Tomorrow is...

December 1st! That has become a special day in our family. It's the day we start celebrating Christmas! We get out our special calendar that has a pocket for each day until the 25th and we fill them up with a Christmas activity for each day. We usually start with decorations on the 1st, then get out special toys on the 2nd, books on the 3rd, movies on the 4th. Some of our activities vary from year to year and others are the same. Matt started a tradition a few years of going to Raleigh for pizza and donuts, which is a lot of fat and a lot of fun! We love going to look at some local Christmas lights that flash in sync with music. We can't leave out baking cookies and usually have the Stewarts over for that, while they return the favor and have us over to make ornaments. We usually have some church activities also, and this year there will be a Jesus birthday party at our new church. I'm looking forward to going to Stacy's church's Christmas program with Matt, though the kids will miss out on that one. And I try to do some sort of service thing as one of our activities too. This year, since I know a family in need (the Burmese family), we're planning to have the boys pick out a small gift for those 4 children and take over to them. Joshua really struggles with being attached (obsessed, even) with stuff and I'm hoping that continued exposure to children who are truly in need will help him see how wrong we are to be greedy and how unimportant stuff is. Most of our other activities are just simple things like making a decoration or watching a Christmas movie or having a book and popcorn night or game night. I really enjoy this month and for now, we're not so involved in activities outside our home that we can just enjoy celebrating Jesus as a family. One nightly tradition we started last year (with Jeannie's help) that really focuses us on the point of the season is reading a story from the Jesus Storybook Bible each night and putting a corresponding ornament on a little tree. It really shows us the story behind God sending Jesus to us and was a very meaningful part of our celebrations last year.

On a sort of related note, one thing I did today that I'm hoping will help keep stress down this month and in future months, is to make a meal plan for the whole month. I just wrote down the menus on the calendar so that I'm not scrambling for ideas of what to cook. Planning food and grocery lists is one everyday thing that can be stressful to me, so getting it all done just one time for the whole month will be really good I think. Organization is extra work to begin with, but it sure seems to make life easier!

One thing that's going to be different this year is that just a few days after Christmas, we'll be celebrating a certain sweet little girl's birthday instead of waiting for her to arrive like last year. She really loves Winnie the Pooh so I started looking at some cake ideas today. We will probably have a very tame celebration down at my parents' house, since like most babies, Julia is not a fan of crowds and high activity. Anyway, it definitely puts a little different spin on the month.

Well I hope you enjoy the start of the Christmas season at your home and if you have any fun activities/traditions that you do, please share!

*The* Outfit

We saw this at a shop in the mountains and a certain grandmother couldn't resist! It is super cute, though Julia was a little baffled by the tutu:)

To update from earlier, the boys have coughed a lot today and Gray has been saying, "I still need my nose wiped" literally every 2 minutes, but they are making it. The croup stuff is definitely easier as they get older and we haven't had the breathing issues like in years past.

Also, we may have that house showing I mentioned on Friday, but the guy said he's pretty busy this week. It all seems very vague to me...like he may not be a serious buyer...but we'll see!

2 Things to Note..

1) I have 2 croupy boys laying on the couch right now. Praying Julia is spared!!

2) Someone called Matt last week who was interested in our house and said Matt could call him this week about seeing it. Praying this goes well!!

More pictures

We're still enjoying our time here in the mountains. Yesterday, Kim, Cindy, Sophie, Julia, and I took a little outing to Blowing Rock and looked through some shops while the others took a little hike. The kids have done lots of playing and some of us got to have a kid-free time out to eat last night. Certain unnamed parties have enjoyed lots of time in "the black hole" (aka the basement with the playstation). We are still eating Thanksgiving food and it has been good! We even got in a "personality" test, just for Matt:) The Stewarts left earlier today and we're gearing up to watch some football games. Besides half the adults and kids having coughs, things have gone well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wanted to go ahead and share some pictures. The house up here is huge and we're enjoying the trip so far. Had a wonderful lunch and we're relaxing now.

Getting in Thanksgiving Mode!

I've packed up our bags, made our Thanksgiving food, done the laundry and some cleaning, and we still have one more day at home before our trip to the mountains. I'm beginning to breathe a little more slowly and get excited for our vacation. I'm starting to get in the thankfulness mindset and try to focus on all I have to be grateful for. Here are a few things..

The Important Stuff!

-Our best gift this year, sweet Julia! It's been a year of little sleep, but lots of love. She is precious, all girl, and is (to my delight) seeming to be our most compliant child. I just love being with her and getting to know her. I'm so happy to have a girl.

