O Christmas Tree

One more thing I LOVE about living in Washington-

Going to find the "perfect" tree...

We found it! And Joe gets to chop it down.

Then some "younger" guys to help an old man out... ;)

Can I just say- I'm crazy in love with this face.

And I'm crazy in love with this man...

Gavin was totally into decorating the tree this year. And I must say- he did a pretty good job.

Off topic:
Lincoln graduated from his baby bath, and the boys have really been enjoying splashing in the water together. I'm so glad they have each other.

Can't Wait!

These are coming in the mail tomorrow for my little munchkins. So excited!

Winter coat for Gavin

Hat for Linc

I love Old Navy. They already have great prices, and then I got a 30% coupon on top of that. I love finding great deals. :)

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

We encountered our first "snow storm" yesterday. Which was absolute perfect timing, with the Christmas decorations up and music playing. I was in heaven! :) We got about 3.5 inches, just enough to stick on the ground for a couple days and let Gavin romp around.

The funny thing about snow is everyone thinks it's the perfect excuse to do absolutely nothing. I'm not complaining one bit- I'm thoroughly enjoying sitting on my computer still in my jammies at 12:15. But Seattleites do not know how to drive in the snow. Heck, they can barely handle driving in the rain. Not that I'm any better...this is the first place in my life I have lived where the temperature gets below 50 degrees.

An inch of snow comes down and schools are closed, roads are closed, traffic is horrendous, and cars are in ditches everywhere. So here I sit. Safe and sound in my little bunker, next to my fireplace. And I have absolutely no intentions of going anywhere. Except I made Joe promise to come pick me up for Thanksgiving. There is no way I'm missing out on Beth's cooking!

And Let the Holidays Begin

I've always been a summer kind of girl. I love my sandals, painted toes, skirts and warm, warm weather. But right around Thanksgiving time, I always remember all the things I love about winter time. Definitely NOT the cold. I love the Christmas music, decorations, lights, baking, cinnamon candles, and family time. Gavin always totally gets into "holiday mode" with me. It's so fun to see him get excited about decorating the house, baking and wrapping gifts. One of my favorite things about the holidays is getting to experience them with my kids.

Today we listened to Christmas music and decorated the house. Ahhhh, I love my Christmas decorations.

So I know what your thinking...It's not even Thanksgiving yet!!! I know. I know. And that's what I had to hear from Joe ALL DAY. But the Christmas season only comes once a year, and I'm going to take every chance I can to enjoy it. So there.

Pondering...

I've been doing a lot of that lately. Pondering. Thinking. Rationalizing. Which I've come to realize can be my biggest motivator, or my biggest enemy.

Sometimes I find myself angry or jealous, wishing things were different, easier, or quicker. Lincoln is teething right now, and it has been a HUGE patience builder. (He's getting 4 teeth at once!! Poor boy!) He has been extremely needy and fussy, wanting to be held all the time. But I'm learning to re-train my brain. I have two choices, dwell on the fact that dinner might never get finished and my house may always be a mess, or enjoy those precious with my little boy. My default reaction is automatic frustration, but my reaction is still a choice. So I've been choosing joy, peace and patience. Although it takes time to re-train my mind, soon it will become a habit, and my "default reactions" will change.

I'm thankful for the ability to control my mind and thoughts. I'm not a victim of my situation, but I write my story. I choose my attitude. Yes, it's simple. It's something I've always known, but it's definitely a challenge to actually do it!

9 Months (ok almost 10)

(Sorry the pic is a little blurry)

Maybe it's the lack of sleep, or the chaos that having two kids creates, but I can hardly believe that Lincoln is 9 1/2 months. Where has the time gone?!?

It literally seems like yesterday I had a huge belly, and was waiting impatiently for our little munchkin to come. Wow!

He's 18.8 lbs (16%), and 28.5 in. in length (51%)...maybe he's going to be a little skinny minnie like me. ;)

Within the past week he has really starting crawling: into purses, under tables, near the fireplace, next to the trash can, under the keyboard. Ok...I may need to make some adjustments to my "baby proofing." I have a feeling this kid is going to be into everything. It doesn't help that we are renting and shouldn't exactly be drilling locks and gates into the walls. Oh well- time to improvise. If you come to my house and you have to climb over the couch to get into the kitchen, don't be surprised. It's time to get creative.

I'm so excited to celebrate his "firsts" this holiday season! (Just between you and me, I've already broken out the Christmas jammies...) Although, I'm still pondering how we will attempt a Christmas tree... Gates. Lots of gates.

He found his toy box and was digging through it all on his own. Seriously?!? That kid cracks me up!

I forgot to put this up on the Halloween post. Thanks Grammie for the bib!

Mumford & Sons

I love this band. Very talented. Mellow. Lots of acoustics. Right up my alley. Joe bought tickets for this concert over the summer, so we had been looking forward to it for a while. Although I was feeling slightly under the weather, I decided to brave the cold and rain, and it was SO worth it. They gave a great concert in an awesome venue. All in all, it was a great night out. :)

Looking very "Mumford-ish" Hahaha!

Check 'em out!

Pumpkin Carving!

The annual pumpkin carving. Not sure how it turned out to be such a big deal in our house, but it is. Joe always gets really into in, making sure to add his 'artistic' abilities.

Design stage:

Time to carve!

Tada!

And here's Lincoln, doing a little exploring. :)

Halloween

Here are the Dynamic Duo: Batman & Robin:

Gram and her boys:

Papa Pumpkin (aka Jimmy)

I LOVE this picture of Lincoln :)

Gavin practicing with his 'batarang'

The Pumpkin Patch

The perfect pumpkin

Being a boy...

I can't get over how BLESSED I am...

We had been planning to go to the Pumpkin Patch for a while, and finally headed out one Sunday afternoon. The weather was gorgeous- a perfect fall day. After letting the boys romp around, we picked out a couple pumpkins. The boys loved the pumpkin patch: bounce houses, farm animals, train & hay rides...and the best part is it is all FREE. Yay!


Photos by: Joe Boyd :)

My Brave Little Toaster

Gavin is the bravest little boy I know. And I'm not biased or anything.

We were at a friend's house for "science time." Once a week, when Gavin doesn't have school, we do science with a friend that does a home school program. Her daughter, Lydia, is Gavin's best friend. Ok, maybe a little more than best friend- they already have their future planned out. Haha! After the lesson, they were playing around and Gavin's hand was accidentally shut in the door. I felt horrible for Gavin, but equally as bad for Lydia. She was heart-broken that she hurt her beau.

After much debate of lugging both kids to the urgent care, I decided to take him. He ended up with a slight fracture and his nail ripped off. He braved through X-rays, stitches, and bandaging which is a huge task for a 5 year old. I was proud to say the least! I have amazing kids!

I also discovered that I have an extremely weak stomach. I already knew I wasn't good with blood, but just bandaging the nail made me want to pass out. I'm praying that this is the worst I will ever have to deal with, but with boys...you never know.

Jones Creek Apple Orchard

Last weekend we took the boys apple picking. We had so much fun eating and picking apples. It was "all you could eat, all you could pick", and we only paid $1.20/ lb. It was the perfect "fall" outing... (and cheap!)