Thankful.

I have had so many blog post ideas in my head lately...but then I just get too lazy.distracted.busy.etc. to get my camera and upload the pictures...then I don't post...so sorry for the lack of posting...and for the multiple postings in one day!

We spent Thanksgiving just enjoying our family time-Geoff actually being home!-and then had an awesome dinner at our friend's house with their family. They have four children who are each amazing-and between them and their little feisty poodle...J and W were quite content the whole time. It was great! I was personally very thankful for not having to make an entire meal myself. I am OK with preparing every aspect of the Thanksgiving meal - except for the turkey. I am intimidated by the turkey. So I think it is time for Geoff to learn how to do it. =) We also will need practice getting everything done at the same time. Someday soon. P.S. A Happy Birthday/Happy Thanksgiving shout-out to my mom.

I braved the Black Friday crowds...but it wasn't very crazy at all. I didn't rush out at 5 a.m. though either! So maybe the 9 a.m. crowds are just more low key. I got a few Christmas gifts and caught up on a couple of errands and now we are putting up the Christmas tree. Is Thanksgiving really already over?!

Now I will back track on some of our goings-on:

Both Mark and Jan and my parents came out for a pre-Thanksgiving visit in the last couple of weeks. Here are some pics at the airport and in front of the plane...

This just looks like trouble:

Mark and Jan watched the boys so Geoff and I could go out for our 8th anniversary. A gift in itself! We saw the movie Fireproof and stuffed ourselves at Bonefish Grill. I don't eat out very much anymore and when I do...I can feel it. We were both miserable when we got home.

And then my parents came down...we just relaxed, did some shopping and then went to our friend's Rachel and Solomon's beach condo to visit. On one night we went out to dinner and now have no doubt that the boys are still allergic to eggs. The waiter was just being helpful and brought out some crackers and honey mustard for the boys since they were hungry. W had a good bit of the honey mustard but J did not. Then W hardly touched anything else after that. He also started started scratching his belly and saying "itchy" immediately after he ate the crackers. Sure enough, W got big time sick in the van on the way home. I called the restaurant and they said that their honey mustard dressing was mayonnaise-based. Mayonnaise=eggs=bad news. We were very fortunate that he didn't have a worse reaction. I guess we didn't even think about it being "dressing" because he just said "here's some honey mustard they can dip their crackers in..." We need to be more careful.

Here is W probably feeling miserably sick at this point and not eating his food:

J - having escaped the dreaded honey mustard - chowing down:

Jack and Papap:

We started building tents this past week. Here is W peeking out of the mini-tent:

And J:

But then Geoff decided to upgrade. He didn't mess around. Notice that he even moved my dining room table to use the entire room for tent-city.

J, Geoff, and W peeking out from the tent at Papap:

My parents also treated us by watching the boys so I could drag Geoff with me to see the movie Twilight with about 100 teenage girls. We felt very spoiled - two movies in two weeks! That is a new record for us.

Running...and chairs

I stopped fighting the boys from running into my van and conceded to parking in front of the house so they could use the ramp-like driveway for their personal play area.  They love to let their wagons and tonka trucks go at the top and sprinting away so they can then turn around and watch them come down the driveway.  So they have been running.  A lot.

 

And pushing =)

 

As for chairs.  The boys prefer to do anything with chairs but SIT in them.  Observe:

 

ZOO

Just kidding.  Katy is not the "zoo"...but I think she could fool people if she were in the wolf section and labeled as an exotic-type of wolf.  Maybe.  She has the gold eyes.  She has the body and tail of a wolf.  And she certainly howls like a wolf.  Everyday.  Promptly at 0730, 1630, and 2200 hours.  Yes, when the giant voice goes off...reveille, the national anthem and taps (especially at taps) she howls big time.  Bear does too.  But she barks more than howls. 

Anyway, sometimes I do feel like I live in a zoo.

The boys and I went to the real local zoo last weekend with our friends Rach and Sol.   The weather was amazing.  And the boys were very happy to see Rach and Sol again.

I didn't get a bunch of pics but here are a few:

The boys wanted Sol to carry them (they love Sol and miss their daddy so they kept Sol on a tight leash the whole day):

The boys were freaked out the last time we were at the farm animal section.  They did NOT want anything to do with feeding the goats.  This time, they were all over that.

W feeding the goat:

 

 

Attempt to get J to look at the camera.  *Notice how he keeps his arm on Sol*

Now he's got his watch:

 

Finally a smile...but still not looking at the camera...

One...Two...Three...Four

How could the boys ask for any more than not just one, not two, not three, but FOUR beautiful young ladies to come over for a play date.    All at the same time. My good friend Melissa drove almost two hours with a 1, 3, and 4-year old to come visit and let the kiddos have a playdate. She is quite the multi-tasker. She even made it look easy.

I am impressed with my camera skills here.  It is not easy to do a self-portrait with a large camera with a big lens:

Anyone recognize this?  The juice box coma/trance?  Love that.

And here is the littlest of the bunch:
 

The girls did great playing with this "Whack-A-Mole" game.  I know.  Have you ever heard of that before?!

 The whole crew.  :

Let's do it again soon!  Maybe next time we will actually make it out of the house.....

Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun day on Halloween. We started off the day by going to a nearby assisted-care facility with our MOPS group to do reverse trick or treating. Meaning that the boys hand out goodies to the residents. I am not sure anyone explained that to the residents though because I couldn't get anyone to take any at first. But then when they did...J and W had a blast handing out pretzels. They gave some residents four bags each! The residents had games set out and had their own treats to give the kids. They really enjoyed seeing all the kiddos beaming in their costumes!

J almost all dressed:

He's finally got the hat on:

W ready to get into the van:

J carrying a bag of pretzels for reverse trick or treating:

W carrying his bag of pretzels:

W sharing pretzels with another pirate:

J handing out some pretzels:

Saying cheese with his friend Bo (and Rylee in the front):

With some of our MOPS friends...notice W fully dressed and J partly dressed...I put long-sleeves under their clothes thinking it would be cold but it was really warm on Halloween here:

Then we went over to our friend's house for dinner and trick-or-treating in their nice neighborhood. Geoff gave us the biggest Halloween surprise by arriving home for the weekend - Yay! He was supposed to be gone for 2 more weeks. He rushed over and met us on the street where we were trick or treating. It took the boys some time to get the trick of treat-thing down but they did when they saw what they got! They got braver and braver and eventually could go to the door without us carrying them and say trick or treat and thank you.

At a very spooky house:


We had fun. Their favorite treat: tootsie roll pops...mommy's favorite treat: Take 5 bars and flavored tootsie rolls...daddy's favorite treat: Reeses PB Cups.

Of course, we have to dump the bags and sort through the pirates' booty! I loved doing that when I was little...organizing all the good stuff from the cheap-o stuff! You know what I mean! Anything chocolate was typically in the good stuff pile. My friend Julee instructed her kids to go for the Twix Bars whenever they had the opportunity!

Happy Halloween!