It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I normally wait until after Thanksgiving before decorating for the Christmas season and true to form, I pulled out the bins on Friday and got the house in shiny green and red order. It was a lesson in patience for mom as the boys decided to pull ornaments out of the bin as mom was working on the tree lights. This year the tree is only decorated from mid-tree to the top as once again we have a curious toddler in the house.

I also had another reason for getting the house decorated. We decided to do family Christmas a bit different this year. We had everyone over for dinner and then off to Seattle to MaCaw Hall for the 25th anniversary of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker.

Of course, mom left her camera at home since I knew you couldn't take pictures during the performance, not thinking of before or during intermission. I also left my iphone at home purposely in order not to peek at the score of the OU/OSU football game. The game was being recorded on the TiVo. So after our wonderful evening, I came home to dishes and then watched the game. My pokes lost :(

Last Minute Thanksgiving Dinner

This week, Andy has had a fever, so we chose to keep our germs home and had to cancel Thanksgiving dinner with our friends. Technically this year, we were to spend Thanksgiving with my family, but due to various work situations with Mike, we weren't able to fly to Oklahoma.

Last night, we called up grandma and grandpa and invited them over for a small Thanksgiving dinner. I must clarify, Mike invited his parents over, as I was hoping for a duty-free holiday. Not so much. Oh well. With a little help from our local grocery store up at the corner, Mike picked up a pre-cooked turkey breast, stuffing mix and items for the green bean casserole. I have to tell you, it was pretty good. Between the two of us and a little help from grandma, we put together a tasty Thanksgiving meal. All in all, we had a wonderful day together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is some what of a bittersweet holiday for me personally. I've always loved the huge meal one of my grandmother's would make, my mom's strawberry pretzel salad and of course the pumpkin pie. Unfortunately, six years ago my grandfather passed away on Thanksgiving day. We knew he was dying, it was just a matter of time before I got the phone call and needed to catch a plane to Texas.

Okay, enough tears. I'm incredibly blessed. I have a wonderful family who are all followers of Christ, a wonderful husband, and two healthy little boys with whom I get to stay home with. God has blessed Mike and I with many great friends and all of our earthly needs.

May you be truly thankful for how God has richly blessed you.

One Month and One Pair Down

This evening, Andy was on the floor playing around with Mike and Aaron decided to join in on the fun. Unfortunately, little brother grabbed at big brother's glasses and they snapped in two, right at the bridge of the nose.

Mike looked at the receipt to double check the warranty. I looked at it to see how long it took for the glasses to break. We picked them up on 10/24 and they snapped in two on 11/23. I just died laughing. Tomorrow we head back to the eye doctor to get another pair.

You Be A....

Andy has developed a fun little game to play with one of his parents dutifully called you be a ....., I'll be a..... It all relates to animals, but the combination of animals is always interesting since one half of the animals portrayed end up prey. Some of his favorite combo's:
You be a lion, I'll be a kitten
You be a kitten, I'll be a tiger
You be a lion, I'll be a puppy

Once he decides what animal everyone is, then you do the sound the animal makes. It's fun to make sounds and then hear him laugh and do it all over again.

Yesterday afternoon, Aaron decided to get in on the fun. I was in the kitchen making a snack for the boys and Andy came into the kitchen to play his little game. He told me to be a lion, but didn't include what he was going to be. I waited a moment and then roared at him to see if I could scare him (yes, maybe a little demented on mom's part). He jumped back and then started laughing. Aaron was sitting in his high chair and out came his little roar. It was so cute to hear Aaron join in on the fun. Luckily, dad was still home to hear the commotion.

Update on Shabby Apple Contest

I wasn't chosen (cue tears, screaming, yelling, overall tantrum)

Okay not really, but it's all a conspiracy I tell you, a conspiracy....

Any ways, I thought it was cute and was going to order the dress at least, but I'm not a small petite, so I'll have to find another cute dress either there or maybe on black Friday.

Oh well, I supposed I can't win every contest I enter.

Did you find it?

