A Whirlwind Christmas

Christmas seemed to be flying by and it makes me a little sad because I love this time of  year so much that I don't want it to end. I haven't blogged much because I have wanted to be so in the moment that I haven't had time to record all the moments yet. We have had something going every weekend since Thanksgiving. Of course, we visited my sister's family in Texas Thanksgiving weekend. Then of course there has been plenty of shopping, and the first weekend this month we drove to Yukon for the famous Christmas in the Park which is 100 acres of Christmas lights! Then the 2nd weekend this month we went to the Parade of Lights in Downtown Edmond and went to all our favorite spots to look at Christmas lights around the metro. Max has gotten so into Santa and the spirit of Christmas it has made me love this time of year even more which I didn't think was even possible. We really enjoyed the parade as usual and thanks to Papa we had some tasty hot chocolate to top it off and keep us toasty warm while we took it all in.

Christmas in the Park

We loaded up in the car after dinner in our jammies and hit the road! Jeff and I knew it was going to be good when we were making our way off the exit and to the begining and there was Santa on the back of a motorcycle waiting to turn left. I wish I could have gotten a picture but Max really got a kick out of it. As we turned into the park all Jeff and I heard for the next 45 minutes to an hour was "oh, mommy daddy look", "Oh pretty", and sound effects that went with the theme like "vroom vroom" for the car display. We have never been to the light festival and I think we will definitely be back again next year. I took so many pictures, but her are some of our favorites.

And so it begins!

  The big trucks

 Elves hauling in a Christmas tree.

 This poinsettia tree was my favorite!

 Dinosaurs

 Santa's Workshop, it was bigger but I could only get this much in the shot.

 Edmond Parade of Lights

The next weekend we parked the car in downtown Edmond and walked over to Taco Bueno to grab some dinner before the parade. My dad came too and we made a night of it. I brought blankets and popcorn and Papa brought the hot chocolate. Max's little friend Nicholas even spotted us at the parade and came over with his grandma to say hi and ended up watching the parade with us in the Jeep. After the parade we went and hit all of the hot spots around the metro. Some old favorites like Chesapeake and new little neighborhoods too.Once Max fell asleep we knew we had the perfect amount of fun and ended the night right.

Apparently we were not the only people who decided to grab dinner before the parade cause when we got there it was packed! But it slowly started to thin out as the parade got closer.

 

Trimmin' the Tree

One of Jeff's least favorite things about Christmas is getting the house ready for the holiday. I always wish I could do more to decorate the house and Jeff wants less. So needless to say if I want the house done up big I'm the one who does it. I did however convince Jeff to put up some lights outside. He was going to hang lights on the house but the fuses were burnt out and we couldn't find any at the store so I gave him an "E" for the effort. But Max was all about wanting to help. He was excited to decorate the tree and he definitely knows how to jump on my Christmas bandwagon. So here is to a great start to the season!

 As you might remember I get Max a Keepsake ornament from Hallmark every year. This year was, of course, Buzz Lightyear.

 Also every year the Browns get a new ornament and because of my new love of crochet I made this years.

 And a little bit of Christmas Magic returned with Angus our Elf this December too.

Merry Christmas from the Browns!

In years past I have posted a copy of our Christmas card for everyone through Shutterfly. This year I accidentally deleted the link to embed it on the blog. I didn't want you all to feel left out though so as usual here it is. After all that has been happening around the country spend time with the ones you love and hold them close. I for one am thankful for each moment I have with my family and especially my boys. So from the Brown's I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Santa Claus is Back in Town!

Over my days off we went and had our official face to face with the big guy. Max has been so much fun this year and I cant seem to get enough Christmas! Maxwell was so excited to meet Santa again too! He ran right up to him and jumped on his lap. He even had a little chit chat. I'm not sure what Max asked for but of course Santa seemed to understand.

Picture Day

Maxwell's school pictures were taken in September and I finally decided to just scan the picture because I never got the digital copy from the picture company. It turned out pretty good but I'm pretty sure there is something out there in the world that says that school pictures have to have that "school picture" look about them. Very posed with the hazy neutral background. But as usual my boy is adorable so any picture of him is worth having!

