I'm way behind and am going to play some major catch-up today! I can't even believe that its almost December!! Between my surgery and Halloween and volunteering at school and church and dance and cub scouts and Thanksgiving and now Christmas and end of the school semester...this has been the one thing that had to take a back seat. Hopefully I can get at least a post or two more in before the end of the year....hopefully! While summer is our most favorite time of year, the holiday season is a very close second so I'm sure I will have tons of fun pictures coming up; we've got lots of fun things happening in December!
Mellany's bestie Charlotte had her birthday party at the end of October and these 4 girls have the absolute sweetest friendship! Apparently there was a lot of giggling and not much sleeping but so much fun had! 
I spent my 38th birthday in bed. I had gum grafting surgery on my front lower six teeth on the 26th and I was "down" for about a week. I'm unfortunately still recovering but I feel much better than I did when I took this selfie to send to my mom. Some flowers from Jackie were definitely a bonus!
Since I was still recovering, John took the kids trick-or-treating through the neighborhood on Halloween. I am so bummed I missed this night, but the frigid cold temps and blowing wind and snow sounded extremely unappealing! The kids had a blast!!
As I was starting to feel a bit better and more human, I started helping out with bedtime routines....this is one of my favorite times of day and I just want to remember it forever! Two snuggly boys taking turns reading out loud and a dog cuddled up with us .....I love it so much!
Mellany's first dance! To say she was excited to go to her first Middle School Dance would be an understatement. The "Tomahowl" is a yearly halloween dance where the kids dress up in costume and there are games, dancing and food. Mellany and Charlotte were both cowgirls who spent the entire two hours on teh dance floor. They ate pizza when they first got there, took a picture in the photo booth with some friends and then never left the dance floor again! The DJ even had them come to the front of the dance floor and lead cotton-eyed-joe for the entire group. I couldn't be a more proud mama!!
The boys had haircuts right after halloween but the decor was still hanging up in the barber shop and the boys were having the best time with it.
As I was continuing to recover, Winston was loving all the snuggles. It's pretty rare that I'm actually sitting still during the day.
After school...working on homework outside while it was still warm!
Mellany and I headed to the mall one friday after school and couldn't believe our eyes when we saw Chiefs' Travis Kelce shirts!! Never have we ever seen Chiefs gear in Dick's before! Thanks to Taylor Swift, our favorite team merch has come to town!!
Speaking of Taylor Swift.....After going to the mall, we met up with Charlotte, Kelley and Aunt Jenny to eat at Olive Garden and watch the Taylor Swift Eras Tour Movie! It was soooo good and we had so much fun!
Just a boy with his dog!
This time every year, I start purging, cleaning and organizing kids rooms. It's a huge feat, but it feels so good once I'm finished. The kids helped out even more this year and that made it much easier on my part. Then I send these pictures to the grandparents as they buy Christmas gifts to show them that my kids need nothing! haha!
Charlie's class participated in a project where they made sack lunch meals to donate to a center in town. Charlie had so many great things to say about the project and I'm so thankful to his amazing teacher for giving the kids the opportunity to serve their community in this way.
The boys participated in their Cub Scout Rain Gutter Regatta competition a few weeks ago. They crafted and designed their boats and then competed against the other kids in their den and pack. My boys have some "Jones" in them and are pretty competitive and were pretty upset that they didn't get past the first few rounds of the competition; but they were definitely happy that their best buddy Simon won overall!
Just a typical morning packing a lunch with this third-born child....hahaha!
SHHHHHH!!!!! It's a secret, but while waiting for the car to get the oil changed, I was planning our trip to Disney World in February! I am having so much fun putting it all together, but keeping it from the kids has been extremely difficult! Thankfully I've only got a few more weeks before we fill them in!
Apparently Family Day @ Church = paper airplanes during the sermon...
A little trip down memory lane...horrible picture, but the jackets still fit!!
Thanksgiving dinner prep.....I had some amazing helpers! Like, they were actually extremely helpful in prepping the food this year that I couldn't imagine having done it by myself. John's back wasn't feeling great, so he was "down", but these three stepped right up and it's something I will never forget! Hopefully it will be one of their favorite memories too!
On our way to one of our favorite places (still recovering from surgery weeks later with a crooked smile...haha!)
We spent the day at the Okos' and had an amazing meal, played outside and played games. It was truly the best time! The pictures below just blow my mind at how grown up our kids are....
It wouldn't be a great day at Simon's without Johnny finding some great rocks!
The boys have been getting out army men, tanks, etc and having "epic battles" in the living room. These got left out after the last round got picked up and I just noticed them the other day....lol....tell me you have boys living in your house without telling me you have boys living in your house :)
Leaving out treats for the delivery drivers has become a yearly tradition that our Johnny has really grown to love. He reminds me every year that it's time to put them out and then asks every day after school if anyone delivered a package/took a treat. If we did have someone make a delivery, he asks to see the doorbell camera video....it makes my mama heart so happy!
That's all for now! Lots of holiday fun coming up!!!
