Good Times

I wanted to do this for Thanksgiving, but I didn't have a chance. Here are a few things I'm thankful for:

1. MY FAMILY - husband, kids, parents, siblings, in-laws, grands, extended


2. Earlier sunsets means earlier bedtimes


3. I got to go to the zoo without having to ride in a wheelchair


4. My kids' Christmas shopping is all done!


5. Christmas in Utah in just a few weeks!


6. A trip to Arizona in February (I might not be so grateful for the plane ride when I'm outnumbered 3-1)


7. The four humingbirds that live on our porch and zoom around our heads chattering when we try to change the food in the humingbird feeder


8. BABY MOZART


9. Rob doesn't like the chocolate caramels we ordered for Erica's fundraiser


10. Holiday music

We've had a fun couple of weeks. For Thanksgiving, we went to my aunt and uncle's (Leanne and Clay) house for a delicious meal! A few of my cousins were there and we had a really fun time. Clay and I were the reigning Sequence champions (only because we kept making Kallie & Peter play best out of 3...5...7 until we finally were ahead!) That Saturday we ventured to the zoo. It was the first time I've been there since Rob pushed me in a wheelchair and it felt amazing to be walking!! I did have a little pain the next day from walking, but we had a great time. Our kids were really animated and were running and yelling (happily) the entire time. I love our zoo. They've done an amazing job with the habitats and the places you walk. It's beautiful. If I were an animal at our zoo, I would be an orangutang, jaguar, or a bear, because their exhibits are fabulous! Please no comments about me looking like a monkey...

We had our first parent teacher conference with Erica's 2 teachers. They love having Erica in their classes and we beamed during the entire conference. They each said (independent of each other) that Erica is very thoughtful...not just in being nice, but when you ask her a question, she really thinks about it before she answers. She has a good brain. They also said that she is making a lot of friends and has a good time at recess with the other kids. That made me happy because I was always one of those kids who was the last picked for kickball ;) Our favorite part of the conference was when they handed us a paper that Erica had made - it said "My family likes to ______." Without any help, she wrote "My family likes to resuo" and she drew a picture of 2 people laying horizontally ont he ground and one kid upside down. She loves wrestling!! She is one of those kids that runs up to Rob and begs to be tickled. She did not get that from me! Erica's also been spending a lot of time reading lately. And this week she is the star student, which means she gets to bring in pictures of herself and be the line leader all week.

Robby has been saying the funniest phrases lately. One of my favorites is "when I was little..." He is so much fun to be around. He's really enjoying preschool. I went and observed him the other day when he was running around the gym...and boy, can he run! He was dodging other kids trying to tag him and he reminded me of a little Rob. I haven't seen Robby run very much, so I decided to sign him up for a little intro to sports class so he can get his running fix. When asked what he wants for Christmas, he asked for a soccer ball, a computer game, and a Backyardigans DVD...that about sums up his interests. I can't believe he is going to be four in a few months. I am trying to decide if in 2008-09 he should go to the amazing preschool that Erica went to last year. We loved the school, teachers, bus, and cost ($0!), but it is everyday and I'm not ready for that.

Jacob is CRAWLING!! And he has three teeth that have come in all in the last ten days. He's still a champion spitter, although he's improved his skill to now spit colors. Ugh. He is also a champion drooler, tongue clicker, lip-biter (he bites with his gums), and smiler. Jacob just figured out how to hold his own bottle, which is really nice because I can set him up on the couch and do other things while he's eating. He's growing so fast! He will be 8 months next week. I'm excited for the family to see him at Christmastime. He's got tons of personality and when he feels like talking, he only has one volume...very loud!

Rob is chugging away at his dissertation idea, work, and tutoring on the side. He starts teaching a Finance course in January again. He convinced me to help with some of his data sorting/checking, so we spend many hours on our computers together laughing and teasing each other. It brings back memories of when he worked from home for IBM. We were always on the computers together (we had at least five monitors!). Working with Rob has been really fun. It will be even more fun when it's finished. :) I've gone through 130,000 names and counting...

I am enjoying life. I hosted our book group last night and chose the next book - I decided to pick my favorite book "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom. It's an amazing true story about a Christian who was helping to hide Jews during World War II and was put in a concentration camp with them. It is an uplifting, inspirational book and I'm excited to read it again. I am currently reading another inspirational book called "Swimming to Antarctica" about Lynne Cox, one of the fastest long-distance swimmers in the world. She writes about her swims (she broke the men and women's English Channel swimming record when she was in her teens!) and is ultimately planning to swim from Alaska to Siberia during the Cold War. Her drive is incredible.

I started a new homemade card idea blog. Check it out and if you want to post a card idea, email me!! I'll add you to the list of authors. The address is http://cardideas.blogspot.com/

Here is a picture of Erica and Robby with their friends, Bryn, Lindsay, and Preston eating marshmallows. My two friends and I were amazed when we realized there were THREE more kids in the strollers!