on books and his brother

The boy loves books!  He’ll stretch up high for them, and hide them under the bed for safe keeping.He gives them a kiss and then celebrates when he finds them again!  Ha!  Not really, but he sure does love ‘em.Another thing he loves-his big brother!  Even though I hear myself say, “We’re gentle, loving, and kind to our brother!” over and over again, they LOVE to play and I love to watch.  I’m quite positive that these two are either going to be wrestlers or football players when they grow up!

From my phone

Frank and George!

Frank came back yesterday, and he brought an elf buddy with him for Sam-it’s George!  Jack wasn’t too excited to see him again, but Sam was glad to meet these two!  Hopefully they have some great things up their sleeves this Advent Season.  The boys have been assured that they have a direct-dial line to Hosanna (Santa)!

The bean bag chair and the Christmas jammies

They love the bean bag chair and I love them in their matching Christmas jammies, so play time in the morning is extra fun!  You’ll see both again-I promise!  First, this picture cracks me up!  Sam looks like he’s doing a really forced ‘cheese’ face, and Jack-he looks like he’s trying to be really, really tough.  He totally pulled it off. This is how it really went.  Jack was pretending Sam was pushing him off, and Sam was pretty proud! Sam got pushed off, too, though, and didn’t seem to mind.  We get lots of second chances around here to practice being gentle, loving, and kind!!

Finding Our Tree

We went to the Farmer’s Market this afternoon to find our tree.  We looked for a bit, but it didn’t take long-the trees were beautiful this year! Jack and Mark picked it out, Sam and I approved, Jack did a needle check (“Way at the top, daddy!”), and then we called it ours! The boys watched (or played with the golf ball) as it was trimmed and loaded up, and then we headed home to decorate!I love, love our tree, but this one was my first choice.  I’m not sure why Mark said no.  Ha! :) At home, Jack insisted on helping set up the tree-“I gotta do some work.  I gotta twist it.”,and he and his daddy did a great job!  SO excited to decorate this great tree!If you don’t have your tree yet, I really recommend the Farmer’s Market!

Our boys

We’re so in love.

The magic has begun

I love it.  This is my absolute favorite time of the year.  I’m pretty sure Jack has noticed.  As I’ve been decorating, he’s been commenting, and I’ve been melting!  “Mommy, you did a good job with the decorations!”  “Mommy, those look so good!” and my favorite, “Thank you for the decorations, mommy.”  He’s been saying that it’s Christmastime and he’s been talking all about Hosanna!  I’m going to soak up every last bit of this most wonderful Season!

So thankful

Oh, I’m so thankful!  We had a great Thanksgiving Day in Charleston eating our share of a wonderful feast and watching the kids have so much fun together-my favorite!  We sure missed Uncle Ryan and Lauren, but we had a great time.  Thanks for hosting, Linds!  A highlight of the day for the little ones-bubble wrap.  Who needs toys, right? They also loved playing with Uncle Adam! Sam enjoyed his first Thanksgiving feast, and we played outside to run off some energy.  It was a beautiful day! Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye and head home. We’re so very thankful for the many blessings we’ve been given, remembering especially our wonderful families and great friends.I’m beyond thankful to be this man’s wife and to be called mommy by these two precious boys!  God is so good!