A very thankful weekend

A month ago, our plans for Thanksgiving were very simple.  Eat something a little special in our own home.

We had no plans to speak of.

Three weeks before the big weekend, a plan came together very quickly.  My grandmother was planning to visit my Aunt and cousins in VA and my parents didn't want to miss the fun, so they got tickets out, too.  Scot and I looked at each other, took into account the loads of fun to be had and only a 6 hr drive and we invited ourselves over, too!  My aunt is amazing and took it all in with ease.  7 extra people at her house, but you'd never know!

Scot got off work right at 5 on Wednesday night and we drove the 6 hrs into the countryside of VA.

The whole weekend was wonderful, but Thanksgiving was the quintessential Thanksgiving for us.

A lazy breakfast of sweet breads and coffee and fruit.  A late morning walk to a gorgeous open space under clear blue skies.  No coats needed all day.  Feeding ducks their own version of Thanksgiving dinner.  Puppy love in the truest sense (Evan feel in love with my aunt's dog, Harry).  Boys napping while women worked in the kitchen.  A 5 star 5 course meal -- perhaps the best I've ever eaten.  A sunset walk with Scot. Pie for dinner and games until late.  It was perfect.

Friday strated with mom and I going out for a run in the beautiful country side.  And except for the viscous Rottweiler-Pitbull mix that charged at us and made me fear for my legs, everything was grand.  (don't worry, my aunt called pet services)  Another lazy breakfast was had, this time on the front drive while we watched the boys play with toys my aunt had saved from when my cousins were young.  Riding tractors and dump trucks.  It was an easy and relaxing day.  Leftovers and movies and games and more leftovers.

Saturday was spectacular.  It was my birthday, and everyone made made it special.  We had a big brunch and my favorite kind -- full of pancakes and cinnamon rolls and fruit and more sweet breads. (Can someone say carbaholic?)  We spent the late morning and early afternoon perusing the shops of the quaint little town in honor of Small Business Saturday.  I saw tons of things I would have loved to buy, but since I was wearing my bracelet with the new charms, it was easy to say no.  I did almost cave, though, and get one of these!

Probably the sweetest gift, though, was being able to visit with my best friend, Katie and her boyfriend, David.  They drove up and arrived late afternoon and we were able to chat and catch up a bit before heading off to dinner just us 4!  It was wonderful to get to see them.  Too short as always, but wonderful all the same.

All in all, a wonderful weekend I would re-live in a heartbeat.

Oh, and did I mention the boys slept in the same bed while we were there?  Bed time and naps!  I was so impressed -- I know this is what they used to do in the old days all the time, but the boys have never slept side by side and I didn't know how it would go.   Drew is a lighter sleeper and Evan moves around a lot. But not to worry, they did great.  I love situations that stretch them and make them more flexible.

A few links

I  hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know we did.

Thanksgiving is, as always, a wonderful time to reflect on all that we have been given and have the privileged to do.

Something that's been on my heart and mind recently is how thankful I am to have access to all the resources I have to teach and raise my kids.  When it comes to spiritual matters, Scripture is the best book to use, but I feel the Lord has blessed people to write very biblically based books and guides to help us parents.  So while you still have to match up what you read to Scripture, I think it's helpful to read other's perspectives and helpful hints when it comes to parenting.

Some books I have really liked.

Don't Make Me Count to Three - one of the best parenting books that talks about getting to the heart of the issue (Wise Words for Moms pamphlet is here)

Give them Grace - another fabulous book that takes a look at our hearts as parents, and shows how we can give grace to our children like The Father has given grace to us

Parenting with Love and Logic - a good book that talks about raising well adjusted, logically thinking, independent kids (they have a book specifically for young kids -- I haven't read it, but I plan to!)

Long Story Short - our favorite devotion for this age

Training Hearts, Teaching Minds - devotional for when they're a little older

The Jesus Storybook Bible - a wonderful Bible for preschool age that points every account to Christ

Heaven at Home - a great book about creating a loving and welcoming enviroment in our home for our family as well as all who enter

30 years

Today marks 30 years since my parents said "I Do".  In a culture where this is becoming more and more rare, I am even more grateful to have been able to watch them grow in their relationship with each other and with the Lord.  They've toughed out hard times together and fully enjoyed their "mountain peak" moments.

