November 2017

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

Happy Thanksgiving! There is much to be thankful for, and reflect on, as we head into this holiday season.

We kicked off our Thanksgiving Break with a trip to our happy place — the Magic Kingdom. This was most likely our last trip to this park before our passes are blocked out for the rest of the holiday season, so it was fun to check out all the Christmas decorations. It really put me & Liam in the spirit! Stephen had to work, so it was just the two of us hanging out. We found Snow White hanging out by Main Street in the Candy Cane Garden. It was such a sweet surprise.

While at the park, we decided to ride the Jungle Cruise over in Adventure Land, which I hadn’t been on in years & Liam had never been on yet. I didn’t realize until we got over there that it was done up with Christmas decorations & renamed the “Jingle Cruise”. There were the cutest decorations all throughout the ride, the boat captain’s commentary was all themed to the holiday, as well, and they were playing the “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas” song in line. I have to say it was so perfect and we loved it! So happy we found that! ❤

We took a road trip for the holiday & headed up to Jacksonville to my dad & stepmom’s. Liam fell getting out of the car on the drive up there & hit his cheekbone on the pavement. Based on his symptoms, his doctor recommended us to take him to get checked out at the ER. Not gonna lie that we were shaken up for hot second, but thankfully all was well & he is okay. The Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital in Jax was absolutely AMAZING and we will forever be grateful for their care. Also truly grateful for the support of our family & my sweet friend, Beamer, who was dealing with me texting her at the crack of dawn asking where we could take him up there.

 Love this boy! A little scraped up but blessed that he checked out okay. 

We got back to my dad & stepmom’s after our hospital adventure with enough time to still tune into the Macy’s Parade. It was the perfect distraction & helped to get us settled in & calmed down for the day.

I didn’t snap too many pics during our stay, but this was one memory I had to capture. When my dad is in the kitchen, this is how you find Timber. Sitting at attention & completely focused on him. Can you tell he loooves his Papa? It can’t be that he gets delicious treats or anything 😛 …lol

The obligatory pic of our fabulous dinner 🙂

I was one of those who did crazy online shopping both Thursday & Friday….but, we did brave the crowds for a bit on Black Friday to grab a few things I couldn’t find in my online travels. Thanks to Papa G & G-Ma for keeping an eye on little man while we shopped.

Friday evening it was nice & chilly up in Jax, so we had a fire out back to roast marshmallows & make s’mores. It was so fun!

Saturday morning, we headed back home. It was a great visit but we also wanted to save time for regular chores & breaking out the Christmas decorations (more on that next time). On Sunday morning, we had a visitor from the North Pole make his appearance again — Mr. Elf!! Liam loves the Tsum Tsum toys from Disney, so he was stoked to get an Advent calendar from Mr. Elf with that theme.

Mr. Elf also brought a letter from Santa. It was so sweet to see Liam’s eyes light up when we all read that together. He was a little more skeptical this year on how Mr. Elf got here & back from the North Pole …but this letter is the real deal. When we finished the letter, he said to us, “I BELIEVE …all 3 of us do and we have Christmas Spirit” ❤   ….yes, Little Man, yes we do.

A few weeks ago, he & I went to the mall to visit our favorite Santa’s helper (as we like to call the mall Santa’s). I was excited because we got the same Santa for the 3rd year in a row. Just love it! Liam asked for a skate board ….that was a shocker to us, but we’re working with Santa on it.

It was a great weekend, overall. Definitely looking forward to the holiday season.  Everyday is a gift, and we have much we have been blessed with. We are THANKFUL you have taken the time to stop by our little spot on this great big cyberspace.

Until next time, friends,

 

November 2016

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

Happy Thanksgiving! Our pastor said the following sentiment at church on the Sunday before turkey day, and I thought it so appropriate & super cute…..

