Christmas Trees, Santa Sightings and Weekend Happenings

It was a very holiday-filled weekend for our family and I was all about it. The day after Thanksgiving was a good one and we had one of Chase’s best friends over for a long play date while Ryan took Ryder out for some one-on-one time and Rhett napped.

We’re trying hard to carve out intentional time with each of our boys individually because something about adding a third child to the mix really seemed to decrease our ability to engage with our boys one-on-one on a larger scale than I anticipated.

With two kids, it was a little easier to find one-on-one moments during nap times or various other parts of the day when one child was entertained by an activity but three makes it feel nearly impossible to have individual time with each child unless it’s intentionally carved out. It’s something we’re trying to make an effort to do more often because it’s very special for us and it also feels important for each of our boys.

One on one time these days often looks like me puzzling with Ryder while Ryan takes Chase fishing and Rhett naps. It looks Ryan and Ryder building a giant race track with magnetic tiles while Chase and I read Harry Potter. It’s heading to the park and doing the slides over and over again with Rhett while the big kids are at school. It’s nothing fancy but it felt worth sharing because it’s something I struggle with as a mom of three that I didn’t anticipate being as challenging as it is sometimes.

Of course most of our very favorite moments are the big family moments when we’re all together! We had a bunch of them this weekend as well and made the most of the kickoff of the holiday season by heading to a local tree lot and picking out a Christmas tree for our home.

(Jeans: Old Navy / Hat: Amazon / Sweater: Daily Ritual / Combat Boots: Sam Edelman) 

It was a bit of a chaotic affair — the big kids thought the tree lot was their own personal tree maze and Rhett tried to make a beeline toward the highway next to the lot whenever we put him down — but we managed to find a tree and haul it home without any meltdowns. Success!

Saturday

Our Saturday was pretty low key and we spent a lot of it close to home. We decorated our trees (yes, trees plural because we’re ridiculous) and did some chores and neglected odds and ends around the house.

We managed to make it out of the house in the late afternoon to attend a community Christmas tree lighting.

(Jeans: One Teaspoon / Sweater: Poof Apparel via Marshalls a few years ago / Combat Boots: Sam Edelman / Jacket: Universal Thread via Target a few years ago — this looks like the updated version/ Ear Warmer: Universal Thread via Target a few years ago) 

The big highlight was our first Santa sighting of the season!

We had to laugh because Rhett had the most skeptical look on his face the entire time. He never seemed fearful or upset but just really unsure about the whole Santa thing.

We made it home in time to do a quick dinner and some holiday story time before bed. The boys have LOVED breaking into our Christmas books now that we brought them down from the attic and we’re loving reading some of our favorites every day.

Sunday

Sunday was a random day filled with more household to-dos, some errands, a little work, more decorating and some outside time. We headed off to Lowe’s around 9 a.m. to pick up some replacement Christmas lights to finish off our exterior decorating and then took the boys to the pet store nearby which ended up being a slam dunk activity.

The pet store has been one of my favorite free hidden gem kid activities since Chase was a toddler but Sunday really kicked things up a notch because we arrived as the reptiles were being fed. We ended up at the pet store for an hour because the big kids were so into watching the bearded dragons, tortoises and dart frogs eat their vegetables, worms and fruit flies. Rhett thought the mice were the coolest since they never stopped moving!

Once we made it back home, we all ate lunch and then Rhett took his nap while Ryan and the boys put up more Christmas lights and I worked.

After Rhett’s nap, the big highlight of the day occurred at the marina near our house.

Chase finally caught the catfish he’s been eyeing off the dock for the past few months! He was beyond psyched and it was so fun to see him so excited about his big catch.

Ryder was also thrilled when Chase helped him reel in a few sunnies.

We spent the rest of our afternoon at the little park near our house before heading home to grill out and then tackle the whole bed time routine with the kids.

Once we had everyone settled, Ryan and I hung out on the couch for a bit before heading to bed to read before eventually falling asleep.

Plans for the week look relatively normal with some random holiday happenings sprinkled in the mix. The boys are already counting down the days until their Elf on the Shelf’s arrival on Wednesday, December 1. They are READY.

I hope you all have a great week, my friends!