pardon the dust

Please pardon my dust....while I try to both physically MOVE & attempt a holiday blog makeover at the same time!! Rest assured, the Blog will be back up to par in just a few more days... thanks for your paitence! The kids are well... we are getting thru... we have fabulous friends & are finding more blessings around us everyday!! Couldn't resist the pop up Santa banner.. just for a bit...fun , fun, fun...

ThanksGiving 2009

ThanksGiving this year.. has been very quiet.. I made a little Turkey and some mashed potatoes with Extra Gravy ( your welcome Brandon ) ... I wasn't up to lots of cooking and with just us here I wanted to take the day "off" - cooking with food allergies is not as easy as many of the traditional dish's either... so, Turkey & Mashed Potatoes w/ gravy... it was! As you can see... Pooh loved her Potatoes!! The boys all loved it.. actually, everyone loved it and I loved that the dish's took 10 minutes! We even ate off paper plates.. Pink ones! haha
Chloe is a hair puller!! She has ALOT of fun with all of Jacobs beautiful locks and of course, Ethan leaned in to give her a kiss and she made a grab for his hair!!

There are so many reasons to be THANKFUL.....

No Chloe.. that is NOT the drumstick!!

We strive to remind ourselves, that our children don't care where we are, just as long as we are together..


The boys both really loved watching the Macys Parade this morning.. went crazy everytime another new HUGE balloon made it's way into view.. it was FUN!

Brandon has this HUGE dog on his bed and earlier today he went and got it down for Chloe.. who LOVED it!!

I LOVED HAVING THIS DAY.. WITH ALL THE PEEPS.. and Brian..

we remain.. GRATEFUL


{ahem}.. this was VERY early this morning.. I have no idea why Jacob is frowning.. he was happily watching Handy Manny with me.. I love my early morning Jacob snuggles... ( perhaps he didn't want his picture taken)....

Brandon & I were remembering a year ago, Thanksgiving.. when the Turkey was so much bigger than just born Chloe.. ( to tell you the truth, the turkey wasn't all that much bigger than her this year! )

.....and the countdown to Christmas begins....



CHRISTMAS... thru the eys of a child.. does not include $$$ signs...

Finding...reasons to be Thankful...

We are still
uncertain
of the future...
things are changing
by the hour
it seems
it's very tiring..
but we are going forward
to whatever awaits us...
and we are THANKFUL
for this beautiful little girl!!
who has grown & learned so much...
who keeps all the boys on their toes...
We are THANKFUL for Jacob & his favorite books... he never goes upstairs, downstairs, to bed or anywhere...
without them...

We are grateful to no matter how many books we present Jacob with... he still always goes back to those favorite three...

{ they will go with us

wherever we go}

We are THANKFUL for silliness.... like little Boys playing in big shoes..

{ ethan in Daddy's old tennis shoes }

{ jacob in my fuzzy crocs..}

We are grateful

that in an uncertain future

we are finding

our

Friends

our

FAITH

and

those that are there for us..

every step of the way...

We are finding

HOPE

in our childrens

beautiful eyes...

♥

Stars on the town..

Do you know me?
I mean, really KNOW me?
Then you should
know...
that I
LOVE
HOCKEY!!!
It is the single
most awesome sport EVER..
and it had been
FAR
too long
since I had gone on a date
with
MY MAN
soooo.....this Saturday...we took the plunge...we got the peeps ready for bed...Got G'ma Janet & Brandon all well versed in "what to do if someone wakes up" manual...{hehe}
Got out MY Jerseys....Got all dolled up!!! { in fact when I came downstairs.. Ethan looked at me and looked SOOO STUNNED!! LOL...guess i should wear makeup more often - {giggle}
and Yes, Brian and I did
we went
on a DATE
with
NO
kids...
to the
STARS vs. DEVILS
game


There is something magical about ice...skates...pucks & Saturday night...
It was an AWESOME game!! We WON!!! 5-3 WOOT WOOT... and Brian & I had the BEST time!! It was the 1st time we had gone OUT in FAR too long & was LONG overdue!!

We are so grateful we had this oppurtunity... {Thank you Keith & G'ma Janet.. and Brandon too!!!}

- I can assure you, as someone who used to go to the games ALL the time, we will be doing this again.. VERY soon!! I missed the fun of BEING there...

{ps....I do catch all the games on TV.. .the boys love them & I think Jacob is going to grow up to win Lord Stanley for me someday...hehe}

Changes Blowing In...

There is alot
changing
we will be leaving
somewhere
to go
somewhere
else..
somewhere..
we hope
is
better...
for us all...
But..
we will miss
here.... When we 1st got here
Jacob was 15 months old
he crawled up the stairs
and had to be
carried
down...
He
finally
learned to walk
down on his own...

{ I miss carrying him down}

and now.. I get to watch
the boys go up
and down
the stairs
all the time...

I will miss
this...