We love you, mom and dad/grammy and grandude.  You've been a wonderful example of a Christ-centered marriage, and I'm glad the boys will also get to witness it.  It's a true legacy you're creating.

Happy anniversary, you two!

Thank you, little camera

When my DSLR "broke" 2 weeks before our big trip to NY, I was devastated   It had to be sent to Nikon to get fixed and I knew I wouldn't get it back in time to take the pictures I'd planned to take on our trip. Generation pictures, pictures of the changing leaves, NYC....you get the idea.  

For a few years now, Scot has been trying to convince me to buy a little point and shoot camera and I always hesitated, not seeing the need.

Well, when faced with a big family trip without a camera, I changed my tune.  That little point and shoot camera was not very necessary.  So I went out, hit a sale, and got a camera I was happy with.  It didn't come close to capturing the moments like my DSLR, but it worked and we got some really good shots of leaves and people and the moments and memories created.

But since I got my "real" camera back, the little camera has sat in its cute little blue case at the bottom of my purse.  Forgotten most of the time.

But now it's time to thank that little camera.  Twice now, and probably more than that, but like I said, it's usually forgotten in the recesses of my purse, it has saved me and I've been able to capture moments that would have otherwise been left to my brain to remember. And really, pictures are just so much better at bringing up those memories.

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 A Saturday a few weeks ago.  Scot was on-call and I was needing to get out of the house and I wanted to do something special with the boys.  There's this great bakery at the end of our street we love, so we walked over there for a special breakfast of scones for the boys and coffee for the momma.

I lve Evan's face in this picture.  It's what I imagine him looking like in 4 or 5 years.

Friends who live a couple blocks away have a very talented 3 year old son who can jam on the drums better than I could (which really isn't saying much...but believe me when I tell you he's really good.  Period.) and they have a drum set to encourage his amazing God-given talent.  The boys love going over there and trying to jam as well. Drew especially loves the "head gear".

They also have a fabulous bouncy house.  This is going to come in very handy on those cold gray days we'll have this winter.

A snowy morning

This past week we had snow flurries one morning.  Nothing stuck, but it was cold and gray and the perfect morning with nowhere to go.  Evan and I curled up the sofa to work on his reading and Drew proceeded to gather all the books on our main floor, pile them to one side of them, and go through each one.  I think he was there for about 45 minutes just quietly enjoying the pictures.

Evan, on the other hand, plowed through the first 5 BOB books.   I'm using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading with him, and he's doing really well with it.  He's getting better just recognizing words he's already read in the story, and sounding words out in his head before saying them.  We haven't done a whole lot, and he's far from actually reading, but it's fun to see the progress each day as we work on it.

A long post about random things

It's been a while since I've done a post about the boys and what they're up to, so here we go.

To start with, they're both changing faster than I can keep up with.  Scot and I seem to be forever changing with them.  How we interact, how we train, how we talk...parenting is, I've learned, ever-changing, and most of the time, I love the pace and changes.

The cold weather is settling in, and we've enjoyed getting out in the last few nice days fall is offering us.  With that, here are some pictures of the boys over the last few weeks.

A friend gave us some fresh grown corn the other week and boy did the boys have a blast with it.  We all love corn on the cob, but for whatever reason we only enjoyed it twice this past summer.  Not nearly enough.  I found it quite comical how differently the boys ate their cobs.  Drew ate his very sporadically and in large chunks, while Evan ate his in neat little rows.  Partly, this difference in due to their ages, but I think some of it is indicative of their personalities, too.  I love it.

 We are in the middle of having out roof replaced.  This is, on the whole, a good thing.  I'm starting to get tired of the constant banging and feeling like my house is coming down around me, but I'm excited to have a new roof over our heads.  A fall-out of having the roof repaired is the boys taking their naps in the basement since it's just too loud for them to actually sleep in their room.  They think it's great fun, so far, we haven't had any issues with their toys being within reach, either (the basement is the toy room).  The hard part for me during this, is I can't do laundry while they're napping, nor can I really do anything on the main level of the house sine the floors are so "thin" and creak so much.  So, our rooms up here have been purged and cleaned really well instead.

Also to note, Evan has switched back to napping every day.  Drew was shortening his naps a little and Evan just couldn't go a day between naps when he was only getting 2 hours on days he did nap.

