Moments one by one...: A change of plans...

It seems like weekends in December fill up so fast, booked with holiday happenings before the month even begins.

We had plans to go to Julian's holiday party last Saturday, and to the Nutcracker to see Aunt Stacey perform on Sunday...but as the week progressed fine print revealed that kids were not allowed and poor Aunt Stacey hurt her ankle.

Leaving our December weekend a clean slate.

Their favorite game lately is to pretend to be trains going down the stairs, over and over again.

Eli's confidence and independence are off the charts lately. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw him attempt to tackle Max to the ground, before I realized it my Grandpa Lucero's words came right out of my mouth, " Hijo, if you mess with the bull..."

So many full circle moments in parenting.

We took advantage of our wide open weekend. We caught up on sleep and chores, savored some pumpkin pancakes, took the boys for a spin at the local ice rink, and finished the weekend with a fun dinner with friends.

Oh yeah, and we wont the lotto too. 1,000,000,000 Santa bucks! Best part is the boys didn't know there was chocolate in there so Julian and I got most of it.

First time the boys put on skates!

The verdict: Max is a fan, Eli is not.

Not at all.

We will have to try again next year.

----------

This week has brought unexpected changes to the calendar as well. Originally, we'd planned on checking out the Chatfield "Trail of Lights" with my Mom on Christmas Eve, but at the last minute we decided to take advantage of a 60 degree day in December (what?!) and made the trip early.

This is one of my favorite December traditions.

The moon and his imitators.

So many of our pictures are taken in this little wooded area not far from our house. We come here to see the first signs of green as spring arrives, to run out the energy all summer, to collect a pumpkin in the fall, and to see the beautiful light displays in December.