We hope you & your family had a holiday weekend filled with the five F’s:

FAITH

FAMILY

FRIENDS

FOOD

FOOTBALL

charlie-brown-thanksgiving

We took a road trip for the holiday & headed up to Jacksonville to my dad & stepmom’s. Keeping with tradition, we kicked off our morning with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was so cool that this year’s parade was it’s 90th anniversary!

2016-11-24_thanksgiving-1

He drives us nuts at times, as any 5 year old does, but this boy is the most loving kid ever. Definitely take pause on this day to celebrate just how blessed and thankful our family is. There is MUCH to be thankful for each and EVERY day….all the little things that we all too often take for granted.

As I look back on year’s past pics — HERE , HERE , and HERE ….I am amazed at just how much Liam has grown. Especially since last year. What a growth spurt! His little baby face has changed so much ❤ …definitely tugs on this mama’s heart strings.

2016-11-24_thanksgiving-5

These two silly boys 🙂 …They were permanent begging buddies in the kitchen. Hilarious!

2016-11-24_thanksgiving-2

Cooking up some yumminess in the kitchen! Almost time to eat!

2016-11-24_thanksgiving-3

We had a great spread for our Thanksgiving Day meal — all the traditional trimmings, and including both a turkey and a ham. Stephen helped with keeping an eye on the ham, which we cooked on the grill. So tasty! Liam even helped baste it at the end.

2016-thanksgiving-collage

The day after Thanksgiving, we took full advantage of living in the Sunshine State and went for a walk on the beach. It was a little cool but definitely refreshing. We even took the dogs with us, and Timber had a ball! It was his 1st time with his paws in the sand in years ❤

2016-11-25_thanksgiving-weekend-1

Timber followed Stephen out to the sandbar and then swam back to me. So cute!

2016-11-25_thanksgiving-weekend-7

Buddies! 🙂

2016-11-25_thanksgiving-weekend-10

We headed home on Saturday. I had full intentions on putting away the Thanksgiving decor and putting up ALL the Christmas. LOL! — it was a good plan. It ended up taking me most of the week but no worries.

What was super fun was that Mr. Elf flew back to see us from the North Pole on Saturday night! Liam woke up to him hanging out here on Sunday morning ❤

He brought him some new pj’s and some candy. More about that next time!

2016-11-27_mr-elf-returns-2

It was a great weekend, overall. We hope you all had a restful & fun holiday weekend, as well.

thankful

We are THANKFUL you have taken the time to stop by our little spot on this great big cyberspace.

Until next time, friends!

Script Signature

Latest & Greatest News, November 2015

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you & your family had an awesome day with your loved ones and were able to reflect on the many blessings that we all have ❤

****************************************

We kicked our holiday weekend off with a super cute lunch at Liam’s school. Little man was thrilled to also see his daddy pop in to join us, as we thought he wasn’t going to be able to make it. It was a great time!

2015-11-25_KRK Thanksgiving Lunch

We headed up to my dad & stepmom’s house in Jacksonville for a few days, so that meant a road-trip. Timber is not as great a traveler as he was in his younger days. So, below is how he rode for the majority of the trip….in Daddy’s arms. Not to mention the fact that our normal 2 hour drive literally took us FOUR hours….SO not fun with our whining fur baby & one impatient/excited 4 year old….but, we eventually made it up there & had a great time 😉

2015-11-25_Roadtrip

Had to start our Thanksgiving morning with Macy’s Parade, right?!?! 🙂 ….I think I was more excited to watch this than Liam. LOL!

2015-11-26_Thanksgiving 5

I honestly didn’t snap many pictures throughout the day, but this was a cute one. Timber was unsuccessfully begging for a hand-out 😉

2015-11-26_Thanksgiving 4

So thankful that this guy calls me mommy ❤

2015-11-26_Thanksgiving 1

Turkey time!!!

