Thanksgiving Weekend

This year we enjoyed a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at home just the 4 of us (and Bruizer). We watched the parade on TV, played & watched a little football. Josh made an awesome meal! Have I ever mentioned how lucky I am to have a husband who likes to cook? Joey is all about the holidays this year and had alot of questions for daddy while he was making the turkey... Did he have to pluck the feathers? Did he shoot the turkey? Where's the turkey's head? He enjoyed helping out in the kitchen and loved all the food. Sam wasn't impressed with the meal at all but did enjoy the pumpkin pie. Who could blame him? We let him get by with it since it was his first Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There's no gifts to buy, traveling or stressing about getting everything done. It's just a day spent with family (and a lot of good food). We have so much to be thankful for this year but more than anything I am so happy our little boy is home... spending Thanksgiving with his family instead of at an orphanage. I'm thankful that he knows the love of a mom, dad, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins & friends. I'm thankful that when he cries someone is always going to be there to pick him up and show him the love he deserves. He's always going to have a roof over his head, a warm bed to sleep in and food to fill his tummy. He's such an amazing little boy who has brought so much joy to our lives. I am looking forward to the Christmas season and being able to celebrate all of his firsts as a family.

I picked up this tent for the boys a few weeks ago and Josh put it together on Thanksgiving morning. They had a lot of fun playing in their "fort".

On Saturday we took the boys sledding and met up with Jess and the kids. It was Sam's first time and he LOVED it! We weren't sure what he would think of the snow and cold but so far he seems to like it... we'll see what he thinks of it in a month of two.

Joey had a blast too. He told me the other day that he just loves the snow so much he never wants it to go away. He loves wearing his snow boots, sledding and making snow angels and he can't wait for the "sticky snow" so we can make a snowman and have a snowball fight.

That evening we put up our Christmas tree and decorations. I picked up this nativity collection at a market in Bogota and I just love it!! It's definitely my favorite decoration.

Joey was SO excited about putting up the tree and had a lot of fun helping me decorate it. However, we decided to only decorate the top 2/3rds of the tree due to the fact that Sam is very interested in all the pretty (very breakable) ornaments.

Parent/Teacher Conference

Tonight we had parent/teacher conferences for both of the boys. It was nice to have an opportunity to sit down and visit with both of their teachers and hear a little more details about what our little guys are up to each day. We are very fortunate that both of the boys have really great teachers. Here are a few things we learned tonight...

about Sam...

• He eats great but likes to take his time. He will eat corn, one kernel at a time and doesn't leave the table until he's finished every last bite. I asked his teacher for tips on getting him to eat because he is such a picky eater at home.
• When he's done eating he goes to the sink to wash his hands... and he can turn the faucet on all by himself!
• When his teacher says it's time to nap he will grab his blanket and puppy and go to his mat to lay down. He has no trouble falling asleep. It's hard to imagine a group of 18 month olds laying on mats together in the same room and actually sleeping!
• He enjoys art, especially painting.
• His favorite song is Wheels on the Bus and he loves to do the hand motions.
• He plays well with other kids. He especially likes playing with a little guy named Pierce.
• One of the items on his assessment said "Can throw a ball at a target 3 feet away" and we all had a good laugh at that one. Sam can probably hit a target 30 feet away... the kid has quite the arm!
• One of our main concerns is that he's not saying very many words yet and doesn't really seem interested in talking. He understands ALOT and is able to use non-verbal communication, he's just not able to vocalize what he wants. He can say mama, dada, ball and most recently night-night.

about Joey...

• He has great listening skills and is respectful of his teacher.
• His fine and gross motor skills are right on target for his age.
• He can recite the alphabet.
• He can write his first name but sometimes writes the letters backwards.
• He loves art. When he uses a scissors, he is very particular about following the lines.
• He is a social butterfly... which sometimes gets him in trouble.
• He is very concerned about other people. If one of the other kids is crying, he has to know what's going on.
• He's a hugger!
• He loves trying new things, especially new food.
• He's good at following directions but sometimes needs to be reminded to stay on task.

Both of their teachers had a similar story to share with us. Our daycare/preschool recently added a gymnasium along with some new classrooms. When Sam's class goes to the gym, they walk past Joey's room. As soon as Joey hears the little kids coming down the hall, he runs over to the door to watch for Sam. As soon as Sam sees Joey he just squeals with excitement and gives Joey a big hug. That melts my heart!!

October Fun

I am trying really hard to keep this blog up to date but seem to be falling behind a bit so I will sum up the remainder of October in this single post...

