And we're off...

Weekend Recap

Happy Thanksgiving two days late.

There are very few leftovers in the fridge now that we've had 2 lunches and a partial dinner with them after the great feast. The birthday/company/Thanksgiving/more company chaos has slowed to a low rumbled. The house is quiet except for the gurgling of of the radiators. We had quite the crazy week and there's just too much to write about it all, so here's the recap:

• Evan was sick on Sunday/Monday and took until Wednesday to finally feel 100%
• I was thankfully able to prep half of what I was making for Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday during Evan's really long naps, making Thursday a little less chaotic - but not by much
• Wednesday I gain another year and celebrated with friends who dropped in on their way to visit family in Michigan. It was great to spend time with them catching up. We all went out to our traditional Birthday Breakfast and then off to a nearby park to run some steam off. Scot was able to take the day off, so it was wonderful to spend time with him alone as well as a family. My friend Jamie made a fabulous birthday dinner for me and it great to just be surrounded by my boys and friends all day long.
• Thanksgiving dawned bright and cold and with me bustling about in the kitchen. I didn't have to cook the turkey as the family (of 7) was bringing that along with mashed potatoes and stuffing -- but I did everything else. There with 12 of us in all including children and it was a blast. All the food was so tasty and the fellowship very warm.
• Thanksgiving night was spent cleaning everything up in record time (gotta love good team work!) and then we were off to pick my best friend Katie up for her too-short stay with us (3 days).
• Friday and Saturday were spent with leisurely mornings, dessert and tea for breakfasts, lots of laughter and stories, books read and towers built with a certain 2 year old, and over all, balm applied to the soul each and every minute.
• I am now looking forward to a slightly more routine week and getting Christmas decorations out and up!
  

It has been a weekend to remember. Fun filled and laughter packed. Here are some pictures to go with the recap. Enjoy.

And Not a Moment Too Soon

Two days ago I thought to myself, I should really lower Drew's crib mattress down a notch.

Boy am I glad I did!

This is what I found this morning after his nap

In other news:

• Mr Pukes is visiting Evan and I hope his stay is very short.
  
• Drew is crawling - not consistently, but sometimes.
• We have company coming in tomorrow night until Wednesday lunch time, I have to prep for thanksgiving dinner, I have a birthday and special dinner, we host Thanksgiving dinner, my best friend is coming into town Thanksgiving night and staying the weekend. Were going to busy these next couple days but it's going to be oh so much fun!
• Except for the multiple loads of laundry and washing of the kitchen floor, I have an entire house to clean by tomorrow night.
• There are more posts on the cooking blog...
  

Knit Creations

I love my friend Dana. She's been one of my closest friends since middle school. We liked the same guy at the same time, and for whatever reason that made us closer rather than split us apart. Over the years we've had periods of time where we haven't talked often but when ever we did make the time, we could always pick up right where we left off. Over the past few years, though, our friendship has deepened. Whether it's our love for doctrine and theology, the fact that we're both married now or that we both have boys, I don't know. What I do know is that I love it.

Earlier this week we had a box outside our door and inside were these wonderfully knot items from Dana. Colors to remind us of Colorado, she said, and that they do!

Thank you, Dana! Not only for your sweet gift but also for your friendship! We love you!!

Evan's "Neck Sweater" as he calls it. He LOVES it and won't stop wearing it around the house.


Drew on his "Colorado Blanket" as I'm not calling it! I love the way it brings out his still-blue eyes!!

just another plug...

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Yes. I'm that mother.

I'm fairly laid back. Not much gets me going. At least not in the realm of paranoia and danger. My boys will be well mannered and little gentlemen, but they will also get dirty in the mud without me sighing (as long it's not right before church!), they will run to the other side of the park without me on their heels, they will climb without me freaking out, they have both had pacifiers in their mouth after dropping on public floors (not bathrooms, though), and they have been told multiple times "Oop - no blood. You're fine. Just brush it off."

One of our favorite things right now is jumping. There are only a few places in the house Evan is allowed to jump from. The futon in the playroom and his slide. Sometimes we put a huge pile of blankets and pillows at the bottom for him to land on. Sometimes not. And sometimes there is a cape involved. Like today.

First [documented] Bath Together

Ok. So they've had one other bath together that wasn't documented. But I was not about to either leave them alone to get the camera or get Drew out of the warm water just to fancy my desires.

So I just made sure to have the camera ready the next time I put them in together.

