Thanksgiving Surprise

This year, the original plan for Thanksgiving was to go to my oldest sister’s house in Kentucky.  With all the work that Josh is trying to get done, that kind of trip became pretty much impossible to do.  Josh and I thought it would be fun instead to do a little mini vacation to Chula Vista.   Then we thought, let’s make it a surprise!

So, on Wednesday afternoon I secretly got everything ready, and loaded up the kids to go get Josh at the lab so we could go to a buffet for dinner (something they love to do).  We told them that we were going to a buffet that was pretty far away, so that they wouldn’t start whining when it took longer than fifteen minutes to get there.  Surprisingly, we were at least an hour into the drive before Isaac started mumbling under his breath that he thought it was pretty dumb to go to a buffet that was so far away.  Will didn’t seemed phased by the distance.  Another 15 minutes goes by and Isaac starts complaining again.  Josh and I decided to tell them at that point.  It took a few minutes and hints before it really sunk in that we were indeed going to a buffet, and that it was at the Dell’s, and that we were staying overnight.  The following picture captures that exact moment when the stars aligned for them.

Unfortunately, this is the last of the pictures from the fun getaway.  I put the cameral in the glove box and forgot all about it.  We stayed in one of their ultra nice 2 bedroom condos, that Josh got a screaming deal on at 90% off!  Plus, he managed to land us our Thanksgiving dinner for free too!  When we got in the room Isaac started hollering, “I never want to leave this place! This is the best place we have ever lived!”

Didn’t feel terribly Thanksgivingy, but I didn’t have to cook, so, all in all a pretty awesome time.

I never would have thought that we would have gotten so much use out of all the headbands Josie has.  I was sure that by 19 months we would have moved onto  barrettes and pony’s, but not so.  She’s still pretty cute though.

 

A random bit,  to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, thank you.  30 feels old, but my visiting teaching partner made me feel a little better.  She remembered my birthday was coming up, and asked how old I would be.  I told her 30 with my nose all scrunched up in disbelief that my 20’s were over, and she said, “oh crap! I’m more than twice your age!”  My response to you, Jan, is I have twice the amount of kids as you, so that makes it a wash, right?

Because He Deserves it, and Other Stuff

 

This is the typical scene whenever Daddy comes home.  Really, an every day occurrence.  Daddy dog pile.  So fun.

This is also another classic daddy moment.  He did it with Will, Isaac, and now with Josie, and each responds in a different way, but all love it.

“Down!  Set!  Hut! Hut!”

Will would run screaming (gleefully)

Isaac would attack him

Josie mirrors his position.  It’s so funny.

Why the special tribute to fun daddy times?  Well, because they are getting to be more of a treat with all the hours he has had to work lately.  Josh met with his thesis committee last week, and we got the great news, that graduating with his PhD is pretty much a sure thing in June.  Hooray!  However, in order to make this happen he is working so hard.  That is saying something, because he has been working really hard all along, but now it’s border line crazy.  I know it’s so hard on him to not wrestle his babies every day, but I’m grateful for all that he does.  Yay Josh!

Some other stuff…

Hey, Josie, do you feel the burn?

Oh yeah, mom, I’m feeling it!

If you look closely, you’ll see tears streaming down her face and her eyes are all red, but just try and take the chips and salsa away from her.  I dare you.  Trust me when I say that she didn’t mind.

At least I offered some relief.

 

I call the next series of pictures “Ooh, a little red light”

There aren’t many pictures of Jameson, because I’m always holding him while I’m taking everyone else’s picture, and you just read how daddy is shackled to the lab, but I did try the other night.  He was so smiley and cute, but the red light on the camera got the best of him.

This was the closest I got to his normal face, and it isn’t very close.

Perfectly Squishy

 

A Halloween post is on it’s way, but this picture captures the essence of Jameson’s super squishy cheeks.  They are perfect for smooching and nuzzling your nose in. 

 

Halloween 2011

It’s a lot of pressure to be a mom, for many reasons, but one of them is the fact that we are the keeper of all of the magic come holiday time.  It’s fun, but work.  So, with that in mind, what is Halloween without pumpkins?

I carved with the boys and Josh manned the babies.  It was great!

Wisconsin is such a goofy state when it comes to trick or treating.  In general they hold trick or treating on the Sunday nearest Halloween, but even that isn’t set in stone.  Each small town, city or village can dictate what day and what time.  It’s amazing any of us get it right.  My kids hit the trick or treating jackpot this year by attending of ward’s trunk or treat, then trick or treating at MCW, and then hitting a nearby “normal” neighborhood on Monday night.  They had a blast, so I guess the hard work was well worth it.