One weekend I was having a severe craving for all things pumpkin. So Joey helped me make pumpkin bread, Josh made pumpkin cheesecake and after carving our pumpkins, we (of course) made pumpkin seeds. Joey LOVES helping me in the kitchen so he was all about stirring up the mixture for the bread.

Here's Sam snacking on some raisins... but really, I just love this picture of him because of his smile. As much as I love the "squish" smile, it's nice to be able to capture his natural smile once in awhile too.

The weekend before Halloween we went to a trick-or-treat event at the zoo and Joey was really concerned about this witch after I told him she was flying too fast on her broom and must've crashed.

Here's Sam the lion... he was perfectly content wearing his costume as long as he could run wild.

Aaron Rodgers and Grace (the nice witch)...

Joey, Sam, Peyton & Grace

On Halloween day, we took the kids trick-or-treating at Scheels in the afternoon. They had salespeople giving out candy all over the store, free rides on the ferris wheel & a costume contest for the kids. Joey went as Aaron Rodgers and Josh, Sam & I were his biggest fans.

Here's Sam & Peyton carefully selecting their next treat...

Joey... I mean Rodgers... taking a ride on the ferris wheel

That night we took the boys trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. Joey was determined to fill up his entire bucket with candy so Josh took him to a few extra houses on the next street while Sam and I went home to hand out candy. Both boys had so much fun!

Even Bruizer got in on the fun...

Joey's 4th Birthday Party

I'm a little behind on posting pics from Joey's birthday but it's been a crazy month...

We had Joey's birthday party at TNT Fitness Academy this year and the kids had a blast! During the first hour of the party, one of the coaches guided the kids through several different stations. The first station was a giant parachute and the kids enjoyed flipping it up and running under it. Next they ran through an obstacle course. They did forward rolls, jumped on the trampoline, jumped over sticks and walked on the balance beam. Last but not least, they had some free time in the foam pit which is always a favorite. The last half hour, we ate cupcakes and Joey opened his gifts. It was short but sweet and just the right amount of time for a group of 4 year olds. Needless to say, the kids slept very well that night.

Joey wanted a sports themed party so his cupcakes had footballs, soccerballs, basketballs and baseballs on them.

Joey opened presents from us that evening and was excited about the Packer uniform and Panda PillowPet. More pics of the Packer uniform to come... whenever I get around to my Halloween post...

Thank you to all of our family and friends who came to help us celebrate Joey's big day. It meant so much to him!! Can you believe he's 4? I sure can't!

PhotoMama Workshop

This weekend I attended a photography workshop called PhotoMama here in town. It's put on by a photographer by the name of Rialee (there's a link to her blog under "My Favorite Blogs"). I have been following her blog for quite awhile now and love, love, love her style of photography. She mainly photographs babies and children but just recently added dogs to her list of specialties. She uses all natural light and her photos are absolutely amazing. Please check out her site if you have not seen it before.

I've always thought about taking her workshop but I didn't have the right type of camera and thought the material would be way over my head. But when my friend, Sharella, said she signed up for the workshop, I decided to take the plunge and sign up... and buy a new camera. Friday night, we met from 6:30-9:00 and basically went over all of the technical stuff. Then on Saturday, we did a little of the same in the morning and then had fun practicing everything we'd learned. In the afternoon, we got to do a mini photoshoot in Ria's studio with 3 different models. I had so much fun and learned so much! Now I'm hoping I can go back to reading my Digital SLR Photography for Dummies book... and not feel like a dummy!

Here's a photo of Ria (we were practicing some different settings outside)...

Here's her studio... it's AWESOME!! Tons of great lighting and perfectly decorated.

This is her prop room... lots of cute little hats!

This little girl was our first model. She's 18 months old and absolutely adorable. I was curious to see what tricks Ria had up her sleeve to get an 18 month old to sit still. Her secret? SMARTIES! I'm totally going to try that with Sam. My camera settings were a little off but I still think these two turned out good.

This little girl and her sister were our next set of models. They came dressed in their Halloween costumes. They were a bit harder to photograph because there were so many of us trying to take their pictures and I think they got a little bored. Here is one of the older sister.

This little cutie is 10 months old and I had the most fun with her. Do you think her outfit could get any cuter? She had striped leg warmers, a onesie with ruffles on the butt and that cute knit hat. At first, she was a little shy... who could blame her though with 15 people pointing their cameras at her but it didn't take long for her to warm up.

This is probably my favorite photo of the day... I love her pouty lip!

No worries... she's happy again!