Florida Trip

Boy, it's been a long time since I blogged!  I have a good excuse, though.  We just got back from almost three weeks in Florida.  We had the best time visiting family!  We stayed with my mom and dad for a few days and then with my youngest sister, Leslie, and her family for the rest of the time.  We didn't do anything really exciting while we were there - we just enjoyed relaxing and being with family.  Phil and I contemplated taking the boys to Disney, but we weren't sure how they would enjoy it and decided to just wait another year.  We had the absolute best flights on the way there - all were on time, not crowded, and the boys behaved so wonderfully.  We didn't even have to pull out the DVD player until late in our second flight.  We were so thankful!  The flights home were pretty good, too, although Emmett had a rough time falling asleep on the first flight and fought with me for a little bit until he finally settled down.  But then he slept on my lap for about 90 minutes!!  I enjoyed the snuggle time.  :)  

Here are a bunch of pictures of our trip, if you're interested.  And when I say a bunch, I mean it!  So be prepared.  :)

The boys had so much fun jumping on my mom and dad's bed after baths.  Jackson called that time "froggy" because he would stand on the footboard and jump like a frog onto the bed.  As soon as my dad got home from work in the evenings J would start asking to do froggy.  He loved it! 

We got to celebrate my sister Becky's birthday while we were there.  It was great to be able to share that day with her!  And Jackson loves any opportunity to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat b-day cake.

The boys did lots of reading with anyone who was willing.  Those paperback George and Thomas books were total blessings on the plane, too.

We got to meet my beautiful 3-week-old niece, Olivia, while we were there!  She is the sweetest, cutest baby and I loved being able to hold her and snuggle with her.  The boys seemed to really like her, too, which made me happy.  Jackson was always "petting" her and giving her kisses.  She's just precious!

The boys loved playing in the pool, even though the water was about 60 degrees!  Luckily the weather was warm so we didn't worry about them getting too cold.  We knew E would love the pool, but didn't think they would go in with the water being so cold!

They also loved playing in the sandbox that my dad made for them.  We just had to supervise E at all times to make sure he didn't eat the sand.  No idea why he loves to eat sand so much!

We also had lots of fun petting and watching the horses, Gus and Charlotte.  Here they are giving each other some kisses...

And we could not believe that Jackson actually rode Gus!  I really did not think he would.  He went out to the barn with my dad while I ran inside to get shoes on and when I came out he was on the horse!!  He loved it and was very proud of himself.

Emmett got a turn, too...

And so did cousin Cameron...

Jackson really loved the horses, which is why it confuses me that two times in the past week he's woken up during the night screaming and crying that a horse is in his room!  I run in there as soon as I hear him and he tells me that a horse is in his room and that I need to make it go away.  So I just tell him that it's okay, the horse is gone and he settles down.  Of all the things to have nightmares about - a horse!  Poor baby!

We were so blessed to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving at my parents' house with my grandparents (who are both in their 90's), and many of my aunts and uncles and cousins from Ohio and Jacksonville.  We always have fun together and laugh so much. It was so great to be able to spend that time with them.

After dinner my dad built a bonfire and we roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores.  The night was perfect for it!  Looking at these pictures almost makes me want to cry.  I miss everyone so much and wish we could be together more.

Phil and I made sure that whenever we wanted to eat out we ate at places that we don't have close to us in Oregon.  Here are the boys at Firehouse Subs... oh, how I love a Firehouse sub!!!  YUM!  And on this trip we figured out that Emmett acts much better when we're out to eat if we let him eat and drink like a big boy.  No cutting up his food, no sippy cup... he wants to drink out of the straw and pick up his sandwich and eat it like everyone else.  He does pretty good with it, too!

The boys had lots of fun at my sister's house playing with their cousin Cameron.  They all got along together really well!  Cameron is such a sweet boy and was so tolerant of J and E taking over his space and sharing his toys.

My mom stayed the night at my sister's house one night to watch the boys so that Phil and I could go away by ourselves overnight.  We stayed pretty close and just went to Orlando, but it was so great to go out to eat by ourselves, browse around stores with our coffees, and sleep in!! It was really wonderful.  Here we are at PF Chang's...

A few days after that we loaded up the boys and drove up to Jacksonville to meet up with our good friends, Merrick and Christy, and their kiddos.  We met at the Jacksonville Zoo and had a great time!  It was so great to see M and C and get to meet their sweet kids.  I can't believe we didn't get a group photo!

