3rd Annual Taco Soup Night

Another successful Taco Soup night this year. The weather has been ridiculously wonderful and mild. The Risky Business Band (formally Political Extinction) had to cancel at the last minute which was a bummer. But we still had fun!

Kids table - mac and cheese and chicken fries.

Bonfire time!

The Patten Family. The twins are a year old already.

Michelle and Ali having a good time.

Staying warm by the fire.

Smooches!!!

Jackson enjoying a smores!

Kiera gets a bite to eat.

After the neighbors left we came inside for some hot chocolate. Sam and I took turns taking pictures of each other.

Dad cleans up the mess as he flexes his muscles.

So much to be thankful for ...

We have been blessed with AWESOME weather. Thanksgiving Day was wonderful, we had quite the crowd too. There was 13 of us around the table this year. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Jen, Asher, Bodhi, Sara (nanny), and Bob and Bert all came to Hanover for a wonderful day of blessings. The boys spent a good part of the day outside playing.

Too cool Asher.

My sweet Sammy.

She is such a hoot. I LOVE this little vest, she was such a girly girl for Thanksgiving and as pretty as a picture. She was loving having her picture taken.

Bohdi's not sure if he want to share his Daddy?

Big brother helping out.

Check out those two little teeth.

Cutting down trees.

Lots of heavy lifting.

The future rock star.

Making forts ...

Say cheese!

Cruising around the yard!

Bohdi is along for the ride.

Catching up with Uncle Jeff. Getting a few snuggles in.

How many little boys can fit into the cabinet?

We have so much to be thankful for ... good health, beautiful family and friends, food and shelter.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Halloween

I am in a constant stage of catch up ... we had another successful Halloween. Lots of parties this year, too many - we ended up canceling out on a few. Back in September Sam and I started talking about what he would like to be for Halloween, he knew right away that he wanted to be a Dinosaur - TRex to be exact. So I began the search. I figured this would be the last year that he would fit into a nice snugly costume from Old Navy, so that was the first place we hit. I saw it the second we walked in - the green dragon! Sam originally wanted nothing to do with it. I bought it anyway and figured I could take off the wings and we could make it a dinosaur. Well the "dragon" hung in a closet for a while. Every time Sam was approached on what he was going to be for Halloween he would say a dinosaur. So the day came that I was going to transform the "dragon" into a "dinosaur" Sam didn't want me to do anything to it - so he went a flying TRex. He ended up LOVING his costume. I knew he would come around - what can I say, I know my boy.

It is hard to get Sam to pose. I can't believe he was up for it. Thanks Buddy, even though it looks forced.

Scary Dino!

Happy Dino!

And then we have my little delicate flower. What an appropriate costume for this pretty little girl. She was a tropper going to all the parties and especially on Halloween night, she slept through the trick or treating.

She is up to something.

Getting the gang ready for Trick of Treat time.

Dinosaur costumes was a popular choice this year for 3 year olds. Excuse me 3 1/2 year olds - I love that Sam reminds me he is 3 1/2 years old.

Sam is not really into eating all the candy, he just wants to know he has it just in case he wants some.

Sissy is Seven Months

I just love you so much little girl. You have your bottom two teeth now. I think the top two aren't far behind. You said your official first word and bless your heart - it was MAMAMAMA. I really do think you know that I am your MAMA, when you say it, it is like you are calling for me. We are going to go with that. Shortly after you said MAMA you started calling out for your brother BBBBBBB(sounds). We call him bubba/bubby/bub. Very fun to hear those little sounds come out of your mouth. You are usually pretty quiet, even your laugh is quiet. There is this grunting sound you make that drives Daddy up a wall, you usually make the noise when you are tired and you have done it your entire life. You already know how to push his buttons. Its funny, I will be nursing you before you go to bed and you will start grunting, it's almost like you are made at yourself because you are hungry and tired at the same time.

Living the DREAM...

It has been awhile since I have given a good update.

Today I took Sam for his annual kidney check up, and as expected everything is great! His kidneys are the size they should be at 3 1/2 years old. He weighed in at 42.6 (94%) and was 41 inches tall (97%). He is a HEALTHY, HAPPY boy and BIG boy. He will start seeing Dr. Somers every two years for now. We had a nice morning together. After we dropped sis off at school we made a special stop at Dunkin Donuts. I told him he could order whatever he wanted, he got a jug of milk and 10 chocolate munchkins. After he ate ALL of them he had a tummy ache, he told me the next time we go to Dunkin Donuts that he would only get 5 donuts so that is tummy won't hurt. I explained that sometimes we have to learn the hard way. It is so nice to have one on one time with him. He is growing up so fast and he is SO SMART. He can recited his ABC's, he can also recognize all 26 letters. In fact, when we were in the doctors office waiting, he was reading the letters off of the signs to me, as he would spell out the word he would name a word that the letter started with. I was SO IMPRESSED. He is also already doing simple math, when I was giving him a bath the other night, he told me 3 and 2 makes 5. He asked me to put my hands up and he told me 6 and 6 makes 12. It totally blew me away! He is so SMART. He practices all the time. I think he is going to be a kid that likes school. We can only hope. Another cute story from the last couple of weeks is when I went out with some girlfriends for mani/pedis. He really wanted to go with me, it is funny when I have to get him out the door to run errands he hesitates, but when I am going out without him, he begs to go with me. Anyway, the next morning when I woke him up the first thing he said to me was "let me see your finger nails mommy, what color are they?" He decided that he would like to have his nails painted too. After I tried to explain to him that girls get their nails painted, he did not care and wanted his done too. So, as expected I got 2 fingernails painted he wanted it off immediately and has not asked again to have them done.

As for our little lady, she is a tough little cookie. I think we have also thought that. She got her first bruise at school the other day. She was trying to pull herself up on a shelf and slipped in the process, she looks like a little bruiser - of course the bruise is under he eye. She is definately keeping us on our toes, not only is she tough, she is busy busy busy ... did I say busy. Babyproofing here we come! Sam is becoming more and more brotherly every day, he helps us out when it comes to keeping an eye on her and what is going into her mouth (which is everything these days) He is happy to keep us informed if she is doing something she shouldn't be. Boy, she is going to love that as she gets older. It is so fun to see the two of them interacting more. Sam doesn't get "as" upset when she tries to go for his toys. They get along pretty good, as good as a 3 1/2 and 7 month can. It makes me so happy to know that they have eachother. We recently started giving them baths together. They both absolutely LOVE it.

We truly are living the DREAM. We have the best kids.

happy birthday ALI - 6 months

Ali Joy - It has been a great month, you are still crawling all over the place and getting into everything. Your brother has been taking on more a brotherly role, he lets me know when you are doing something you probably shouldn't be - you are going to "love" this as you get older. He also LOVES to spend to time with you. You are getting so big and so much stronger, so we decided to give you and Sam a bath together, I will tell you that was the highlight of your brothers day - he thought it was the greatest thing and you just laughed your head off the entire time. You are still just so relaxed and laid back, you know how to roll with things - this is a trait you get from Daddy. You are lots of fun and growing up so fast.

40% weight

70% length

79% head

You are such a little helper.