Happy Thanksgiving!

We all have so much to be thankful for this year. God has provided for our family in amazing ways. We are thankful for all the people in our lives! Have a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving and enjoy being together. Rest up for the big day tomorrow! hee hee
A sneak peak at our Christmas Cards...

Zoo Trip

Today we all had the day off so decided to take advantage of the b-e-a-u-tiful weather...even though it was mighty cold. We journeyed over to the zoo again, we've been trying to use our pass a lot before it gets completely too cold. We all bundled up with our warm coats and hats...except Andrew, and enjoyed our mad dash around the zoo. The dash was for Andrew's sake since he was "Chilled to the bones" in his thin jacket. Noah's favorite today was the penguins, we were there for quite some time with Noah shouting at the glass to, "Jump in! Jump in! Pee jump in water! It not too cold!" Big surprise, they did not listen to him, though there were some already swimming and they hung out right by the glass for Noah. We got to see all the Madagascar animals, Noah especially liked seeing "Murty the zebwa." I think Noah was scarred by not seeing a penguin jump in because he yelled at every animal to "Get in da water!" Again...they didn't listen to him.

When we were getting ready to go to the zoo Andrew asked Noah was the fishies names were (Andrew took the boys last week). Noah replied, "Salmon and Sturgeon." What a little sponge.

A Weekend to Remember

This weekend, Andrew and I got to go away and leave the kids for a marriage conference over at the Red Lion. It was such a special time to get to spend time with just us two...I don't know if we've been able to do that since Noah was born. It was our Christmas present from my parents, and what a gift it was. The speakers were just ok, but it's always such a good reminder to get to focus on just us. We had the best room in the hotel since it was right on the corner, we had two walls of floor to ceiling, wall to wall windows that overlooked the river...it was gorgeous. We were near the airport, so we could see the planes coming into land over the water. We both were able to take some good things from the conference, and are excited to get to strengthen our relationship! We had a blast...thanks Mom & Dad!

Friends!

It was so fun tonight when we got to have some of our friends over for dinner and to play! Jessica and her kids spent the evening with us, while both of our hubby's were working--her's in the police force and mine on homework. Jessica used to teach as well, and actually used to be my mentor in high school. I was good friends with her sister-in-law. Cooper and Noah are 3 days apart, and so are Mackenzie and Jacob...weird how that turned out! Mackenzie has some nice options with my two boys as far as a future mate, we'd love to be related to them!

Cooper and Noah did such a good job playing together, they were working on sharing, and had some full on conversations and even sat and read a book together all on their own! It's so fun now that they can talk to each other and really are starting to interact more. Noah's scooter is really theirs that they let him borrow, so Noah let Cooper take home his Thomas train to borrow:) It's fun to see him trying to process that.

Jacob and Mackenzie played really nicely together too, they are both learning to explore with their hands and it was so cute to see them reaching out for each other. It was also nice to get to swap stories with Jessica and have a real conversation with another adult who is going through the exact same thing as me! I feel a little more normal now after swapping stories, joys, and frustrations. We're thankful for good friends!

I had my second day of subbing today...and my first last minute call-in. I was still sleeping at 7:35 when I got "the call" and had to rush and get ready as fast as I could as normally I'm supposed to start at 7:30! I am loving subbing and really wish I could have my own classroom! I already have a job for Friday, so I'm sure I'll sleep much better tomorrow night not waiting for my phone to go off.

Seahawks

Sunday Andrew and my dad went up to the Seattle Seahawks game for the day. A couple from our small group has season tickets and couldn't make it to the game against the Arizona Cardinals, from where we used to live, so Andrew was excited to get to go. He tried one of his friends, but he couldn't make it, so he chose his next closest friend;0 They had a great time, and I was really excited Andrew got to go since he has wanted to for quite some time. I think this is such a good picture of Andrew!

Do you remember the post about the balloon-filled-room for Andrew's Birthday?

I have a real post I'm planning to get up here really soon, but just had to mention this really fast. I was talking on the phone with my dear friend, Jessica (who better be coming over for dinner and to play tomorrow;), when I heard a door shut upstairs. Noah and Jacob (I thought) were sleeping, but when I went up there, I opened up there now shut door, to find Jacob's crib full with Andrew's Birthday balloons. Yeah, nice, huh? I freaked out (which I don't do that often, but thoughts of balloons being such a big choking hazard came to mind, and the fact that Jacob had been fussing just minutes before and then suddenly stopped, which I thought was GREAT that he had gone to sleep), and took out all the balloons to make sure that Jacob was indeed alive and well. He was, and it was at that moment that I wished I would have taken a quick picture first. 

