From the mouth of Ays

This is so Ayson right now :)  Crazy kid can't make up his mind.  He really wants some chap stick, but he doesn't like it...go figure!

It's been looking a lot like Christmas at our house for over a week now, which makes this lady very happy!  There is something so incredibly cozy and inviting about a home when it is decorated for Christmas...and our new home is no exception!  We had so much fun decorating it, with Ays's help, of course :)  

He is surprisingly more help than you might think.  Little man is pretty good a following instructions...when he wants to!  The lights were a big hit.

Also a big hit...decorating the tree :)

Pretty cute, huh!  I love our upstairs tree, it is filled with all of our sentimental ornaments.

The main tree.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!  It's real, smells great and has a theme!  

Finally a theme tree...makes my heart happy ;)

 

Night pretties

Our cozy living room.  Thanks pinterest for the stocking hanger idea!

The guest bath is christmas-ed up too!

Merry Christmas! 



      

Thanksgiving

We had the privilege of hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year!  It was such a great day, spent with everyone that we love...all 18 of us!  It's times like these that Aaron and I remember just how lucky we are to have such an amazing family.  

Not all families are lucky enough to blend well, and have a great time together, but ours seem to do it effortlessly.  I am so mad at myself for not getting a big group photo...(pumpkin martini's may have had something to do with that ;) )  But, everyone had such a great time that I think this will be a tradition, so I will be sure and get one next year!  

Since I failed to take anymore people pictures...here's a few of the tables.  Thanks to Pinterest, I had a blast decorating for Thanksgiving dinner.  I couldn't bust out my china and not try to fancy up the tables a bit ;)

Turn some wine glasses upside down, and use as candle holders...so simple, yet elegant.

The "adult" table ;)

I loved the mini-pumpkin tea light holders.  They were so easy to make...just drill a hole in the top of the pumpkin big enough to hold the tea light candle...and viola!  You have tea light candle holders :)

Thanks again to everyone who shared Thanksgiving with us.  We had one of the best ever, and can't wait to do it again next year.  Hope yours was filled with as much family and love as ours was :)     

Kitchen Help

Anytime we are in the kitchen now, Ays has to be in the middle of it all.  He pulls a chair over to the counter so he can climb up and be a part of the action.  On this day, I was cooking dinner, reached over to grab a spice, and found this masterpiece.  This kid cracks me up...we may have an engineer or a contractor on our hands ;)

Nashville

We have so much to catch up on.  I just realized that my last post was nearly a month ago!  Sorry blog...I've been neglecting you, but I'm back.  I promise December will be full of pictures and posts :)  So, to start of my blogging spree, here is a little looksy at our trip to Nashville.

Although the main reason for the trip was business, we got to mix in a bit of pleasure as well.  From the CMA's, to Broadway, to Honky Tonks, to wineries, we did a little bit of everything.  

We were lucky enough to be in town during the Country Music Awards.  This seriously has been a dream of mine, to go to the CMA's, and although we didn't get tickets to go in, we went down to the red carpet for awhile to watch the celebs arrive.  We were a few rows of people back, so it was kind of chaotic, but it was fun and we got to see a lot of people, so it was totally worth it.  

Just a few of the people that we saw...Faith Hill.  She is seriously as pretty in real life as she looks in magazines and TV!  

Kelly Pickler...thank you girl with the cell phone for ruining my pic.  

And the person who I was most excited about...yes, that is Lionel...I almost peed myself ;)

Although the CMA's were fun, our favorite part of the trip was our visit to Arrington Vineyards. This vineyard is owned by country star, Kix Brooks, and sits about 20 miles outside of Nashville.  

 It was so beautiful!!!!  It sits in a very quaint, country setting, and is well worth the drive.  

We sampled a few wines and got to walk around the vineyard...

pretty much my idea of heaven :)

Of course, we had to get some pics in front of the big, super fun, wine barrel :)

Would LOVE to go back someday!
 

We tried to tour the famous Ryman Auditorium, but we didn't quite make it in time, so here is the outside :)

And finally, here is a look at Broadway.  This street is lined with bars and little honky tonks.  It was such a fun atmosphere...almost every single one had live music.

A big THANKS to Grammy and Pops for watching Ays while we were gone :)     

 

Arkalalah

Elmo was out in full force at the Arkalalah kiddie parade.  This was Ays's second time to walk in the parade, and he made it the entire way this year.  Last year he was practically running people over with his little ambulance, but this year, he took his sweet time, taking it all in. 

He was so cute, clapping...

waving...

and holding hands with Strawberry Shortcake (Kierslynn) the whole way.  It's so fun that these two get along so well :)

After the parade, we headed to the carnival.  Ayson was able to ride several rides, but his favorite by far was the carousel.  Look at that face...pure joy!

Haha...so typical!

He was getting a little too brave for his britches by the end of the ride.

Look at this big kiddo, riding his first ride without us...

and it's a roller coaster!  Kierslynn & Ays were perfect riding buddies.

Watch out for these backseat drivers!

I think he really thought he was driving ;)  Ha! 

 

 

Elmo Out on the Town

We took Ayson to "Goblins on Grand" tonight.  It's a great event that PC does every year for the kiddos.  They block off Grand and most of the local businesses set up trick or treat booths.  

Ayson is "Momo" this year, and he had fun running around and checking everything out.  

We hit up a few of the booths where he got to choose a duck for a prize, but he still doesn't get the concept of waiting in line for candy, so we mainly just chased him all over the place ;)  

He had fun, but next year, I can see him really loving this!  Busy weekend ahead...tomorrow we are off to AC for Arkalalah and the kiddie parade, then Saturday we are taking Ays to his first OSU football game.  Should be fun :) 

First Field Trip

We have started taking Ayson to Mother's Day Out once a week.  It's been great for all of us!  He loves it and gets to interact with other kids his age, and it gives me some time to get things taken care of around here.  He has been going for 5 weeks now, and each week gets a great report card.  The ladies in the 2 year old room are so sweet and patient.  One of their most impressive feats is getting all the kiddos to lay down for a nap...IN THE SAME ROOM.  I'm still not sure how they accomplish this, but Ays has taken a good nap every single time he has been there :)  Miracle workers, I tell ya!

Occasionally they will take field trips, and today they went to the Pumpkin Patch.  I kind of wish I could have been a fly on the wall, to witness this whole experience.  From the bus ride over there, to trying to wrangle all of them in the pumpkin patch...I'm sure it was quite a sight.  But it must have gone well, because Ayson came home with a glowing report card, and pumpkin from his first little field trip.

He was so excited to show me his pumpkin that he picked out and decorated, when I picked him up!  Such a cute lil' punkin & pumpkin!     

OKC Zoo

If you ever get a chance to go to the Oklahoma City Zoo, you should definitely do it!  We were blown away by how nice it was.  We were used to the Tulsa Zoo, which I'm sorry to say, pales in comparison.  We can't wait to go back!  After uploading the pics from my camera, I realized I didn't really take too many...we were too busy checking out all the animals.  On the top of the list for Ayson's favorites were, the sea lions, goats and elephants.

He would have spent all day with the goats if we let him. 

They kept jumping up on the back of the bench, so of course, Ayson had to get up there with them.

The meerkats were the cutest!  Look at the two in the middle giving each other kissies ;)

This little guy had his own perch.

The new elephant exhibit was amazing!

Sadly we only got to see the elephants for a few minutes before they headed inside :(