Christmas PJ Popcorn Party

The last few nights, Josh and I have been starting a new tradition to our Christmas evenings. We feed the kids dinner and head upstairs for bath time. Afterwards, the kids come down stairs in their jammies with their blankets and watch a Christmas show. We have been recording Rudolph, Frosty, the Elf on the Shelf, etc. We make a bag of popcorn and all snuggle on the couch watching our Christmas program. Once its over, we head over to the glider and all read a Christmas story. The kids have been having so much fun with it, and look forward to it each night. Its such a neat thing when you think of the memories the kids are going to have from these moments in life.

Thanksgiving Break Recap

Okay, so this may go down as my longest blog post ever, I just thought I should give you all a heads up : )

Thursday:

What a fun, yummy day!! Josh, me, and the kids headed up to my parents house for the day. We were also joined by some family friends and overall, it was a great day. The food was amazing, we ate wayyyy too much, got to take home some yummy leftovers, and Grammy/Pop Pop ended up taking Nathan and Lindsey for a sleepover. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Friday:

On Friday, Josh and I woke up early and headed up the road to buy our Christmas tree. Its the first year that we have a real tree and it was fun picking one out and bringing it home. It was pouring rain that morning, so we were in and out in about 10 minutes haha. We ended up with a beautiful tree though, perfectly shaped, YEA! After that, we headed back up to my parents house where we picked up Nathan and Lindsey. We ended up eating some yummy Thanksgiving leftovers, playing a little Wii, and then heading home. When we got home, we pulled all the Christmas decorations out and got the house all festive. Chippy our Elf even came back to our house from the North Pole, quite exciting!!

Saturday:

In the morning, we took Nathan on a helicopter tour of Seattle. We had bought the deal for his birthday, but just now got around to using it. It was a gorgeous day and Grammy/Pop Pop watched the other two kids. We saw amazing views and had a blast!! Josh finished hanging some of the Christmas lights outside and we ran some errands. We battled Walmart and some other stores, but didnt find too much since things were sort of picked over by that point. We also moved all the kids toys upstairs to the loft and out of the downstairs "dining room". Its a huge change, but turned out awesome, and now our downstairs is free of kid toys LOL!

Sunday:

Well, Josh had planned on finishing Christmas lights that day and running some more errands, BUT.....that morning, we were sitting on the couch watching tv when Caleb came over and tipped over Joshs coffee mug. It was empty, but since we didnt know that, Josh jerked quickly to catch it and ended up dislocating his shoulder. Immediately we tried a few times to get it to go back in, but realized we needed to head off to the ER. Lindsey was still sleeping, so we woke her up, packed up the kids, phoned Grammy and Pop Pop to come down to get the kids, and away we went to the hospital. We were at the first hospital for a few hours, but they werent able to set it back in. So, they sent us to another hospital. Once we headed there and he got all checked in, they sedated him more and an orthopedic surgeon came in this time to try to set it himself. He said if he wasnt able to do it, they would have to do surgery. Luckily, after a few more hours (7 hours since dislocation), the surgeon was able to get it back in place. He does need to have surgery within a week or two still since its a weakened shoulder and needs to be repaired, but for now he has an arm sling on and is immobile (arm only) until surgery. Not the day we had planned, but we are definitely grateful that he is okay, in no pain, etc. 

Pre Thanksgiving Review

This week, I have been terrible about taking pictures. Every time I think to take one, the moment is gone or I dont have my phone. Sorry bout that!
We have been busy with last minutes errands, playdates, and cleaning. Yesterday, Lindsey had a "pumpkin pie day" at school and I was one of the parent volunteers. We got to help the class make pumpkin pies to take home. It was so much fun to see the kids involved and see the end result. Lindseys turned out great, and I of course forgot to take a pic of it. It was a mini pie, but we cut it into four pieces last night for the kids and Josh to eat. Josh and Caleb were fans of it, Lindsey and Nathan did not like it haha. It turned out great, but I think the consistency threw them off lol.
Today, I am cooking some stuff for Thanksgiving tomorrow at my parents house, yum yum!! And I am also grocery shopping with the kids. Nuts right? I dont know why I thought it was a good idea to wait until the day before Thanksgiving to go grocery shopping with 3 kids, but wish me luck.

