Santa is Coming Real Soon!

Zoey and Anthony were all smiles in front of the tree as we finished the decorating while listening to my favorite Muppets and Elvis Christmas music!

For a week now Anthony has been so excited to see all of the Christmas lights popping up around town. Every morning on the way to day care he points out the lights and lets me know that means Santa is coming real soon. Then he'll proceed to remind me what he would like for Christmas - a choo choo, popcorn and egos (Legos). He's in love with everything Christmas - Santa, lights, the stories, snowman, leaving cookies for Santa, the reindeer, Santa's sleigh, Christmas trees, presents, snow, etc. etc. etc. It is so much fun for Mark and I that he understands the holiday season better and is getting so excited. (It's also nice to hold the Santa card over his head. He actually stopped screaming in the car when I told him Santa wouldn't like it. CRAZY! I'll have to enjoy this and totally use it for the next 26 days.)
We're going to have a great holiday season and I'm so looking forward to everything that goes with it! I love this time of year.

I love having our tree up, decorated and lit. It's always such a beautiful sight and so relaxing to sit in front of. It was great fun to wrap presents this afternoon and get them under the tree too. Anthony was excited to see the gifts and wanted to open them immediately. I'm guessing there will be some that get unwrapped throughout the next few weeks.

Want to know the best thing about our tree? It's filled with memories and has ornaments that have meaning behind it. I love that it's all hodge podge. Every year it's great to see the old ornaments and remember the stories behind them. That means more to me than a theme-y, colored inspired tree for our house.

Crafty and creative Erik made this ornament for me a few years back.

Manda gave me this ornament back in 1991. I love it!

Mom has given me an ornament every year. This one was from the year I graduated from high school and started my first year of college.

This is Anthony's first ornament from Grandma and Papa Johnson. The barn theme was really appropriate given his love for everything animals and life on the farm.

This was Anthony first ornament from Grandma and Papa Hanson. 2008 will always be a special year for us because it was the year A came home and eventually celebrated his first Christmas with us.

Let the holiday season begin and bring on the snow!

Black Friday

Shopping on Black Friday morning was a first for me, but it turned out to be great fun! Mark and I spent time scouring the ads looking for great deals, making our list and then I got up nice and early to meet Manda and Mom at Target. HOLY MOLY! I could not believe the unbelievable line. There were so many others with the same list and wanting to find the best holiday deals. I never thought I would want to do something like this - get up super early, stand in long lines, deal with massive crowds - but I have to admit I had so much fun and am completely in the holiday mood.

Thankful

We had a great time up north celebrating Thanksgiving, but in true Tonja fashion I didn't take a single photo showcasing the fun we had and our time spent with family. The meal was delicious - thanks, as always, mom - and the groans were heard around the table as I ask my famous yearly question.

What are you thankful for this year?

I truly love the Thanksgiving holiday because the whole theme of the day could be a theme of my life. Everyday I try to remember to give thanks and be grateful for all that I have. Too many times individuals get fixated on the "stuff" they don't have and lose sight of everything they have been so wonderfully blessed with. I try not to get sucked into the "keeping up with the Joneses" philosophy and be content with what I do have. (Although, some days I struggle with that more than I would like to admit.)
That being said, though, I always try to focus on the positives - the gifts - the reasons to be thankful.
Undoubtedly, I have...
a wonderful family!
an amazing husband and beautiful little boy!
a job I love!
a house that keeps us warm and feels like our home!
great friends!
many good days with great health!
The list could continue on with all the little and large blessings in my life.

What are you thankful for this year?
Please share! I would love to know.

Anthony's Three Year Shots

It's great having a sister that is so talented and giving of her time who happens to be a photographer. Our hope this year was to take Anthony's three year photos outside in fall leaves. There were many weekends we had planned to go up north, but then pushed it back because the leaves still had yet to turn with our beautiful September weather. Then October came along with a hard frost and a spell of bad weather. As you are all probably aware the leaves never fully turned and we somehow slipped into a barren looking landscape pretty fast. Even though the background wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, my sister, as always, did a fantastic job of finding a great spot to take some photos and was able to get her "booger" smiling while she clicked away.
Unfortunately, Anthony really wasn't into having photos taken that day and quickly slipped into a bad mood. I made it even worse when I took a stick away that he found in the woods and was hitting others with. (Darn, mom!) That's when the tears started and the "you can't take my stick away" mantra was repeated over and over and over...
Never fear, though! Even though I thought the photo shoot was a complete disaster the results turned out awesome. She got several great shots of Anthony and was able to capture his wonderful smile and just overall cuteness as well as his random silliness; got to love the family photo where he's sticking out his tongue and being Mr. Goofy Pants! The last photo, though, is definitely one of my favorites. She did a fabulous job of capturing Anthony's mood of the day --- the whine, tears and overall pouting "I not want to do this" mood.
Thanks again, Auntie Manda! You are WONDERFUL and always so appreciated!

