Kasey is THREE!

This year was special ~ due to Holiday travel, we decided to have Two parties for our little Three year old.  We celebrated early with the Cannodes and Kasey's Godparents (Eric, Jackie and their daughter Mady).  We enjoyed some traditional Lasagna (made with love by Gpa Cannode) and of course a yuumy Birthday cake (made with love by our good friend, Sandy Tucker).  Even the room was decorated with Love (by Mommy and Daddy).  Needless to say, this boy is Definitely LOVED!

Made with Love

Made with Love

Made with Love

The Theme for the year has been Buzz Lightyear.  As you may have noticed in other posts; he was Buzz for Halloween and Buzz was his favorite balloon during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  So, what else could we do for his birthday... Buzz!  Dinner was great and the company was even better!

Kasey rushed through dinner so he could get to his Buzz cake.  I am not sure if he was more excited for the cake or the action figure!  Kris had to hold his hands back so he didn't grab the action figure before the pic was taken!

Mom, You forgot my fork...
No Worries! I Got This!

Cake is Always follwed by Presents!  Kasey was spoiled as always and I loved the he wanted Every present out Immediately to play with each one of them.  Even Karsten got in on the fun and got a Helicoptor from Gma and Gpa Cannode.

 A party wouldn't be complete without beating up your brother with a balloon.  We even had nice music playing for us by some talented artists.  Then, Amy tried to bite her tongue as the kids crawled on her dining room table to put together Kasey's puzzle.  It was Too Cute to say No.  Overall, a Totally successful Birthday party!  Thank you to everyone for joining us in this fun and important celebration of our little man!

Breakfast with my Boys

The best way to start a Saturday morning?  Breakfast with my boys.  Karsten spent all morning cooking in the kitchen and taking requests.  Of course he knew the First Thing Mommy needed was her Coffee... followed by a fresh doughnut.  Kasey chose French Fries for Breakfast instead.  All I know is that everyone was happy with their choices and stuffed by the end of breakfast.

A Perfect Saturday Morning!

Santa is in Town Early!

Every quarter, the Adoption Group we belong to does an event for our families.  It has been an Amazing group and support system for Kris and I ... and Kasey has met many friends at these events too.  We found out that Rebecca (the Founder of the group) is tight with a Very Special guy.  His name is Santa Clause!  She talked him into coming to town a bit early (Dec 9th) to attend a special gathering with just our friends.  For Weeks, the boys were talking up a storm about what they were going to ask Santa to bring them this Christmas.  It was non-stop chatter on the way to the hospital, but once we got there - I don't know where those two boys went.  Instead, we had the shyest, most quiet kids in the room.

We slowly warmed up to Santa, but as we couldn't get the boys to sit with Santa by themselves - we did a Sneak Attack photo!  (Santa's Idea!)  Finally, the boys got enough courage to whisper in Santa's ear what they were hoping to receive this Christmas.  Kasey explained that he really wants a "A Big Race Car, Like a Car, Like a Shoe Car with Tracks" and Karsten wants a "BIIIIG Track-Tor".  And no, we don't know what a Shoe Car looks like.

"Like a Big, Like a Race Car with Tracks"

"BIIIIG Track-Tor"

During the day, we not only got to catch up with Santa and some good friends, but also made some Reindeer Food.  Rumor has it; cookies are out ... and feeding the deer is the way to get on Santa's good side.

Christmas is in the Air!

Black Friday for a lot of people is about running around and getting the best deal around.  Amy used to enjoy this... until one day she tried it with George.  She was ruined for life (Ha).  Ok - so maybe that isn't why she didn't do it this year, but had to pick on George a bit ;-)

This year, we spent the day putting up Christmas Decos with the help of two beautiful kiddos and Gma and Gpa Cannode.  Made the day go quickly and in no time; we were sitting down enjoying our well decorated home.

That night, as is tradition... we opened a nice bottle wine (from our recent trip to Napa) to enjoy while we decorated our tree.  Our Christmas tree is not the one with matching or themed ornaments.  Nope, our tree is our journal and our ornaments are our stories.  We enjoyed putting up one by one (glass ones high... kid friendly ones lower) and thinking of the stories that belonged to each one.  The kids really enjoyed putting them on the tree too!

Kasey loved helping string the 'popcorn' (made by Gma!)

Some of us take decorating "Seriously"... Others Don't
Just sayin'

Karsten's ornament he made at school this year

Here you go, Brother!

Amy also found an idea on pintrest recently... it was to make a felt Christmas tree that the kids could decorate over and over.  She convinced her good friend, Erika, into joining and got to work (while the four kids entertained each other).

I think they like their tree!