-The boys! Joshua is so smart, inventive, athletic, caring, focused, hard-working, and eager to please. Gray is funny, spacey, cuddly, laid back, fun-loving, and sweet. They are both so silly and energetic. They never cease to amaze me. I am so thankful for the ever-growing moments of fun and peace when they are enjoying being brothers. I am so thankful to see the God working in them to help them love him, understand him, and desire to please him. These boys are so full of energy and at times they wear me out completely, but I am so thankful for each day I get to be with them.

-My husband! Matt loves us so much and he takes good care of us. He does his best to be the best father and husband he can be and I'm so thankful that I can depend on him. He is hard working and I'm proud of him for following his dream of being a gym owner. He is so strong and athletic and smart.

-Faith! This year God has taught me a lot and I'm so thankful for the moments when he shows me things that are true about him and about life. I feel like I have gotten such a different and better perspective of the gospel because as I talk about it in a way that the boys can understand, God is there to make those truths sink in to my heart too and show me how amazing it really is that Jesus has died for me!

-Hope! Though there are a lot of things that aren't secure for us as we wrap up this year, I am so thankful for the hope that God can do anything and bring about blessings that are even better than anything we've asked for. And when I read about or hear about things that discourage me, particularly other peoples' lives that are so so hard, I'm so thankful for the hope that this life is not the end!

-Love! Is there anything better than this? I'm so thankful for all of the people in my life that love me...parents, sisters, Matt's family, extended family, friends. I am so blessed by the time I get to spend with you all, the kindness you have shown me, your sweet words, and your support.

Now the not-so-important stuff!

I'm thankful for lots of things that make life more fun or more comfortable or just better:

- pretty flowers, pretty leaves

- my warm, snuggly bed

- pictures of my kids

- funny tv shows

- organization

- naps

- my kids' laughter

- hugs

- sweets

- checking off to do lists

- keeping records of my kids' lives

- game nights

- the funny things the boys say

- good books

- girl nights

- going to football games

- things that match

- naps

- good conversations

- blue sky days

- new recipes that turn out well

- leftovers

- new clothes

- old movies

- family time

- getting stains out of clothes

- baby girl clothes

- pretty and useful crafts

- hand-me-downs

- good music

- new friends

- singing praise songs with the boys

- cleaning out our stuff

- baby words

- bargains

- naps

Quick Update

And I do mean quick...bills to pay, floors to clean, clothes to wash, supper to make, starting to get ready for Thanksgiving, and oh yeah- kids to teach and take care of. I need to get off the computer, but wanted to just say that we had a good week. Daddy and I had a great time at the State game and the kids enjoyed a day with Mimi (though the boys made their share of trouble). Matt and the boys (especially the boys) enjoyed a bonfire with a few guys from church and their sons. We spent some time over at Matt's parents' house yesterday and ended the day selling their exercise equipment at a pretty good price for Craig's list to a really nice couple. Got to chat with the wife and her baby girl for awhile as the guys had some trouble moving the treadmill and once again, it was really neat to see all we had in common. The husband was in the National Guard, for one thing, and promised to refer his Durham friends to Matt's gym. Anyway, that's all I have time for now, but Kim had a great post on her blog talking about thankfulness from A to Z so maybe I will follow suit and get in the Thanksgiving mindset soon! Have a good week!

It took her 10 1/2 months...

...but Julia finally loves to laugh! We used to just barely be able to squeeze a giggle out if we tickled her, but now, as you can see from the movie, she gets silly all the time. She especially loves laughing it up with her brothers:) This week has been fun, but definitely noisy!

Remembering why 3 1/2 is not my favorite age...

Well I remember with Joshua that age 3 produced a couple of very undesirable behaviors...tantrums and lying. Age 4 was much better as he began to have more self control and also began to care more about doing the right thing. Now Gray is doing the tantrum thing...really fun in public...and also the lying thing. Here's an example from yesterday:

I poured Gray milk at his request.

Gray: Mommy you gave me too much milk!!! (Angry)

Me: Gray, you need to say that again in a respectful way.

Gray: (in a meek little voice) Mommy, you really gave me too much milk.

Me: Well you need to drink it anyway and next time I'll give you just a tiny bit.

(Gray disappears to the bathroom with his cup and emerges a few minutes later, without his cup.)

Gray: Mommy, I drank all my milk! I really did!

Me: Are you sure you did?

Gray: Yes! I really did!

Me: Where's your cup?

Gray: In the bathroom.

(We both go in the bathroom and I see a trace of white stuff in the sink.)

Me: Gray, did you dump your milk in the sink?

