on the bright side

"ya know why it's good we get to switch schools?

we get to meet all new hot girls"

- drew

age 8 (going on 15)

glad this isn't my job!

although i wasn't aware of it ...
because i am apparently a horrible reader ...
i SWEAR i read the sheet like 10 times trying to find our neighborhood
ANYWAY ...

tonight santa visited our neighborhood on his firetruck-
as he does every december.
the older boys were at church when he came -
so after picking them up they wanted us to drive and find him in a different part of the development.

so we went -

got out of the car -

waved -

and said merry christmas

because ...
apparently even if you 'know santa is a myth'
it's still cool to see him drive by on a firetruck
and it's not something you want to miss

awww

don't ya just feel bad for the little guy???

how in the world can you NOT go crazy with a lampshade around your neck?!

timber!

although there's no snow on the ground
(YET)
it is officially THAT TIME!

we went to cut down our christmas tree!

we found 'the perfect tree'

stacey got lots of help cutting it down



and they topped it off for us with hot apple cider

and ...

once i get to the 'decorating post'

if the tree looks a little crooked ...
it's alex's fault ...



he was, perhaps, a bit TOO helpful ;)

the pink chair

in ben's classroom you can find this lovely pink chair ...



it is known as 'the pink chair'.

every few days his teacher uses his 'magic tongue depressors' to choose a name -
this classmate then gets to sit in 'the pink chair' and get interviewed by the class.
- questions the kids come up with -
once the interview is done,
the kids take a piece of paper and write a card/story about what they heard.

ben was SO excited because he was 'the chosen one' a few weeks ago!
he has LOVED the 'letters' that he got from his friends
he keeps them in a pile in his room
and i find that he sits and looks through them quite a bit



even the one that he wrote about himself ;)

once again -
it's the simple things ...
the little things that teachers think of ...
and make time for ...
that mean the most.

although the smart boards rock ...
and the daily podcasts are pretty sweet too ...
today ...
all it took was a pack of construction paper,
a few markers,
and a little pink chair

THAT is what ben will remember from first grade.
and i LOVE that.
thank you, mr.g

magic

today i am thankful for the magic eraser ...
this morning we came downstairs to find this fun little 'guy' on our dishwasher ...



drawn with a sharpie marker ...
of course

by
none other than ...

our resident punk.

within the past week or so he has become obessed with drawing and writing.
AND
what's fun is that his drawings/writings have really started to resemble things
SO ...
although i won't tell him this ...
it actually did make me smile when i saw this ...


CUZ really ...
it's not everyday that you get to see your 3 year old
learning to draw a person with legs AND eyes!

next time, though, just keep it off the dishwasher.

punk.

LIFE lessons

tonight we played the game of LIFE.

just a few things i heard come out of drew's mouth

while sorting out the money in the beginning

* wow ... when i am older i am going to be such a good rich guy

because i am so good with money

after buying his 3rd stock

*it's ok. i have SO many 20's.

i might as well just spend them.

YIKES.

thinking it might be beneficial to have him play the game ...

and lose ...

JUST a few more times ;)

country mouse city mouse

on saturday we met up with stacey's brother and family

we met up at his mom's -
which is essentially in the middle of nowhere.

BUT ...
for 6 city kids ...
being in the middle of nowhere was a lot of fun!

they shot bb guns
pretty sure everyone hit the can on their first shot ...
well, except stacey ;)
they went for a tractor ride
they got to see a deer head in a tree
yes, lovely, i know
they saw a tree stand ...
AND
they got to climb all over rolls of hay



it doesn't make me want to move to the country ...
BUT ...
it is DEFINITELY a fun place to visit!

together again

being in wisconsin for thanksgiving
meant alex and aiden got to spend a lot of time together.

it's been a while since they last saw each other -
but they jumped in right where they left off
and had SO much fun ...
perhaps TOO much fun (just wait ... there's proof)

they ran ...
a lot!



they laughed ...
a lot!

they screamed ...
a lot!
definitely stacey's favorite part ... ;)

they showed off their MAD bowling skills at our
annual thanksgiving bowling extravaganza ...

and basically just went strong from morning until night.

------------------
THANKFULLY ...
it didn't take long the fun to just completely wear alex out

which is a REALLY good thing
when you look at pictures like this ...

thankful

today i am thankful.

i am thankful that i have so many things to be thankful for.

i have

~ the ability to trust and put my faith in God

~ 3 crazy boys who love me

and like to have fun

~ a husband who loves me,

is my best friend,

AND helps me parent those previously mentioned 3 crazy boys

(thankfully, he's a little crazy too)

~ a place to call home

~ a family that loves me

~ great restaurants to make dinner when we don't feel like it

which is probably more often than it should be ;)

~ friends that make me laugh and keep me grounded

~ a steady income

~ at least 5 months of "warm" weather

although 12 would still my ideal

~ great neighbors

~ the ability to have fun things

~ AND ... time.

i am thankful for the time i get to do the things i love

and more importantly,

for the time that i get to spend with the people i love.

it's WAY too easy to take that for granted

SO ...

i want to take today to say ...

i'm thankful for each and every one of you that are a part of my life

i am thankful for the time i get to spend with you

and for the difference that you have made in my life.

you give me a lot to be thankful for ...

and for that i am thankful.