The Lompoc Christmas Parade

Nick's school had a float in the Lompoc Christmas Parade. The K-3 grades got to ride on the float. The rest of the grades and the parents walked alongside the float. So Aidan and I walked the loop. Afterwards, we walked back to the school for Chili and sides and Christmas cookies. The float played Christmas carols that the kids belted out the whole way. It was a gorgeous night for the parade as it was still in the 60's when it started and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Both boys were exhausted when we finally got home.

Nick's Karate Demonstration

Nick is taking Kempo Karate and he loves it. They had a demonstration night last Thursday. Each class had a routine to perform and then certain students performed different demonstrations to earn points towards their next belts. Nick loved performing and watching the big kids do all the cool things with num chucks and sticks. They had a potluck and awards ceremony afterwards. Nick had earned 2 stripes on his white belt so far and can't wait to go to class every Monday and Wednesday.

Happy Thanksgiving

Nick tackling his cousin Jimmy.

Playing football with the big boys.

You can't get me.

See my goose egg!

No, this is not my shoe.

Cousin Mikey wrestling with Aidan.

Cousin Jimmy swinging with Aidan.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday at my Aunt Carmen's house. The boys had a blast playing football, wrestling, and other crazy games with a house full of little boy cousins. We feasted on way too much food including way too many desserts and relaxed and watched some football. There were a few minor accidents from not wearing shoes and stubbing their toes on the concrete and one major crash. Nick dove head first into the fence while trying to catch a football pass. He caught it and got up with a huge goose egg on his head. He still has a pretty big mark on his forehead today. It must have been a pretty good crash because all his teenage cousins had a really scared fearful face when they ran in saying he was hurt. They felt really bad. He was trying so hard not to cry in front of the big kids because he idolizes those boys so much. Of course, they were super sweet to both boys and completely wore them out. They didn't make a peep the whole ride home.

We are once again incredibly thankful for so many things this year. Mostly, that we finally have two healthy children. We thank all of you for your love and support that keeps us going day in and day out. You mean the world to us.

Look who's going potty!

I am sure Aidan is going to be mortified some day when he realizes I posted pictures of him going potty on the world wide web. I think I did the whole potty training thing wrong the first time or my first child is that much more obstinate because I haven't done a darn thing and Aidan is pretty much potty-training himself. We started by putting the potty in the bathroom and letting him sit on it before bath time and now he asks to go potty all the time. I am sure he would probably do well if I went all out and put him in underwear and fully trained him but I am not quite ready to deal with the accidents and all that it entails right now. Maybe once he turns two. He is already a year ahead of his brother. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that maybe this one will be fully trained before we move to Alabama.

Butterflies and the Beach

It was almost 90 degrees here yesterday so the boys and I headed to the Monarch Butterfly Grove in Grover Beach. Aidan was fascinated with all the butterflies. Nick has been enough times that he just liked looking at them through the telescopes. There were only 1200 butterflies there yesterday. I know that sounds like a lot but we have been there when there were more like 12,000 butterflies and the trees actually are orange colored there are so many. It is a really beautiful site. They are traveling down south right now and we will be able to see them again in a few months when they travel up North again. Then we headed down the path to the beach and hung out for about three hours. It was such a gorgeous day. The boys built sandcastles, and played in the water and watched all the dogs and horses go by with their owners. They also climbed the trees and sand dunes. A great day for little boys! On our way back to the car Nick heard the train whistle sound and tried to run back to see the train but we missed it because we were pretty far away still. He cried the whole car ride home because he missed the train. He is so much like his Grandpa M. that it stinks. He says next time he isn't going to the beach because he doesn't want to miss the train.

Nick's Last Soccer Game

Today was Nick's last soccer game. They beat the blue sharks 4-2. They went undefeated all season. Nick improved a ton over the season. He loved playing and that was mostly due to having an awesome coach named Nick. They got medals and had a pizza party afterwards. Hopefully, he will want to continue playing. We are taking a break from team sports for the winter and doing Karate until baseball season.

Our new sandbox

I took these pictures a while ago but just finally got them uploaded to the computer. This is Jack and Aidan playing in the new construction created sandbox in my front yard. We often have 5 or 6 boys over with dump trucks and shovels playing in our sandbox. Although it has been a pain the boys never cease to be amazed and fascinated by the construction.