2015-11-26_Thanksgiving 3

Always the helper in the kitchen….potatoes may or may not have been dropped on the floor a few times 🙂

2015-11-26_Thanksgiving 2

We took a trip to St. Augustine to see their “Night of Lights” …the city was all decked out in beautiful white lights.  Liam was in awe & walked up & down the sidewalk singing Christmas songs to himself & us….cutest.thing.ever ❤

2015-11-27_St Augustine Family Pic

2015-11-27_St Augustine Night of Lights

We asked him to stand in front of the Ponce de Leon monument to snap his pic….instead, he thought it was the perfect place to make shadow puppets…hilarious & imaginative!!!

2015-11-27_ Liam St Augustine Night of Lights

Loved the tree in the town square, so we took a quick family pic ❤

2015-11-27_St Augustine Family Pic 1

Here’s a look back on previous posts from Thanksgiving:

HERE

HERE

HERE

It was a fun & relaxing weekend. So nice to spend time with family and also talk to those that we weren’t able to be with. Life may be busy & hectic, but when we take time to pause & reflect, we really do have much to be thankful & grateful for. Each day is a gift ❤

Until next time, friends!

Script Signature

Latest & Greatest News, November 2014

Our Happy Thanksgiving

Yes, I know…I am a solid week late with posting this 😉 ….Busy times, peeps, buuuut, but better late than never, right?!?! LOL!

We had a great day & I wanted to share some highlights. What Turkey Day isn’t complete without the Macy’s Parade? Liam was thrilled to see Thomas! I believe the announcer said this was the biggest balloon to ever make it’s debut in the parade.

2014-11-27_Thanksgiving 1

We spent the afternoon at Stephen’s uncle’s house with his family, which included Stephen’s Grandma {Liam’s Great Grandma}. More family was in town from out of state, so that was an added bonus. Liam really enjoyed himself.

Stephen’s uncle is super creative with the food spread, as you can see. He is also a wonderful cook. Everything was delish!

2014-11-27_Thanksgiving 3

2014-11-27_Thanksgiving 11

I found this shirt for little man at Old Navy and thought it was hilarious. Never thought he would actually REALLY LOVE turkey, but he totally did! That’s almost all he ate 😉

2014-11-27_Thanksgiving 12

Such a cutie!

2014-11-27_Thanksgiving 6

quick family pic ❤

2014-11-27_Thanksgiving 10

Cheese with Great Grandma ❤

2014-11-27_Thanksgiving 14

*********************************************************************

The weekend was dedicated to getting the house full of Christmas cheer! To say that Liam was excited is an understatement. He was a big help with decorating the tree. We also had our elf {Mr. Elf} come back from the North Pole to visit us, but I’ll post more about that soon.

2014-11-30_tree deco 3

On Black Friday morning, Stephen & Liam headed out to Lowe’s to snatch up this great deal for just dollars. Liam has affectionately named him, “Donner” because he knows that’s Rudolph’s Daddy’s name 😉 ….so stinkin’ cute!

2014-11-28_Donner at night

We have a few fun things planned as we get ready for Christmas & can’t wait to share them with you! Really love this time of the year. It’s a magical time!!

Until next time!

~H

Latest & Greatest News, November 2014

Thankful & Blessed

Today, we pause & reflect on how much we have to be thankful for, and all that we are blessed with. While I realize we should do this each & every day, today, we give it just a little bit of extra thanks ❤

My heart is full from each & every one of you, my family & friends. Thank you for caring about us and investing yourselves in our lives, and especially in the life of our sweet little man. That honestly, means more than I could ever express to you.

I am thankful today for all the little things that we sometimes take for granted…..the little things that are actually BIG things to many people…..a roof over our heads, our jobs, our health, laughter, & love.

***************************************************************

Feeling a bit nostalgic on this beautiful morning, so here’s a look back on the last few year’s of Thanksgiving with our sweet little dude 🙂 — can’t wait to add a new pic to this group later today!

[2011] – baby’s 1st thanksgiving!

 2011-11-24_2011_1st thanksgiving

look at those toes!

