Merry Swiftmas!!

A couple days ago I saw a post online that featured a local house that went all out decorating for Christmas in a Taylor Swift theme! Of course I just had to take Annabel- ASAP! I wanted to do it as a surprise, before all her friends told her about it- and- success!!! She had not heard about it and she loved it! (Even the boys came with us and I saw Daniel taking pictures, too! Love it!)

It was such a fun outing! We had a chilly night, but the house was delightful, really. It was crowded there, but not too bad. I knew as word spread the house would see even more traffic, which was another reason I wanted to go right away. There was so much to take in. The bracelets on the trees, the signs, the figural items, the banners on the house- it really was so cute and clever! I am so glad we went! What a fun thing for this Christmas, while Taylor Swift is so "in" right now- I mean, she's even a Time Person of the Year. She's doing incredibly and it's fun to join the fever along with the rest of the world! (Note: I personally couldn't tell you a single song she sings since I really don't listen to much music...but I can appreciate she's super popular and that people are really having fun.)

Enjoy the pictures of this fun house!

First, I had driven by during the daylight to make sure I knew where the house was, not that it could be missed at night! But it was tucked into a subdivision I knew nothing about, so I wanted to locate it- it was fun to get the sneak peek before dark- but of course it's much more fun to see in the dark!

Wow- what a fun house!! They sure went ALL out! I love the friendship bracelets on the trees- that's probably my favorite part.

Tree Time!

I sure do LOVE my Christmas trees! I'm always SO excited to put them up. 

I still love giving the kids a new ornament (or two) every year and I always wrap them up and then these are the first ones on the tree each year. It's a fun thing for us! 

Our tradition is to watch Home Alone while we put ornaments on the tree, too. One of my favorite movies!!

Ta-da! Our beautiful tree!

Baby time!

Ben and I went to visit baby Graham early in November. This was the first time Ben got to meet him, too. I made sure not to hog the baby- Ben held him, too! We had a really nice visit. It goes by so fast- the visit and his getting bigger!

And now another visit for me! I love these times when I can pop over for a visit while my sister is not working during these new baby months. I try to go every week and it's just such precious time. Graham was awake for a while this time and it's so fun to watch him take in the world. It's also the sweetest to watch him sleep. And I just love how animated and playful Hannah is. My visits are just the best! I get the best of all the worlds- baby and toddler both!

Hannah is SO sweet with Graham!

Fall at the Zoo

We still get to the zoo from time to time, especially if we still have a membership- we like to make it worth it! The kids go with us...though not with the enthusiasm of their younger days. The baby giraffe was the cutest on this visit! I enjoyed the polar bear laying belly flat on his rock (second picture- he really blends in!!) and then when we went inside the bear building, we could see him peeking over his rock. And of course I got the obliging photo op from my kids!

Band Time!

Annabel's 1st band concert for 7th grade was recently and as always, it was a fun night. She received another band award that night, too! The Ionian award for saxophone- scales played under the time limit with very few mistakes! This was one she'd earned at the verrrry end of 6th grade, so it was saved for presentation at the fall band concert this year. So proud of her accomplishing so much in her first year of middle school band! She was so motivated to achieve all the things last year- loved her energy and excitement! And now 7th grade is still fun- she's often invited to join 8th grade band for rehearsals, her lesson group is the top group, she auditioned for our state's honors band (which is by state district, so area suburbs- it was a sad day when she learned she didn't make it, but we are indeed so proud of her effort!), and she continues with private lessons and of course loves the challenge she gets with our local symphonic orchestra. Their first concert is coming up soon! Anyway, busy girl! 

I didn't take many pictures at the most recent concert, but I got a few sweet ones of my beautiful girl. Love her so much!

Halloween Tricks and Fun!

Halloween with teens!

Daniel didn't know what he wanted to be this year. We suggested a million things and all were nopes. We looked around Target and found a cute strawberry head covering which got my vote! (see below) Isn't he too cute?! I love this picture so much. Eventually we wound up at Spirit Halloween store and got some ideas there. He decided he wanted to be scary, but not like bloody scary, so we had to find a happy medium. He also didn't want the mask to be sticky and smelly like they can get. At Meijer, Daniel debated for the longest time about a dinosaur mask or a skeleton head- we decided to get both. Why not? He could decide on Halloween. Neither was expensive and hey it was lots of fun anyway. Ultimately, he wore both! Daniel started Halloween out with the skeleton head, but that got humid so he came home and grabbed the dinosaur and went back out again. It all worked out just fine!

Annabel and her friends all decided to be Taylor Swift albums- they wore sweatshirts themed with various albums, each of them being a different one. Annabel was the Lovers album. We had initially ordered a sweatshirt on Etsy that failed to arrive even after they said it shipped and delivered though clearly not to my house (long story short- I had to get my money back and report the seller). So then we were back to square one and Annabel threw out every idea I had (the joys of motherhood, sometimes) and finally decided to do a pink sweatshirt with the letters for Lovers sewed on (guess what? I suggested this! but shhhh, it was really her idea!! cue my eye rolls...I can't win sometimes!). Grandma Mary Kay helped us put together Annabel's sweatshirt and it came out darling! It's cozy and cute and just perfect. It did the trick! And Annabel had a lot of fun trick or treating with the girls, even with all the "let's go this way, no that way" drama according to Annabel. The joys of groups, eh? They were gone a long time even so, so they must have been having fun! I'm so glad.

As always, the kids got tons of candy and had a lot of fun! Next year? Oh boy, who knows? I'd like to think we're done, but I do know it is so fun and hey they should enjoy it all while they can!

Enjoy the pictures!

The strawberry is so stinking cute! 

This one is fun, too!

 

Annabel's sweatshirt turned out great! Thank you, Grandma Mary Kay! You were a life saver!!

The girls wore their album sweatshirts when they went to see the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie in theaters during Halloween week. They had a good time and Annabel now has a themed popcorn bucket and cup for mementos!

It SNOWED on Halloween! Literal white out snow, too. It was wild. And then it was blue skies and just fine after that. Crazy weird. The sweatshirt worked out great- it kept Annabel warm. Daniel just wore the masks as his costume, so he was able to wear his coat and that worked well, too. The snow reminded me of the year it really really snowed for Halloween- 2019, I think it was.

Annabel took this one at school and sent it to me. That's a field out there past the trees but one would never know it!

Cosmo is ready for spooking...

The boys took Cosmo for a walk and Ben hooked a trick or treat bucket to the stroller, haha.

Annabel is ready to head out for trick or treating!

Unedited Halloween sunset- perfectly orange!! Eeerie!

Daniel went trick or treating with his friend, Carter. The boys had a lot of fun. They met up with other friends at some point, too. Also the skeleton head only lasted so long- Daniel came back for the dinosaur at some point, saying the skeleton was weird and sticky inside. Well, now we know, haha. Dinosaur it is!

Daniel helped hand out candy when he got home.

Annabel loves this part- checking out all the candy she got!

Traditional picture of both kids in costume! It was a fun Halloween!