Children's Museum

This last week we went to the Children's Museum, which is always such a fun place to go (thanks for our pass Nanny & Pappy, and Nana & Papa!) Noah loves being able to go and play and I love how it really encourages exploration and letting kids "discover" so many cool things in a developmentally appropriate way. This was our last family outing for a while, as I'M SUBBING NOW!!! Finally, it seems like after so long, and such a difficult road, and so many different situations I have overcome, I made it. I could not have done this without all the help, support, encouragement, and prayers from so many people, so thanks! I had my first job on Friday, and I loved it! We are praying about a long term sub job starting in January that would go for a few months, and I really want to do it, but are just trying to see if we could work it out with the boys. I know I don't want to teach full time yet, but doing it for a few months would be so much fun for me, and helpful for saving up for a car as well...




Noah painting his own face...
Dad stepping into help... can you guess what's next? The facial hair Andrew wished he had;)

Riding in the Ambulance...Noah is a scary driver!

Out in the open

Andrew and I just got back from the gym after watching Biggest Loser, we had to go and get a workout in after watching. We did crossfit, and it kicked our a$*. I kept thinking that if they could push themselves hard on the show, then surely we should be able to as well! But, that is not the purpose of me writing tonight. I just had to get this off my chest:

I HATE VICKY! "She is such a B!" a direct quote from Andrew;) We love the show, but her and Heba, man, I can't stand them! It makes me mad how rude they are to Phil, he seems like a nice enough guy. Anyway, it made me so happy when Brady got voted off tonight, but I can't wait 'til next week to see Vicky go off the deep end, she really is a little crazy. I can't wait to see her go.

Just Like Daddy

Cindy, I had to post this up just for you because you have told me this story many times in talking about Andrew as a baby, and now Jacob has taken to the same [obsession?]. Jacob loves stuffed animals...especially one we have that makes crinkly noises...you know the noise I'm talking about. It sounds like a plastic grocery bag is in it? But every stuffed animal that he gets in his little drooly hands, he of course puts it in his mouth (can you say 6 teeth?), but he slowly but surely finds his way to the little white tag that is on the butt of every little creature. He then spends his time playing and chewing on that little white tag, just like Andrew used to do! Jacob is really entering that age of discovery, where he is able to really explore the world around him. He has started to copy you saying, "Da-da," a skill that Noah seems to have re-learned, and is really working on his "Pincer grasp," (yes, I was paying attention in all my child development classes! Look at all my college dollars coming to use...) which really looks more like a crab claw slowly, yet deliberately working so hard for that one little cheerio!

Oh what a week...

What a week it's been! Full of life, but oh how blessed we are in the midst of craziness! This week I got my teaching license from tspc, so I'll be subbing starting Wednesday! Just two days a week while Andrew is home with the boys. Sooo...in order to prepare (celebrate?) I just had to go shopping! I really don't spend much money at all...I'm so cheap! But when I do, I tend to go a little overboard. I went to the half yearly at Nordstrom and got some more Sevens...just what I needed:) Then too much stuff at Old Navy and Target...Old Navy didn't have that much, but Target had a lot of really cute stuff! I'm a sucker for a sale on name brands, so it was so hard to say no to deals! Yes Dad, I know that if it's still $100 after 50% off it can't quite be called a deal, but still. Then to top it all off today, we went to the Nike employee store because I had to use my gift card and pass that my volleyball team gave me! Again, I didn't buy anything for full price (which is already 1/2 off) but ended up paying 1/3 of the original prices on everything! I love it! So now I won't buy anything for another 6 months, at least that seems to be my trend;)

Another reason we went out to nike today was because Andrew was meeting with some people from nike golf to talk about jobs. Andrew worked at the world headquarters last summer and loved it, (and I loved getting into the employee store!) I really hope that's where Andrew ends up after he graduates. He's doing all the right things now to make that happen, I'm proud of you Andrew!

Home Sick....

Jacob has been sick since his shots, but the last two days have been really bad: 103.7 degree fever several times throughout the day and night, but I took him to the doctor and they said it was just viral. He's also been teething for a few months too...he already has six teeth poor guy! He hasn't been able to eat much because he can't breath through his nose, and it makes you said just to look at him because you can see he's just not feeling good. He also hasn't slept much, and not in long chunks, just little cat naps here and there, and of course he's up a lot at night too.

Since he can't nurse, there was no reason for me to get up (and I was exhausted from very little sleep the night before), Andrew was so kind as to be up with him a lot last night. Believe it or not, I went to bed a little after 11 and didn't wake up until 8:30, and for the first time in I don't even know, I woke up on my own, not with a little head staring at me saying, "Sun is up! I go play downstairs!" A few minutes after I woke up the boys were up, but I felt rested, which was so great! Thanks Andrew!




In fact, I felt so rested that I declared today a no tv, no computer, no wii day! We spent the morning playing duplos, trains, and reading books...including Noah's new favorite from Nana, the Napping House. There is a granny in it who he insists calling Grammy. Don't worry Grammy, I think you're much cuter in person ;}

Pumpkin Patch Video

Here is a little video clip of our pumpkin patch trip! Noah was a little indecisive!

99 Balloons

Don't watch if you don't feel like crying! So sweet and such a good reminder of how precious each moment is with our children.