Saturday, January 2, 2016

The Holiday Season, 2015


The holidays have been a ton of fun this year, with both boys full of energy, excitement and wonder. My three boys make me so happy and as I sit here thinking about back to school and routines next week for the boys and I, I am incredibly thankful for the blessings this year has brought us and look forward to all that 2016 has to offer the Hawk family.
 
Thanksgiving 2015
Heading down to Nana's house for Thanksgiving.  

Enjoying Nana's backyard...

Mommy makes him slide feet-first, face-first, but at Nana's house he can slide any way he wants to...

Sweetness...

Those eyes...those cheeks...that smile...

Brother taught him well...

Digging in the dirt - such boys...

A dirty ol' mess...

He cleans up pretty well...

And so does this one...
 
We drove down to Mr. Joe's sisters house for Thanksgiving and there was a park nearby that we took the boys to so that they could run off some energy before lunch.
 
Climbing through the tunnels...

More slide time...

Climbing the rock wall...

Walking through the park like such a big kid...

Daddy had to keep a close eye on Mr. Ellis as he tried to eat the pinestraw (??) and wanted to climb on everything that his brother climbed on...

Big brother climbed the rock wall, so little brother had to as well...

All over the place...

Climbing, climbing, climbing...
 
RF loved these "bridges" that led into each of the play areas...

He wanted to go higher...

Oh, a pinecone, mama...He loves to tough everything when we are outside...

And higher he went...

More climbing...such a monkey...

A Holiday Walk Around the Square and Downtown Covington
 
Ellis was amazed by the big Christmas tree...

Mr. Smiles thought it was pretty cool, too...

Brothers...

He stood like this for a good two minutes just looking...

The beloved Covington, GA courthouse clock tower...

Bundled up wandering around the square...

Presents and Santa's house...

This little guy LOVES his daddy...

My sweet family...

He refused to sit...only wanted to stand...such a rule-breaker...

"This thing is huge, mama."

They were so excited, I couldn't get a photo of both of them looking at me...
 
Holiday Together Time at Home
I love capturing photos like this...RF wants to do everything his daddy does...

And this...
 
A rainy day inside watching Star Wars with daddy...

A pretty GA sunset from our backyard...

A clear night in GA...

His new favorite place to play...

And, of course, brother had to join in on the fun...
(I promise they are not naked, just hanging out in their underwear.)

Once we got our Christmas tree and began putting lights on it, I realized that the box with ALL of our Christmas ornaments is still in Mobile, so I made some popsicle stick snowflakes and let RF paint them to hang on the tree.

He loves art activities...

Painting Papa Tad and Lola's Christmas present...

Finished (almost - had to pull off the stickers once the paint dried a bit)...

Christmas mantle, 2015...

Nana made RF and Ellis a felt Christmas tree with ornaments and presents. They loved it.

Another beautiful GA sunset from our backyard...

The holidays are tiring...

RF and Ellis's Christmas gifts to Nana and Babu and Meme...

My three boys...

Enjoying the big backyard...

Helping daddy start some seedlings...

I could eat this face up...

A father and his son...

An unusually warm December day led us to venture out for milkshakes...

This boy LOVES, what he calls, the Milkshake Store --- Sonic.
 
Christmas Eve, 2015

A FULL tree...
RA and I only do four presents for each boys (want, wear, need, and read) but with presents from the grandparents and aunts, there were quite a few gifts to be opened by some little boys on Christmas morning...

Best photo of him by the tree...he was watching a Christmas movie with his daddy and wasn't interested in photos...

Those eyes...

Best photo of him by the tree, too. He was too interested in all of the ornaments...

Seriously, the best photo of the two of them by the tree - they were busy, busy boys who could not have cared less about taking a picture for mama...
 
Notes, cookies, milk, and reindeer food left out for Santa (along with RF's handprints - "so that I can give Santa a high-five, mama, but I'll be asleep, so this will have to do.") He cracks me up.
 
Christmas Morning, 2015
Coming in to see if Santa came...
Mrs. Margie and Mr. Joe spent Christmas with us and RF and Ellis were over the moon to get to share in the day with their Nana and Babu...
 
Taking a look around...

"This is incredible."
 
"Daddy, LOOK, Santa came to my house!"
 
Ellis finally made an appearance...

Mr. Ellis went straight for the candy...

Checking it all out...

A motorized digger... one of Santa's $2 Goodwill finds...

His own keys...maybe he will stop trying to take mine now...

So much to see...

New shoes from Papa Tad and Lola...

New pajamas from mama and daddy...

Blocks from Meme...

Santa brought the boys a basketball goal...

A new dump truck from Aunt Haydn...

"He ate the cookies, mama!! And the reindeer at the seed, the dog food, and the fruit, too. I bet they all have full bellies now."

A piano from Nana and Babu...

A wooden block maze from mama and daddy...

A new helicopter from Papa Tad and Lola...

He REALLY liked the new helicopter...

A little reading time with Nana...

RF playing with the basketball goal...

Mr. Ellis in a dump truck...
 
And then, of course, it was time for our traditional Christmas cinnamon rolls...
 
We hope the holiday season was as delightful for you and your family as it was for our family! Cheers to the New Year!