A Walk to the Marina Park

Dec. 18, 2014

While the boys were at school, dad was at work and Eliza was at preschool, Nathan and I decided to go for a walk.  I let Nathan choose the direction we went and we ended up at the park at the marina.  Nathan loved running from one slide to another.  Each time he would say, "Watch me mom!"  Then slide down.  He is pretty brave and went on some really big slides.  Then he would say, "I wanna check that one out" and run to the next slide.  After a while he moved on to the creative building station.  There are pieces of wood just waiting to build with.

(The pictures aren't the best, but that is because I only had my cell phone.)

Let the building begin.

He would get the wood tower so high and then the top ones would fall every time he tried to put more on.  It was pretty funny to watch.  He was getting so frustrated!

Almost there!

As we were leaving the park we came upon this underground hornets nest.

It was a great day and fun to spend some one on one time.

Growing Piggies and Decorating the Tree

December 2014

We have had Eliza's guinea pigs for over a month now.  It has been fun to watch them grow.  At first they didn't want to be held.  They would try to get out of the rag she used to hold them.  They also wouldn't eat out of her hand or try fresh veggies until they saw their mom eat some first.  It took a couple weeks for them to get used to being handled and to get to where they would eat veggies out of her hand.  Now they sit by their bowl and remind me if I forget to give them their fresh veggies.  Eliza can also catch them by herself and frequently watches a quiet movie with them during nap time.

Eliza and our neighbor Delaney holding the piggies.

Delaney and Missy

Broccoli is one of their new favorites.

Eliza and Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea in her special holder make with love by Aunt Laura!

Missy in her special holder made with love by Aunt Laura!

Their hair has gotten a lot longer.  It is so soft.  Even Dad can occasionally be found holding and petting one of these girls.

Another look at Sweet Pea.

The other day Bradley and Daniel were playing Life.  Eliza was just sitting on the floor with both piggies watching them.  I thought it was pretty cute so I grabbed the camera.

Eliza, Missy and Sweet Pea

Dad had a day off and the weather was nice, so we enlisted his help in decorating the tree out front.

I found some cheap ornaments to hang outside.  I had to tie some string on each of them and then Eliza and Nathan would run them over so Dad could help them hang them in the tree.

We saved a couple at the end to hang on the bushes.  It is amazing what you can get done with such good helpers.

The decorated tree!

Looks pretty good.  Thanks Dad!

Hanging the last ones on the bushes.  We love having our dad around more.  It is something we can get use to.  :0)

A Week for Bruises

Dec. 4-8, 2014

One night we were all downstairs getting ready to go up to bed and we heard a loud bang and then Nathan crying upstairs.  Andy ran up to get him.  Since he was the only one up there we aren't sure what happened.  We think he was jumping on his bed and fell on the side rail.  It left a bruise in a straight line across his cheek ending at his ear.

This picture was a couple days after he fell.

The top of his ear was bruised pretty well.

Poor kid!

He was happy to help with the dishes while I was taking pictures.

Normally I don't let him because it becomes necessary to mop when he is done!

Bradley's bruise was self inflicted.

We were watching a movie one night while I was working on Christmas cards and he had a drink.

After finishing the drink he started sucking the cup to his face just for fun.  I didn't realize what he was doing or how long he did it until the damage was done.

I took one look at him and knew exactly what he did.  He was a little embarrassed about it.

He was a good sport about getting pictures.

The night of Bradley's first hickey!

The next morning before school.

His bottom lip was fat too.  I am not sure what he told people at school about it.  The color was pretty good for the first 2-3 days and then faded until it was pretty much gone after a week.  He doesn't like "the hickey" cup any more and he is very careful not to suck cups to his face!  It makes me smile. :0)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov. 27, 2014

For Thanksgiving we met with a couple families from church and about 15 airmen that were homeless for Thanksgiving.  The food was amazing and and the company was great!

This is an eatable turkey.

An up close on the feathers.

A look at the desert.

The spread!

The chefs in charge of the turkeys!

We had four kinds of turkey.

It was really good.

It was fun to visit with everyone.

We also did a couple  of fun crafts with the kids.  It was a fun and relaxing day.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!