next week?!?!!!

So I am in denial that next week is Thanksgiving week...total denial.  I mean, it was in the 70's a couple of days ago!  We have SO MUCH going on in these next 5 weeks, it's nuts.  I am sure everyone does though...it's just the time of the year, I guess.

We will be spending Thanksgiving with the Peakin side of the family in Colo next week and finally introducing Wesley and Cason to some of the extended family.  It'll be a nice getaway.  We will also be celebrating Wesley's 4th birthday with the Peakin side of the family the day after Thanksgiving, so that will be fun too! :) Sean will work the weekend after Thanksgiving and then my plan is to get our house all decorated for Christmas that week (if I can hold myself off from doing it THIS week!) and then on Friday Knutsons will be coming to town to visit!  We always get so excited for the times we get to spend with them as they are so rare anymore.  That Sunday we will be celebrating Wesley's birthday at our house with his previous foster family as well as friends.

Then it's Christmas mode...shopping, baking, preparing for my cookie exchange (which I am SOOO excited about), more shopping, etc.  We will be celebrating several Christmas's as usual, but I am excited that we will be hosting our Peakin Christmas here in the Quad Cities this year for the first time!  It's so nice to have a large enough house to make that a possibility.

We have started a bit of a new tradition (started it last year) that we plan to carry on through our children's lives.  We have started to realize that the emphasis on Christmas was so much about gifts.  This is not what we want as well as that our kids simply don't need more toys!  I don't remember what we got for gifts when I was a child, I remember the things we did, the places we went, the fun we had. There are a couple of gifts growing up that I really wanted, I remember getting those.  I am not saying our kids won't get ANY gifts, they just don't need tons and tons of gifts...I don't want to have to think up something for someone to get my kids just for the sake of someone needing to get them something.  That's silly.  So we have decided to take our kids some place every year...some place different each year and just for a night or two.  We know that is something they will always remember...eventually they will have the excitement and anticipation of where they will be going, but for now, they are too young (and the tradition is too new) to expect it and so they will just be surprised.  I can't wait!  We are going outside of Chicago this year to a waterpark hotel that has mini golf, laser tag and an awesome indoor waterpark.  We reserved a vacation villa that we will be sharing with Mike, Sarah and the girls this year.  It has separate bedrooms, a full kitchen and livingroom with a fireplace.  Eek, I can't wait!!!  The kids are going to FREAK OUT and it will be something they will never forget.  We hope to repeat that feeling for them every year and as they get older, hopefully the trips will be longer and we will be able to get more creative since as they age, there will be less limitations on what they can do.  I love starting new traditions with my family!

We will be celebrating Christmas with the Stewart side of the family on New Years Day...hopefully after ringing in 2013 together the night before, but that hasn't been determined yet.  We'll see. :)

I feel like the race is on and Christmas will be here before we know it!  I am READY...and I have to admit I've already started listening to Christmas music! :)