10 Years

The 10th anniversary of the Bonfire collapse is Wednesday, Nov 18th at 242 am...

it feels like yesterday. I recall that call in the middle of the night...what??... the shock.. wondering how this could have happened. That was the night, that for MANY (aggies) everything changed.

10 years later, we still build and burn a Bonfire ( off campus) and are close to getting it moved back to campus.

10 years later, we remember our friends and fallen fellow students..

10 years later, we haven't forgotten ...They said we couldn't have Bonfire on campus 10 years ago.. and people said it was over..
O NO NO NO.. we Aggies do not give up..
we still have Bonfire.. it's NOT on Campus.. but it burns still.. We will do most anything to keep our traditions alive..
we Do it for the Fallen..
to REMEMBER them..
to Honor them..
we will not Forget...
that morning.. sitting on logs..watching the sun come up and staring at a mangled pile that represented the heart & soul of Aggie pride.
We were, gasping.. it was the single worst night in aTm history ever..
The famous Werecking Crew ( football team) came down from their dorms, and moved logs.. trying to find students..
We learned. We build it .. Better now.
For those of you that don't understand and like to talk about what we should and should not do... well, this is all this Aggie has to say...
" Unless you are an Aggie, then shut up & get the hell oughta my house".. period. No one knows.. no one knows, unless you were there.. unless you stood on stacks.. unless you are one of us..

Coming & Going

It's been a few days...

we have been busy...

coming and going..

coming from here

and going to there

as you can see,
Jacob really LOVES
coming & going.. A Pooh... has the whole world in her hands!

She's getting so good at crusing.. I fully expect her to start walking...anyday...

Well, now that Ethan is in a {special eduacation} preschool..

He has a back pack

which he is

of course...

very proud of..

In fact...

we had to find one for Jacob

to carry his bear in!!

Yes, she does like to crawl into her carseat and have a little fun...

Silly Girl!

would you just look at those tiny hands and legs?? Our Pooh is so petite!! But she is mighty! :-)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Picture Perfect

Beautiful Days

The past week or so, it's been downright gorgeous here! Sunny and in the high 70'S .. just perfect for out little Pooh to play in the sunshine..

Pooh see's {her} shadow...

Our little Sun Goddess!

Looking Forward....

Every morning & every afternoon, just like clockwork....these big yellow school buses roll down our street. Ethan doesn't ride on, I take him & pick him up from his school. Ethan & Jacob have been fascinated with the buses for almost 2 years now.....every morning & every afternoon.. I hear.. "MOMMY...BUS BUS ...MOMMY..BUS BUS..."....

They look so big looking at the buses.. ... I don't have the heart to tell them, mommies babies DON'T ride the bus... {i'll let them keep enjoying the dream...for awhile longer...hehe}.

in case you are curious the anti bus stance is due mostly to the fact that THEY DON'T HAVE SEAT BELTS... making them ILLEGAL and terribly UNSAFE....

Jacobs tiny Feet

Our little Jacob... has very tiny but very wide feet. As you can imagine, finding shoes that fit is a challange...to say the least! And, due to Ethan's sensory issues, there have been an abundance of CROC's and the like in the house, so Jacob has been wearing those sorts of shoes for quite some time. Recently, I decided it was time for Jacob to wear a "real" shoe... and embarked on a mission to find a pair that would fit.... And I did!!! When we 1st put them on him, Jaocb wanted nothing to do with them... but doesn't he look adorable?
Jacob has spent the past several days wearing his new shoes and is doing very well in them...we are sooo proud!
Jacob still wears his favorite CROC sandals as well. We didn't take them away.

Ethan got new Spider Man shoes...they light up and he LOVES them...

and Chloe got the cutest little snow boots... they are so cute they will be a post all too themselves!! {be on the lookout!!}

Thank you G'ma Janet for all our new shoes!!

A Party for a Pooh

Chloe's 1st Birthday.....quiet...small...family only... held on Halloween morning...and Perfect..just like our Pooh!
She got to get dressed up like a Princess...
and she LOVED
her cake!

As you can see

she can't wait

to dive in..

Chloe loved to help open her presents..

Chloe got some adorable & super fun

new toys!

of course, you must have fun with the bows...hehe

We had so much fun with her today.

Don't you think every birthday girl should have balloons 4 X bigger than she is?

It's a Pooh's 1st cake ~ allergy free! hahaha...

We simply can't believe that our little Pooh is 1 already. Seems just like yesterday that she was born... how quickly a year went. We treasure every moment.

Happy Birthday Pooh!

Trick or Treat

Halloween... a day of trick or treat.... we celebrated BIG here this year. With a newborn Chloe in NICU last year, there really wasn't a Halloween at all... so, this year, it was a Big Day!
Space Ranger Jacob....
ready to rescue...
any girl on the play yard... Is it just me or does Chloe look adorable with a Halloween hair clippie?

Look what the Great Pumpkin brought me!!

"To infinity and Beyond! "

and of course...

the most adorable

LADYBUG

EVER!