Today was one of those days where you have made plans and the 3 yr old can blow them to pieces or slowly shred them to pieces. Since today is Veteran's Day and Andy didn't have school, I thought we should head into Seattle to the Children's Museum since we only have about a month and a half left on our membership.
Yup, guess where this is going.....nope didn't make it. Andy was told to get dressed, eat lunch and once he was finished with his lunch, we would go to the children's museum. That kid is slower than molasses on a cold winters day. It was almost 2 pm when the lunch was finally consumed. I checked traffic and decided about an hour and half was not worth my $6 to park and drive home in evening commute traffic. So we ended up at grandma's house.
I had taken my knitting over there to dabble with it, get some help from grandma and also dig through her knitting supplies. Grandma in her true form (and my waist line can prove it), she lined all three boys up to the stainless steel island to make cookies. Just in case you are wondering about boy #3, my nephew was over for the afternoon. I was sitting at the kitchen table practicing my knitting and working on my gauge when I dropped a stitch off the needle. I made my normal remark of "shoot."

Grandma: " What happened?"
Me: " I dropped a stitch."
Nephew: "Where did it go?"
Andy: "Did you find it?"
Me: "Yes, I found it and put it back where it belongs."

For all the fuss, tears and frustration, those two 3 yr olds can sure bring a bit of laughter into your life amidst the grey hair the give too.

One blog leads to another which leads to another....

One of my friends told me about a Contest on a blog that she follows and of course, I had to sign up for my chance at a great necklace. Then added that blog to my blogger list-she does some fun stuff for the kiddos. Well, because of that blog, I found this great website, Shabby Apple. They design Dresses for real women who live in the real world.

Well, Shabby Apple is having a contest with designing your own Vignette. I call mine

A Day with My Boys.

I have two boys who keep me running all day long. I do love my jeans and hoodie as much as the next mom, but this outfit spices things up a bit. My day would start out with a coffee date at the local indoor mall play area ( I live in Seattle and it rains for 9 straight months each year). I can chat with girlfriends and watch the boys climb all over the boats. The boots allow me to chase after runaway kiddos without any hesitation.

The boys and I would then grab lunch at the local pizzeria in the mall that is a Northwest favorite and do a bit of shopping for the boys for the next season, grab some make-up for mom and meet up with grandma, aka the evening baby-sitter.

The baubles allow me to go from cool mom of the day, to meeting a girlfriend for happy hour. Once we had our glass of wine and sliders, my handsome husband enters the restaurant to whisk me away for an evening out just the two of us. We still have a gift card to Maggiano's that's burning a hole in my gun metal bag. After a yummy Italian dinner, we head upstairs to trade in our fancy footwear for bowling shoes and bowl a couple of games at Lucky Strikes. Our evening concludes with a visit to the Cheesecake Factory to pick up a to-go bag filled with Godiva Chocolate cheesecake. It's then off to grandma's to pick up a couple of sleepy boys, head home to put them to bed and then hubby and I can cuddle up to enjoy dessert.

It's amazing how an outfit can be the beginning of a great day hanging out with my boys. So even if I don't win the outfit, I might just have to have my day with my boys anyway. Jeans and hoodie optional.

My Monkey AJ

I remember Andy being a little climber, but more of a chair mover. Aaron is the one I have to keep an eye on 24/7. He likes to climb onto the little table, Andy's step stool and the latest is attempting to climb the kitchen chairs to get to the table. Aaron also likes to scare his mom by trying to climb the high chair if the tray is not on. So I thought I would share some pictures from the last couple months.

This picture was taken during his birthday party, thus grandpa in the background.

Andy congratulating his brother on climbing the table. One of the reasons why the table got moved from the front window.

I had been downstairs working on laundry and this is the sight I beheld when I came back up the stairs. Of course the funny part about writing this post is Aaron is currently climbing up the chair behind me to get on my desk. Which he has managed to do and trying to figure out the pen and cap. Like I said, this one will keep me on my toes.

Budding Photographer

I wanted to post some pictures of my little photographer. He really enjoys finding my camera and shooting to his heart's delight. Fortunately, we all have digital cameras or I would be spending a fortune developing rolls of film. So guess what Andy's getting for Christmas.....



The laundry basket full of clothes awaiting to be folded and put away.

Andy's race car sitting atop mom's night stand and along with the items that get piled on there.

Andy's foot.

Another race car, this one is sitting atop the end table behind the chair in the living room.