'Tis the Season🎄🎅🌟

Well, Thanksgiving came and went, but that just meant Christmas was right around the corner. This year, we didn't even get the Thanksgiving dinner cleaned up before Colin was asking to have his "Ho Ho" out for the season. No joke, that boy was ready to get the room arranged, so Santa could rock out to Jingle Bell Rock on the table that he stands on every year. That is the 1st sign that Christmas is coming at our house, lol! 

We took advantage of a quiet Thanksgiving and used the weekend to get the house decorated. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of us doing it, because this year I really took in the moment.  It has been a really weird year and I just wanted to be sure to take in the whole thing. Our tree is full of 21 years of "memories on branches" as we call our ornaments and every year it's a trip down memory lane when we decorate it. I dreamed of this tree when I gave Brenton the very 1st ornament back in 1999! I knew that one day I wanted a tree full of them and for every single one to bring back a memory when we placed it on the tree...well, we've accomplished it! I think next year we'll need a new tree, b/c the tree (our very 1st tree that we bought together back in 1999, as well) is so full that we were searching for open spots! I love it! I love looking at it! It just warms my heart to know that our journey together hasn't been perfect, but through all the years, 2 kids later, we truly are so blessed and those dang ornaments are the yearly reminder of it! 

Making cookies is another tradition that has to be done at our house. I have to be honest and say this year, I was trying my hardest to get Ethan sold on the idea of just buying premade sugar cookie cutouts. The thought of doing those particular cookies just seemed to overwhelm me this year, but he wasn't having it. I know that this particular tradition is something that he truly enjoys. It's not that it's a major thing either, b/c I'm a "semi-homemade" baker and Betty Crocker helps us accomplish all the ingredients; however, for some reason even that just seemed too much. However, I knew this wasn't about me and so we got everything we needed to accomplish the task to get them made. It wasn't bad though, the giggles and joking while doing it was what this mama needed. It forced me to take a deep breath and embrace the moment! Making cookies, is a tradition that my oldest enjoys and it meant the world to him that we did them together. That is something that means the world to me, so looking back I'm so glad we didn't cheapen the moment and did exactly what we do every year! 

Christmas is literally a week away and we are 100% ready! The train is out, Chippey arrived, gifts are ready, cookies made, we had a great date day (our gift to each other), and the coworker & teacher gifts have been given. For some reason, after all of that is done, is when I truly take a deep breath and am ready to celebrate! Our first celebration is this weekend with Brenton's parents and then my parents will be next Saturday. It's not how we wanted it to be this year, but we are so grateful we are getting at least that! This will be the first time I've ever spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home and not with extended family, but we have some fun things planned and just going to take the moment in stride. It's been a really wild and crazy year! I'm ready to get through this week, so I can enjoy the next 2 at home with my little family. I'm just so ready for a cozy Christmas with my guys, in our little house, embracing the extra time we are getting together this year! --Merry Christmas! 

best buddies

she loves the tree

my kids enjoying the moment

Polar Express is better this way, lol

Chippey "finally" made it this year

Date Day fun

enjoying our little town 

Let the baking begin...

Our new additions...

🦃Gobble Gobble🦃

Wow! Thanksgiving came and went already! It's been quite the month, thus far and again I say...I'm not trying to wish time away, but 2020 certainly is a year I can't wait to get through! 

Here at the Shroyer house, we have decided to do our best to live "through the chaos" the best we can! November, is month of remembering to be "thankful" and "grateful" on a daily basis and this year, it was so important to purposely remind ourselves just how blessed we truly are! 

During the month, leading up to Thanksgiving, our only tradition is to add a leaf each day to our Thankful Tree. We have been doing this before Ethan could even write his own leaf. It is so important to me, for both my boys, to express their thankfulness and it was so neat to see & hear what their leaf would be each day. I asked Ethan, now that he's 13, if it bugged him that his mom has all these crazy things throughout the year that we do and he let me know that he loves them and enjoys each season, due to, the traditions we do. That warmed my mama heart, b/c I know one day I'll look back on these things, these leaves particularly, and smile. Yes, I keep them and they go into our yearly memory jar and each New Years Eve, we look back on them with the rest of our memories of the year.

