Bye, bye, Blue

Saying goodbye can be so hard to do…especially when it’s been your napping couch for 9 + years.  Depending on who you ask the departure of the couch was either sudden or discussed many times.  I’m guessing it’s pretty easy to figure out which one is Michael’s and which one was mine. 

Blue was an excellent couch and held up through quite a bit (two rambunctious boys,  countless other kids, Michael’s bed for the first year in Redlands).  It was, by far, the best napping couch ever and the couch we purchase to replace it will have to have amazing napability. 

We had discussed that Blue wouldn’t be making the move, but never discussed getting rid of her before hand.  Though when the Christmas tree cam in, we knew now was a good time to say our goodbyes.

Michael saying goodbye one last time.

Till we move big Brown will be filling in for Blue.

I know, silly post, but you wouldn’t believe how sad Michael was to have to say goodbye to his beloved couch.   

 

Trick or Treat

Although I have much more to catch up on I’m jumping ahead a bit because me sister has insisted on seeing pictures of the boys in their costumes.  Here you go, Joc!

Josh was super excited this year about Halloween and had a some fun ideas on what he would like to be…clone trooper, Darth Vader,  and something else Star Wars that I can’t remember.  Michael the convincing one that he is was able to talk Josh into being a Cougar’s football player.  Sounds good to me, sounds free to me (ahhh, ya)!  Josh loved the idea and played the part quite well.  Here’s an example:  I took a few pictures of the boys on Monday afternoon, and after taking a picture Josh told me, “I didn’t smile for the picture because football players don’t smile!”  Oh, Josh you make your father so proud.

Carter wasn’t so sure about this whole dressing up thing.  He was a pirate and a very cute one at that. Thank you Nikki for letting us borrow the pirate costume.  You are wonderful!   Carter was very hesitant at first until he discovered that he gets candy.  He quickly got a hang on it, and although he may not be able to say, “Trick or Treat” he certainly says the cutest, sweetest, “Tant u!”.

We went to our friends house for some dinner and then head out around their neighborhood for trick or treating.  Thanks, Edge family for once again a fun Halloween.

My pictures aren’t the best, but hopefully they capture the cuteness that is my children…think I love them

 

A Weekend away

It seems like when the opportunity to get away for the weekend comes it’s most commonly to San Diego and this weekend was no exception….except that I had to work. 

We have an annual Board of Directors Retreat every year to the Paradise Point Resort in San Diego, and this is my first year I’ve been able to make it (last year I was in Denver running a half).  We stay in Bungalows where the back door opens up to Mission bay, with grass to play in and sand to dig in and boy did the boys have fun. 

Awe Carter, getting “into” his playing in the sand.  Love you sweet boy!

Not sure what this goofy boy is doing ( I was sitting in a meeting).  My guess’ are he either got grossed out, or he’s just being goofy

We even had a babysitter the first night, a roommate of an alumni student of Michael’s that now attends Point Loma; the boys loved her. 

It was a wonderful weekend spent with our friends, the Schenkels and Leonards.  Before heading home we all stopped at the zoo.  I’m so happy that everyone we could all go to the zoo, it was so much fun to be there with all the girls.  To see some of those pic’s you’ll have to head over to Mark and Jill’s blog. 

 

 

Daddy’s helper

Carter is an outdoor boy through and through.  We have had a little push lawnmower ever since Josh turned one, but it’s never gotten much use…Josh is not a fan of daddy’s lawnmower and the loud  noise it makes ( I understand ).  Carter on the other hand is right along side Michael as he mows and it’s absolutely adorable.  I think Carter might be our own little, Bear Grylls. 

 

more Family…

Time at home with Mom and Dad was filled with lots of book reading and cake eating.   Dad (who shares the same birthdate as cousin, Elias) was going to be celebrating his birthday soon and as Josh pointed out, it was his half birthday.  And what half birthday goes by without a cake.  So we baked a cake and topped it with football gear…the ultimate boy cake, right?!

Love Josh’s smile on this picture…silly boy!

We always, always have so much fun when Mom and Dad visit, and it’s funny to me how the moments that stick out the most to me are the quiet and low key ones, like these:

Mom always brings a separate suitcase of toys, books, clothes, etc…. for the boys when they come to visit and this time was no exception.  As always, thank you so much Mom and Dad for your amazing gift of spoiling our boys with love and fun.

 

Family

We had the joy and pleasure of hosting grandpa and grandma DeJong in Southern California for a few days in August.  As always it was a wonderful visit with lots of fun, and we were even able to hang two new doors.  Thanks, Dad!

On Sunday after church we traveled down to Coronado for some fun at the beach.  Coronado is by far our favorite beach and for many reasons- quiet, hardly anyone around, easy parking, great sand, great location, and you just can’t beat the views.  Josh loved the water, and Carter loved the sand.  It amazes me constantly how much Josh is growing up as a boy.  He braved the ocean with Michael most of the afternoon, stopping for a few sunscreen reapplications (bummer of being a red head at the beach).  Carter loves the sand and burying his legs and animals as well…very cute.  Too bad I don’t have any pictures, but you will rarely see us bring our camera in the sand anymore; we paid a $100 a year ago to get a speck of sand out of our lens.

We hit up dinner at this little restaurant near our hotel a bit later after showering off from the beach.  The restaurant serves breakfast all day, so I jumped on that like white on rice.  I very rarely eat breakfast and if I do it’s a yogurt.  Even if I had time to sit down and eat no one in my house likes my favorite breakfast, a Greek omelet.  So that being said, breakfast it was and boy they had the best hash browns EVER…and I’m not a big fan of hash browns (too much carbs for the me).

After dinner we looked to come up with a plan for Monday at Seaworld….the boys helped

SeaWorld is so much fun especially with the ages that Josh and Carter are at.  Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us.  To start our visit out, and I highly recommend this, we hit up a ride were you get soaked, I mean absolutely drenched – or at least I did….good thing it ended up being a beautiful sunny day.  We were able to see almost every show and keep the boys attention at each one, mine especially at the Sea Lion and Otter show (sorry, but Biff is hilarious).  We had so much fun and can’t wait to return.

Here are a few fun picture of our day:

 

Pwease

Sometimes I just have to brag about how gosh darn cute my baby is.  It seems like every time we turn around he is hugging our legs, or racing around the house with his trucks saying, “Twuck, go, twuck, go”. 

As we try to teach him to say, “Please, and Thank you”, we’ve discovered that we can’t really tell him no.  It’s just too darn cute when he says them. 

His beautiful brown eyes get big, and he pushes his head forward, puckers his lips and out comes the cutest, sweetest, and hardest think to resist, “Pwease!” 

and “Twoo too (Thank you)”!

It’s the little things that truly make us feel blessed.  My boys do exactly that for me every day.