Lemon Verbena

Yes believe it. I am here making a post. Yes Jennifer you are not seeing a mirage here. Thanksgiving was great and very casual which was such a nice change. Everyone went to my brother Jake's house and we feasted on of all things oven fried chicken. Then of course one of my favorite times of year was here, Black Friday! Max and I actually left on Friday to go down to Texas to visit my sister. So I didn't go as crazy with my Black Friday shopping but I did get to see my family and I guess it was a good swap. Max was really good and it was a fun time. Since coming home all I have heard is Jenny this and Emma that, Oy! So since coming home it has been a lot of the same swim lessons, crochet class for me, work, and school. Oh, and I have actually still been working out a few times a week. Last week I felt I worked so hard we deserved a frozen yogurt treat. And I was able to convince some of my girlfriends to come too so it was a date! I have also been working a lot on my crochet. I just finished a filet crochet piece that I'm giving to a co-worker for a wedding presant and a special Christmas gift for my niece. I have several things to post but I'm having a hard time finding time to do it but hopefully soon you will get to see more of what we have been up to.

An after workout froyo!!!

Filet Crochet

Halloween

Halloween was a blast. My arms were sore by the end of the night from helping Max walk but he was really a champ. We changed up his outfit a bit to make it even cooler and hit the ground running. We started off going to Downtown Edmond to trick or treat like we have every year. Then we made a pit stop at the very popular McDonalds. You would think that they had never seen a wrestler eat a chicken nugget before all the stares we got. But they all thought he was adorable too! Then it was off to trick or treat with Nicholas and Christie in her neighborhood. When we finally got home a very sleepy Max went to bed and so did I. I couldn't get to many pictures this year because of having to help Max. And unfortunately this year was the first year that Jeff couldn't come with us so we flew solo. I was good though and we had a lot of fun and it was nice spending time with just me a Max for part of the evening.

Mad Max from the back.

Ready to hit the road!

 A McDonalds pit stop.

This is Scary Terry. Max would feed him candy all night long!

Storybook Forest

Great intentions can only really get you so far. I absolutely love this time of year because of all the holidays and changing weather. The time from school starting to Valentines are my favorite months of the year! With October came so many things I wanted to do and so many great intentions but unfortunately I didn't get to finish or do everything I wanted. I made a few Halloween crafts and even crocheted a treat bag for Max to use to trick or treat with. But I wanted us to go to Haunt the Zoo, the pumpkin path and carve pumpkins too but I just ran out of time. We did attempt to go to the parade downtown but right after we got there Max fell and hit his head on the pavement and kept asking to leave. So we didn't get to see anything. On Monday a few days before Halloween I taught a dispatch class with my co-worker and thankfully still had the energy to go to Storybook Forest at the Lake. Max really enjoyed it last year and this year he was able to walk it holding my hand instead of using a stroller. Which is good since he outgrew the stroller. We went with  some of Max's friends and made the rounds to each story and headed home. Last week was a busy week but fun!

Family Pictures

Since Max is not exactly cooperative lately with having his picture taken I didn't even want to risk getting his 4 year pictures taken on top of family pictures. So this year we combined the two and did them in the middle of October. That way they are close enough to his birthday and can still be used for Christmas too. As usual my best friend Christie took the pictures for us. We went to downtown Guthrie and I was really happy with the results. I will definitely have to remember to go there again when Max is a little more cooperative because the possibilities were endless. they were once again great and thankfully I didn't have to be too embarrassed of my sons not so stellar behavior since she loves my boy so much. Thanks again Christie!!!

Swim Lessons

Jeff and I have been wanting to get Max into swim lessons all summer and unfortunately we could never find anywhere that would allow for either Jeff to be in the water, or for special needs students. Finally a space opened up in a special needs swim class at the YMCA. We figured we would try it out and see how it went. Max absolutely fell in love with the water! Since the first set of classes we have already taken another session and start a new one again on Wednesday. We became members because I have been working out there too since they have child care so the classes are really affordable. The instructors are so kind and patient and Max really takes to them. Max loves swimming more than any extra curricular that we have tried. Who knows, maybe I have a little fish on my hands. Just last week he swam across the entire pool by himself (with a floatie of course.) We will see how long this lasts but for now he likes it so much that we will keep signing up. The sessions are only 4 weeks with one class a week so the commitment isn't big and well worth it.

These pictures are from the first class. I had to take them from across the way in the parents section so they are a little hard to see. But trust me there is a smile from ear to ear on his face.

Learning to get into the water safely.

Kicking in the water

Diving for Ducks

Swimming like a big boy!