I've started playing Christmas music, have you?



This month is flying by!  I really enjoyed focusing on something I feel grateful for this month (see previous two posts). 

 

This next photo is a couple of weeks old.  I asked the boys to go brush their teeth or something and they said something like, "Can we finish this game first?"  I laughed when I saw they had created a checker board out of Legos.  These guys crack me up!

 

I don't do a lot of baking (on purpose).  I couldn't remember the last time I've made sugar cookies and thought that Liv would enjoy doing that since she loves Play-Doh so much.  I got all of my mom's cookie cutters and Liv and I had a fun time looking through them and making cookies together.  We mostly made a bunch of turkeys, but had to do some "fairies" (angels) per Liv's request.  I love my sweet helper!

 

Rob's mom and two younger sisters stayed with us the week of Thanksgiving.  It was a treat to have Patti and Alisa with us for the second Thanksgiving in a row, and great to have Sue, Zach and the twin boybies here twice in one year!  Rob's older sister and her family were able to spend some time here with us too (they had thanksgiving with our bro-in-law's family).  We love having everyone here.  Our kids can't get enough of their cousins.  It is a shame how few pictures I take these days, but maybe I'll post more as I get (steal) some from the much better photographers in the family...

 

I did get this awesome shot of Alisa and Liv after they jumped in our freezing cold pool (Alisa was hot after a jog. Oh, New Yorkers).  :) 

Polar Bear Swim!

 

Tosh's class made these turkey hats the day I was there to volunteer.  That's two cute turkeys! 

 

I invited Alisa to do the Turkey Trot with me this year.  Sue cheered us on and took some photos.  I've never really seen pictures of me running before... I'll post a few. 

This one is around mile 2 (looks like I am walking, but I'm not):

Still able to smile at seeing Sue:

This is at the very end on my way to the finish line (6.2 miles).  I didn't see Sue and had no idea she was taking photos: 

Stretching after the race with my friend, Alecia.  This is a funny candid that makes me laugh!  Not sure what we were talking about: 

Three happy racers ready to get home and eat Thanksgiving dinner!!!

 

The turkey!

 

Hewitt LOVES the turkey leg.  He could hardly wait to dive in. 

 

Hewitt is such a funny kid.  Here he is jumping rope and jumping on the tramp with flippers!

 

Our family all left on Saturday (sad face), and then we completely cleaned the house and did laundry, etc.  The kids are now earning an allowance, I should mention.  It isn't much, but it helps that they own specific chores and can learn how to manage their money.  Rob got so excited when he told the boys, "...and I can help teach you how to budget on Excel!"  After the mopping and chores were all finished, Rob and I got a babysitter and went to the temple Saturday afternoon and then out for dinner.  We left the temple when it was already dark and I had forgotten about the temple lights!  This isn't a great photo, but worth remembering anyway.  We ended up going to one of our favorite mexican restaurants.

 

After dinner we rented a movie and then came home and watched it.  Rob ate about half of a pumpkin pie, but that's OK because it was Birthday Eve! 

Sunday was Rob's 38th birthday.  The kids gave us a nice gift of everyone sleeping in until 8:00AM and Rob didn't have any meetings!  Hewitt, Liv and I made Rob breakfast in bed and Liv snuggled up to Rob while he ate:

It was a fairly low-key day, but nice to spend the day all together.  We had so many leftovers that Rob was more than happy to eat stuffing with gravy--his favorite food (and everything else that goes with) for dinner that night.  I did make him a banana cream pie (from scratch) for dessert.  I have never done that before and it was a BIG hit with Rob and Burke. 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Special thanks to those that came all the way down here!  We missed those of you we didn't see... you are ALWAYS welcome in our home.  We are grateful for you and love you!

Next on my to-do list:  Christmas decorations up and Christmas cards out! 

Gratitude Days 12-22 (cont.)

Day 12: This great stage of life.  The kids are fairly independent (no diapers, everyone sleeps well).  It's that sweet spot before the teen years (or so I'm told).  We had a fun morning playing at the park.. I'm thankful my kids love and like each other, and get along so well most of the time. 

Day 13: My wonderful mom (truly something I feel grateful for every day)!  Liv and I were just reading a book about Fall and she said, "Leaves die and people die.  Your mom died."  When I said, "Yes, I miss her," Liv said, "Me too."  There aren't enough words to describe my love and gratitude for this sweet woman.  Miss and love you, Mama. 

Day 14: Home sweet home.  I know that I complain on occasion about spending much of my time straightening up and cleaning, but I am so thankful for a warm and safe place to create family memories.  I am also enjoying our (recently) updated kitchen--the heart of our home. 

Day 15: Music--it's been a big part of my life.  Had so much fun staying up late recording with Rob last night (new duet is getting SO CLOSE!) :)

Day 16: A good education (and I honestly feel that my kids are getting a great education!).  I am thankful my kids have a love for learning and spend much of their free time reading, drawing, looking at maps, etc. 

Day 17:  Alone time.  I was able to attend a baptism by myself, go for a long run, and clean the bathrooms in a silent house today... Pretty much a "me party" you could say.  I appreciate the much needed time alone with my thoughts.

Day 18: Cousins!

Day 19: The opportunity to work with kids, whether it be teaching at church or helping out at the school.  Loved spending my morning painting small hands :)

Day 20:  Awesome in-laws (and I include those not pictured here)!  I love being a 'sister' in a great family.  Had to capture our matchy-match nautical look today.

Day 21:  Rob!  I am so fortunate to be married to such a great man and father.  Everything is better with Rob by my side.  Thanks for making my dreams come true and for bringing out the best in me, babe.
 

