Oh Christmas Tree

I am a little particular about my Christmas tree. We got a huge tree last year and I had it decorated to the hilt. It was all perfectly coordinated in white and silver, with little silver bows, glass balls, silver snowflakes, garland, and porcelain beads. I was so into it being perfect, that I didn't allow any 'not white or silver' decorations on it. It looked perfectly beautiful!

This year we downsized. Our house isn't big enough for the monster of a tree we had last year and Brian almost threw it out the window last year when he was putting it together. So, I got a simple 6 foot pre-lit tree, but still had every intention of making it perfect. However, when we were decorating it last night, I decided it would be more fun for the kids if we made it a little less perfect and a little more fun. I got mine and my brother's old decorations out of the attic and asked the kids if they wanted to hang them on the tree. They were thrilled to see the decorations I had when I was a kid and even happier to get to hang them on our family tree! We turned on some Christmas music and had a blast decorating the tree, with all the old ornaments. They brought up a lot of beautiful memories of my childhood. I told the kids when I was young, my mom would give my brother and I an ornament each year and that I think that would be a great idea for us to have that tradition in our family as well. They each picked their favorite ornament out of my childhood ornaments and Ally wrote her name on hers. She said she would give it to her daughter when she grows up. Awww!!! :) I'm going shopping this weekend to find a special ornament for each of my children, and we will open that present on Christmas Eve, and put the final touches on our tree!

So, in closing, I'm pretty proud of myself. The tree isn't perfect, and not as pretty as last year, but it was a lot more fun decorating it and has a lot more heart in it. Live and learn! :) From now on, anything goes on my tree, as long as it makes my babies smile. That is true beauty.

This, That, and The Other

We've been some busy bees the past few weeks! Brian's brother, Brad came in town two weeks ago to replace our floors. Initially, he was going to just be here a few days and just do the floors. We decided the walls were in desperate need of some paint as well and then we'd have to replace the baseboards too! He ended up being stuck here for over a week, and that was with about 3 workers hired to help him each day. I'm sure he is glad to be back in Georgia, and I know his wife is thrilled to have him back, but we sure enjoyed his visit and we love our beautifully re-modeled home! :) We got cherrywood hardwood floors in our office, foyer and hall downstairs, ceramic tile in the kithcen/dining area, and stained cement in the living room. It all looks great. We chose two different beige shades (one with a brownish hint, one with a goldish hint) for our walls. They look AWESOME! We did have flat paint, which showed every little finger smudge, so we are so thankful for our new semi-gloss walls.

The kids were absolutely enamoured with Uncle Brad. Brady was pretty close to obsessed. :) All he could say is "Uncle Brad, Uncle Brad, Uncle Brad." Brad was never too busy to stop and give him a "BIIIIIIIIIIIIIG HUG!" Thanks for everything, Uncle Brad!

After Brad left, we decided that we needed a new stove and microwave to go along with our new floors, paint, baseboards, etc....!! We got the new stove last night and it looks fabulous. Good thing, since we are darn near bankrupt at this point.

Ally's birthday party was on November 17th. It was a magicial hit! We hired a magician who I babysat when I was a teenager. He was FABULOUS!! He came in on stilts and had to bend over to fit in the house. He juggled flames, daggers, and had some incredible tricks. Ally said it was her best party EVER. That made me feel so good because it takes a lot of effort to plan a birthday party! :) I would highly recommend the magician, for your future parties- http://www.danny-stueber.com/

Brady's party is Saturday, December 1st. I'm tickled pink about his party. It will be the first year that he really knows what is going on. I know he is going to be so excited to open his presents. We are going to Chuck E Cheese and I'm sure he'll think the dancing Chuck E is the best thing ever. He knows what birthdays are now..if you say birthday...he'll say birthday cake. :) It is all about the cake!! He told Ally "Happy Birthday, Ally" on her birthday. It was just precious.