Gray: No!

Me: What did you do with your milk?

Gray: I don't know.

Me: Gray...that is a lie. What did you do with your milk? I know you know.

Gray: I dumped it out.

So there you have it. He has no qualms about confidently insisting on his innocence when he is actually guilty, which makes it hard on a Mama to know the truth, except in cases like the milk incident when he's not exactly slick about his little tricks. Anyway, the good news is that in a few months, I think he'll start to feel like he needs to tell the truth and this will be behind us. It's much easier to face when you've seen another child go through the same thing and come out on the other side! In the meantime, sometimes we just have to laugh! I know Gray gave my parents quite a few chuckles this weekend with his misbehavior and we narrowly avoided a tantrum in the middle of the worship service!! Anyway, here's to making the best of age 3 and having a sense of humor in the midst of frustration!

Blessings!

We have had a lot to be thankful for over the last week! The boys have had extra friend time 5 times! We had a few play dates, saw the cousins, etc. Plus on Sunday at our potluck lunch, a little boy from Joshua's class came and sat beside him and started talking to him and telling jokes. I think at first Joshua didn't quite know what to do because he knew him a little, but if it's not his brother or cousins, his social skills are really lacking. But in a little while, he warmed up and the two were laughing the whole meal. I remember not that long ago being concerned about Joshua having left his friends in WA and then having slowly made friends in our old small group before having to leave them too. Now he's also getting a lot more comfortable with his new small group friends and it's been so good to see answered prayer there. Of course the thing now is that since he and Gray are starting to get so familiar with the other church kids, they are getting wild and crazy when they get together now, instead of just sitting back and observing. But I'll take it! They need friends and I'm going to try to make more of an effort to have people over and get out around kids more.

And it's definitely also been a blessing for me to get around moms more this week. I get so focused on keeping up with my duties around the house and with the kids that I often just feel like I have to stay at home and let social time take a back seat (how can I go and sit at someone's house doing nothing but talk when I have laundry to do, messes to clean, etc), but I think it's good for all involved to make friend time a priority.

We have also been blessed on the "stuff" side of things lately. With Matt's parents' move, they are cleaning out a lot and have given us a bunch of organizational kinds of furniture. I'm not nearly finished, so no pictures yet, but our office and laundry room have been transformed into much more useful and attractive areas. My parents have also volunteered a couple of very useful items...a camera (so I can take pictures more often since Matt needs ours for work) and a coffee maker (so Matt can stay a little warmer at the gym). Plus last night we used some of those old gift cards I had found and did almost all our Christmas shopping. This isn't saying a WHOLE lot because we don't buy much, but still, it was really nice to have that "free" money to use for the kids' stuff.

On that subject, here's what the kids are getting this year. We do three gifts each, to represent the 3 gifts Jesus got from the wise men. Joshua is getting a dinosaur (free from a church donation!!), a game, and a kickball set. Gray is getting a dinosaur (free), a puzzle, and a football. And then we got a few little things for their stockings--a mini superhero with car, card game, underwear (Gray gets the small pack since he only wears it to church..haha!), toothbrushes and toothpaste (these are always a thrill for the boys for some reason). So there you have it! Oh, and I keep forgetting Julia. Sorry, baby! We did get her three things too: A "magic wand" that makes pretty noises, some bpa free plates (boring, but I couldn't think of much else and she does need them!), and a toy that has balls that you whack to make them go through a little maze-type thing. And some leg warmers for her stocking, though now that I think of it, I need to get her a toothbrush too now that she has teeth. Whoops.

Anyway, love getting the chore part of Christmas over early so it's never a stress. Well that's all i have for now. We're enjoying my parents here this weekend, so nice to have a change of pace. Hope you have a good weekend!

You know you are a little too controlling when...

...you tell your 5 year old, who has asked for yogurt after his cereal every morning for a month, that you think it would be fine for him to get yogurt without asking--but only after he's eaten whatever I give him first and only at breakfast and only if he's not taking too long....and he gets a big smile on his face (clearly very thrilled at this prospect), which quickly fades as he asks, "Are you kidding?"

Yes, of course this was what happened at our house this morning. I haven't really thought of myself as being super controlling (despite my reputation among the grandparents), especially considering a certain member of our family, who shall remain nameless (but a clue: chubby cheeks, doesn't like to wear underwear or swallow food, eats lots of non-food items) has been completely OUT of control lately with his temper tantrums. But I guess it's hard to see yourself objectively and things aren't always what they seem. And maybe Joshua is ready for a little more freedom in his old age:)

First Step

I have no pictures or movies of this, but Julia took one step a few times yesterday, going between me and Matt. Think she's trying to make sure she stays ahead of her cousin Sawyer, who is 2 months younger and started pulling up yesterday!

