Sick Days

I was just telling someone how lucky we were to have avoided sickness this fall.  So naturally, that was the cue for everything germy and ugly to infect our house!

Both boys have been congested all week with a cough that won't go away.  Then I caught it.  Then Drew got some sort of stomach bug.  Then Jake did (maybe, maybe not...we've had one "incident" and he's been fine since). Then Daddy did.  

SO.

I am fastly and furiously trying to catch up on everything tonight just in case the inevitable happens to me.

Perhaps I shouldn't have typed that out because now I have secured my fate.

Needless to say, we've set some sort of TV record in the past few days.

But I've had lots of snuggles.

Sigh.

Here's hoping for a healthy week because it's Thanksgiving, y'all!

And p.s. If anyone was wondering, you KNOW I was at the premiere of Breaking Dawn part 2.  Hello. Awesome.  And Team Jacob! :)

Playing Hooky at the Zoo

Seth had an extra vacation day so we went to the zoo on Friday.  It was a beautiful (if not too hot) day and there was hardly anyone there.  Plenty of room for the kids to run around and burn energy!

Everytime we go to the zoo, my kids are obsessed with the birds.  Probably the most boring animals.  They were also fascinated with the normal birds and squirrels THAT WE SEE EVERYDAY.  So basically it was a glorified backyard trip for them! :)

The obligatory monkey picture.  Monkeys were also a big hit.  Jake yelled at some of them "HEY MONKEYS, YOU'RE ON MY PJS!  DO YOU WEAR PJS??"  Then he looked at us and laughed, saying, "Those silly monkeys don't wear pjs!".  I swear, he cracks us up all the time.

It is at this point I decided I was an animal activist. This was as close as I could zoom in, but check out the orangutan.  He looks miserable!  He was giving us sad eyes and drawing circles with his fingers on that piece of wood.  I nearly jumped over the railing to set him free until Seth said he would probably eat my face.

I bet he wouldn't if it meant freedom though.

We got to feed the giraffes again and this time Drew got a turn too!

I love the giraffes, such a cool experience

Jake the prairie dog

This is how the kids were most of the day.  Drew refused to ride in the stroller and only wanted Daddy to hold him.  I'm pretty sure Seth's arm was about to break off by the end of it!  Jake was excited to see that there was a Daddy, Mommy, Big Boy, AND baby elephant.  Just like us.

Worn out after about 2 hours.  We need to work on our zoo stamina!

P.S. If you see any wild animals roaming downtown Houston, don't look at me.

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet

Ok, time to catch up!

The weekend before Halloween we carved our pumpkin.  Jake's class had already done one at school so he was excited and instructed Daddy on his every move.

I know.  Isn't our garage lovely?

For a kid who doesn't like to get dirty, he touched a lot of pumpkin gook.

On Tuesday, Jake got sick and had to stay home from school on Wednesday just in case.  I was so sad that he had to miss their "parade" and dressing up with his school friends.  He seemed to feel fine all day so when he heard "candy" he perked up and got his costume on for some trick or treating.

Notice my Halloween pretzels.  I am that mom.  I don't care.

Our little superheroes.  Drew is at an awkward size so his costume was a little small.  Spiderman had some major highwaters!

Jake and some of the little neighbor kids.  They all did a few houses together and then split up.  It's crazy that we've known most of these kids since they were born!

Jake and his friend Madeline

Drew wanted Daddy to carry him most of the night.  He finally came out of his shell when he got a sucker and then helped Jake get some more candy.

Checking out their loot.

The boys had a lot of fun and dressing up was half as dramatic as last year - thank goodness!  And speaking of thank goodness, they had no memory of their candy the next day so we have been happily eating our leftover Halloween pretzels instead. :)

Life from the iPhone

Last week Drew busted his face up when he fell outside.  He had a nice little knot and a torn up nose to show for it!  

(This is his "cheese" face)

But he made a quick recovery!  Sweet boy is still cute, scabby nose and all. 