Day 22:  A glorious Thanksgiving feast!  Thankful to reflect on countless blessings!  It's truly a wonderful life--thanks for being part of it :)

Gratitude Days 1-11

I thought it would be a good thing to name something that I am grateful for every day this month leading up to Thanksgiving.  October was a challenging month for me emotionally, and I honestly think that counting my blessings has helped me to feel more peace and gratitude in my life.  These are in no particular order, just what came to mind as things I treasure and appreciate in my life.  

I am posting these daily on Instagram.  Here is what I have posted from November 1 thru today:

Day 1:  So thankful for my children--joys of my life.  And hallelujah that the boys are all finally back in school today!

Day 2: Laughter.  I just asked Liv to sit on the ottoman so I could do her hair and she said, "What watermelon?"

Day 3: My girlfriends, near and far.  How would I have made it through the last year without such good friends? Enjoying some girl "time out" this weekend in downtown PX.

Day 4: Pizza (probably my favorite food along with a great salad)! A slice of pesto chicken pizza taken yesterday at Brick (in PX). De-lish!

Day 5: Thankful to be a stay at home mom.  It certainly isn't always easy or glamorous, but it's exactly what I want to be doing.  Today I got to volunteer in Tosh's class and now I'm hanging out with my favorite girl.  I'm very fortunate (isn't this the cutest apron? Thanks BC.)

Day 6: A loving family and happy childhood.  Happy 77th b-day to my dear ol' dad!  My dad and siblings were all together on Sunday for my nephew's Eagle Court.  (Somehow I missed the 'scouting' gene and got 'can sing on key' instead).  I love these people!!!

Day 7: Good health.  Cooling my feet off in the pool after a 5.6 mi run outside (and hooray for weather in the 70's!).

Day 8: The opportunity to serve a mission (and how it has shaped my life).  I just came across my mission letters while cleaning up my laundry room, and cried my eyes out while I read.  So thankful for the wonderful AND difficult experiences-- I love the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Day 9: Crisp Fall mornings (even if you only need the sweatshirt for an hour or so).

Day 10: Hand-me-downs!  I am so thankful for the clothes our kids receive from their cousins.  This is an out-going pile moving from Tosh on to his younger cousins :)

Day 11: My many freedoms and all those who have defended them.  This photo was taken at my favorite uncle's graveside; he always claimed that his father's prayers kept him alive in the battle at Iwo Jima.  May we never forget our great heritage!

it's finally Fall!

So last weekend I went to "Time Out for Women" for the first time ever.  My friends Briana and Alecia invited me to go and it turned out to be a really great weekend. We left Friday around 4pm, went to dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and then attended the conference that evening.  I thought the speakers were really good, and even though the music was pretty cheesy (I am a total hypocrite because I've certainly done my share of cheesy performances), the message got through anyway.  We spent the night in a hotel downtown and didn't get much sleep (I think I talked to Alecia until 3am or so...we were afraid to look at the clock!).  We got up early and returned to the convention center for more speakers and music.  I was able to visit with some old friends--the main sound guy, Joe (was the sound guy for Showtime and Young Ambassadors), and Abe who sings with Jericho Road.  Abe was in Young Ambassadors with us as well (he came to the temple when I went through for the first time before my mission, and was at our wedding luncheon). 

 

We had some amazing pizza during the lunch break at Brick, and had a great experience in all (better than I expected).  Rob picked me up downtown a few minutes early (just before 4pm) and we headed to the Intel work party at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek. 

 

The party wasn't exactly as fun as we had hoped...  There was a HUGE crowd (have I mentioned that there are like 15,000 Intel employees down here?) The party was for either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but I think they were all there on Saturday with their extended families :).  I am not kidding that we stood in line for dinner for 2 hours and 15 minutes (for hot dogs pretty much)!  By the time we ate it was after 7:30 so we only did a couple of rides before heading home.  It made us not want to go to an amusement park any time soon.

We just bought a 2009 Toyota Sienna and had it delivered to our home from Florida (now to sell the Odyssey.  We just got the bumper replaced and had it detailed.  It looks great!).  The kids enjoyed watching the car transporter:

 (It's the white van on the back):

Hewitt and Liv were still coughing this week so they got on on antibiotics and Hewitt's lungs were bad (asthma) for the first time in a couple of years.  I think all three of the boys need to be on allergy medicine to get us through the fall.  Hewitt isn't a big fan of the nebulizer; I just love his long lashes:

For Family Home Evening we took goodies and a little gift to two families that just had babies this month.  Liv was so funny in the baby aisle and asked me to buy her these pink and purple pacifiers!  What a nut.  She wouldn't even take a pacifier past three months or something. 

Hewitt's first Pack Meeting was Thursday night.  He has been so excited to become a cub scout ever since Burke turned eight, as you can probably imagine.

My mom would sure love this picture!  She always said, "There is nothing cuter than a cub scout in uniform!"   Love these boys.

Hewitt earned his "Bobcat" and participated in the flag ceremony. I love his face while the cubmaster poured 'magic water' on his head:

Here he is stuffing an entire pack of Extra gum in his mouth:

On Saturday, Hewitt spent some time making some guys out of tin foil--this kid could make a toy out of anything!  He said, "You know Tintin?  Well, this is the adventures of Tin Foil!"

We had four soccer games over the weekend (Hewitt scored a goal in his).  It was also our stake conference.  Liv was really pouty while I was getting her ready to go to church today.  I guess she really didn't like how I did her hair and said, "I look like Mickey Mouse!  I don't like it."  I have laughed to myself every time I think about it.  I didn't realize that she even knows much about Mickey Mouse :)

It's really cooled down here (perfect for running outside!).  It was even in the 40's this morning.  Stay warm, everyone.