2011-11-24_1st thanksgiving 2011

[2012] — check out the 2 teeth on the bottom! — he also took his 1st two steps on this day!

2012-11-22 Turkey Day 2012 - Copy

[2013]

2013-11-28_Thanksgiving 004

2013-11-28_Thanksgiving 011 - Copy

[2014] — obviously, this is taken pre- Turkey day, so we’ll be doing more photos today 😉

2014-11-16_turkey craft 005

***************************************************************

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

~H

December 2013, Latest & Greatest News

Wonderful Christmas Time

No sooner did we put our forks down from our tasty turkey dinner, did we start breaking out the Christmas decorations. It seems like Thanksgiving was so late this year, and in a weird way, December feels like a short month so no time to waste!

In previous posts, I’ve talked about our obsession with Fisher Price Little People (now, the ‘old’ style, plump kind), so no surprise, this year’s new decorations involve the Little People Nativity Set (thank you to my mom!). It seriously is one of the cutest things ever! Of course, I set it up to display but Liam has had other plans and it’s a new fav toy. It actually works out perfect to help explain the real reason for this most magical season!! 🙂 …hearing him say, ‘baby Jesus’ is totally adorable, too..can’t get enough of that!

2013-12-01_Christmas Time 005

We (correction “I”) decided it would be fun to have all 3 of us decorate the tree together on Friday night. Hahaha!!! …can we say, exhausting? …it was fun, but little man did not make it an easy experience 😉 …happy to report, though, that no ornaments were harmed during this decorating process.

2013-12-01_Christmas 2013 Tree

Saturday morning, our very own elf made his 1st appearance in Casa de Murphy. As pictured above, he was waiting for Liam while perched in the Christmas tree. His book was positioned on Liam’s picnic table in the living room. Mmmm, let’s just say that we got more of a reaction out of the book than out of the elf. The naming process was pretty funny. Stephen & I ran through at least 10 different names from our top picks that we were sure Liam would like, but each one got a “no” response from him. Finally, he said “yes” to ……Mr. Elf.

So, there you have it.

Welcome to Casa de Murphy, Mr. Elf

2013-12-01_Mr Elf Debuts

So far, Liam & Timber both are loving sitting by the tree. Liam LOVES the Christmas lights, so I see us going to see some places with lights hopefully in the coming weeks. We hope to make a trip to go see the guy in the bid red suite soon but not sure if he’ll even go for it…last year was a no go. You’ll see it here, if he does 🙂

2013-12-01_Christmas Love

**************

Until next time, friends!

Latest & Greatest News, November 2013

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving to all you, our family & friends!

2013-11-26_Liam Thanksgiving Art 2013

I am thankful for my little Murphy family…for my three boys that give me love & laughter every day. I am thankful that I have this blog to share our crazy antics with you. I am thankful for our family, near & far, and all of our friends….we love you ALL.

2013-11-28_Thanksgiving 019

One year ago, as we were all turkey drunk, our little man decided to take his very 1st steps! In a way, that seems like so long ago….he was so proud of himself, as were we! Looking back at this picture below, he was a lot smaller & was just starting to get his teeth. He even looks a lot chunkier than he does now. I think I had forgotten how much he’s grown & changed over this last year…wow!!!

2012-11-22 Turkey Day 2012

Now, of course, he’s off & running and you can’t keep him down for even a few minutes at a pop most times of the day…..full.on.preschooler.

2013-11-28_Thanksgiving 011

Today, we enjoyed spending some time with Stephen’s side of the family. Here is Liam with his Great Grandma, Betty —

2013-11-28_Thanksgiving 012

Tomorrow, while some of you are gonna brave the crowds at the stores (some of you may be out there now), we are excited to put up the Christmas tree. Liam has already been pointing out the one that they put up at the daycare & those we’ve seen up at the stores, so I’m excited for this season!

****

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!!

We are THANKFUL you have taken the time to stop by our little spot on this great big cyberspace.

Love, the Murphy’s