He had a blast splashing with Evan...


...and so did Evan. He was bummed I didn't let him help rinse Drew's hair, but hey - that's life.

...oh dear!

This is what happens when you leave a 2 year old (or my 2 year old, apparently) to use the bathroom by himself while you get ready for the day:




I think maybe the kid has something with toilet paper...ya think?

Silly Boys

I have a couple silly boys on my hands.

Pictures prove it.

Drew can get into things a lot better than out.


Evan, as always, loves being in the kitchen...


...but this takes it to a new level!

Monday Funnies

Evan picks up the darnedest things....


Fact 1) He's learning about Abraham and Sarah in Sunday School.
Fact 2) I'm trying to teach him his basic information.

2 funnies come from these facts


Funny 1:
(Right after going over his full name - which he says "Evan Bake Esestran")
Me: Evan, what's your name?
Evan: I'm two. (The answer he now gives to "How old are you?")
Me: No, no. What your name?
Evan: I'm two!
Me: I know you're two, but what's your name? What does mommy call you?
Evan: (Grinning) Ummm...Silly boy!!

Oops!



Funny 2:
Me: Evan, do you know what mommy's name is?
Evan: Yes. Mommy!
Me: Haha. Right, that's what you call me. But my name is Sarah, right? (pause) Do you know what Daddy's name is?
Evan: Yes! (pause) Abraham!

Better All the Time

Things are getting better all the time. Really. They are.

It could be the beautiful Colorado-like weather we're having this week. All the time outdoors we've enjoyed. The multiple people we've had in and out of our house to just say hi, share a meal, have a party, or study the Word. The routine that I feel we've found that finally works for us. The joy I have in teaching Evan not only memory work and Sunday school material, but also his colors and numbers, shapes and letters. It could be the fact that I have one less meal to think about during the week thanks to meal-share with Jamie (I cook dinner for all of us on Wednesdays and she does it for everyone on Thursdays). Or maybe it's just the simple fact that the Lord is working, as always, on my contentment, and we're just having a good week.

Whatever it is, I like it.

This is not to say, however, that I'm ready for the winter ahead. By no means am I saying that. And really, I have no idea what's ahead. Not really. Since I haven't experienced it yet. But similarly to residency, even though I knew it was going to be hard, and I could prepare for that, it's like what I tell Scot "Just because you know a train's about to hit you doesn't make it hurt any less!"

We had a "more humid summer than ever" -- so I was told. And we're having pretty days when typically there's snow on the ground. Or so I'm told. And also, so I'm told, we will say good-bye to the sun for 4 months and pop Vitamin-D pills like they're candy. At least most everyone has given me this story. The few people who have told me that the winters here aren't bad at all and that the snow doesn't stick around and that it's sunny most of the time...well, I'd like to believe them but I think they either 1) are delusional or 2) have just grown so used to the winter conditions that they don't seem to be bothered by it anymore. And I wold like to clarify that just because you can see where the sun is behind the gray clouds does not make that a sunny day. At all.

I will say, though, for the one gal at the park yesterday who told me the winters her are "quite nice" - she's from Russia. So I sure hope the winters here are better than there!!

As for the other people, the very very few other people...well...I'm hoping beyond hope that their version of winter (and not the 126 other corresponding versions) is what we'll see.

But I'm not holding my breath.

All that to say, we are having a great time this week. The weather is perfect. Jeans and long sleeve weather. Very little humidity. Crisp mornings and some still vibrant colors on the trees. We walk out the front door and Evan can be heard saying "Gorgeous out, mommy! Gorgeous out!" I love it.

We've been quite busy, and will continue to be so. (Really, Sarah? You? Busy?) But like you all know by now, I like it that way.

The boys are growing up before our eyes in so many different ways. Drew is so close to crawling. Still. Has pulled himself up on things now and is trying to do what Evan does. He's wearing clothes that Evan wore this time last year. (Yeah. Crazy.) We went from 3-6 to 9-12 in a day because none of Evan's 6-9 clothes were weather appropriate and really, the 9-12 stuff wasn't too big on him. He's babbling a lot more and is much more interactive with us. I also just went with the time change and he goes down to bed just a little after Evan now and wakes up about the same time as he used to. I love it!