I am Thankful for so many things this year. New friends, family, health, etc. I cannot believe it is already Thanksgiving and this weekend we will be putting up our Christmas decorations. Its the first year we are getting a real tree, and we are all excited!!!


I feel so Blessed and hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family!

Twilight Recap

As I previously blogged, my mom and I drove to Oregon over the weekend to see Twilight Breaking Dawn with my cousins and aunt. We took Nathan with us, and met Pop Pop down there as well. It was a really fun time and the movie was AMAZING!!!! If I had to rate it, I would say that this movie is the best one out of the 5 in the series!!! I highly recommend it.
While I was gone, Josh stayed home with Lindsey and Caleb. I kept getting pics of their fun adventures. He took them to Fred Meyer, Home Depot, Petco, etc. He let them stay up late on Friday and all watch the Lion King together, got them donuts on Saturday for breakfast, etc. What a great daddy he is huh?
Nathan did great on the trip. He never complained during the 5 hour car ride.
All in all, it was a great trip and awesome movie.
Sunday was a stay at home day since I was feeling sick all day, yuck!!! It must have been a 24 hour bug since I woke up this morning feeling much better though. I am definitely thankful for that since its Thanksgiving this week!!

All ready for the drive, Starbucks hot chocolate and all

Tired little man : )

Santa came really early and brought me a Cricut

Twilight Excitement

Okay, so as many of you know, or should know by now, I am a HUGE Twilight fan. I own all the movies, have seen them multiple times in the theaters, and we wont go into how many times I have watched them (prob like 18 times, but who is counting?). Anyhow, today the 5th and final movie opened up. My mom, Nathan, and I are headed to Oregon in a little while to go to my aunts house, so we can all go with my cousins and Aunt to see it tonight. They all came up here last year for the 4th movie, so it is our turn to go see it in Oregon. SOOOOOO excited!!!
I get to see Edward tonight and cannot wait! Don't worry Josh, I love you too HAHAHA!

Happy Friday to everyone!!! Especially all the Twi-Moms and fans out there that will be watching the movie tonight, YEA!!!

I dont know about you, but I think I make a better Bella than that Kristen Stewart chick LOL ; )

Gelato, School and Fun

Yesterday, before school, the kids and I met my friends Vicky and Tammy over at the local gelato shop. The kids all had a great time, and LOVED playing with the shop's chalkboard wall. The shop is owned by a local mom we know and they have only been open since Halloween. The kids and I have been there twice already and love it. I foresee lots of gelato visits in our future haha!
After gelato, both kids had to head to school. While they were learning, Caleb and I ran all our errands for the week since Nathan has no school the rest of the week and I prefer dragging one kid around as compared to three haha!!
It was a great day and once the kids got home from school, Grammy came over to eat dinner with us since both Pop Pop and Josh werent going to be home. The kids had their happy meals and were happy as can be.
They were all so tired from the day that all three kids were in bed and asleep by 6:30pm!

This morning, we all head to my weekly moms chat n craft group. Should be fun as I get my mommy time, and they get to play with all their friends!!

Nathan and his buddy Matthew chalking it up :)

Caleb playing with the cars

Look at all that gelato, I could just crawl in that freezer and eat it all

Gunner, getting so big, about 6 months old now, I wanted to include this pic so everyone knows that yes....we still have him HAHA

Pre Thanksgiving Pot Luck

Yesterday, Nathan and Lindsey did not have school due to Veterans Day. My friend was hosting a pre Thanksgiving pot luck for a bunch of moms, so we all spent the morning there. The kids had so much fun and the food was awesome. There was an 18lb turkey, gobble gobble. We had tons of different foods such as green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, turkey with gravy, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, pie, and more. What an amazing lunch and a great way to wear the kids out on a non school day.
Josh has business dinners and meetings late all week, so last night it was the kids and I hanging out. Josh went to a painting shop with work and they all painted canvas pictures. It was a team building event, hehe. Anyhow, it turned out awesome. I think Josh needs to change careers from business to artist LOL.
Today is Nathans only day of school for over a week due to parent teacher conferences and Thanksgiving, so while both the kids are at school, Caleb and I have tons of errands to run, so I dont have to drag all three kids around the rest of the week, hehe!!
Happy Tuesday!!

