our Christmas tree

this weekend we went up to robie creek to cut down our Christmas tree. it was a really, really fun family day. we cut down the tree, did a little sledding and had a picnic on the snow. the kids sat on the sled and we sat on trader joe's bags...it was such a good time. a beautiful, sunny day also helped.

love these ones of the kiddos...

ummmm...

sledding...

on the left, us in front of our tree. on the right, adam and eli cutting it down.

strong men...

cheese!

tying it on and going home.

what a good day.

the movies and the potty

adam and i went to see "the blind side" tonight. we loved it. besides having a great story, it was touching, inspiring and clean. see it!

my parents watched the kids while we had our date night (thank you!). i'm trying not to get too excited, but lyla used the "potty" for the first time, well, three times. i'm kinda sad i missed it. and it's kinda sad that i'm kinda sad that i missed it.

this picture has nothing to do with either of the two things above, i just like it.

good ideas

me: what are you going to get your dad for Christmas?
adam: um...
eli: a gun? rifle? sword? bow and arrow?...a tiger?

scouting

adam and eli went Christmas tree scouting last weekend. they found a good one and will go back to get it soon. the two most exciting parts for eli were some bear tracks they found in the snow and walking across this log over the river. he could not say enough about either.

baby Jesus and the lady bug

i've been wanting a nativity set that the kids could touch and play with. when i saw this one by playmobil, i was beyond excited. the kids love it. lyla has a special affinity for baby Jesus. today she was trying to put her barrette in His hair. when that failed, she decided that He should sleep with it. i love that girl.

singin'

eli learned Joy to the World in Sunday school and has been singing..."letters receive her King..."

ice ice baby

adam had a lot of time with the kids while i was sick. he was looking for fun things to entertain them and thought of dry ice. they went and got some...eli loved it. he was especially fond of the "rocket" they made out of a water bottle. yay for fun daddy!!!

the list

whenever eli asks for a toy in a store i say, "we'll put it on your Christmas/birthday list."  This is a great tactic that i learned from my mom.  it diverts attention away from impulse buying without saying "no" all the time.

with Christmas around the corner, toys are everywhere in every store in mass amounts.  so there's been a lot of, "we'll put it on the list" flying around.  today at costco he saw something he wanted and asked to put it on the list.  i said, "i donno eli, your list is getting pretty full."  his reply, "can you get a new piece of paper or something?" right, why didn't i think of that?

you know you go to target too much when..

.... you're walking up and your one year old says, "pacorn!!! yay!!!"

lyla loves to pray

as soon as we are all seated for dinner, lyla reaches for our hands and says, "pay?" and she always try's to beat adam to the amen.

i normally don't pray with her before bed. we always pray with eli before bed, but i haven't thought to do it with her. i just always pray for her silently while i'm waiting for her to go to sleep.
but tonight i thought, "what am i doing? why should i not include her in this?" so i sat her on my lap facing me, held her incredibly small hands and told her we were going to pray. after i finished, she smiled and hugged me. spontaneously. hugs are usually either asked for or a product of elation after a separation of some amount of time. but this was a hug for praying. she loves to pray.

it's been awhile

no, i haven't been on vacation. i'm am, however, feeling better. after a week of a crazy flu, i'm finally on the upswing. honestly, i've never been that sick. the doctor said it was most likely H1N1. i've heard people say it feels like the normal seasonal flu...they are soooo lucky, because for me, it was definitely not normal.

lyla has croup again and an ear infection. and we think eli also had croup. adam is the last man standing with no symptoms of anything...which is amazing.

i thank God for a great husband and parents who are close and so willing to help.

that being said...life goes on. this is a picture i took last week. lyla loves being pushed around in her doll stroller, as you can see by the expression on her face.

ahhhhh....it feels good to be conscious again...

huh?

while eli was eating a kit kat from trick or treating..."this tastes so good i can't even eat it." he then proceeded to eat it.

trick or treat

the long awaited pumpkin carve finally took place yesterday. eli was sooooo excited, until he realized there was "icky" stuff inside. after that, he wouldn't touch it and wanted his hands wiped...kooky. he did, however, cut part of the mouth, which was enough for him. lyla kept saying "try?" she wanted to try to cut the top...here they are in their pumpkin cutting splendor.

i love, love, love these. eli the ninja turtle and lyla the hula girl. i just realized it's kinda fitting since we saw lots of turtles in hawaii...hummm...subconsciously reliving the trip much?

fierce...

we went trick or treating with our friends, the hills. here's the group...lyla fell asleep before we got started, but when she woke up it didn't take her long to get in the groove.

it's crazy how much kids can change in one year. looking back at pictures of last year...they were so little!

take a look at eli's pumpkin, the big one. he wanted ears on it, which later he called "pinchers." he cracks me up.