This year, Thanksgiving was different! We chose, due to Ohio COVID cases skyrocketing and the Governor asking folks to please celebrate small, we stayed home and had our own little celebration here. Yes, it wasn't what I wanted, b/c I love celebrating with our extended families, but I just felt in my heart that we had to do our part. We're not afraid of COVID, I mean it's a virus with a 97% survival rate for most, yet I just knew that being part of the solution is far greater than complaining about things. I mean we're celebrating Thanksgiving after all! The holiday that embraces gratitude and what else is there to be thankful for than our health, family, and togetherness! 

Although, it was different and all things considered, our Thanksgiving truly was a great day! We just were home being lazy, cooking, watching movies, and calling family to be a part of our day together. Brenton rocked our dinner and my dad made us his traditional dressing that I used to help him make as a little girl to complete our dinner spread. Brenton loves to cook and his very first turkey was amazing! We tag teamed the overall meal and when I got nervous about getting everything done, my sweet hubby calmed my nerves and pulled off a wonderful, traditional Thanksgiving meal for us. I love that man so much! He's definitely the Ying to my Yang! 😊🦃🧡

my dad made us plenty of dressing

Mom's gift to us 

"turkey" treats to my guys

Our breakfast tradition

our Thankful Tree

naps are crucial

1st Turkey

my new dishes for the holiday

gotta have festive cookies

turkey coma

Brenton did good

Happy Thanksgiving from us to you

Halloween 2020

Hard to believe, but Halloween was this past weekend! I'm not complaining, seeing where 2020 is at the current moment, but this year is truly flying by! I'm so ready to say goodbye to this year, but I also know I can't wish time away either. So, we are making the most of it! It is just such a weird time! 

We love Halloween, but this year was just different. The excitement wasn't there and with another recent COVID outbreak the fun of it was just completely sucked out of it...at least, for me! The boys had a little fun at school, again different w/ no costumes, but atleast they were allowed to do something I guess! Colin was asked to wear orange & black and Ethan decided to dress up with his friends as colors. He chose lime green. I mean seriously...lime green! He couldn't of chosen red, blue, or maybe orange? No, lime green! It's fricken October, there is no lime green anything in the stores right now! It was a task, but we got it figured out the best we good and yes, it included dye! They had a fun day and then Ethan ended up having his best buddy over Saturday for actual Halloween, so they walked downtown to experience the festivities. There was a new haunted house that was put up for the evening and I heard that was really neat. The town tried to make the most it and overall my big boys were happy, so that's what mattered. Brenton tagged along and then made it back home in time for the OSU/Penn State game. Overall, it was a good night, but just different! Colin didn't want to trick-or-treat and I didn't force that. After him telling me, "no" like 5 times straight, I knew he didn't have any interest, so we got in our comfy clothes, he enjoyed his pumpkin bucket we made for him with all his favorites and the 2 of us just stayed home! The highlight of the night...The Buckeyes pulled off a win and thank goodness for that, lol! 

Creating Our 🎃's

What would the Halloween season be without the fun of pumpkin carving? At our house, it's a pretty big deal and we really enjoy it! We get the large speaker and before we even start cutting, the spooky music is playing to help get our creative juices flowing. LOL! Colin, he enjoys creating a pumpkin BUT he can do without the guts and grossness of the inside. So, his pumpkin has been a kit the past few years, but he makes the cutest darn 'spider' pumpkin if I say so myself. Ethan, he loves everything about it...even getting his hands dirty! However, his pumpkin has also been the same the past few years, because he chooses the Halloweentown pumpkin face each time. It's just the traditional face, but that's what he likes so that's what he does. Brenton and I try to do something different each year, so ours are never the same. It's just a fun time, but if we're being really honest here the BEST thing that comes from all the carving is the pumpkin seeds. We absolutely love to roast them! It's work to get all those dang seeds clean and yes, it's mostly my job, but the boys do a great job getting all the gunk off which makes the process easier. Overall, it was fun time and here's our creations for this year.....