Picking out the Tree

We took a lot of pictures this week. This post will be those we took on Sunday, the day we picked out this year's Christmas tree. We invited our friends, the Showalters, to join us and their girls had a blast. Here is Becca all bundled up out on the farm.

Patrick found a tree he likes.


First, Patrick helped Mike cut down the tree.

Then Sam got to help.

This is Patrick Showalter and Pia watching Mike cut down the tree.

My manly husband and his conquered tree.

After freezing our butts off, we all went out to dinner. Patrick, Sam and Pia had a great time as we waited for our table.

After dinner, we went to the East Peoria Festival of Lights. Here are some of the awesome displays they had.

Patrick really loved the dinosaurs.


This is a little fuzzy but its Elliot from Pete's Dragon.

The USS East Peoria

And a TIE Fighter....

...fighting an X-Wing. You can see the shots being fired!

I'll close with some super cute pictures of the kids in front of the tree.

Thanksgiving at Sullivans

We took the kids to Iowa for Thanksgiving and had so much fun we forgot to take out the camera most of the time. I did get this picture of Patrick sporting Grandpa's hat. Isn't he styling?

Grandma show Patrick how to build a fort out of cushions and he figured out how to take it down.

Becca helped.


After a long car ride on Sunday, the kids and Mike did some much needed wrestling.


The kids also showed me Bruce the T-Rex, complete with sound effects.

Becca is biting everything, much like a T-Rex. Maybe they were always teething?

We have another quote from Patrick. We went out to dinner Friday night to take a break from turkey. Patrick was sitting next to Grandma Sullivan having a interesting conversation. I don't know what lead to this comment but I heard Patrick say: "Grandma, you're a sandwich." My mom laughed so hard she cried. I think both grandparents enjoyed the silliness and all the smiles just as much as the kids. Happy December all, we'll talk next week.

More Dancing

Here is a short video of the kids dancing. Patrick even remembered his father's dance moves!

Tailgating in the Snow

We made the trip to South Bend this weekend and managed to have some fun despite the disappointing football game. Look at how Becca fell asleep in the car.

Patrick looked pretty cute himself.

We ignored the freezing temperatures and tailgated on Saturday. Mike's parents even made the trip from Wisconsin to watch the game.


The kids and I did not go to the game. We headed over to my brother's house and played. Patrick was introduced to finger painting with AJ and Gabe.


This is the masterpiece they created. Dan liked the fact that you could still see all of Patrick's colors.



There were any number of funny things said and done this weekend. I think the winner is this:
The kids and I were at the hotel, trying to go to sleep. Becca is quiet in the pack 'n' play and Patrick is running around the room like a madman. When he fell off the unoccupied bed and started to cry, Becca stood up to see what was going on. I pulled Pat into the bed with me and got him calm. Five minutes later in the darkened room, I can still see Becca's head. I got up to check on her and discovered the little girl had fallen asleep, standing up and leaning on the side on the pack 'n' play! Can you believe that!?

Welcome Winter

The temperature has fallen outside but we are prepared! The kids tried on Mike's hat and loved it.


We also practiced our football over the weekend. Here's Becca in her Bears jersey trying to tackle me.

We also studied the playbook.

I showed Patrick the way to tackle with tickling.

And, of course, Patrick practiced his victory dance.

The following video started as a dancing demo but turned into a track meet.

I have a kid quote for the week. Patrick was sitting on the toilet when he shouts "No butt. Don't Go!" I laughed so hard that he now repeats it every time.
We hope you all are staying warm and to see you again soon.

Veteran's Day

In 1918, in a boxcar outside of Paris, the Germans and the Allied forces agreed the to end the greatest war the world had ever known at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Most of the world celebrates this day as Armistice Day, but we hare in the USA call it Veteran's Day. I would like to thank all the men and women in the armed forces for protecting us all.
Here at the Hatton house, the leaves have fallen. All 10 million of them! We had a great time this weekend playing in them. Here are some pictures.

Patrick had a great time throwing and kicking the leaves.

Mike brought out the football, of course.

Don't they look cozy?

I tried to make a leaf angel but it didn't work very well.

Mike sent in the troops to rescue me.


Becca also had a good time in the leaves once she got used to it.

We had good times in the house as well.


Here the kids are doing "push-ups" with Dad.

We'll end with the kids sitting on the cushion-less couch after Patrick threw-up on it last week.

I hope you enjoyed our silliness and will come back again sometime.