Thanksgiving & More

Ok so I know I am a little obsessed with the wet wipes but I did not know how bad I was until Landon started using them on everything!! He has a little toy shopping cart that anytime he plays with it he has to go and get a wet wipe to put on the handle - just like his mom does at the stores. I don't know how any of us could ever get a virus or pick up germs; with as many wet wipes as we use throughout the day and with all the hand sanitizer (I recently bought a bottle just to keep in the truck) and washing our hands with soap and water. Then again Landon will occasionally be cleaning some filthy surface like the bottom of his shoes and then turn around and use the same wet wipe to wash his face and hands. ;)'

We recently had some friends of ours over who have a 7 month old girl named Danee who Landon enjoyed bullying. He is used to being the littlest one out of my group of friends with kids and also has his older brother to learn from. Landon initially shared his toys with Danee but would then all of a sudden just yank it out of her hand. At one point when she was sitting up playing he walked behind her and sort of kneed her in the back. I don't think he was trying to hurt her - just reminding her who was in charge. By the end of the night I found myself hoping that my kid does not end up being the class bully. Somehow the little kids fell asleep on the coach like this but when Danee woke up and saw Landon she started crying. I can't blame her! ;)

Lucas just sort of kept his distance.....


Thanksgiving Morning
At one point before Thanksgiving I thought about buying the boys each a nice outfit for Thanksgiving Day and then decided against it. Good thing I did because Lucas ended up wearing his Captain America costume for most of the day including turkey dinner at Grandma and Papa's.Landon on the other hand ran around the house half of the night without his shirt on. Had I bought those fancy outfits, I might have been a little bugged....


Lucas and Landon sure enjoyed having Brandon and Sammi at Grandma and Papa's house for Thanksgiving this year. She was especially cute with Landon and quickly assumed the role of taking care of him which he loved the extra attention.

Uncle Chris loves to goof around....

As soon as Lucas woke up on Friday morning he wanted to play with Sam. We had her, Aunt Erin and Brandon over at lunch and spent the afternoon playing. That night we met them up at Gorgoza Park for some nighttime tubing. At first I was a little hesitant to go tubing at night but found it to be really enjoyable. The well lit hill featured a lift that pulled you up on your tube so there was no hiking involved.
Lucas enjoyed the ride up the hill on the tube but as soon as we started going down the hill he got this terrified look on his face and started crying. Needless to say he only went the one time and spent the rest of the evening playing and tubing on the small hill. At first I thought we were just going to have to head home but he loved the kiddie hill and enjoyed being pulled around on the tube. They told us Landon was too small to go tubing so when his brother did not want to go anymore we decided to take Landon down instead. We think he enjoyed it but the expression on his face never changed and he never made a peep. It didn't matter how many of us went down with him, how loud we screamed or how fast we were going - his expression remained the same. He ended up going down the hill a handful of times.

Things I am Thankful For....

1. My two beautiful, healthy sons.
2. Steve who is very understanding, patient and who loves me for who I am.
3. My family who is always there for me.
4. Steve’s job and the stability that it brings our family.
5. ALL the men and women who fight for our country including my nephew who is currently on MP Duty in Afghanistan. GOD Bless you Kent.
6. My close friends whom I can always count on.
7. My health, even though I know I could do more to improve it.
8. My neighborhood and the safety I feel walking down the street.
9. Our neighbors who are very respectful and thoughtful.
10. Our house which we have made our home.
11. Our vehicles which get us to and fro. Growing up my family often didn’t have this luxury.
12. Just knowing that I am not alone and that I always have someone I can turn to weather it be Steve, my family or my friends.
13. Never having to go without. We are able to eat and drink what we want, wear what we want and do what we want.
14. Kind strangers who say hello, hold a door for you or carry on a conversation with you.
15. Girls Night Out.
16. Books which help me relax.
17. Music.
18. Spring.
19. Summer.
20 .Campfires.

I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope that you can find as many things to be thankful for as me, I know throughout this day I will think of pleanty more. :)

Little Sister

Have you met our second son?? Yes that is right the picture above is Landon our second boy. I know that all of you parents out there who happen to read this will be able to relate to me when I say that once they get their hair cut for the first time they no longer look like babies. I guess I am trying to prolong this stage as much as possible because we know that he is our second and last child. To me even though Landon has the cutest natural mullet of any little guy I have ever seen... I still can't get upset when people mistake him for a girl and make comments about Lucas' little sister. As for me - I look at him and all I see is boy - even in just a diaper. He is mischievous, daring and fearless - ALL BOY. We were going to wait til his second birthday to get his first haircut but the poor boy can't even lay his head on the pillow for two seconds without his baby-fine hair getting all ratted. So don't be surprised if you see pictures in the near future of some handsome little toddler with short blond hair on my blog. Luckily you won't be able to see moms tear stains on the keyboard. ;(

Every day when I pick up Lucas from preschool he asks if he can please go hang out with Sean and more often than not that is just what we do. This particular day Sarah and I decided to splurge at the zoo and pay the $3.00 so we could all ride the train.

