Partially finished living room

So here's our finished-for-now living room with the Ballard prints, the shelf from a seller on Etsy, and the lantern (on the right) from Pottery Barn.

I have yet to find exactly what I want to go on the shelf. I have a vision of an orange tray with sides that slope up, and I want to put a few decorative balls on it. I have looked far and wide for a tray with the perfect depth and width, knowing I can just spray paint it orange, but no such luck as of yet.

Our next purchases in this room will be new couches (not any time soon... they're wearing down, but I love having old couches with young kids), a coffee table, a table to go between the zebra chairs with a lamp on it, and I'll move the current lamp to the right side of the console.

I broke down and bought a 2nd tree today. Our floor plan has no fireplace in the living room... it's in Jason's office... so I have a 'formal' tree in there with the stockings hung.

Call me Mrs. Bah Humbug, but I have never decorated a tree with family ornaments. And now that the kids are old enough to enjoy helping me decorate (Emerson actually put a Christmas shirt on before helping me on Sunday... that girl knows how to get in the Christmas spirit), I figure it's time to get a family tree and break out the ornaments with special meaning. I'm going to start buying them each an ornament every Christmas so they can start their own collections.

I'm really excited about this Christmas season in general! I feel like it's the first time in a really long time that I have a good amount of energy, I'm not nursing or pregnant, and I've got a lot of gift buying under my belt already. I hate feeling stressed during December. I'm looking forward to our company Christmas party at Michael V's, a cookie exchange party at my friend Cristin's, and the kids' Christmas pageants at preschool. I'd like to go watch the Tulsa Christmas parade this year, too. Just enough activities to feel festive, but not overdo it. I'm not an overdo-it kind of gal. I get cranky. Just ask my husband.

Boomer Sooner!

Saturday was amazing. Perfect football weather, perfect ending to the game. The game itself wasn't pretty, but the WIN is all that matters. Spending multiple hours in the car with my husband with no loud children in the back seat... getting to talk football strategy and laughing hysterically at all manner of people-watching... realizing that I needed to tinkle after I bought popcorn and zipping the ginormous tub of popcorn into my hoodie in the ladies' room... it was one of the best dates ever!!! Maybe one of these days we'll get season tickets. :)

Turkey Day Picture FAIL

I had the best intentions to take pictures all day Thursday, but hosting for 15 got the best of me! We had 8 adults and 8 kiddos (under 6) from Jason's side, and it was a blast! 

The reasons I had a stress-free Thanksgiving:

1) I did a lot of prep ahead of time. I had the entire table set on Wednesday, and I made my desserts Wednesday night as well.

2) Everyone else brought the majority of the sides. Being that I have only one oven, it would've been virtually impossible for me if I were to make everything. 

3) Our guests were FAMILY. It's amazing how there's an instant weight off your shoulders as a host when it's family coming over. They don't care if your house is spotless, they don't care of they have to wait a few minutes for the last few things to cook, and they love you for hosting!

4) I was able to do the clean-up myself. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I LOVE to clean up after a meal. There's something so cathartic about putting the dishes in the dishwasher and scrubbing those 9 x 13s. Anyone with me on that? No? It's one of my neuroses, I suppose. 

So today is gonna be the best day EVER! Jason surprised me last week with OU/OSU tickets!!! We dropped the kids off at Pa-Pa and Grandma's last night, got sushi takeout and rented a movie, enjoyed a quiet house (ifyouknowwhatImean, fellow parents of preschoolers), I slept in this morning (thank you Jesus), and in a few hours we'll be on our way to Norman! Go Sooners!!!

Currently...

1) Sitting in my workout clothes. The trouble is, I worked out at 9:15 this morning. And it's now almost 2 p.m. I'm really quite a sight. And I smell glorious.

2) Thinking about Emerson's morning meltdown. We took our books back to the library after the gym, and she cried the entire way there because of two books she was devastated to part with. I asked her why she was crying, and she said because those were the only two books she knew how to read. For the record, she can't read yet, but she memorized those two books and felt deliciously grown up each time she 'read' them out loud to us.

3) Excited about digging into these homemade granola bars when they cool. A family favorite! Recipe HERE.

4) Ready for the weekend! Date night tonight (Cardigan's for dinner followed by Skyfall at the movies). Jason's parents are coming over for the OU game on Saturday night, then we're having dinner at our friends' house on Sunday night. 

5) Loving Hayden's sense of humor. Her current favorite funny thing to do is pretend that she's asleep. When I open her door in the morning, whether she's standing up or sitting in her crib, she'll immediately flop down into a supine position, shut her eyes tightly, and begin to breathe heavily. In the meantime, she's doing her darndest not to smile, so her mouth is pursed and quivering. Oh she's hilarious! 

6) Asking Jax to pray a LOT at the dinner table because I love to hear his lisp. And for the record, I didn't teach him The Lord's Prayer. He learned it from preschool... well, now that I think about it, I think maybe he learned it from Emerson who learned it from preschool.

"Our God who aren't in heaven."

"Give us this day, our daily breath."

Happy Weekend!

Last of the leaves

Our front tree has officially lost its final leaves, as of this weekend. I know three little people who were thrilled last week after preschool when Momma stopped the car in the driveway and forced mandatory evacuation to the leaf-strewn yard. 

New website

The website for Legacy Wealth Management, Jason's financial services company, is finally up!

http://www.legacywealthus.com/

He and Dave, his business partner, have worked long and hard on it, and I think it looks great! 

Fall Festival-in'

Last night we took the kids to the Jones family's Fall Festival. They are dear family friends of ours, and Jake is now my employer (he owns HonorNet Publishers). We love being on their ranch, and the kids had a blast!

All dressed up on the porch, ready to load up for the trek to the ranch. I had fun using face paint this year on the pirate and cat.

Daddy and Hot Sauce cheese it up.

Here is Emerson, 13 months old, the last time we were able to go to this fall festival. She'd like for you to know she was the original ladybug of the family. As I'm comparing these two pictures, I realize I made Emerson's cute little antennae... gosh, gone are the days of creative craftiness! What did I do with all of my free time with only one child?! I guess I made antennae! Hayden should consider herself lucky that I slapped a bow on her head.

Getting some good Mr. Jake hugs on the way to the pony rides.

I just love this picture.

Hot Sauce wasn't afraid of the animals at all.

Look at this pond... hello gorgeousness. Jason and I have an invitation for horseback riding anytime we want. Yes!!!