Firm Foundation

When we unpacked and set up our nativities this year, Ethan wanted to know the story behind them. I was going through each "character" and explaining his or her role. I said, "And these are the Wise Men," at which point Ethan interrupted me and said,

"I already know about him, Mom. He built his house on a rock."

I seriously doubt I'll be posting again until after Christmas, so Merry Christmas to all!!

A Lot Like Christmas

Every year I think, "This is the best Christmas with kids yet!" This year is no different. Ethan is so excited he's going to explode from it. I know there's an age where Christmas stops holding the same wait-up-all-night-most-exciting-moment-of-the-year feeling, but right now, we're right in the middle of that, and I love it. This time of year is always crazy busy, so of course I have a lot of blogging to catch up on. I'm going to ignore it for now. We spent the weekend buying a tree and getting it decorated. And we really did stretch it over the whole weekend, because last year we tried to accomplish it all in one Family Night, and it was nothing short of disastrous. Much more relaxed this year. I love the way it smells. I love that Target sells shatter-proof ornaments. I love that Ethan kept singing the chorus from "Angels We Have Heard on High" the whole time we were decorating the tree (which he learned in Primary today). Ethan keeps saying it needs more ornaments. Probably because Colin keeps taking them off. Poor Colin was such a trooper all day, despite a high fever and a miserable cough. Doesn't he look like he feels rotten? He does. We've never collected ornaments, but we figure since we have kids, it's past time to start. I love this time of year!

13 (point one!)

This morning, Jason and I ran the same half-marathon that he ran last year. I can't believe I actually went through with it! Quite honestly, usually I'm a quitter when it comes to things like this. It was the furthest I've ever run and only my 2nd race, so I'm pretty excited that I did it.

I had 3 goals: 1) To finish. Period. 2) To not finish last. 3) To finish in under 2:30. (I know that's not very ambitious...I'm slow and steady; I'm not looking to win any awards.) I'm happy to say I met all 3 goals. I was really nervous 2 weeks before the race, but pretty calm this morning and in the week leading up to it. I think part of me knew I was prepared and part of me figured I'd find a way out of it. The only thing I was worried about was the weather. It was cold...26 degrees at start time, but 19 degrees with the wind chill. It didn't end up being too much of a problem, though.

Thanks to Jason for being so encouraging about training, for running with me, pacing me, and talking to me. Thanks to my parents for taking the kids not only during the race, but last night, too, so I could get a good night's sleep. And to the fun women in my ward who were so willing to go running with me while I trained.

I may never run again. I'm really sore. But (obviously) so proud of myself!

"Shows Initiative"

Colin's really into climbing lately. And getting his own snacks. And doesn't seem to feel guilty about it, either.

Another Year

I've been blogging for over a year now, and it's brought to my attention that our lives are incredibly redundant. And I don't just mean the little things...cleaning the same dishes, washing the same clothes, fixing the same jam-and-butter-sandwiches-on-white-bread-with-the-crusts-cut-off, but the big annual events, too. I think I could just take pictures of my kids each year and superimpose them into the same scenes...pumpkin patches, beaches, sledding hills. We'd still do that stuff, of course, but maybe I could leave my camera home and stop trying to capture the moment.

All this just to say that we went to the annual NC State Fair (again, and will go again next year), that we rode the rides (again), ate fried food (again), and had tons of fun (again). You can see Ethan riding the slide last year, and below. And eating a deep-fried twinkie last year, and below (and in the same arena, even).

We did mix it up a little this year. First, we were joined by my parents for the first part of the night, and then by our friend Ryan and his 2-year-old son, Oliver, for some rides (above) and for the demolition derby. To be really honest, I didn't even know exactly what a demolition derby was. (It's bumper cars with real cars just in case I'm not the last person on earth to figure this out.) It was extremely entertaining. Ethan was really into it, and Jason had the time of his life. The car below was one of our favorites. This is right after they put out a fire under its hood. And it was still competing. It lost more than one tire, and was still competing. It was disqualified after the second fire, or the driver would have kept right on going. Crazy. All the pictures above are from Saturday night. Jason and I went alone on Friday night to check it out. We had a little friendly carnival game competition between us. One of the things we did was shoot 20-gauge shotguns at a paper target. Twelve people compete at a time. It was me, Jason, another girl, and 9 men. Guess who won? That would be me. I won a 12-pound frozen turkey. The funny thing is, I was the only one that needed help loading the gun. I shot a 12-gauge shotgun when I was 16 (and I was the oldest one there...you gotta love Idaho), but haven't picked up a shotgun since. It was either beginner's luck or I'm a natural with a shotgun. I'm not planning to find out which it is. Stay tuned for more state fair pictures...exactly one year from now.

