Happy Holidays.....

We recently returned from a road trip to spend the holidays with Geoff's family. It was so nice to see everyone and for the boys to meet their Aunt JJ and cousins for the first time.

A family pic...

The Grandkids....(and Grandpa!)

J LOVING the stairs....here he is awaiting to be chased...for some reason, he kept covering his upper teeth with his upper lip when he smiled while we were there...

Playing at the park...still in short sleeves in December...we just can't seem to get cold weather.

Here is Grandma with W. I think his ear was bothering him bad this day...he just kept tugging on it...

Cute picture of Chloe and Matt...

Dad releasing J on the slide....

W was content to just sit on the swing...with the football of course...

They also got to go to the zoo for the first time. I think the highlight was the pigeons outside the zoo cafe. They were beside themselves with those birds so close. W made an elephant noise for the first time when he saw live elephants and they both growled when they saw the big cats.

Here is W peeking up through a tunnel...I think he looks like he is in Star Wars or Star Trek or something...

J stretching Aunt JJ's ears....

Grandma gave them their first hair cut. It was hard to cut off those cute little curls around their ears but it was getting too long-it was time. They sat patiently (as long as they were holding a toy of course) while she snipped.

First W....

Then J...

All of the kiddos really enjoyed playing with a big empty cardboard box at Christmas...playing in it...crawling on it...who needs toys!?

J playing with some new things...

The boys sitting with Grandpa...can you tell? Who is who?

W playing Santa...

Our road trip went much smoother this time and we got to visit some friends of ours on our return trip. They have a beautiful house. We had fun playing bowling and tennis on their new Wii while we were there.

We are back in our nearly empty house. Will be heading to our new home to hopefully find a new place to live on Tuesday...then back here to finish squaring away this house for our renters.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sick...again....

I have had quite the week. We had the typical week of one thing going wrong after another. All minor things but major pains. On top of that, the boys both got very runny noses right in the middle of the day (and at the same time) on Sunday. Unfortunately the cold progressed very fast and by Tuesday morning we were on our way to the doctor's office. They both looked as if they were struggling to breathe. Diagnosis: They both have ear infections and they both were wheezing. So we left with five prescriptions and we are back to breathing treatments...this time for both boys and an additional preventative breathing treatment for J. Poor little guys. We will have to postpone our holiday plans until they are well enough to travel.

I did get some cute pics of them running around our empty house before they got sick though. =)
The hooded towels always make me smile...from the back they look like little ghosts.

Jack with his crazy curly hair...

W laughing at J with his hood on...


They are just starting to make more sounds....they both are doing "choo choo" when they see a train...they both can make very funny elephant, monkey, and donkey sounds...and J pointed at the moon and said "moo" the other night.
Merry Merry Christmas!

Joy....

is being so full and content you could just fall asleep while you are eating dinner....


is looking deep into those eyes

is reading and snuggling with the boys before bed....

and seeing them when they first wake up (J busted in to their room while W was still napping..."wake up!")

is going to the park

and finally, joy is looking back to see how far they have come...I can't remember them being so tiny...look at J's little legs....


I am sitting at a card table in our now empty house. The big moving truck took it all away yesterday...except of course the computer..and the boys' cribs and high chairs and some suitcases. The boys loved running through our empty living room squealing and hearing their echoes. They make me laugh.

It is almost 80 degrees outside and I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I cannot believe it is December and I have had to turn the AC on a couple of times this week. If is wasn't for the Christmas music on the radio, our neighbors' Christmas lights, and a big beautiful real Christmas wreath on our door (thanks again Emily!)...I wouldn't know it was almost Christmas. I even moved the wreath to the inside of our front door so I can smell it and look at it since it is our only holiday decoration.

Not much else to report. I will be working on the house a little and keeping the boys out of trouble until we leave in a little over a week.