Christmas Joy

The picture at the bottom right says it all. Christmas Joy

Merry Christmas

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
As Quinn said today, "I guess what I wish for really does happen on Christmas... Magic!"
Hope all your wishes came true today.

Pet Adventures

The boys have a Saturday morning ritual these days, it is call Pet Adventures. They start asking on Monday if it is Saturday yet so they can play. The picture above shows their special pets that they have slept with all their lives and these 2 are the leaders of pet adventures. There is no telling where the pets and their other stuffed croneys will end up going on any given Saturday but they are always ready for adventure. Pets have been to Gnome, AK and dealt with the Malaria outbreak, the center of the earth, India, Medieval times to be knights and they have even been to space to repair the Hubbell Space Telescope.  I love this ritual for so many reasons. It is the one thing they have created together that they both love, it is one of the few times they act like the best friends they claim to be and it is a window into their imagination that is precious.

Corduroy Comes Home

At Nolan 's preschool they have a Corduroy bear that goes home with each child once each year. The children take Corduroy on "adventures", write about it in a book, draw a picture of their time with the bear and return him to school. Nolan's turn came on Friday and he was SO excited. Here is the "Adventures with Corduroy" that Nolan wrote about his time with the little brown bear this weekend.

"Corduroywent to my Grandma and Grandpa's farm with me. Me and Corduroy and Daddy watched the BB gun range. QUinn shot thee BB gun at the target. Then we went inside and watched "Before the Dinosaurs" and we played LEGOs , knights and army men. My Grandma read all the books in the bag to me and Corduroy. We even got to listen to a Star Wars tape. I am going to sleep with my pet and Corduroy and Corduroy is going to Advent time and light 2 candles. I fell in love with Corduroy and I am sad I have to take him back to school."

How sweet is that? 

A Thanksgiving in Texas

We made our annual pilgramage to my home town this week. Arlington, Texas is a place I could never live again but I love to visit and get that homey feeling every once in awhile, but never in August. In just a few short days I had the chance to catch up with an old friend , spend lots of time with my dad and test my metroplex driving skills. We went to the Ft. Worth Zoo, played football on Thanksgiving, watched football on Thanksgiving, went fishing, ate our catch and finished it up with a great trip to Six Flags.

The pictures tell the whole story, it was fabulous... and tiring. :)

 

The Force is Strong with These Padawan

 

What a fabulous day we had!  It was 70 and sunny which is so rare for November in Iowa. We set up the party outside and it was perfect. Quinn was thrilled to have all his friends there and had so much fun. All the boys seemed to love it. The obstacle course seemed to be the best part. I love throwing a borthday party and if we do say so... we threw a mean Jedi party today.

The pictures above are of our Jedi obstacle course- 1) Escape from Endor, 2)The Rebel Alliance Headquarters, 3)Gungin City, 4)Down the Garbage chute in the Death Star, 5) Somersault past the Storm Trooper, 6) Climb into the Death Star and blow it up from the inside 7)Escape down the hatch 8) receive your lightsaber.

 

Here you can see some of the other activities, defeating Vader, making pizza in the Jedi Council, and breaking apart the Death Star pinata.

Lastly, here are a few pics of the prep and the friends. The fare of the day was Jabba the Pizza Hutts, Yoda Soda, FruitSabers, and Wookie Cookies to top it off. I love the smile on Quinn in these last ones, it is one of pure happiness. Just the way it should be on your birthday.

Quinn turns 7

7 years ago today we enlarged our family from 2 to 3 with the addition of Quinn. We love celebrating birthdays in our house and today was no exception. Quinn picked everything, right down to the Star Wars shirt he was wearing.  He loves the excuse to be the center of attention too. We took him to Chipotle for dinner and came home to eat Halloween candy and open presents from family. He is so fun to buy for. To him, each gift is the best one ever.  My favorite moment of the night is when Quinn opened the gift from Nolan and raved and raved over it and Nolan being so happy Quinn liked it. The bottom collage is dedicated solely to this moment. Precious. I love seeing the boy Quinn is becoming but I am starting to miss the little person it seems he just was. Happy birthday Quinn!