Fake Potatoes and Ugly Sweaters

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch.  The 10th annual Scott Valley Schools' Turkey Trot was a huge success and we had more participants than ever.  This year Carter and Bradley ran/walked the three mile together and Miles joined in with Wyatt and Finn.  Both boys took a nice pre-Thanksgiving dinner nap as a result  In an effort to work "smarter not harder" I contributed to the annual Isbell Thanksgiving with some "instant" mashed potatoes.  I doctored them up with Organic Chicken Broth and a lot of butter.  Nobody even noticed and I saved myself a lot of time and potato peelings.

It's now December 7th and the holiday season is off with a bang.  Our annual tree hunting this year actually yielded a bit of snow and sledding.  This year the boys could have cared less about the tree and were intent to go all-out on their sled runs.

We were supposed to have a full-family holiday photo shoot but I had the stomach flu and Vanessa ended up with Pneumonia.  The boys and my mom had a nice time and the photographer got some great shots.  Our old girl Maggie even managed to sneak in for a few photo ops.


The tree is up, house is decorated, and the boys mailed off their letters to Santa.  Carter wasn't too sure of my new method of letter this year.  I made them ask Santa for something to wear and something they needed.  As both of these categories do not consist of toys, it came as a bit of a shock to the boys.  However, Carter recovered quickly when he realized that he both needed and could wear a new pair of ski pants.

This weekend I hosted my staff for our 1st annual Ugly Sweater Party and it was a huge hit.  I can't wait for next year.  As we move forward with the holiday season, I hope to get less overwhelmed with the lists and must-dos and take time to enjoy each and every day.  The magic of the season is upon us, I've already weathered the stomach flu, so let's just hope no one argues with instant potatoes at Christmas Eve.