Prepping for the Christmas Holidays

Last weekend we put out our Christmas decorations as well as our Christmas tree. It was lots of fun to do this year, because Kellen is finally getting to be old enough to actually get excited for Christmas! Here are some big smiles for Christmas!

The box with the Christmas tree is here!!!!!

Helping Daddy get the Christmas tree out.

And taking advantage of a very big box to play in!

Kellen accidently spilled his hot chocolate down his pants....so, we continued to decorate the tree without pants on! Here is Kellen getting a boost from Shawn to put the star on the top of our tree.

....So proud of himself!

Kellen was super excited to decorations on the tree...we let him do whatever he wanted to do with the decorations (although, it was pretty tempting to help better distribute the decorations so that they actually covered more of the tree!)

...."Yep. This spot is perfect!"

How the bottom of the tree looked after Kellen was finished!

We even put out our Christmas table cloth and Christmas place mats.

...and our Christmas dish towels.....

.....and, our Christmas calendar!

Kellen's New Toy Box

In preparation for the new baby's arrival, we have started to clear out our guest room to get it ready as the new nursery. We got a new dresser and night stand for Kellen, so that we could move his old dressers (one is a change table) into the nursery. We also moved his glider into the other room. We decided to buy Kellen a toy box so that all of his little toys and puzzles from our spare room (or as Kellen likes to refer to it as "his living room") could now be in his room. It is actually pretty big and has space for more than all of his toys.

....except that Kellen thinks it is a race car, and loves to climb inside! He has some blankets and his flashlight in the "car" and absolutely loves hanging out in there!

We Love the Park - No Matter the Temperature!

Kellen just loves to go for bike rides and head over to one of the parks in our area. The cold weather has yet to stop him from wanting to go outside - he just bundles up, and away he goes!

All smiles after going down the slide - a million times!

Pretending that he was serving ice cream and hamburgers (all were wood chips) - he would ask us what we wanted to order, and then he would bring us some wood chips - I love the imagination that little ones always show us!

Baking (and Eating) with Lita and Grandpa

Two weekends ago, Lita and Grandpa came up for a visit. While they were visiting, Lita brought up a new cookie recipe so that she and Kellen could do some baking together (Kellen loves to bake!).

.....Doing a little taste testing...

Then, taking a sample of the cookies to Grandpa for another taste test.

....that is what you call full service - feeding the cookie right to Grandpa!

Thanks for the visit, Lita and Grandpa - we loved having you over!!

Training Him Early!

Kellen has always been fascinated with the vacuum cleaner - and now, he loves to help us vacuum the floors! Here he is cleaning the stairs with Shawn.

"Hold on, Daddy. I see dust on you, too!"

"Hi, Mommy!"

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to take advantage of our warm November weather, and headed out for a hike on a conservation park - about 2 minutes from our house (off of Westney). Here is Kellen running like a crazy, free man across the field to Daddy and the Elliotts.

This is the face of a very happy hiker!

......who needs a yummy snack for some energy before the hike.

Checking the large trees to make sure that they are strong - verdict is......yes!

Strolling the forest with Daddy.

Kellen loved climbing over tree stumps, etc....there is something about walking through the forest that is always lots of fun! Here we were crossing this tiny bridge!

...and then shuffling across a big log.

Kellen and Caden got out a soccer ball for a quick game once we found a big field.

....and taking a quick break on the grass.

....and trying to show me the leaves that would stick to his mittens.

In a section of the park, there is an actual children's park - it is pretty big, so the kids were super excited to get playing! Kellen loved this particular slide.

Here is Kellen baking up some hot chocolate for us.

....and then climbing up the little climbing wall.

Check out these cool giant swings!

And what is a day in a conservation park without rolling down a huge hill?!?!

Getting a lift from Daddy on our way back to our car.