Happy New Year 2012!

Can you believe it's 2012?! I thought for sure we'd be living like the Jetson's by now...ha! We had a fabulous low key New Year's Eve celebration with our good friends Clint & Audrey. The kids had a blast playing together and we even shot off a few fireworks. The rest of our weekend was spend working on our new project....OUR NEW HOUSE! We closed on December 19 and have been hard at work ever since. I'm so excited for this new chapter in our lives. A bigger home with more land...I think it's just what the doctor ordered! I walk through the house and can just feel good vibes about what our life will be like there. I think it will be a place that Shane will have fond memories of growing up, running through the yard. I look forward to sharing my before and after pictures here too....sort of a little Blog Cabin: Norris Edition :)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Christmas has come and gone. Amazing that we spend a month, shopping, wrapping, cooking and getting ready and in the blink of an eye, the gifts are open; paper in the trash and we've all gained at least 5 lbs. But oh what fun we have in the days leading up to Christmas and even in the afterglow of it all. Christmas with a 5 year old is totally amazing...the anticipation of everything and the excitement and not being able to sleep because you want to know if Santa is coming or has he been here yet. I love it....I wouldn't trade it for anything. Shane has a GREAT Christmas this year---so many treats and treasures, visits from loved ones. He's so loved and it warms my heart. Here's a few shots to sum up our Christmas....

Looks like Santa has been here!!

Cars 2 GeoTrax that Santa brought.

A Cars guitar from Grandma & Pa!
Baby Van's First Christmas!

The biggest pillow pet in the history of the world...and now it belongs to Shane...

Legendary Santa 2011

The time finally arrived...Shane got to see Legendary Santa at the Children's Museum in Richmond on Saturday. He was elated and the day seemed so long as he waited for time for us to go. He waited patiently until Santa came down the chimney and told of his reindeer and the travels he would make on Christmas Eve night. I love going to see Santa, watching him come the chimney is such a magical thing for me, so I can only imagine what it's like for a 5 year old. When it was his turn, Shane walked right up to Santa and sat on his lap and told him that he wanted the Cars 2 Geotrax for Christmas...Old Santa told him that was one of the coolest tracks he'd ever seen and he would do his best....as long as Shane did his best and listened to his Mom & Dad and did what he was supposed to do. So far, so good.... ha! :)

And remember....Old Santa loves ya!! :)

Christmas Activities Abound!

Whew! What a busy couple of weeks, with no rest in sight! This past weekend, Shane participated in the Christmas play at church, The Mystery of Simon Shepherd. Everyone did such a fabulous job. I was so proud of my little sheep :)

We've had so many other holiday happenings. We've been to ChristmasTown (no pictures), we had our work Chrismas parties (no pictures), we had a Mitchem family holiday luncheon (no pictures), Shane went for his annual visit to the Va Beach Hilton and saw the lights on the boardwalk (I'm sure there's pictures, but not in my possession), he also went to see the lights on Jackson Creek in Deltaville (again, no pictures). Next weekend, we'll be visiting Legendary Santa in Richmond. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures of that :) Then Christmas is upon us--time is flying and I still have gifts to buy and wrap and cookies to bake!!

Giving Thanks 2011

There's so much to be thankful for, even though most of the time, we choose to forget that and instead complain. I'm so thankful for my family; I cannot imagine getting up in the morning and there not being a Rob and a Shane there...My extended family helps us daily and makes our lives easier, which probably makes theirs a little more difficult. I'm thankful for my job, so many don't have one and so many go to one every day that they hate. I'm thankful for my health. I'm thankful for fun, laughter and silliness. How would I get through a day without those things?! :) We had our annual family Thanksgiving feast at our house this year--turkey, beef brisket, gravy, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, blueberry jello salad, broccoli casserole, rolls...and that's just the tip of the iceberg! It was delish and the time spend with family from near and far was great. My sister and her girls even made the trip from West Virginia, just to eat dinner...It was so great seeing them!

On Sunday, we went and cut down our Christmas tree. Not quite as big as last years, but that's because we decided to pull out the old Lionel train this year to go under the tree. After 2 trips to the tree farm (FYI, they open at noon on Sundays, not 9am....) We snagged this little beauty. I love the tradition of going to cut the tree together...walking all around the farm with a common goal, to find "the one"...the smell of the trees, the excitement on Shane's face through the whole process and getting to enjoy it for a whole month---you can't get that from a fake tree!

Disney World 2011

We have just returned from what feels like the trip around the world...well, I guess it kinda was--we went to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. Whew! What a trip! Fun, exhausting, educational, entertaining, amusing all are good words to describe our adventure. The look on Shane's face when we met Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, Pooh and Tigger were worth the trip! He was so excited and you can only imagine the elation when he saw the real Lightning McQueen and Mater. We spent our days, hopping the monorail or bus to visit either Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, hunting down characters for autographs, then back to the Contemporary for a dip in the pool---We rode rides, ate good food, laughed and yes, even cried. It was the trip of a lifetime for my little 5 year old boy and for me too for that matter :) From our room, we had a view of Magic Kingdom, which is truly magical at night. Every night, we were treated to a fabulous fireworks show. Shane thinks we should sell everything we own and move into Disney World...that might not be a bad idea! :)

Shane with the mouse himself, Mickey

Shane went down the pool slide at the hotel at least 500 times...ha!

Shane with the real Lightning McQueen and Mater

One of the most amazing sights, I've ever seen. The Osbourne Spectacle of Lights at Hollywood Studios...we were there for the lighting ceremony that night...AMAZING!

At the character breakfast at Chef Mickey's--meeting Goofy--highlight of Rob's trip...ha!

Halloween 2011

I am so behind on my posts! We had a great Halloween. We started the day with Shane's school party, which I had been asked to organize. I love doing things like this! I made cake pops for the kids--they looked like ghosts and pumpkins and once they bit into them, revealed the red velvet cake I had used :) They seemed to love the cake pops! Once they started eating, the room became silent...I also made crispy critter crackers---peanut butter and marshmallow cream on ritz crackers; I used chow mein noodles to make legs like a spider and then mini chocolate chips for eyes. I also made mini pumpkin pop tarts--the kids weren't as thrilled with these as I though they'd be...it was pie crusts cut into squares, filled with pumpkin and sugar...I thought they were tasty, but not really a preschool item. The kids colored pumpkin masks and then performed a little skit with their masks. They loved the masks; it was fun seeing everyone put their own individual touches on the way they decorated them. Then, Shane read everyone his favorite
"spooky" story, Bears In the Night. He did such a wonderful and fantastic job. I was so proud of my little guy! :)
That evening, Shane finally got to put on the costume of his dreams...he was Papa Smurf! It was so daggone cute! We painted his face blue and sprayed his hair white, he put on his suit, hat and beard and headed out for a night of trick or treating. He had a good night, got a lot of laughs and scored some pretty good candy....