A Beautiful Winter Day

As the rest of the country (especially the family in MN) got pounded by snow today, we enjoyed the most beautiful 71 degree day. All sun not a cloud in the sky. A little windy here and there but just gorgeous. We opened up the windows in the house because the house was getting so hot and I almost put on shorts. So we decided to pick up the leaves that are still only half fallen off our big tree in our front yard. The boys had a blast playing in the leaves. They were both very helpful in raking and putting them in the garbage bags. We raked up 6 large trash bags full and only got about half of our yard done. Then the boys helped me finish putting up the rest of the outdoor Christmas decorations. I am glad we got out and enjoyed the beautiful day because it is going to be cold and wet the rest of the week.

ACSC Winter Fest

Jeremy's work hosted a WinterFest last Saturday for the kids. There were all kinds of crafts, games, food and of course Santa. Nick sat next to Santa but Aidan wouldn't go near him. Nick asked Santa for a computer. We did all the crafts first which included marshmallow igloos, penguin bags, ornaments, decorate your own sugar cookies and so much more. Then we went and had a snack and played games. Nick went right to the cake walk and played for the next hour. Aidan and I went to all the other games and came back and he was still playing. Eventually, they ran out of goodies and he never won which brought him to tears. Luckily, he was easily cheered up with hot cocoa. All in all, it was a fun day at Daddy's work. There is just so much fun stuff to do around here for the Holidays I don't know how we will fit it all in from parades, to riding the Polar Express, to lights at the Zoo, to Santa at the Bass Pro Shops. Prattville truly is a fun little town.

Operation Christmas Child

Nick complaining because the box is too heavy.

This year we made a box for Operation Christmas Child which is an organization that sends packages to needy children in third world countries. Nick had such a great time helping fill his box with stuff. We went to Wal-Mart to pick out some stuff and he kept picking up all these big toys and asking if we could get them but I had to keep reminding him the stuff needed to fit in a shoe box. He also wanted to get the boy a DVD and it was a long conversation explaining why they couldn't watch TV because they didn't have electricity. Nick thought that we should send him electricity in the box. We did the next best thing and sent a flashlight with extra batteries. Hopefully, we are instilling in the boys that there is more to Christmas then Santa and presents. I really want them to understand the true reason for the season.

Thanksgiving Week in North Carolina

We spent Thanksgiving week at my friend Cheri's house in North Carolina with her and her two kids Zack and Kate. Cheri was one of my best friends in California and continues to be a great friend today. Zack was one of Nick's first friends and they had a blast being reunited. Aidan and Kate had met when they were babies and surprisingly got along so well all week. Cheri's husband Steve is deployed to Iraq so it was such a blessing for us to be able to join her this week and keep her company over the Holidays. We had a blast and it went way too fast. Here are a few favorite pictures from our week.

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Since moving here to Alabama we have been blessed with great neighbors, teachers, doctors, so many friends and a great new church. We have also been enjoying the blessing of Jeremy's new work schedule which allows us to spend lots of time together as a family. We hope everyone enjoys all the blessings in their lives this Holiday season.

McWane Science Center

Nick playing on the giant walking piano.

Nick in the Thomas the Train Conductor cut-out.

Nick and Aidan on tv forecasting a hurricane.

Aidan inside a tornado.

Nick hiding out in the Magic box.

Aidan digging for dinosaurs.

Nick using a air to move the balls through the hoops.

Aidan repairing the car.

Nick changing the tire on the car.

Nick underneath the car repairing the muffler.

Nick in a wheelchair race.

Nick and Aidan in the magic mirror box. You could see them on the tv outside the box.

Nick helping Mommy pull Aidan up in the rope chair.

Nick on a bed of nails.

Today we went up to Birmingham, AL to the McWane Science Center since Nick and Jeremy had the day off for Veteran's Day. We went with my friend Meg and her family. The boys loved every minute of it. They had all kinds of fun exhibits from lasers to making clouds to dinosaur bone digging and a train exhibit. Nick and I made slime to take home and we played a tune on the walking piano. Nick and I did a lot of the little hands on projects while Aidan played in the playzone with his friend Grant. We hope to go back sometime soon because it was sooo busy that we didn't even get to go to the bottom floor which was an aquarium filled with tide pools where the kids can touch the animals.

Fall Pictures

We attempted to take some Fall pictures today to put on a Christmas card. 200 pictures later and there really weren't any good ones where they both were looking in the same direction and smiling. I have a couple favorites that might work on a card. I will have to play around with my photoshop and see what happens. Two crazy boys are way too much work when taking pictures so I am not even going to pretend that I can get all 4 of us to look in the same direction at the same time.