Photo shoot

Here is the link to our latest photo shoot. We got pictures of all the kids together, and then we had Brady's 2 year old shoot. Now, I've just got to decide which ones to order. Decisions, decisions.....

http://home.tx.rr.com/imagesbyshelby/clients/dixon/

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had a great time on Halloween this year. Brady is now old enough to understand the concept, and there isn't much he won't do for candy! He figured out right away that we go to the door with the lights on and would say "Mommy, come on! Lights on!" He ran to the door right behind Ally and Zach. Even the skeletons and scary music didn't deter him from his "sweet" goal! He carried his two ton bag of candy like a champ as well. I offered to help him a few times and he responded by hugging it close to his chest and saying "mine, all mine!" lol

Ally dressed up as Brian this year. How cute is that? She looked adorable with her little goatee and attempted to make "Brian" expressions in all of the pictures. She even spanked my butt once in an attempt to be like daddy. She is really becoming a young lady these days! She is so grown up and her little personality is blossoming. She has a GREAT sense of humor! She got several laughs at the doors when people realized she was dressed up as daddy. It was too cute and it was her idea!! :)

Zach was Darth Vader. We looked at tons of costumes and he didn't like any until he saw darth vader. My sweet baby boy is growing up too and he doesn't like the cutsie costumes anymore. Ally suggested that he dress up like mommy, but when I told him he'd have to wear my bra so he could have boobies, he said ewwww. That killed that idea. He was an adorable (yet tough) Darth Vader and he was a trooper walking from door to door at a super fast pace to keep up with daddy. He didn't complain one bit.

Brady was an adorable little furry monkey. I really hyped up the monkey suit a few days prior in order for him to wear it. Brady would go to the door with a whole crowd of kids and get the most attention. They would be oohing and awwing and say things like "You get candy first little monkey because you are soooo cute!" Ally and Zach said he got more candy because he was so cute. He is more than willing to share with his big sister and brother though!

Brady was really sad on November 1st to see the halloween decorations on our door come down. I was kinda happy, because now he can't make me go to the door 100 times a day saying, "Halloween stuff. Halloween stuff right now mommy!" He called the skeleton "big scawy" and he thought the pumpkin on the door looked like he was laughing, so he would laugh when he looked at it. He was borderline obsessed with "Big Scawy" and would shake his hand and say "nice to meet you!" TOO CUTE!!! I'm sure he will be thrilled in a few weeks when we put up the Christmas decorations. Santa is going to be way better than "Big Scawy"...he is cute, cuddly, and even brings toys!!

Pumpkin Patch

The Dixon's 2007 PUMPKIN PATCH Adventure!

We went for our annual pumpkin patch visit the weekend before Halloween. We were supposed to go the weekend prior to that, but Ally got strep throat. :( The weather ended up being perfect. It was 70 degrees and sunny! Everyone wore their black shirts and jeans. Zach wanted to wear a different shirt and asked daddy if he could. Daddy said "we wear what mommy tells us to wear." Good husband, and GREAT ANSWER! hee hee. I am a little bit of a nutcase when it come to pictures. You don't get the childhood years back, and kids grow way too fast. I want to have a whole library of picture memories! Brian gets a little sick of the many photo sessions. Especially since it takes about 100 pictures to get one that I like of myself. After our grueling (it takes a lot to get five people looking the same way..!) photosessions Brian has to deal with me getting depressed about the pictures that I don't like. I'm a mess, I admit it.

We took 100 pics at the Pumpkin patch this year and I only deleted 15. That was pretty good! The lighting wasn't as good as last year, but they turned out pretty good. My mom was able to go with us as well. We finally got to take some mom/daughter pictures. She looks more like my sister than my mom! I hope to look half that good when I am a grandma. My mom is sooooo beautiful, inside and out!

The kids had a blast playing on the hay stacks and running through the maze. At the pumpkin patch, they sell the most delicious kettle corn and we took a break from the fun to munch on that!

Brady LOVES pumpkins, so the patch was his dream playground. He ran around the pumpkins giggling. It was pretty difficult to get him to sit still for the pics! But, we managed. Here are a few of the pics: