Tis the Season for...Bird Feeders

 Christmas Card 2017!  I didn't even think I'd get cards out this year but it just so happened that they were dressed up from church, Siri was visiting with her new phone with the fancy camera, and my Dad had donuts on the table for them...so as any good mom would do I used the donuts as a bribe and ran them outside my parents house and took as many pics as I could in 15 seconds...and low and behold we ended up with some keepers!  Merry Christmas!

 Cousin Kisses!

 We took Carson's friend Elliott with us to our annual Tinsels, Trolley's, and Lights in downtown Ada.  The kids got to eat smores at the firehouse, listen to Mrs. Claus read "The Night Before Christmas", ride on a horse, and get other goodies walking around downtown.

 The next morning was The Santa Parade!  Our family favorite!  It's short and sweet and the kids get more candy than they do on Halloween!

 Evie was all about dancing to the bands and grabbing whatever left over candy she could find on the ground.

 After the parade we all hung out at the Ada Chili Cook off and Beer Tasting!  It was so much fun.  The kids loved the band and the adults loved the food, drinks, and company!

 My girl!

 I'm planning Laney's class holiday party this year and we are attempting Gingerbread houses!  I wanted to test out some frosting recipes and get some logistics down so we had our buddies Carson and Kendyl come over one night to help us do a trial run.

 Everson was happy to taste test the candy while the kids decorated.

 Laney's basketball team picture!  She is still loving it and we love watching her.  Last week she had the ball and went right up to the basket and had an open shot, but stopped and passed it to a team mate instead.   After the game, Patrick asked her why she had done that, and she replied, "Because he passed it to me once, so I passed it to him.  That's how it works Dad."  So wise.

 We took the kids to see Santa at Meijer Gardens last week and they had all these screens set up to take pictures in front of.  The kids loved looking at their pictures that made them look like they were really in those places.

 Train watching!

 Everson was super excited about seeing Santa and she couldn't wait to hop on his lap with Carson and Laney.  She says, "Ho ho ho" every time we see a santa or a snowman.

 Watching Carson play out in the snow.

Goofing around in Grandma's slippers! 

 I think the kids enjoyed decorating Grandma and Grandpa's tree even more than our own!

I signed Carson and my Dad up to participate in an Ada Family Fun activity last weekend.  My Dad took him to the park and they got to build a birdfeeder together, learn about birds, and bird watch. It was seriously probably a highlight of Carson's life. He is so excited about the bird feeder. They hung it up in my parents backyard and Carson gets daily texts of pictures and videos of all the birds using it.  

 After the bird house was complete, Carson walked away from my Dad and came back with his writing on the roof that reads, "Carson and Marty made this together".  Yep, Marty, not Grandpa.  But obviously it means a lot to him.

 Patrick and Carson "bird watching" at my parents.

 When the kids are at school Everson will get into the cupboards and if she finds one of their lunchboxes she will pull it out and carry it over to the door waving to me and saying, "bye-bye".  I swear she is pretending she is going off to school like they do in the mornings.  It's just so cute...not yet baby girl!


Snow Monster at the Door from ingrid brang on Vimeo.

Christmas Parade from ingrid brang on Vimeo.

Dancing Queen from ingrid brang on Vimeo.

Dancing Queen part 2 from ingrid brang on Vimeo.