Weekend

Wesley had his school dance performance on Friday night. He did great and we had such a good time. El Grullense was churning out tacos in the lobby and giving all the money to the school, and the place was packed...standing room only. Wesley's class was looking gorgeous and they were so good. Another proud mommy moment!

Grateful Friday

I imagine you all are grateful you don't have to look at that BREAD anymore. hehe.

Last night we watched Larry King, as we often do after the boys are asleep. He had all kinds of experts on the show about "how you think is what you become". Now this concept is not new, Jason is always telling me that my positive or negative thoughts create neural pathways that will dictate how I continue to think and act in the future. Turns out this theory is all over the place now. The experts were talking about if you start your day by thinking grateful thoughts, have at least 3 laughs in a day, etc. etc. you can literally make your dreams come true. I think God calls this FAITH. Believing that what you hope for will happen. It's a tough one for me because I am naturally a negative thinker. But, I want to build those good neural pathways so here goes.

1. I'm grateful for my kids. They are nutty and wild, but they love me and they love each other. I love when they tell each other "I love you." Even when they are beating on each other.

2. Wesley's first report card came back with great marks. The comments section said "Wesley has a positive attitude. He is learning Spanish really fast. Great reader!" Yey Wes!

3. Metromint Peppermint water. Goo-hood stuff!

4. It's almost time to put out the Christmas decorations!

5. Other mom friends to cry to on the days I wonder why I did this.

6. The way Nathan kicks one foot constantly while he drinks his bottle. Pure pleasure.

7. Fireplace in the bedroom! Even if Jason makes me turn it off before we go to sleep.

8. The scale is finally starting to move a little bit.

9. The fall colors are gorgeous around here. So much red and yellow.

The photos are from my second attempt to get a Christmas card pic. After much consideration, we are going to use ones that show the real them, and not the "perfect ones". Because you know what? There ARE no perfect ones! haha!

Dia de los Muertos

Wesley heard about Day of the Dead at school, and he really wanted to celebrate. He asked me, "Mom, do we know anyone who is dead?" We decided to spend the day thinking and talking about his Great Grandma Bea, because he remembers her and now she is gone. So on November 1st we spent the morning finding a Mexican bakery. After a few stops we found a place where the shop owner talked to us about the history of Dia de los Muertos and they had trays of "skeleton bread". We picked up a couple and that evening we looked at photos of Great Grandma, and I told the boys stories about my good times with my grandma growing up. Then we prayed for her and ate some of the bread with hot chocolate (the shop owner told us this is traditional). Then Wesley insisted the ceremony would not be complete without dancing in a big circle and making up a song about Dia de los Muertos. So, we danced around the dining room singing about Day of the Dead. I hope Great Grandma enjoyed it! I still really miss her.

New addition

I kept meaning to do this with my first two kids, but I forgot. So for once, Nathan gets something that is not a hand-me-down. He gets pictures with his sock monkey friends every month around the 18th, when he gets a month older. If you want to watch him grow, check it out. You could even print them out and make a flip book, if you're really bored!

Look over there on the sidebar for the link. ------------>

The month of celebrations

October is an incredibly busy month for us. Two birthdays, Halloween and the usual family fall stuff makes for a four week marathon of fun. Jason took us on a mini-vacation to Tahoe last week to get away for a few days. It wasn't relaxing, but it was beautiful and fun. We are learning to find refreshment in things other than rest! Then the day after we got home, it was pumpkin patch time. It was the 30th, so we couldn't put it off any longer. The boys have been on autumn break for two weeks so it was a good way to run around and let off some steam. 6 carved pumpkins and 24 hours later, the Star Wars gang headed out for some good old Halloween trick or treating. This was the first year that the boys really got into it. Thomas was beside himself with the amount of candy he got...he must have eaten 25 pieces last night. I can't believe he isn't sick today. I even found him hiding in the corner with a piece of chocolate first thing this morning. Wesley on the other hand is much more into the decorations. They made ghosts out of an old t-shirt with Grandma Jil and hung them on a tree in the yard. They looked incredible...I'm going to keep them for next year.

Ahhh...October! So many good memories. On to Thanksgiving. :)