It's beginning to look a lot like...

 Christmas!  We are pretty big fans of Christmas decorating around here.  If I had unlimited funds, I undoubtedly would buy more Christmas decor!  I just love it!  Jake really loves it too, and can't wait to begin.  We had a lot of fun decorating together.  I admit, we decided to do almost all the tree while Luke was sleeping--it was just easier that way.  He did get to put a couple ornaments on, but mostly it was the 3 of us tackling the tree.  Jake doing the finishing touch...

 Jake was being super silly with the picture taking.  Here's just a couple of his silly antics...

ICE 2015

 We did our annual tradition of visiting the Gaylord and it's ICE exhibit.  It's always a fun day the boys look forward to.  Here's Luke checking out the trains...

Here's some of the beautiful Christmas decor...

 Even though Luke went with us the last two years, this was his first year to actually go into ICE.  He really did great with the cold and the big jacket...

 We figured that this year was Jake's 7th year to see the ICE exhibit.  Luke didn't go as a baby, but Jake did.  Here's my sweet baby Jake his first year of ICE...

As always, the amazing sculptures did not disappoint.  It is truly amazing artistry!  This year's theme was Christmas around the World, and it was one of my very favorites...

 I'm glad they still continue to keep the Christ in Christmas with this beautiful nativity scene...

Aledo Thanksgiving 2015

 We had wonderful weather for our Aledo Thanksgiving.  The boys got to spend some great time outside playing soccer, looking for deer tracks, and of course, riding their 4 wheelers...

 Jake is beginning to like to play in Papa's workout room.  Here's all the guys getting a little pre-turkey workout in...

 Papa had some great helpers getting the turkey ready...

 It was a wonderful feast...

A Bunch of Characters

 We've got a couple crazy characters around here...

 And every once in a while a few more join in on the fun!

Cheetahs season ends

 Jake had such a great time playing on the Cheetahs soccer team.  It was a great season!

Another tooth out...

 with the other top one wiggling.  We'll have to wait and see if he'll need his "two front teeth" for Christmas!

Moving into the next holiday

It's November (well, it's technically December, but still November in Livin' with the Lawsons blog world) and it's time to get ready for the Thanksgiving season.  The boys are helping put up our Lawson Tree of Thanks to help us be mindful of all the blessings in our lives.  Too bad the tree refused to stay on the wall.  Good thing it stuck on the fridge!

Halloween 2015

 We had a great Halloween.  Both kids were energetic trick-or-treaters so we definitely covered more houses than ever before, but before I get to the dress-up pics, here's another Halloween tradition...

Jake was a great, motivated helper with the pumpkin.  Luke, however, was not.  Here is his pout as Daddy and Jake worked on the pumpkin...

 Luckily, Luke turned his frown upside down to be a part of the finished product...

 And here are our awesome trick-or-treaters, Alvin and Theodore...

 Alvin and Simon aren't complete without Simon...

 and the lesser known chipmunk, Jeanette, was along for the festivities...

 Finally, a very bright-eyed pic of the happy, geeky couple...

Randomness

Jake is in love with the tree in our front yard because he likes to do this...

 As a pre-Halloween special surprise we gave the boys the movie Hotel Transylvania.  Halloween movies are always best in costume...

 Jake also loves practicing baseball in our backyard.  Luke has caught on some too.  This is his game face...

 Silly times with Campbell...

 Jake decorated a pumpkin as a book character for a school event.  He made Frosty the Snowman.  Unfortunately, I never got a picture of the final project, but it was pretty cute, complete with coal eyes, a red button nose and corn cob pipe!  Here are the boys starting the painting for the project...

 Feeding ducks with Papa and Granmama...

 Making crafts at school's Story-time night...