Evan, our sweet Evan, is growing up before our eyes.  I just printed out our Christmas picture and then regretted it, thinking that he won't even look like he did a couple months ago by the time I send them out.  He must be growing with all the food and sleep he's been needing, and I don't think it'll be long before he starts to shoot up and need new pants.

As you can see in the picture, he loves to build and create.  Both boys enjoy it, but Evan can spend hours with his legos or blocks just building.  He has a very active imagination and it's been great to see him get lost in his own little world.  He loves to just sit and talk to us about his day, and sometimes doesn't eat until we tell him he has to be quiet.

His biggest news right now is that he's learning to read.  He's been showing interest for almost a year now, and a couple weeks ago I finally opened the book I got to help teach him and he's taken off.  It's coming easily and naturally and he's really enjoying it.

He is still incredibly sweet and loving to those around him, especially Drew. More often than not, I find him helping Drew with something, or talking him through an issue (ie: building a taller tower, getting the dinosaurs through "the forest", making a fort).  The boys really are each other's best friend, and while I have to encourage them each and ever day to be kind to one another, it's not as often as I find myself thankful for their friendship and love for one another.

Drew is our ham-bone.  His vocab is exploding and he loves to make people laugh and joke.  He's rambunctious in his play and a total lover, too.  He loves to build with Evan and have his big brother with him when he's playing.  His favorite activity right now is building forts: under the futon, under the kitchen table, behind the sofas....and Evan is always right there to help him build and create.

In the picture he had woken up and brought his blanket and dog into the office and "put himself back to sleep".  I thought it was so cute.  He is very caring to all his "buddies", making sure they're all tucked in at night, in a little row on his pillow.  It's such an interesting dichotomy to see such a tender and nurturing spirit in him when he's my rough and tumble kid.  He still loves to climb and jump on/off everything and anything, but he also loves snuggling in the morning or just sitting on my lap to get some love.

His biggest change has to do with teeth. He had all 4 of his 2-yr molars come in a couple weeks ago.  Is was anything but pleasant for all involved, and we're all happy and thankful that trial is over.

At 2.5, he's not only into asking "why" at every turn, but he's also starting to connect certain ideas and really express his thoughts.  A few weeks back I was explaining to him that everything we have is from God, that everything is God's that He's just gifting us with (this was mostly in relationship to tithing at church) -- when we were in a store, I told the boys we had to go and pay, and Drew piped up "God's money, mom.  God's money."  It was precious.

And I had to include this little series of pictures.  There were some leftover green beans after lunch one day, and Drew, who loves almost all green vegetables, decided that he would just polish the bowl off.  With his mouth.  Please don't judge -- I have no idea why he didn't use his fork, or even his fingers, but he did just bury his face in the bowl to try and eat as many of the green beans as possible.  Like I said, he's our ham-bone.

3 hearts

I've seen double yoked eggs before.  And even double hearted onions.

But a triple heart?

Pretty cool, huh?

Vintage Toys

Scot has whole boxes of toys from his childhood days sitting up in our attic.  Every so often, he'll being some down for the boys to enjoy.  First it was micro-machines -- and they proved to be the favorite of all toys in the house bar none.

This past weekend, Scot brought down his vintage G.I. Joes.  The boys went crazy.  With over 30 G.I. Joes and some of the vehicles, too, they played for almost 2 hours with them.  It was great delight to hear the boys' oohs and ahhs, and also Scot's oohs and ahhs of remembrance.

Evan found this little treasure in the box.  A truck Scot make when he was a kid.  I loved it.

Super Family Night

We don't "do" Halloween.  We just don't.  We don't judge those who do, it's just something Scot and I have a personal conviction about.  For me, it goes back to bad Halloween experiences, the hatred of being scared, and classmates I had in college who were Wiccan and lived for the day.  So even though I know the commercialized Halloween is totally innocent and kid friendly and all about little ones dressing up and getting candy, I just can't do it.

So for now (because we could totally change how we do things) we just have a super family night instead.  We wanted to do this so the boys would still have something to look forward to and something to do while their friends are out trick-or-treating.

This year, we watched a movie while we ate dinner (unprecedented event in our house).  We also pigged out on popcorn, "bubblies" (flavored carbonated water), and Swedish fish.  The boys thought it was the greatest thing ever.