Jake's school had a Fall Festival recently and the boys loved all the animals!  Drew is obsessed with petting zoos and just ran after the goats saying, "Dogs!  Tucker!  Dogs!"

Jake, the Aggie cowboy riding his horse.  He took this pretty seriously.

I just had to take this picture because remember Jake, the light sleeper?  Not so much anymore.  We had a quick overnight to La Grange last weekend and he fell asleep on the air mattress in our room, with the light on.  So sweet.  Last night Seth even had to take the ladder in his room and change the smoke alarm battery and he never woke up.  This is big for us!

We loved the cold front that came in on Friday!  My boys were excited about wearing coats so I went with it.  (Again, his cheese face)

And...the first and last time Jake wore this bear coat seeing as it showed his midriff :)

What?  You don't take pictures of yourself after your haircut?  That's silly.

And this is what we have to battle every time Drewbie gets in the car. 

It's lovely.

iPhone Dump

Um, I take a lot of pictures of my kids.

(Because they're the cutest)

And I happen to think every picture I take is the best yet. 

(Because it usually is)

So I present to you...the first of many iPhone picture dumps...

My biker boy

Drew is over the moon now that he knows how to drive his Power Wheels.  Jake is so helpful to him when he gets stuck and they have the best time.

I could eat him up.

Jake hates getting dirty/messy so this was a big deal.  The boys were soaked to the bone and loved it.

Jake and his girlfriend/heroine/friend/mentor Macie.  To say he is obsessed with her is highly understating things.

Drew loves to be like big brother and 'go potty' too!

Taking his "girls" for a ride.

Clearly these pictures were all taken before the nice cold front we got this weekend - I am loving it!  

Pumpkin Patch...Sigh

We took the boys up to Jake's school to pick out a pumpkin this afternoon.  This was last minute, I didn't have my good camera, and they both woke up grumpy from naps so all expectations for good pictures went down the toilet before we even got there! :)

He continues to kill me with this smile.  We will work on toning it down before the holidays!

The boys loved touching all the pumpkins.  Jake's class went this past week to pick out a little one so he was excited to see all the bigger pumpkins.  His goal was to find the biggest.

Drew's goal seemed to be getting stuck in between all of them.

Sweet boy sat still for 2 seconds!  I also think this was the 3rd year in a row I've worn this shirt to the pumpkin patch.  

We tried.

And tried.

Daddy found the perfect pumpkin.  I am already envisioning the mess and fun the boys will have when we carve it!

Band of Brothers

Lately I feel like I spend my day playing referee instead of just being mommy.  Drew has started to realize that he can fight back and fight he does.  We have hair pulling, pinching, shirt pulling, and screaming one minute and then kissing, hugging, laughing, and hand holding the next.

I think it is God laughing at me.

I also think it is payback.

They were being so sweet in the car today.  Holding hands, laughing, sharing toys and snacks. 

Then we get around toys and pure chaos ensues.  Don't be fooled and think Jake is hugging his brother.  This was pre-strangle.  Seth wanted to know why I didn't stop the fight.  To which I replied, "I was tired after my 3,572nd intervention.  I let them figure it out themselves."

Then this.  Do you see my gray hairs?  The sweet stuff is all spontaneous.  Which makes it even more sweet and I love that they love each other!  I almost want to frame this. :)

The boys "helped" me cook dinner the other night and 2/3 of us had a great time!  Trying to remember that it's the memories we're making...

This is random but I took this picture at Jake's gymnastics class this week.  He started taking gymnastics in June and has loved it!  He is in a class with several friends and seems to actually listen and (sometimes) participates correctly.  When he gets on the trampoline, all bets are off though.  The teacher basically had to carry him off to give another kid their turn.

And a last bit of randomness, but Seth got a free ticket to the Aggie game last Saturday so he went up to College Station for the day with some of his friends.  I was so jealous!  Watching the game in the A/C was nice but it doesn't compare to the excitement and noise at Kyle Field.

I am feeling so blessed and thankful lately for all God has given us!