Another day Phil and I took the three boys and went to a kid-friendly farm nearby.  The boys had a blast petting and feeding the animals. We went on a little hayride through a cow field and the cows came right up to the wagon and the boys were able to feed them hay.  That was a huge hit.  

Feeding the sheep was Jackson's favorite thing.  Again, we were very surprised he wasn't scared.  I guess he's growing up!

The day before we left was Phil's birthday, so we had a big family dinner and I made a cake.  J was very happy to be able to sing and eat cake again!

Here are two pictures from our drive home from the airport.  The boys were conked out about two minutes after we put them in their car seats.  

And apparently we missed a ton of snow and freezing temperatures while we were gone.  This was what our drive home through the mountains looked like.  Thankfully we were very safe in Phil's big truck.

There was a lot of snow still on the ground when we got home, but, unfortunately most of it is gone now.  I'm so hoping we'll get some more before Christmas!  

It's always good to be back in our house, but having such a wonderful time with everyone always makes it hard to leave.  We're so thankful, though, to be able to make this trip and for our wonderful friends and family.  We love you all!!

Snow Day

We had our first real snow last night and the boys were so excited this morning to go out and play in it.  One of the things I appreciate about our house is how I can let the boys play in the backyard and still see them while I stay in the warm house!  :)  

Emmett didn't stay out too long... I'm not sure if it was hard for him to walk or if he wasn't sure what to do or what, but he wanted to come in after a few minutes.  

At one point he got down on all fours to touch the slush on the porch and then couldn't get back up again.  :)  I had to go out and help him.  

Jackson stayed outside for a while, though!  He loved eating the snow and falling down and rolling around in it.  He also struggled to push his lawnmower through the snow for a while.  Here he is looking at all of the snow on our roof and then telling me that our house is dirty with snow and we need to wash it.  :)

Unfortunately, this snow was gone by early afternoon.  Hopefully there are many more fun snow days in our future this winter!

Not Too Shabby!

How's this for a first-ever school picture?  We have no idea how the photographer got him to sit still and smile perfectly like that, but oh my goodness... I could eat his face I love it so much!!  Now, I know that a three-year-old in two-day-a-week preschool does not really need a school picture, but after seeing this one I'm so glad that I ordered some!  Oh, how I love that precious little cutie!!

Halloween 2010

We had a fun Halloween weekend!  Phil and I went to an adult party on Saturday night and for our costumes I stole an idea from a friend on facebook.  Phil helped me paint my belly like a watermelon and we went as watermelon farmers.  I cut a hole in a white tank top to wear under my shirt to make sure that no bare skin was showing.  I didn't want any muffin tops poppin' out!

Whoa!  Didn't realize my shirt was so tight when I opened up my arms like that!  That button is about to pop!!  And that's a non-alcoholic O'Doul's beer in my hand... just so you know. :)

Then on Sunday I drove over to Ashland with some girlfriends to eat lunch and see a theater version of Pride and Prejudice.  The play was great and I really enjoyed seeing Ashland.  Phil and I haven't been there yet for some reason, even though it's only about 90 minutes away.  I look forward to going back.

I was able to make it back to our town in time to meet up with Phil and the boys for trick-or-treating.  J and E just loved it!!  Jackson was totally into it this year.  It was so great to see him so excited and having so much fun.  He was on a mission to go to every house with a light on, even if it meant leaving us in the dust! Phil and I had to walk a little slowly to keep up with our little "Toby".  We brought our wagon with us, but Emmett wanted to walk like his big brother.  Phil did pick E up and awkwardly carry him with his box on a few times, though. It was pretty cool that night and the wind was really chilly, but the boys didn't seem to mind.  We started trick-or-treating at a friend's house on our street and then worked our way back to our house, hitting about 15 houses on the way.  Jackson loved ringing the doorbells and saying "Trick-or-treating!" to everyone who answered.  And, of course, they both loved getting candy in their buckets.  They had death grips on those buckets... especially Emmett.  Thankfully, they forgot about the candy soon after we were done.

Here's Jackson leaving us in the dust again...  :)

After we finished trick-or-treating we took off the boxes and walked back down to our friend's house for some hot cocoa.  We didn't last long there, though, because Emmett was D.O.N.E.  Too much excitement for one day for him.  

The next day I realized that I didn't get any good pictures of the boys in their costumes, since I was gone for most of Halloween day.  So, crazy Mommy that I am, I made them put their costumes on again and pose for pictures.  It was literally impossible to get a good one of them together with their trains on.  Maybe next year!!  :) 

Now I don't know what to do with those costumes!  I hate to keep them, but it will pain me to throw them away.  Hope you had a great Halloween, too!