Evan is such a wonderful older brother. He has hugs and kisses for everyone. He's starting to snuggle a little more in the mornings if he wakes up before Drew which is nice. He is always asking to read about Jesus and just read in general. Thanks to Jamie, we figured out last night that he has parts of book memorized. If it's a book we've read a lot, we can stop reading and he'll finish the sentence. Amazing! His imagination is unbelievable. We eat the craziest things at the oddest times! Ice cream for breakfast is considered normal, for instance. Ice cream, whenever, really, is considered normal. The downfall to the active imagination is when the radiators start hissing at 5 am. Not so fun. But thankfully we've been blessed with boys who just go right back to sleep if we tell them to.

And now both boys are awake and it's beautiful out and I think it time to visit a park and run off some steam!

Until next time...

Hat Heads

Evan decided that he and Drew should both wear hats inside the house. Why? I'm not sure. And with a 2 year old boy, who knows but him! Drew had fun with it, though!

A Walk to Remember

The leaves were beautiful. The air just the right temperature. The laughter bubbling up at just the right intervals. And Scot was home to enjoy it.

And off we go...


Drew was a mite sleepy, but he was snug and happy.


Rollin' rollin' rollin'...




So. Close.

And then he got tired of pedaling and wanted to push...

P.J. Party

I love our play group. When we moved here, I tried out 3 different groups, but ended up with the Friday morning group for a few reasons. It was church based (although not my church) and it was/is comprised of about half resident wives. Being in this lovely boat of mine where I feel like I never see my husband and all the wonderful "stuff" that goes along with that, it's nice to have other christian gals who just get it. It's also nice to have ones who don't. :)

This past Friday was deemed a "P.J. Party" at playgroup and we had a blast! Lots of pillows and blankets, books to read and hot cocoa to sip. Good fun ad fellowship, and of course, PJ's!

Miss Chloe and Drew-boy


And then Lucy wanted in on the fun


Evan waiting for others to come join the fun


Donuts!


YUM!

Catch up!

There is so much to catch everyone up on, but for now Drew's post is all I have time for.

Keep checking back as there are sure to be lots of pictures and funny stories in the next few days!!

7 Months

Drew is now (yesterday) 7 months old!! He's about 19 lbs now and solidly in 6-9m clothes. He's as lovable as ever and dealt with the time change like a champ! We love you, Drew-boy!

Mostly Informative

This is what I like to call an "information post". With pictures.

Here is a list of cute things Evan is saying/doing now:

• When he wakes up, he now says that he "Slept well" instead of saying just "good" (which is improper English anyway)
• "Happy Birpay!" is frequently heard after a birthday party we went to - and he actually tries to sing the song, SO CUTE
• His favorite song right now is the "Joy, joy, joy" song and so we sing it - all 4 verses - a lot.
  
• He loves to play with Drew and try to get Drew to watch him do cool things and then gets frustrated that Drew is more interested in his booties
• Building towers, bringing them over to me and saying "That's huuuuge, mommy! Huge tower!"
• Still the little helper and Mr Sensitive

Drew's little list:

• Put that kid in the Johnny Jump-up and he's a happy boy! For literally 45 minutes. It's great.
• The newest thing is razzing (which Evan has picked up, too, much to my chagrin)
• We are so close to crawling. We do army crawling. We do the all-4's rocking. We even do the push-up position! So close.
  
• He loves bread. Of any kind. And cheerios.
• He is still very content and happy. And easy. I am so blessed.

The parent's list:

• Scot is still living tired and stressed and that's just life right now. He essentially lives at the hospital and it truly feels sometimes that he waltz's into the house to use my hot water, eat my food, and/or sleep in my bed, but never all 3 at one time. Unless it's a weekend where he's home, but then he's usually just sleeping or studying.
  
• I have my ever-long to-do list that I keep trying to finish.
  
• I am starting meal-sharing with a friend.
  
• I have started a ladies Bible study that is going so well and we all feel so blessed by it.
• I am counting down the days til Thanksgiving and then our rip to Colorado
• I don't have any Autumn decorations up - I'm hoping the views out the window do the trick
• I do plan to get out Christmas decorations. Sometime.
• In general, I feel a little behind the 8-ball and will continue to feel so for the next 2 weeks.

And now for pictures.

A couple weeks ago at play-group, we had a costume party. But since we don't do Halloween, I didn't have costumes. A few people had brought extra and it was fun to get the boys in them to take pictures.


My 'Little Monkey'


VMI Proud


A little one-on-one with Daddy in funky lighting


A very happy little guy


First ever Chipotle experience for him and he loved it