She's convinced...

that she's truly having a baby elephant! This past week Manda had a doctor's appointment and an ultrasound to find out Baby Boy Tuttle is now FIVE POUNDS at seven and a half months along. He certainly is growing and it's great to hear that both mommy-to-be and baby boy are healthy and doing well.
I love the tummy photo updates as well as hearing all of the stories like shopping for maternity pants and having a little one inside of you doing some serious gymnastics. Again, it's great, as always, to vicariously live through my sister's pregnancy. She doesn't hold back on her stories, which is great because I love hearing about everything. It's wonderful!

Baby Showers Galore

It's just like me to plan and plan for something, but then forget to take my camera out and capture all of the moments. (Even the mommy-to-be was taking pictures at her own showers. However, that's really not a big surprise...) This weekend mom and I hosted two baby showers for my 7 1/2 months along sister. Both showers were a lot of fun with many laughs - mostly due to my sister's stand up comedian show! For me it was wonderful to watch her be on the receiving end of so much love. She always does a great job of remembering everything and everybody. She knows exactly how to make people feel special and loved. It would be impossible to be in Manda's life without knowing you are appreciated and that she cares about you. To see her get all of that love returned was a great sight.
On Saturday night she called me at least five times at my parent's house to thank us and then let us know something new about her gifts. She was busy going through everything, showing Damon and then organizing them into bins until the baby's room is completed. Her excitement is contagious and I cannot wait to see the baby's room come together and, ultimately, for this little guy to join our family.
As for the shirt, I have to thank mom, Erik and Deb - Manda's mother-in-law - for helping me pull it all together. Of course, in true Manda style, she loved it and wore it to both showers. I'm sure she'll even be one to wear it around town now and even after the baby comes! I will always love her spunk, humor and endless zest for life.
Even though the weekend was busy it was great! Plus I came home to a husband who did an endless amount of chores around the house. Whether it was vacuuming, organizing the crawl space and bins or touching up the paint in our house it was DONE. I'm thinking Anthony and I need to spend even more weekends up north now and leave daddy-o behind!

Spidey

Prior to Halloween, a co-worker, Jen, and I were talking about our boys and their love for superheroes. Her little guy was going to be Spider Man two years in a row; however, she needed to buy a new costume that would actually fit him. Luckily that meant Cole had a costume he was willing to give away to Anthony. To say A was delighted by this would be a complete understatement. He was thrilled and has worn it almost everyday since then. The very first night he even slept in it and everyday we get home he rushes to his room to find his outfit! (He even needed to bring it up north to show Grandma and Papa this past weekend!) I have a feeling this particular costume is going to get even more use and he'll have lots of fun moments eliminating crime on Balsam Boulevard. Thanks, Jen and Cole! You made one little boy's Spidey dreams come true.

Halloween Fun

Once again Peter Pan and Captain Hook - er, I mean, Luke and Jenn - threw another amazing get together at their house. Jenn has been planning this Halloween party for months and doing several things to prepare for the big day. At first I thought she might be a little crazy; however, I now understand that being prepared early is key. Mark and I had quite the adventure trying to pull our outfits together at the last possible minute.
Everything went off without a hitch and we ended up having a great time. Anthony loved being able to trick-or-treat with his wild things friends and others who showed up, enjoyed all the great playtime downstairs and really wasn't ready to go home when we left at 11:30 that night. Even though Cam was on his way to bed and everyone else was ready to fall over exhausted, he was raring to go.
Mark and I haven't been to a Halloween party since our childhood and both had a fabulous time at this family friendly party. Thank you for taking the time to create such a wonderful get together, Jenn!

Mark.
The Hippie.
I know - it's a lot to take in.
Just the fact that Mark is wearing a costume is pretty amazing.
But those glasses, that moustache and the hair?
Amazing.
Again, take it in because I have no clue when something like this will ever happen again!

Anthony was in a wagon and ready to go trick-or-treating!

The crew getting ready to go around the neighborhood.

Some of us girls hanging out.

Sweet RuRu shows up at her first Halloween party! Of course we were all excited to see her and couldn't get over the adorable outfit. Too cute!

Adele with her Incredible beefy daddy. (Gretchen rocked an Incredible costume as well weeks after her delivery! You go girl!)

The Hares as scouts.
I loved their outfits and wish I had as much creativity as Tracy always does!

The end of the night found the kiddos on the couch, trying to wind down and watch It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

For Jenn's recap of the night, the awards handed out blog-style and more photos be sure to visit What L & J Have to Say. (It might be worth it just to check out the rest of Peter Pan's costume. Luke rocked the green tight tights!)