip to be with us for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year too! We have had a wonderful two days of celebrating with family and being thankful for the blessings in our lives. I took a few pictures but they were mostly of the kids:

Learning to Read

Tonight after dinner, Nolan asked if we could work on his spelling words. I started writing words and he began sounding them out. He read many words!!! He then started using the letter magnets to read words on the refrigerator. Silas started spelling words for him and Nolan did really well. Won't be long and he will be reading books to us! I love it!!!

Dad's Day

Steve is such a good dad! On Saturday, while I shopped with my mom, Shannon, Shirley, Melissa, and Shelley, he had the kids for the whole day. And he made the day so much fun. They went out to Dunkin Donuts and to run errands in town. Then he took them shopping for supplies and a deer blind, and took them hunting. He sent lots of pictures, and I could tell that everyone, even Dad, was having fun! Here are some of the pictures he sent:

Sibling love

Tonight, while we were tucking the kids in bed, Chaille was trying to kiss Nolan. It was such a sweet encounter and we giggled so much. Speaking of Chaille, she is going through a phase right now where she LOVES wearing Nolan's pajamas. And his under-roos! We are choosing to embrace this because we find it adorable. And, Nolan doesn't seem to care.

I just love our family. And I love the fact that these kids have each other. I pray they always remain friends as they grow up and change.

Here are some pics of Chaille trying to kids Nolan and Nolan pretending to not want to be kissed! When it was all said and done he kissed her back (and said he needed to get them back because she had stolen them all and he needed some for mom and dad!)

A Fathers love

These children know what it is to be loved by their father:

Date night with mom

Last night I took the kids to Pizza Hut for supper. Steve was hunting and Avery and Silas had earned Book-it certificates for free pizzas, so I chose to take them on a "date" for the evening. They had spent 3 1/2 hours cleaning prior to that, so I kind of owed them a reward! Lol. Here were my dates:

Grandpa's Re-Election

Last night we stayed out very late to attend Grandpa Randy's re-election gathering. We were all so excited to get the word that he was officially back in office for another two years! He has done an incredible job representing the people that he was elected to serve. We are so proud to be part of the family who supports him as he serves!

Fire Station Visit

It may seem silly, but our children haven't been to the fire stations very much since Steve went into the training office nearly 4 years ago. So, Sunday we went up and visited "uncle" Troy at station #5. The kids loved playing around in the bays and climbing onto the engine.