Reading

I am still procrastinating my photo organization.  I've got a week left of Shawn being on vacation.  Woot woot.

Noah and I have started reading chapter books together.  We finished the first in the Little House series.  The hunting was a little much for me but he loved it.  Now we are reading Charlotte's Web and then I think back to Little House.  Just started Where the Sidewalk Ends this morning, such fun wacky poems.    I love picture books but this is a change I'm enjoying.

Thankful

I'm having blog issues - I've used all my space for photos.  I need to do a clean out and organization of all my photos and videos but that isn't going to happen for another couple of weeks.  So for now the post will be text only.

We continued our tradition of going around the table at dinner and said what we were thankful for that day throughout November.  Here are the highlights:

Noah:
family
good friends
school
fun toys
good food
family
funny sister
eyes to see

Micah:
mustard
pizza
chopsticks
birds
dog trappers
candy
breakfast
feet
big brother
people who help stop pollution
head and belly

Mom:
relaxing afternoons at home
N&Ms schools
unseasonably nice weather
outside playtime
comfy bed
good babysitters
the ability to vote
pizza
a cozy house
neighborhood

Dad:
health
playtime with kids
living in America
3 happy kids
Sunday school

Hair

Shawn is severely overdue for a haircut and then his stylist got the flu and cancelled his appointment.  Anyhow, this weekend he was working outside with a cap on and when he came inside his hair was sticking up and crazy.  He asked the boys what they thought of his hair and Noah replied, "You look like an African crested porcupine."  Um yes, exactly what the rest of us were thinking I'm sure. :)

Texas trip

I am behind on posting about our October trip to Texas.  I forgot my camera so the pics are pretty sparse.

We went to celebrate the life of Jeanne Collins.  Jeanne is the mother of my best friend, Brennan, and a bright, witty, beautiful, amazing woman.  She is also one of my top mothering inspirations.  Jeanne will be dearly missed.  We were so happy to be there with the Collins/Cruser family. 

We flew to Houston, then drove to Austin.  Yep, I typed that correctly. ;)  The kids were terrific travelers, I was a little shocked how well it went.  

Lunch stop.  

 

Noah with his NFL sticker book.  This was a godsend, keeping him entertained for hours.

M & C with Liam.  Extra time with our godsons was a perk of the trip.  The kids got along well.  We are already talking about family vacations together.

 

N & Collin.

 

My Uncle Luke and Aunt Marilyn graciously let us stay at their home.  They were away but having a house to stay in made adjusting to being away from home so much easier.  Grandpa Dennis & Grandma Jane happened to be in Texas at the same time visiting our new nephew, Samuel.  I did not get one photo of that sweet boy so he better be ready for the paparazzi at Christmas.

Grandpa Dennis went to a cave with us one morning.  Pretty cool.

 

At Luke & Marilyn's ranch.

Good Night Good Knight

This is how we found Micah sleeping last night.  

Micah says...

Man, I love this kid.  Amen to the first one, please to the second and hmmm to the third.

from preschool.

Dusting

We had our first real snow on Monday.  The kids were able to wake up and discover the snow out the window.  I don't like snow or cold but I do like happy smiles when it comes.  :)  In the afternoon, we got bundled up and played outside.  The sleds had their debut for the season.  

 A good brother.

See Micah's grey and purple boots?  A friend (with 3 girls) gave them to us and they are the perfect size.  I've been calling them Viking boots.  Can I get away with this for the entire snow season?!

A.M.

Three kids in my bed...a sweet start to the morning.

Hmmm

I am finally ordering photos from our shoot in May and came across this.  I'm so curious what they were looking at.  Celia and Micah's same pose is killing me but Noah's expression is over the top.

 

School pictures

The boys school photos.  I wasn't crazy about either one but thought about having retakes done for Micah.  He is looking at something to the side and I think his eyes are a little crossed.  So they sat on my counter for a few weeks.  It was time to decide what we were going to order so I got out the package and inside was a letter from the photographer saying they liked Micah's photo so much that they want to use it in their advertising.  I laughed out loud and decided it was probably good enough then. :)

His hands absolutely crack me up.  This is the most unnatural pose for him possible, but he is pretty adorable.

Littles

Most mornings I take Noah to the bus stop a few houses down while the littles sit at the door and wait.  This is how I found them today.  Sunggled in their blankets.  

 It is still impossible to get two kids to look at me at the same time.

Celia enjoying some solo time with the playmobil guys.

Girl clothes

In case we ever wonder if we dressed Celia girly enough.

Battle!

We've been hearing about bey blades for a while now, but recently it has reached a fever pitch as Noah's buddies on the school bus talk about them.  When Grandma Jane, Grandpa Dennis and Aunt Judy sent money for Halloween only one thing was on the want list for Noah.  Friday night the kids and I made the trip to Target and their excitement was through the roof about being able to choose a toy.

Noah choose Bey Blades.  Here he is in battle with Micah.

Micah choose a Hotwheels ramp and Celia got a bottle and sippy cup for her babies.  All are pleased. :)  Noah even went to a friend's house today for a battle.  Cracking me up. :)

Good morning

This is how Micah greeted Shawn and I yesterday morning.  He is such a future class clown...eek!  Anything for a laugh.  Check out big bro copying him in the background.  Ha!

Sleeping

I snapped this recently of Celia sleeping.  It struck me when I looked in on her how much she has grown.  Wow!  I also adore that her comfort item is a blanket my Grandma Deanna made before Noah was born.  Oh how I love that.

Homework

Noah had to decorate this turkey for homework.  I think it turned out just about right since his career aspiration is to be a Vikings football player.  Thank goodness for mom that his genes make that a near impossibility.  The kid is completely obsessed with football.

Halloween preview

In an effort to get a decent photo of my trio I'm starting early.  Celia won't wear a costume (so good thing her coat is leopard...kitty again?) but here are the kids trick or treating at a community get together.

Dudes

Noah and one of his best buds.  I love these two kiddos.

Fall snow

Today we had the first snow fall of the season.  Celia loved the flakes landing on her.  

Community Harvest

Noah's school hosted a community harvest a couple of weeks ago.  We had soup and pizza made with ingredients from the school garden.  Love everything about that!

Handsome

Micah on school picture day.  I'm so interested to see how his picture turns out because his photo smile is a work in progress.  Ha!

Leaves

We have a lot of trees and a whole lot of leaves.  Thankfully the boys have been into raking this year.  

Last year

I spent some time going through old Halloween photos while working on a project for this year and look at our sweet kitty from last year.  Ahhh.

This year I have set a goal to take a trio photo before trick or treating so we increase our odds of a decent group shot.

Halloween decorating

The boys took on the Halloween decorating job this year and found these fun glasses in the bag. :)

Blueberries

This is what Celia did while I changed a lightbulb in her room.

Park girl

Kite flying

Date

Noah and I had a date last weekend.  Bowling, dinner and then a trip to the sports store.  Perfect night, perfect date.

Pride after a strike!