Happy Halloween!

Preschool fun... ...and games"I will get candy." "Score!" Sugar highs.

Fall Farm

Last week my mom took me, my sister-in-law, and our 4 kids to a local farm. We had so much fun. We went for a hay ride (picture below), picked out pumpkins, ran through the maze, fed the animals and fish, raced plastic ducks (Ethan's favorite part) and went down the slide (well, everyone but me). The only good slide picture I got was of my sister-in-law LaDonna, and I'm not sure I could get her permission to put it on here. She looked very cute, of course. You can see Ethan going down the same slide last year here. Last time we went, Colin was 9 days old, so he enjoyed it much more this time.

We had to leave before we were done having fun to get to preschool, which was very sad for the boys. Their cousins stayed and played for hours. There's a train, a moon bounce, and a gazebo filled with corn kernels to play in. It's not as weird as it sounds.

Thanks for a great morning, Grandma!

This morning

We were sitting at the table doing some art work when Ethan suddenly put his hand up to his ear and started "talking" on the phone:

"Hello?"

(pause)

"We're just doing some art for our friends from our field trip." [That's how he refers to our vacation.]

(pause)

"Yeah, we're going to do that a little later."

(pause)

"No, we're not going to do that because I don't have enough dollars."

(pause)

"What?"

(pause)

"What? What?? HELLO??"

(pause)

He puts his hand down on the table, looks at me, and says, "I guess my cell phone's broken, too." [Jason and I have both been having problems with our iPhones and AT&T's service. Ethan's over it.]

Grass at Last!

We finally had our sod laid last week. We are excited to have a yard instead of piles of red clay.

This one is taken from the cul-de-sac across the street. You can see the retention pond across from the house, the townhouses to the right, and our neighbors to the left.

The view approaching the house from the front of the neighborhood. Notice Ethan thwarting Colin’s attempts to crawl into the street. The back of the house from the back left corner of the property.

Looking along the right side of the house toward the front of the property.

Now we just need the temps to warm up a little so we can go out and enjoy it!

Walking!

Colin woke up a week ago and decided it was time to walk. He is all over the place. I spent all day Sunday trying to capture it on video, but he dropped to his knees every time the camera came out. Then Ethan had to give it a try. He captured the video below, and was obviously very excited about it.

Worn Out

Colin doesn't sleep anywhere except his crib. Until now. I think we finally wore him out.

Miles driven: 1901

Homes slept in: 7

1st cousins Ethan played with: 8

States visited: 4 (plus layovers in Illinois and Texas)

Friends/family visited: 88

Items left behind: 7 (that I know about):

bottle (Ashley's), pacifier (Erin's), IPhone headphones (Grandma's, I think), bib (Rachel's), DVD player and headphones (Rhonda's...thanks for sending them back!), and green block (rental car, I think...Leanne, if it turns up in your house, please send it on. Ethan says it's his most favorite block ever.)

Come to think of it, we're all worn out. But happy!

Last Day

Our last day of vacation was Jason's 35th birthday. He (and I) wanted to go to Sea World. This was our third theme park in 3 days, so the kids were a little over it, but Jason and I had fun. The orca show was amazing, of course. Ethan loved the Halloween-themed sea lion/otter show. Colin liked the fish tanks. After Sea World, we took the kids back to Ryan and Leanne's place and left them with their babysitter (thanks again, Erinn!!) and went out by ourselves for Jason's birthday. It was the perfect way to end our vacation.

We spent all Sunday flying home. The flights were pretty uneventful. The kids were so worn out that Colin slept on both flights and Ethan slept on the second one. They seemed really happy to be home. It was a great vacation!

Lots of Legoland

The day after Disneyland we went to Legoland. Ethan loved it. He's told his preschool teachers two things about his trip: that he went to Salt Lake, Las Vegas, and California (they were sure he had his facts wrong) and that we went to Legoland. He can't stop talking about it. Colin is a total water baby. We had to drag him out of the water park area after an hour of playing, and it was a chilly day.

Ethan's favorite part was the lego cities. He spent over an hour staring at all the pieces. I've never seen him concentrate on anything for so long. San Francisco. Ethan studying the streets of Manhattan. Closeup of Manhattan. Colin liked it for a few minutes... ...then decided playing with the buckles on his stroller seat was more fun. (?) We left (when the park closed) and met Nathan, Megan, and the boys at the Oceanside Pier for dinner. It was so fun to see them and visit (briefly). We just barely missed meeting their newest addition. Can't wait for him to arrive!