Happy Birthday, Cindy!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother!

Fall pictures

I have this thing about doing the same thing picture-wise for each child. I took some pictures of Joshua in the pretty fall leaves in WA when he was one year old and liked them so much that I took some of Gray in SC when he was 8 months. Now it's Julia's turn. The hardest part is deciding which 4 to print for hanging on the wall with the others! I've narrowed it down to 29:)

Julia and her Baby

Julia is in love with her baby doll that Mimi gave her. She calls it "Ishy" or something like that.

Bonfire!

We enjoyed having the Reeves and Taylors over tonight for a bonfire! It was cold when the sun went down, but that made the fire so nice. The kids definitely had a great time, though it would have been great to have the Stewarts with us too. We just did hot dogs, a few non-cooked sides, and smores and it was very easy and fun. Definitely made us want to have people over more often. I don't know why we never do!

The tire swing was a big hit!
We used the truck bed for our food table and blankets for our tables. This was no fancy dinner:)
Sweet sisters! These girls are a lot of fun and seemed to really have fun with the Reeves girls too. I was happy that they hit it off so well. How could they not, though?
The smores were the favorite of everyone! We were all very sticky, dirty, and ashy so although the boys had a bath earlier in the day (their first all week--yikes!), we had another before bed.
Mrs Smore herself:) Thanks for bringing the goods, Stephanie!
After everyone left, we hung out by the fire with Pogo for awhile. Well, Gray lasted 5 minutes, then I put him to bed and came back out. Joshua stayed till almost 9. He was just loving it!
Couldn't get the full effect with our camera, but they really are sitting by a blazing fire, gazing at the night sky:)

Hittin the Bottle...

Found these from a couple of weeks ago.

God is in Charge and He Takes Care of Me!

This was our lesson from the story we read yesterday morning and as I went through the day, I realized how difficult this is even for adults to believe. I think I trust God in the bigger things, like selling our house, but what about the little things? Yesterday God showed me how weak I am on that. When things don't go my way that I know God could easily fix, I get mad because I think there can't be any bigger reason why something so small couldn't work out the way I want. But maybe that right there is the bigger reason. I am so attached to my plans and my way that I'm not believing that God could still be in charge and taking care of me in not doing as I ask.

An example from yesterday: I planned a little while back to have over 3 families on Saturday. One family is Matt's sister Kim's, one is a friend from my old church, and one from my new. These families all live in the North Durham area, they all homeschool, they are all Christians, they all have 4-5 kids who span a fairly large age gap, and they are all GREAT! I wanted them to meet because they actually have more in common than I do with them. But yesterday Kim's family almost all got sick and besides feeling badly for them, I was disappointed that they may not be able to come to my "perfect" plan for introducing these families. Then I did the story with the boys and we thought up examples of how we can trust that God is charge and taking care of us when things happen we don't like. Well I didn't like the Stewarts being sick one bit and I saw that I didn't really believe that it was the best plan at all. So there you have it. I think sometimes I need to have my kids give me the Bible lesson! I know I'm going to be making good use of their little mantra "God is in charge and he takes care of me" pretty often:)

End of the army

Some of you know that yesterday marked the end of Matt's 8 year army career. Thank you Matt for serving our country proudly! I am definitely grateful that during the last 2 years Matt was not called back to deploy overseas, as others we know did, but I also feel like it wouldn't be right to celebrate too hard, considering all of the other families that are sacrificing in our place. We are thankful for the experience, glad it is over, and hopefully will continue to pray for and appreciate all those who are choosing to still serve. Here are a few pictures of army stuff...in reverse order.

Becoming a CPT and getting ready to leave WA.
Welcome back from Iraq in WA
Same
Same- showing Joshua the rock we sent him to keep in his pocket over there.
Coming home for recovery after breaking his jaw in Iraq...showing Joshua his purple heart.
Joshua's first time seeing Matt after his injury
Matt walking in door, just home after his injury
In WA, a month or 2 before deployment...boy was it hard to imagine Matt having to spend 15 months away from Joshua!
Officer's reception at the end of OBC in MO.
OCS Ball in GA...pregnant with Joshua and hiding my broken foot and crutches for the picture!
Matt making one of his last jumps at Ft Bragg
Thinking we were about to send Matt to a deployment, but he went to OCS instead.
Just a funny one...probably after a jump.
One of Matt's first jumps in NC.