Tinsel Town

i know its a little early to be getting ready for christmas. i am sure that by the time it actually rolls around i will be so ready for it to just be over. kinda like how i feel about all the holidays. its just so fun to decorate though, i cant help myself. this year i am hosting a progressive dinner for a bunch of women in early december and since we will be gone the two weekends before, i feel totally justified to start setting up the tree even before thanksgiving.

i've always wanted to make a little christmas village like this one. i just made it out of milk cartons that i have been saving for the past several months. and then put twinkle lights inside. super easy. it was fun to be a little creative, its my stress outlet.

i am making advent calendars this year for family gifts, for my family. i want to put in all the holiday traditions, like looking at lights, reading polar express and drinking hot cocoa, and building a gingerbread house. on some days i think i will just put in chocolates, i am sure some days will be to busy for an extra thing to do. but i need a few more ideas. whats your favorite holiday tradition?

Hot dogs & smores: yes please!

Last Friday we went up to Table Mesa for a bon fire to experience the best parts of camping with out the back aches that come in the morning. The boys found an old door and decided it would make a great sled down the hillside (that was covered in glass). Why cant they be satisfied with an open fire, roasting dogs and smores. Maybe a few stories could be shared around the crackling fire. You know just sit back and hang? Oh no, not my fam, they like to live life on the edge. But no one was hurt, and the boys all had a good time! Its just another Hancock adventure! Whats next??

Hair cuts

You know how you feel like a whole new woman after you get a hair cut? Well I kinda feel that way after my kids get their hair cut too! Their hair was so long it was ridiculous. They always shower at night so they always wake up with bed head and they hate hate hate it when I put gel, or jelly as Hayden calls it, in their hair. I usually leave their bangs a little longer so I can style it on Sunday, its the only day I make them do their hair. But please isnt that ridiculous to have crazy every day, just to have cute styled hair for three hours one day a week. So we buzzed it. And I love it. They look so much cuter now. I dont look at them and think ohmigosh what is their Mom thinking, I look at them and think how handsome they are...just like their Daddy...when he has his hair cut!

Halloween Weekend

For Halloween this year we had a huge weekend party to celebrate. Shawn's fam came, my fam came. It was awesome, probably the best Halloween ever. Dont you love how everyone dressed up? Hey we get into it, we know how to have fun- we cant let the kids have all the fun! On Halloween Day we went to the park, carved pumpkins, ate chili and hot dogs, our traditional Halloween dinner, and went trick or treating, then of course the kids went through their stash. On Sunday my Mom made yummy french toast, we went to church ate an early Thanksgiving dinner, played games. All in all it was a jam packed weekend of just being together, it was great. This is how every weekend should be!

I like to carve pumpkins just for the seeds, yummy!, and we had a ton of seeds between the 9 kids and their pumpkins. Did I mention we had a house full? I was impressed with what everyone came up with. We have a very talented bunch of pumpkin carvers!!

On Saturday, just to make things a little more hectic, and exciting, Ethan and hayden both had sports games. At least they were back to back. It was fun hanging out at the park on our little blanket while all the kids ran around.