Christmas Kick-off

We had a full day of Christmas today! It's fun to get a jump on the holiday season, especially since we're leaving for San Diego on December 26th.

We went to church with my parents' and attended an annual Christmas craft event, celebrating the first Sunday in Advent. Santa made an appearance. Ryan sat on his lap, but refused to make eye contact with him. He told Santa what he wants - "big boy fireman Legos." I think "Santa" has already taken care of that one. Wink wink!

Caitlin on the other hand was scared to death of him. She sat in my sister's lap the entire time. I tried to coax her up there by bribing her with a candy cane from Santa's basket and she said, "Mama, you can go get my candy cane for me." Smart cookie! After Santa, the kids enjoyed making crafts and decorating cookies.

Right after ADVENTURE, we headed out to Fall City to cut down our Christmas tree. Cutting down the tree is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I have such fond memories of going out to the tree farms as a child. I want my kids to experience trudging through the mud, choosing the perfect tree, getting a candy cane and a cup of cider and then hauling it home to decorate.
I was anxious to get the tree up and decorated today - and we did it! It was quite the task to try and get it straight in the tree stand by myself, but after a lot of adjusting, it's up. The kids helped me put on the ornaments and they actually were quite helpful! Here's the finished product!

So much to be thankful for

On this Thanksgiving eve, I spent a few minutes thinking of things I'm thankful for. Some are silly and superficial, but other things I'm so incredibly grateful for. I limited my list at thirty, but I could have gone on and on. God has richly blessed my life. So, here's my list.

I'm thankful for:

Mike’s unconditional love and support
Healthy children
Starbucks coffee
The ability to worship freely
Jane Austen books
Ryan and Caitlin’s unique personalities
My incredible friends – they make me a better wife, mom, and friend
The seat warmers in my minivan
God’s perfect timing
Finding success doing something I love
Ryan’s sensitive heart
Being a stay-at-home mommy to our beautiful kids
Torrential rain storms
Play dates
Reality TV
Hot showers
Jesus’ sacrifice
Our house and yard
Tulips
God’s faithfulness
Mike’s awesome Daddy skills
Our extended family (and how close they are!)
Gold Creek Community Church and its ministry
Caitlin’s vivid imagination
Mexican food
The Internet
Yoga pants
On Demand
The men and women (especially our friends) serving our country around the world
God’s sovereignty

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful Celebration

I know I'm his mama, but isn't Ryan adorable in this picture?!

Ryan attends a WONDERFUL preschool at our church called Kids at the Creek. Tonight, the kids had their Thankful Celebration. Each class got up on stage and performed a song or recited a poem. After the performance, each student got the microphone and had a chance to introduce themselves and share what they are thankful for. Ryan, along with his classmates, wore feathered headdresses that said some things they were thankful for. Ryan's feathers said - "My cars, my big boy Legos, and my bed." He's all boy and completely in love with Legos.

Here's Ryan's turn with the mike...

In case you can't understand him, he said, "Hello. My name is Ryan. I'm thankful for my mommy and daddy and my sister, Caitlin." Melts my heart!! I'll have to save this video and play it on a day when Ryan is really driving me nuts!

Little mama

Caitlin, somewhat surprisingly, loves babies (real or pretend). I never imagined that she would be so nurturing - especially since she didn't get her first baby doll until a year ago!

Being the second child, Caitlin gets to play with lots of hand-me-downs. Having a big brother, she loves cars, trains, blocks, etc. After last Christmas, I noticed that she was spending lots of time driving cars around the floor, so I started looking for a reasonably-priced baby. I found a great set at Target (my favorite store!) that included two babies, a stroller, bassinet, and high chair. She was instantly hooked!!

Now, she always has a baby doll or animal in tow, along with purse filled with bottles and other things she might need. I love watching her play and use her imagination!
Caitlin is sitting in her "car" a.k.a. the laundry basket, holding Kiki, her pink monkey. Notice the purse and other goodies.

Baby Buddy (one of my Cabbage Patch Kids from when I was younger) just woke up from his nap and needs a story.

The fruit snack debacle

Every time we take a trip to the Commissary, I let the kids choose a box of fruit snacks to bring home. This special treat usually guarantees good behavior, but today was a different story.

We hit the fruit snack aisle about mid-way through the store. Ryan picked out Lego fruit snacks and Caitlin selected Nemo snacks. The kids were especially hyped up today (standing up in the cart, pulling things off the shelves, hitting each other, etc.) and after the treats were in the cart, I threatened to take them away several times.

