The season has arrived!

Our tree is up! We didn't exactly go with tradition this year and cut one down. Nope, we went to Home Depot ( Its still real though :) It was partly because I'm a cheap skate and partly because our schedule has quickly filled up. I am learning I have to be PURPOSEFUL in not becoming overwhelmed.



I am also learning that Christmas isn't about having the lights and ornaments match my decor. This is something that we all should be able to share in. I have allowed the kids to play a huge part it decorating and making the house fun. It goes against all my OCD desires :)

We have just been hanging out beside the fire. Playing with our breakable Christmas houses. Putting ornaments on the tree. Taking ornaments off the tree. Cleaning needles off the floor. Baking cookies...



Jack even called me in the playroom to show me what he had made out of the train set...



We are just having a good ole' time!

Thursday Bren and I are off to Denver. Can I tell you how excited we are!!??! Going to see some great friends! Hopefully I will have lots of good pics to share ; )

Until then,

Courtney

Christmas pics: Take 1

I would be lying if I said I look forward to trying to take Christmas pics. Actually, I get a huge knot in my stomach because I know what I am up against.

You see... my boys hate the camera, they hate pictures. It's my fault. I've ruined them.

Taking 10,000 pictures (literally) will do that.

But persevere I will!

Yep, I will try to give them a pep talk...



Brendan will attempt the pep talk...



We will try to get them to stay still...



But they won't. Nope they will run...



They will be captured by daddy...





All that for the hopes that a momma will get a sweet picture with her little boy...



Or those wild boys will stop a moment and look my way...







Love the pictures I got, but so glad it is over ;)

Life with boys,

Courtney





Fuller 1st Annual Camping trip

I am a lover of the outdoors. Brendan is a lover of the outdoors.



Therefore, it is only natural we want our boys to be lovers of the outdoors ;)



So this weekend we set out for our first camping trip. We have been slowly collecting camping stuff over the past few years in anticipation of this occasion. We picked Oak Mountain State Park for our first site because it is the least primitive. The boys could hardly contain themselves they were so excited!

We went for two... 2 man tents. We bought high quality gear and tried to plan for the long term, not so much for the little kid stage. I thought having their own tent might scare them, but it didn't a bit! Actually, they were so excited about having their own tent that they went to play in it and fell asleep at 6:30!





Our favorite thing was just hiking and being outside. Away from t.v. and mounds of toys.



Well, that and eating ;)



The best campfire philly cheese steaks ever!



They only "bump" in the road was that Collins was up at 4:30. And he wasn't quietly up, nope. He was screaming "pancakes and milk" at the top of his lungs! So we quickly took camp down, threw it in the back of the truck, and went to Cracker Barrel.

All in all it was a big success. We are trying to be very intentional about making memories, and I'm pretty sure we made some this weekend!

Courtney

Callie Girl

This week we got to spend a few days with my niece Callie. It was so much fun adding a little pink and pigtails to all this blue and buzz cuts!





She is basically the cutest thing ever!! And the boys adore her!


( Collins hates getting his picture taken!)





I did capture a cheesey pic of my two as well...



Courtney

The Beginnings...

Of what will soon be my dining room table:



So its been a while since we decided to change up the dining room. Basically I am going for the "out with the new, in with old" look.

This is the before:


This is the middle while we wait for our table to be finished:


This will be the after:


Well not exactly ;) This and a whole lot of elbow grease.

While I appreciate the Pottery Barn look, and our Ethen Allen table is serving us well... I like old. I am not only obsessed with old houses, I appreciate old/ vintage furnishings. With the help of Bren's dad I was able to get this wood that is from the 1800's! What heritage it has!

I cannot wait to have this...



In my dining room, with benches neatly tucked under it, and upholstered chairs tucked into the ends.

But I know good things take time and hard work:



So wait I will, and I'll be back to share the finished product.

Courtney

A perfect day

Thursday we took off on a little road trip to Florence. If you have been around this blog anytime than you know that UNA is my Alma Mater and I love that corner of North Alabama!

It was such a great day. We took the boys by campus to see the {real} Lions and to show them my old stompin' grounds.



Making big roars...







We even got to catch part of the Veterans' Day parade...



The number one reason for the trip was to check out some of my good friends babies. I had so much fun getting baby love!! My friends do have the prettiest baby girls. Can I just say that I have held 3 newborns in the last two days and I don't even have baby fever... ok, maybe just a tad. {GRIN}



I will say that the day turned not so perfect on the way home with a very tired two year old. Guess the PERFECT day only happens in heaven :)

Courtney

Heritage

My Grandmother recently passed down to me a cookbook that has been in our family since 1894. It has been used by the last 4 generations.

Twentieth Century Cookbook and Housekeeping

I carefully took it out of the bag it was in, and ever so gently flipped the pages. It didn't take me long to realize how good I've got it. Every recipe include milking a cow, or breaking a chickens neck.

My great.. great...Great Grandmother even sketched in a few of her own recipes.



I love the stains on the pages. I love they represent years of mixing bowls, spills, and family dinners.

My sweet grandmother even gave me the pot that she has cooked in over the years. I was so excited that I ran out and bought all the ingredients for my favorite meals.

Well, it didn't take long for me to figure out that those meals are so much more than the book they came from or the pot that cooked them.

Nope, its the hands that prepared them that makes the meals what I remembered as a child.

This cookbook will be something that I will hold dear and hopefully pass along one day. In the meantime, my hands are busy preparing my own special recipes to feed the ones that I love. Just like generations past...

Courtney

A little late

I'm pretty sure that posting Halloween pictures this late is equivalent to putting a Christmas tree up in January. However, I got out from under my rock and took a quick trip to Houston and now I'm behind a bit on blogging.

To be honest... I am not to fond of the holiday. I hate what it represents, I hate all the candy, and the waste of money on costumes. The skulls, witches, and skeletons are a bit much for me. Not sure what our stance will be in the future, but this year the kids had a "parade" and party at school and we participated.



Jacks favorite part by far was the eating.




Collins shares my feelings for this crazy holiday...


Glad its over.

Courtney