Thanksgiving Recap

I can't believe I didn't get a single picture of my kids or us as a family on Thanksgiving! Actually, I can, since we are always so busy on holidays. I guess I am more disappointed. The kids looked super cute. :)

We went to my in laws and my moms on turkey day and stayed the night down in Puyallup. Friday we even braved the mall for a little black friday shopping. Going in the afternoon wasn't too bad at all. I love being at the mall around the holidays. It feels so festive with a million people there buying gifts and having a big budget to shop for my family. I love gift giving! Sean and I also have a game we play where we guess how many Santa hats we will see in the mall that day. The person closest without going over wins. Ha ha, it's silly, but fun.

We spent Saturday and Sunday at home and at church, showing of our new Christmas themed outfits (thanks to Grandma). Besides Gracie's massive temper tantrum at a friend's house, it was a nice, relaxing weekend.

Here is the only picture I have-of Gracie and Tate and my niece tackling my mom on Thanksgiving. Better than nothing I suppose?

Bring on Christmas!

Peach Fuzz

Is there anything cuter?

Testing, Testing, 1-2-3

This is going to be a bit disjointed, but I never write out what I am thinking before hand (like I have that kind of time), so bear with me.

I have been presented with challenging situations lately, that have felt like tests of my intergrity. Basically a series of accidents at stores (Gracie's sticky fingers, my absentmindedness) that have given us things we know we didn't pay for. Gracie took a hat from a clothing store, I left the grocery store with items that didn't get rung up (twice!). In this situations it would be easy to go on our way and steal actually, but I have felt strongly compelled to do the right thing. This meant extra trips back to stores and returning and/or paying for said items. It's funny, I felt proud of myself and almost happy with an opportunity to witness to my kids. Of course they have no idea what's going on, even when it was just Benny and I at the store yesterday, but I would know and of course God would know if I just put the case of coke in my car and drove off.

I want to be better than that and I want their little eyes and hearts to see that mommy does the right thing, even when it's a pain. I was happy to call my mom and husband to tell them what happened. So I was thinking about all that and patting myself on the back a little bit when I felt a nudge from the Father. "Why are you so proud of yourself for doing what your supposed to?"

Ouch.

I was proud, I thought I had passed these tests with flying colors. But perhaps I missed the point. No, I didn't steal, but hello?! I should be ashamed if I had? Is this not what is expected of me? How often do I congratulate my students for doing their work or praise my kids for not hitting? It's what they are supposed to do. I have set these standards for their own good and while I am glad they do it, It's not necessarily something I want them to gloat about. Perhaps it's the same with my Father and Teacher. He would expect me not to sin in front of my children, He would be glad I didn't succumb to temptation, but probably more disappointed at how prideful I was about it. I can get my rewards here or in heaven, and lately, I've been choosing here. I want my kids to know why we choose to do the right thing, but I also want them to see their mother walk in humility. After all, I am likely to screw up in a variety of other ways.

3 Months Old

Time is flying by Benny Bear!

My Boys

All those blue eyes just melt me! You can see where they get them from :)

Dog Pile

Just checking in to say that we have been hit by a flu of epic proportions. Not sure if it's swine related or not. First Sean, then Tate, then Gracie, and now myself. I am seeing the light today, but praying that Benny some how lucks out of it. High fevers, snot, and misery all around. What were those flu shots for again?

Sean and I did have a wonderful weekend away with friends at a marriage conference and had some much needed rest and adult time. *ahem*
Seems we timed it perfectly between fevers. I am so thankful for my mom, aunt and sister for taking care of our brood while we were gone.

Life goes on here, and I'm thankful, even if it feels like a dog pile.

Attention!

This is how we will let you know we would like to be tickled now:

Sass-A-Frass

That is my new nickname for our Gracie Girl.

In her ripe, old age of 18 months, she is exhibiting a new talent for sass. She can often be found giving "the brows" ( as seen above) and telling us "DOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIT!" I don't even know where 'do it' comes from, but she heard it somewhere and is holding on like its a new sippy cup. She also is perfecting a high pitched squeal that makes daddy's ears bleed when we have not responded to her needs quickly enough. We are trying to teach her about patience (ha ha) and saying please (which she does half the time), but then this sass rears its ugly head again. I've also seen it in deliberate walking away from me when she needs to apologize for hitting and when she purposely throws her food off the highchair tray while I am trying to clean it.

Needless to say, I think we are in for it.

But I am determined. I do not want her to turn into one of those diva toddlers that rules her home, I have seen those girls in high school. NO THANK YOU.
I have also been known to throw around a bit of sass myself. Just ask my Mother. I still get emails and voice mails from her that start with "Now, don't sass me, girl".

So when patience and discipline fail, I will be prepared to fight sass with sass. I think we all know that her daddy doesn't have a prayer in disciplining her, all she has to do is give him a kiss and he will race out to buy her a pony. That's fine with me, he can take the boys to the ER every time they break a limb.
I will take on miss sass-a-frass AND those Brows.

WHO THAT?!

Lots and lots of new things happening around here. I guess that's the thing about kids-they grow up.

Benny is almost 3 months old and sleeping through the night like a champ, so we bit the bullet and put him to bed in the twins' nursery. It was so neat/overwhelming to see all 3 of our little ones lined up in there sleeping. We even paused to bask a bit until Gracie grunted and wiggled and Sean and I had to run out the door so she wouldn't see us. ANYWAYS. It was very sweet to hear them squealing this morning as they often do, but when we opened the door we were met with Gracie's angry eyebrows and she yelled "WHO IS THAT?!" pointing at sweet Benny. She has never strung words together before! Tate was also pointing and yelling, but more like a "YEAH!" than actual words. Gracie the repeated "Who that?!" about a zillion times before I told her Benny was allowed to sleep in their room now. When did my child learn to speak? I mean like actual words, not the made up ones they have trained us to understand.

Other things we now know they can do:
-Open bedroom door by themselves-as seen by surprising mommy on the toilet
-Draw straight lines-beautifully debuted with the artwork on their closet doors
-Understand what "no" means-demonstrated by screaming it at me when I make a request

Yep, my babies are growing up!

Just Us

Just me and my Benny bear today.

Feels strange, but nice to have some one on one time with him. Here is a picture of his cuteness.

Let's Move On

Halloween was fun and exhausting. That's all I have to say about that.
Today is Sean's last day of paternity leave so I am trying to gear up mentally for flying solo this week. It's like ripping off a band-aid. I know it's coming and it's going to hurt. So just pull the sucker off-go back to work already.

Gracie is being extra cuddly today, I think she senses change in the air.