Giving Thanks, Even if it's Late!

I know that we just had Christmas and I should be blogging about what a wonderful Christmas we had. And we did, but we have been really busy, and have a slow computer (seriously, does it take everyone else 5-7 minutes to upload a picture? Maybe I could blog more often if one post didn't take 2 hours!) . So, first I need to blog about the nice Thanksgiving we had...

My parents came to visit and we had lots of fun. We played games...

And apparently we like to choke each other while playing games, MOM!

My mom and I made applesauce.

Tyler and Nathan always try to see if they can last through my dad tickling them to death.

The reward.... $1.00

Well earned, I might add

Nathan always wanted Noni and Papa to put him to bed. Complete with a "race" up the stairs and all his OCD bed time rituals. Thank heavens someone else got to do it for a few days!

We had our yummy Thanksgiving dinner.

One small (literally) problem: The Rhodes rolls. I guess I should have followed Celia's advice and used a heating pad to make them rise. Because mine rose and then fell like a ton of bricks. More like the ton of bricks fell directly on the rolls.

We decided to poke holes in the first batch and brush them with olive oil and garlic and call them "Italian flat bread". Then we made a second batch that actually turned out right. Of course we pretended that we meant to have the flat bread and that I wasn't just a moron! I don't think anyone was fooled.

We are so thankful for all that we are blessed with, especially family!

LOTS!!

Recently we had our 2nd annual couples Christmas Party and Ornament

exchange at our house. It was LOTS & LOTS of fun!!

There were LOTS of shoes...

And LOTS of coats...

And LOTS of food...

And LOTS of ornaments...

And LOTS of friends...

And LOTS of fun!!!

We did an ornament exchange that was really fun. You know the kind where you draw numbers and can steal from others?

Here we see some stealing "in progress"

It was a blast. I think the best/funniest ornament was one we all lovingly referred to as "the big fat lady".

The "big fat lady" really got around that night, but ended going home with this happy couple...

"Some" people were upset when the "big fat lady" was stolen from them because they wanted to blog about it.

And were absolutely thrilled about the ornament they went home with.

Can't you tell?

It was LOTS of fun with friends!

P.S. Please excuse all of my "devil eye" pictures. I do not know how to fix the red eye problem as of yet.

A Date With Papa

Noni and Papa (my mom and dad) came for a visit again. (Since it is about 25 degrees here now, this picture is obviously from their last trip when it was warm!) We had a lot of fun with them, and that's why I haven't blogged in so long! I guess I have a lot of blogging to catch up on... because we took lots of pictures!

First, I have to relate that Nathan LOVES Hummers! He has loved them and been able to spot them a mile away since he was 2! Papa even sent Nathan one when he reached a much appreciated milestone (pooping on the potty, sorry, but I had to tell you, in fact I think the Hummer had a lot to do with him FINALLY reaching the milestone).

So, you can imagine Nathan's excitement when Papa decided to take him on a date to the Hummer Dealership here in Liberty Lake. This is the second time they have been. And I think he would go a hundred more times if we let him.

When I asked him why he likes them he says:

He likes the colors of them...

(This is what the Hummer that Papa sent him looked like)



He says that they are "REALLY COOL!"...




He likes sitting in them...




And because they are REALLY BIG...




Nathan and Papa had a fun time, Nathan got to spend time with Papa by himself, got a cool book showing all the different Hummers to buy, got to sit in them, I got LOTS of cool pictures (thanks Dad), and the poor salesman got NOTHIN'. Sorry guy, but we'll probably see ya in another 3 months.



I personally think that this should be the next new ad for Hummer!

Papa told Nathan that he would buy the Hummer if Nathan paid

for the gas...

And we're holding ya to it!

Do all kids have OCD or just mine?

There has not been one child born into our family that has not been stricken with OCD tendencies. Our 4 year old, Nathan is the one most affected at this moment. (Fortunately, they seem to get over it at about age 6 or so) The hysterics range from turning his "Birthday Snoopy" around when he goes to sleep because he doesn't like him smiling at him while he's sleeping.