Finally, when we were checking out, Ryan whacked Caitlin on the head, so I pulled the fruit snacks out of the cart and told him they weren't coming home with us. As soon as this happened, the wails began. If you've ever heard Ryan when he's upset, you would have recognized the familiar combination of shrieks and high-pitched screaming. I just ignored him, but he was so upset that the scene continued. I had to drag him out of the store. I don't think I've ever had to drag him out of a store.

We finally made it to the car and he continued to cry most of the ride home, even after sweet Caitlin shared a pack of her fruit snacks with him. The crying finally stopped when Ryan realized that he didn't have to have a quiet time today because it was already after 3pm. Ahhh, finally relief!!

The funniest part of the entire ordeal was Caitlin, emulating the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. Ryan would scream, "I want the fruit snacks!" and Caitlin would very matter-of-factly say, "No fruit snacks for you." It was hysterical and I really tried not to laugh.

Hopefully this incident will mean better behavior next time we're at the Commissary so the Lego fruit snacks can come home with us!

San Diego Update

Mike and I are taking off in about two hours to drive to San Diego. The month he was home FLEW by - can't believe he's already taking off and moving...again. I'm excited for the road trip, but sad to leave the kids for six days. I know they're in good hands and will have an absolute blast with Grandma Barb and Grandpa Pat, but I've never been away from them for more than two nights...and I've never been 1500 miles away from them. Yikes!!

We plan to get there on Sunday evening after stops in Southern Oregon and Monterey. Along the way, we'll get to see two of our dear friends - it'll be fun! I'll stay in San Diego until Wednesday where I'll get to visit more great friends and hang out with Mike. And...we'll get to check out the condo we're most likely leasing.

We had a change in plans after finding out that the Navy will not move us back to Seattle in May - and learning that Mike is going to be gone during the second half of May and most of June. We have decided to leave all of our things at our house and go into a furnished place in San Diego. I started looking around and found a few vacation properties that offer discounted monthly rates for the off-season. We found a great place just three blocks off the beach in La Jolla. It's completely furnished and all utilities are included in the monthly rate. We're really excited. We're meeting the owner there on Monday afternoon to make sure it's what we want. If it all checks out, we'll sign the lease and put down the deposit.

Mike will fly up on December 15 for Christmas and we'll all leave on December 26 for San Diego. It's going to be a crazy six weeks, but what's new?! Crazy is normal in our lives!!

I'll check-in when I get back from San Diego. In the meantime, please pray for safe travel and calm nerves for me and Mike. I don't do well with change and I have a very upset stomach this morning!!

The paci

Caitlin has a little problem...she is totally addicted to her pacifier! She is sooo attached to that thing! When she was about a year old, I limited her paci usage to her crib and that seemed to work fine, but I don't know how to get rid of it completely. Any suggestions??

If she gets her hands on one during the day, she'll hide so she can have it. I caught her under the dining room table a couple of days ago. We've found her in closets, under her crib, under blankets, sitting in dark rooms, etc. The funniest thing is that she'll immediately pull it out of her mouth and pretend she wasn't using it. Mike walked into her room a couple of weeks ago to see if she was in there and when he opened the door, he was greeted with a pacifier flying across the room. Caitlin had thrown it to get rid of the evidence. At my parents' house, she was standing in the doorway of a dark closet with a pacifier at her feet. I took one look at the paci and she said, "I don't have a paci in my mouth." What a sneaky little girl!!

I'm not going to do anything drastic in the next couple of months because of our move to California, but this crazy addiction must come to an end!

The princess and the dragon

Our three-day Halloween extravaganza has come to an end...although we're all still riding the sugar high!!

On Wednesday, our buddy, Austin, had a costume-themed birthday party. Here's an attempt at getting all the kids (ages 8 weeks to 4) to sit still for a group shot. This was the best we got.

On Thursday night, our church hosted Candy Land Lane, a trick-or-treat/festival event. It was a lot of fun. I passed out candy in Ryan's classroom for a half hour and enjoyed seeing all the little ones dressed up. Mike took the kids trick-or-treating and then on to the bounce houses. They had a blast.

Last night, we went down to my parents' house in Bellevue for dinner and more trick-or-treating. Both of the kids were really into it this year. Caitlin is so independent. I kept trying to hold her hand and she'd say, "I'm okay. I not need a hand." She was definitely on a mission for candy!Here's our pretty princess and dashing dragon. After trick-or-treating, we stopped by Grandma Kay's house to show off the costumes (and get a few more treats!). We didn't get home until 9:30pm. We were all exhausted, but we had so much fun!