Ok so I have to brag a little bit....

About a year ago we took the boys to get their pictures done by a professional photographer who was doing a special on kids portraits in hopes of using some of the pictures for future advertising. We were just so happy with the quality of the pictures that when we saw an add in the local advertising mailer a couple of months later that had one of the pictures of Lucas in it - we were ecstatic. When I heard that the photography company had a booth at the local Quilted Bear shop which featured a framed collage of the boys I just had to go and check it out. Sure enough there they were. I have known all along how cute my boys were but it sure is nice to see that other people think the same thing. ;)

Happy Haunting

Painting Pumpkins at Wheeler Farm with my awesome MOPS Group.A wagon ride at Wheeler Farm again with some of the other moms from my MOPS Group.Lucas had his Halloween parade at school and was so happy that mom got to stay and watch him show off his costume to all his friends. The kids each got a turn to stand up and let their classmates try and guess what they were and when it came time for Lucas he stood up and immediately declared "I'm G.I. Joe" so as there could be no mistaking what he was.

The night before Halloween we stuck to our tradition and carved pumpkins as a family. Steve and I were in charge of the actual carving and Lucas was in charge of picking out all the pumpkin seeds so that mom could season them and bake them. Yummy. Landon just kind of ran around the kitchen getting into everything.

Halloween night we had grandma and grandpa McCormack as well as my best friend Kristin and two of her kids - Colton and Gracie - over for homemade chili before heading out into the night for trick-or-treating. It was the perfect evening for collecting candy and after a couple of hours we headed home to hand out candy to the few kids that were still going strong.

Fall is in the Air

As soon as the first leaves started to fall off the trees the boys were so excited to get outside to play in them. We first tried to tell them that there were not enough leaves to jump in but that did not stop them from raking up a little pile and entertaining themselves for the afternoon. Even once we had large piles to jump in the thought of me or Steve going for a dive was absurd....we may break a bone or throw our backs out of place or something. I know that to Lucas and Landon the piles seem like mountains - at times I have to remind my self how big things seemed when we were that small. Needless to say we felt sort of guilty when we finally raked up all the leaves and bagged them but just as I forgot how big things may seem to kids; I also forgot how many more leaves were yet to fall......Landon is turning into quit the little chatter box already. He loves hanging out and playing with his friend Gracie. As soon as we drop Lucas off at preschool he starts calling out Gracie's name. If we head straight home he starts crying "Bye-bye Seesee". She is about 6 months older than him and when combined they can cause a lot of mischief. A couple of weeks ago while hanging out at Gracie's house they both got into the lotion while I was gone and then when I got back they got into the hand soap which they had all over the bathroom floor, their clothes and Landon's hair. Last week while hanging out at our house they got into Sarah's purse and got a hold of her lipstick that she loves because it lasts all day....well it lasted all day all over both of their faces. The two looked like they had birth marks all over their faces. :) They eat together. They play together.

They sleep together.

The last couple of weeks have also been busy with soccer practice and games. Lucas had his last soccer game of the season on Halloween day when he scored 2 goals. I am not sure what it was about that particular game but Lucas played the entire game with a drive and determination that I had not seen in him before. It was so much fun to watch and all of his teammates were so excited for him. We learned we may not have the same coach come the spring season because his son is getting bumped up to an older league and so Steve and I may be the new coaches. I will keep you informed..... Since last week Lucas only wants me to shop at the Smith's by our house from now on because they have the cute little carts that he can push. Of course I know that I will not be taking Landon there anytime soon as he is too little to control the carts and I don't see that as being very productive. Lucas was pretty cute pushing the cart around, putting the groceries in the basket and then scanning the items in the self check-out lane. He was so proud of himself and had the biggest smile on his face the whole time. Just a little something I have been wanting to write down so I remember it...when Lucas gets home from school he has been practicing writing his letters and writing his name. Well last week when I was on the phone with my friend Sarah he said he wanted to talk and so he told her he was writing his whole name all by his self. I heard her say "I am so proud of you Lucas" to which he replied "I know I am so proud of myself." Priceless.
Mug Shots - sometimes the boys ask me to take their picture......

and other times I can't get them to hold still long enough to get one shot.

These pictures were taken at Gardner Village where every year in October they have about 20 witches placed throughout the grounds. Each year we choose our favorite witch and the one in the boat was the winner this year.

OK - one more thing I have been wanting to write down. A couple of weeks ago when we were outside playing and an airplane flew over our house Lucas said "I don't really like flying in airplanes, jets or helicopters..........I only like flying kites."