Josh's Masterpiece

Caleb and I this morning, around 6am, a little too early for me LOL

Dr Visit, Dog Sleep Over, and more

Thursday morning when Caleb woke up, he looked and sounded terrible. He was running a fever, had a terrible cough, and refused to eat. I suspected a sinus infection but wasnt sure, so off to the dr we went. Turns out, I was right. Poor kiddo got on some meds and has slowly been improving since. While at the dr, I put him in the chair while I went to get us all checked in. When I came back to him, he had picked up a magazine and was "reading" it. It had me cracking up since he looked like a little man sitting there reading LOL!
Josh and I watched Cody, my parents dog, over the weekend since they were out of town. Although I cant say that Gunner and Cody are best friends, I think they had a great time and sure wore each other out. Gunner went into his cage by himself last night and fell asleep while we were in the next room haha!!
Sunday was spent watching football, kind of a sad evening since Josh's beloved Bears team lost, sorry Josh, maybe next game right?? : )

This morning, my friend is hosting a pre Thanksgiving playdate with yummy turkey and side dishes, the kids and I are quite excited, who doesnt love being able to have Thanksgiving twice? hehe!!

Happy Monday!

All bundled up ready for the cold

Idk what he is doing here, something with banging the horse into the wall

Both dogs passed out

View of the fish tank, we added a clam over the weekend, but thats not in the pic

Waking up sick, but still smiling

Love my boys!

He loves "his puppy" as he called Cody

All the way home, he carried Cody

This is the dogs in a stand off....Id say Cody won

The Toddler Bed

Over the years, I have always heard "you will know when you are done having kids". I never believed them because I LOVED being pregnant. It was so much fun, exciting, feeling the kicks, etc. After I had Nathan, I asked the doctor how soon I could get pregnant again because I knew I wanted more kids, etc. After Lindsey, we knew we wanted "at least" one more but decided with as much craziness that was going on, we would space them a little further out. Finally, once Caleb joined the family, the feeling finally hit me. Although, yes, I loved being prego, I didnt have the desire anymore for more kids. I looked at my kiddos and saw three happy, healthy kids and felt our family complete. It was crazy feeling that since I had never felt that way and didnt know I would, but everyone was right. 

Anyhow, fast forward a few months. Once I knew we were done with kids, I sorta went into a "sell everything" mode and anytime Caleb outgrew a baby toy or even stopped using it slightly, it was sold. It was quite gratifying looking around and seeing things look more "toddler". The last item we had that was to be sold once we were done using it was the toddler bed. 

We recently moved Lindsey to a bigger bed and transitioned Caleb to the toddler bed. He was using it for a few months before we decided to get him a bigger bed so we wouldn't have to worry about beds in a year or two. We moved Caleb up to a big boy bed and posted the toddler bed for sale.

The night it sold, I will admit, kind of choked me up. No, the crib never affected me when it sold, nope, not the changing table, not the Bumbo, not the tummy mat, etc. It was the toddler bed.

I remember buying it for Nathan and watching him refuse to sleep in it because of his new found freedom, I remember watching him sleep in it the morning I left to deliver Lindsey, I remember seeing Lindsey jump on her bed at all hours of the night laughing because it was her "trampoline", I remember the forts that were built on it, and I remember Calebs first night sleeping in it with a pillow. It was the last piece of furniture we had from the "baby" stage and it definitely choked me up. 

Now, with that being said, I absolutely love watching my kids grow up and all the new adventures that are coming along with that. But, I definitely hold on to the memories of them along the way to growing from baby to toddler and now into school aged kids for Nathan and Lindsey.

I sure love those three Blessings of mine!!!

Random pics, thoughts!

Yesterday, being Monday, we stayed home and I cleaned the house, got the laundry caught up, put dinner in the crock pot and most of all, just had a low key type day. Nathan had school, so he was gone for the afternoon. Lindsey, Caleb and I played dress up in the afternoon, and Lindsey even decided to wear her princess dress to the bus stop (that's another story for later). It was a great start to the week, especially since starting today, the kids and I are busy busy for the rest of the week!

Caleb wanted to be silly in his picture

Such a big boy, he doesnt like to use a high chair anymore....he likes the bench at our kitchen table more

Two of my big kids running home from the bus stop, notice Lindseys princess dress : )



Looking back at these pics throughout my blog has really made me notice how big my kids are getting. I have one in kindergarten, one in preschool, and another....who is the baby, that is almost two. Its crazy how fast time goes.