Nathan with the "Snoopy" in question

Nathan re-enacting turning around Snoopy so he isn't smiling at him!

To having to go through a script each time he goes to sleep. This is the script:

Nathan: "Goodnight" (Has to be said BEFORE the door is closed)

Mom: "Goodnight"

Door closes

Nathan: "Goodnight"

Mom: "Goodnight"

Nathan: "Love you too"

Mom: "Love you too"

Nathan: "See you in the morning" (This is said at nap time also)

Mom: "See you in the morning"

If we don't repeat these things back to him verbatim, the whole process starts over. Is this not insanity?

Not only do we have to go through all these shenanigans but he also takes inventory each time he gets in bed. In his bed, he must have:

1. 1 - old teddy bear with old blue t-shirt

2. 1- 2" Pirate from a McDonald's happy meal. Because the pirate is only 2", he is quite frequently lost in the wee hours of the night. To which we are awakened by the screaming of "I can't find my pirate!" By the way, we do have a "back up pirate" , I would never relate this information to Nathan for fear that he would need to sleep with them both!! He also sleeps with a night light, nigh-night and 2 blankets, that have to be specifically placed. Have I made my case yet?

Here is the culprit, with his nigh-night, bear, and pirate!

The whole reason I had the idea of this post was one evening I came across this...

Ya know, you never quite realize how crazy your life sounds until you write it all down.... Heaven help me!!

Happy Halloween!!

I wish that I could take credit for this awesome show of Halloween festiveness (is that a word?) but the creative genius behind over 40 personally carved pumpkins is our neighbor John Hunter. When I arrived home from Tyler's Halloween school party I saw John still carving. After seeing how many pumpkins he had carved, I jokingly said, "What, did you take the day off of work for this or what?" He did.

I stole this picture from Jessica You really do have to click on it just to he how neat it was!

Not only did he carve them, but later that night, he set some on fire, and put flares in others...

The pictures don't do it justice!! Great job Hunter's!!

Our costumes this year are the same as every year, just a different kid in them!

Trevor is the lucky one, he is so tall that he is the only one that doesn't fit in any costumes from the year before. This year he was a tamed down vampire. I don't like the yucky, evil costumes. So, he is wearing his church clothes and a cape. He is a nice church going guy by day, not so mean vampire by night. I even made him smile for the picture.

Brandon is a convict. Notice the blue sweatshirt UNDER the costume. Hey, it's cold here! He looks like a convict ready for a fight. And a shave!





Tyler is Harry Potter. He also has about 3 layers UNDER the costume! You can't see it in the picture, but the fire was on. It looked really neat when I took it, like he lit the fire with his wand. Now, it just looks like Harry is pointing at the fireplace. Oh well...

Nathan was of course, Tigger. He loved Halloween and really got into it this year. When people would say, "Oh, look, it's Tigger!" He would reply, "It's just a costume." Hey, he just wanted to be honest in his dealings...


This is Nathan with his playgroup friends.

Tyler at his class Halloween party.

Nathan was not shy this year about trick or treating. He was very complimentary to those handing out candy. By telling some boys, "Great costume!" (They were in their pajamas.) And saying, "That girl was really cute!" when he was a couple of feet from her. He is 4 and is already noticing girls that are cute...Oh no.


Here's the crew. After an exhausting night and walking around begging for candy, we took this picture. If I knew that I looked like a stay puff marshmallow in that jacket, I would have opted to just be cold! I guess at least I have the beastly photo for posterity...gotta look on the bright side!



Is this a ridiculous amount of candy or what! My kids are going to be in a sugar coma for sure!! And right next to them, their sugar-addicted parents!

This is what we all feel like after eating all this candy!! (Once, again this was a John Hunter pumpkin)

Well, I think that just about sums it all up! We had a really fun and exhausting night. Good thing it only comes around once a year!!