My Once Upon a Time...

What is on your Christmas list? - "EVERYTHING! I don't know. I have so many things on my list. I don't know!" Where does Santa live? - "At the North Pole!" What are the names of Santa's reindeer? - "I just know Rudolph. I know Blitzen. Come Donder, come Cupid, come Blitzen. Hey, I didn't say Rudolph!" What do you think Santa's favorite food is? - "Carrots or Cookies. And Milk. But why does he like cookies and milk? His tummy will get owies!" What will Santa bring Mama & Mommy for Christmas? - "I don't know, whatever you have on your list!" How old is Santa? - "I don't know...five?" What is your favorite Christmas song? - " The one with the goodies...and toys!" (We found out he was referring to "The Christmas Song".) What is your favorite Christmas movie? - "The Grinch!"

These days are what fuels my soul and give me so much life. Spending all day with Fox, just having fun and meeting up with friends is just icing on the cake.  My friend Kristy went to my favorite pumpkin patch this fall, we didn't end up going because it's such a far drive and we did a lot of pumpkin patches already, plus it was so hot this October. She told me that she saw signs that they also had a "Winter Wonderland" during the month of December, so we made plans to go.  We met up early in the morning and it was a beautiful day. Timing was perfect, because on this day only, they brought in snow for sledding. Fox hasn't been in the snow since he was a baby, so this was really fun.  They both did some sledding, but I didn't get any pictures, since we were too busy situating them on the sled and then pushing them down the hill.  Snowball Fight! The smile says it all! The farm where this was held, is ...

Last week, I hosted my third annual cookie and ornament exchange. The first year we included all the little ones, but figured out last year, that it was way more fun with just the moms, plus, having 20 kids in my house sounds like a slight nightmare...haha! The calm before the storm.  Everyone brings a batch of cookies (homemade or store bought) and an ornament. I provide some additional snacks and drinks.  Cookie Boxes for everyone to take home some cookies.  Luckily Fox fell asleep before everyone arrived, so he didn't even know what was happening, otherwise I'm sure he would've wanted to stay up. Everybody came in jammies/comfy clothes! For the ornament exchange, we played a dice game, where you either had to switch ornaments with someone, steal an ornament, keep your ornament or unwrap one. When every ornament was unwrapped, the game ended and that's the ornament you got to keep.  This ...

I feel like I say this a lot, but these might be my favorite pictures of all time!  When my favorite photographer offered Santa Mini Sessions, I was so excited. I didn't think Fox would do good with Santa, but I knew she would make it a fun experience for him and get some smiles out of him.  So when I pulled up to her house, I expected a regular photo session, but I was blown away by the experience we got. It was truly one of the most special and magical experiences I've had as a mom.  When we got in, she had Fox sit on the couch to read a Christmas book, while she was engaging with him. She told him that Santa was still busy but would be joining us soon.  I didn't think he would be into this book as much as he was, because they also had a train set right across from him.  And then Santa snuck in. She had told me in advance that Santa would be surprising Fox and I thought he would freak out, because it would scare him.  He h...