November 30th

Elfie Day #3

Zach is getting more and more excited about Elfie everyday.  As soon as he wakes up he wants to run downstairs and find him.  Elfie must have been watching us last night, because he knew we watched Rudolph on TV.  Today he brought Zach a big stuffed red-nosed reindeer.  Elfie and Baby Buddy were taking a ride!

November 29th

Elfie Day #2

Today Zach found Elfie having a tractor parade in the living room!  He also brought an elf shaped glass with a lid and straw.  Zach thought Elfie was pretty funny playing with his toys!

November 28th

Elfie Day #1

This morning we found Elfie zip-lining across the living room with a new Batman toothbrush!  Zach was sure he had climbed the Christmas tree and jumped onto the zip-line.

November 27th

The holidays were a big deal at my house growing up.  Any reason to celebrate was embraced and every celebration had its own traditions.  I don't remember what I received as a gift each year as a kid, but I do remember the times we had to answer a holiday trivia question before we could open a present, or hauling the ladder in the house so Kyle and I could both climb up to put the topper on the tree together at the exact same moment, while posing for a picture.  One of my favorite things about being a mom is getting to start our own family traditions.  This year we started Elf On A Shelf.  It's this darling little book that comes with an Elf sent from the North Pole by Santa himself.  Every night the Elf flies back to Santa and tells if you have been naughty or nice that day.  Every morning the Elf hides somewhere in your house and you have to find him.  You can't touch him or his magic might rub off.  Our Elf was introduced to Zach today through a special breakfast that was waiting for us when we woke up.  He made snowman & Rudolph donuts, and gave Zach a placemat, plate, and cup along with a note he wrote.  Zach was so excited.  I can't wait to see what else Elfie has planned for us!

We also took Zach to the theater to see a movie today for the first time.  We saw the new Muppets movie.  It was really cute, but with the previews and a Toy Story short film before hand, was about 30 minutes too long.  He loved the popcorn though, just like his daddy!

November 26th

Today was one of my favorite days of the year...we decorated the Christmas tree!  Zach was SO into it this year.  I would hand him an ornament and tell him the story of where or why we got it, and he would carefully hang it on the tree and run back for another.

November 25th

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Zach helped Kyle & Amber put their Christmas tree up this morning, and was excited to tackle ours this afternoon.  We decided to leave the decorating for Saturday, but Zach hung the beads Amber had bought him to add some color.

November 24th

We had a great Thanksgiving.  We woke up and watched the parade, had lunch with the Palmer's at the Legion, and finished the day at the Farm.  We feel so lucky our families are close enough to see most everyone in one day.

November 23rd

It is a Huntrod family tradition to fry a turkey the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.  Zach had a blast playing with everyone and celebrating the pre-holiday.

November 22nd

Zach doesn't remember much about last Christmas, but he does remember the train!  Tonight he took his first ride of 2011.  I see many more in our future.

November 20th

Monkey Bread is one of Chris and I's favorite breakfast foods.  Today Zach helped make it.  Instead of making a big batch in a bundt pan, we made just a little bit in a muffin tin.  It worked out great and we didn't have a ton of leftovers.  Zach even ate a few and loved it!

November 19th

Today we met Jenny, Noah, & Memphis at the mall to hang out.

Chris was a complete baby hog like usual.

The boys played so well together in the play area.  Zach stopped to tell me a story.

We happened to walk by J Crew and saw adorable shirts with Santa riding a motorcycle in their kid's department.  They were 25% off and had both Noah & Zach's size.  It was like it was meant to be! 

Zach and Noah are both going through an awkward smile phase, but Memphis is making up for them with his adorable toothless grin!

November 18th

We kicked off the Christmas season a little early tonight at Jordan Creek's tree lighting celebrating the arrival of Santa.  Zach is pretty leery about Santa, and wants to know if it is the real Santa, or Santa's friend (helper).  Either way he is pretty uneasy about the jolly fellow.

Chris won a $10 gift card at the event.  He was pretty happy.

Randy, Jenny, Noah, & Memphis met us there.  Zach and Noah had fun dancing to the dueling pianos playing Christmas music.

I don't have any pictures of the tree lighting or of Santa's arrival, but I did snag a few of my boys watching the fireworks.  These two melt my heart.

Memphis got cold so Randy took him inside the mall.  We joined them for some retail therapy and had a great night.  I do feel like we cheated on Thanksgiving skipping ahead to Christmas, but hopeuflly Thanksgiving will forgive us!

November 17th

No story or quote today.  Just a handsome little boy.  :)

November 16th

“A two-year old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it.”  -Jerry Seinfield
If you don't want your child jumping on the furniture, don't dress him in a shirt with a cape.  He thinks he can fly.

November 15th

I never pulled over the car just to watch tractors
I never was willing to give someone else my last bite
I never planned on handling someone else's boogers
I never listened to a song about combines 50 times in a row
I never found Cheetos in my dryer
I never had the power to heal a wound with my kiss...until you.

November 14th

Both of my camera memory cards are full, and I have been too lazy busy to clear them...so I haven't taken any pictures lately.  Zach is fighting a cold, and I have been Christmas shopping and getting into pre-holiday mode.  I thought I would share a picture of Zach from just about 2 years ago laying in our front yard.  It is one of my favorites.  It is hard to believe he was only about 9 months old here.  Those eyes melt my heart every day!

November 10th

Whenever these two are together, smiles & laughter follow.

November 9th

Zach was so excited this morning when we told him it had snowed.  He jumped out of bed, got dressed, and wanted to help Chris scoop.  It is going to be a fun winter!  (And yes...I know...we need to get him some gloves!)  :)

November 7th

My mom and I went to Minneapolis shopping on Saturday.  We hit up Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Macy's, IKEA, and the Mall of America.  Our feet (and credit cards) were pretty tired by the end of the day but we had a blast.  I found a SUPER cheap side table at IKEA and bought a Lego mat at the Lego store and made Zach a play table.  My mom got him a Duplo (Legos for little ones) fire station set and he was in heaven!  He played with it for a very long time tonight!

November 5th

The first Saturday of every month Home Depot has a Kid's Workshop.  Chris always takes Zach so I can sleep in.  They do the project, buy a furnace filter, and come home and surprise me.  This Saturday they invited Papa & Noah too.  Check out that concentration!

November 2nd

Zach and Tony made pumpkin cookies.  It was pretty adorable to watch.  I am not sure who was having more fun.

November 1st

No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you.
After all, you are the only one that knows what my heart sounds like from the inside.