Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving this year starting with Tristan helping me make baked corn to take to dinner. At school this week they learned about the sense touch, so he decided to turn it into a "touch and feel" project. I don't think anyone at dinner noticed... it still tasted great.

We were all thankful, but Tristan was thrilled to be invited to the Lund's for Thanksgiving dinner. Taylor is one of his "best friends" and I knew between Taylor and Craig we were not going to see Tristan the whole time we were there. I was right.

I was nervous about having the only little kids there, but it turned out to be great. So many people who are not around kids all the time and all of them wanting a turn chasing the kids, holding them, feeding them, and playing.

Dinner was fantastic and Tristan got to sit at the big kids table. Aside from the part where Tristan yelled over to me that Ciera had stolen his belly button, I didn't see him all through dinner. The young adults at that table said it was the most entertaining dinner they had in a long time.

After dinner, "Uncle Mango" broke out the guitar and sang the most beautiful songs. All the boys loved it, but none more than Finn. Craig and Finn sat in the chair right by Mango and as Finn was slowly rocked to sleep, Mango sang a beautiful Hawaiian song about a sleeping baby. Total sweetness!!

Good food, good friends, good fun, good memories. Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Ian 17 Months

My sweet little Ian is seventeen months old! Ian chats up a storm around this house and cautiously observes situations and people before jumping in and starting some trouble. He loves to wear hats and has a beat for music like I have never seen in a young child. Looking into his eyes, he seems to have a much older soul than the other two kids.

Ian takes all of Tristan's timeouts and turns them into brother bonding times which just makes us all laugh.

I love that Ian can be my happiest and most dramatic child in the span of two minutes. His dramatic crumple to the floor tantrums are so impressive that we watch in surprise each time when he adds another dimension to them. He is always practicing them and adding more flare.

Although he has not said any real words yet, he speaks volumes with his eyes! The is a flirt through and through. I can't wait to hear the magical words that will come from his mouth!

Brothers

These days I find the boys playing together more and more. I have to say, it makes this mom's heart very happy to see this! There are still plenty of times where they are tackling, hitting, and grabbing toys away, but that's all just normal sibling stuff. The times when they play nicely together... that's not a give in. I hope as the years go on I find them playing together more and more. Love my boys!!

Finn 17 Months

Mr Finn is almost seventeen months old! He is getting to be such a big boy. He is generally a happy little boy, especially since his molars broke through a few weeks ago. He has started to say a few words. Mama, more, hi, and bye bye. My favorite thing to do with Finn right now is to have little chats with him. You can ask him any question and he will answer you with the cutest babble ever! Poor kid, I do this to him all day long.

He has learned to climb the ottoman to turn on and off the kitchen light, dances like a maniac, and loves to play chase with big brother Tristan. The kid has an arm on him, too. The food that comes flying at dinner has some nice speed and would go a lot farther if it didn't hit the wall first. The paci that hits me in my bed with the greatest of aim is quite impressive, too. Finn's latest and greatest achievement is waking me up with a, "Mama? Mom? Mama? MOM?" It's so cute that I can't get mad at him.

Twin's First Haircut

Last weekend, we took the twins in for their first haircuts. Ian's hair was not too bad, but "wild man" Finn had wild and crazy hair! As much as he needed that hair cut, it was bittersweet for me to get it cut. Those cute curls, thick wavy hair, and the excitement of not knowing what direction it was going to be headed when he woke up in the morning.

I was nervous about taking these two in because they have not spent a ton of time out and about in different places. I thought they would be scared and clingy. Boy was I wrong! The place we go has a playroom where Neil stayed with the kids not yet having their haircut. I pulled them out one at a time to sit in the cute car, watch the movie in front of them, oh and get their haircut, too. Neither of them wiggled or even made a peep! I could not have had asked for more and their hair looks so cute... even though I still miss those locks on Finn!

Halloween 2011

Wow! I am amazed every year at the amount of activities surrounding Halloween. While it's my lease favorite holiday, it really is a great holiday for kids. Any given day of the year my kids would love to dress up and eat candy and now there was a reason to do it. All the kids loved their costumes this year, but every time Ian would see his he would bring it to me and start babbling away and throw it at me until I put it on him. This was also the first year that Tristan didn't want the costume I got for him. I was surprised with his choice of "The Yoda", but he picked it early on in October and never changed his mind.

This year we went to a wonderful Halloween party thrown by my friends Kendra and Kira. They did ALL those cute ideas you see in the magazines in one party... amazing! We also went to the Train Museum with the Lantermans to ride the big steam train and all the fun around the grounds. Last but not least, we went trick-or-treating with the Tilzers on Halloween night. The older kids did great going up to all the houses by themselves. There were only a few hiccups when Tristan got too friendly and entered peoples homes or they didn't answer the door fast enough and he would open the door. I didn't think to tell him these rules before we left, but he learned fast along the way. I think this was my last relaxing halloween night for a few years. The babies rode in the backpacks this year and were so quiet we kept forgetting they were there. I'm sure that will all change next year!

My three little guys were just too cute this year! The twins did great everywhere we went and Tristan was his usual friendly, funny self. Love my kids!!!

First Snow of 2011

While I was at a late work meeting tonight, the first snow of the season started to fall, and fall, and fall. On my drive home I thought about how excited Tristan was going to be about the snow that he has been talking about for weeks, but also how I would miss seeing that excitement because I would be at work tomorrow morning when he wakes up. As a working mom, I sometimes miss those moments that are special mostly to moms. The first snow of the season for my three-year-old was one of those moments I decided was unacceptable for me to miss this year!

I half expected Neil to talk me out of the idea to wake Tristan up to go build a snowman at 10:30pm, but to my great surprise, he thought it was a great idea. Tristan was a little confused when I went in to wake him up, but as soon as I said we would "build a snowman" he popped right out of bed and into his snow clothes. We grabbed our carrot and headed out the door.

In my head I saw him going outside and looking with pure wonder at the snow, the night sky, and all the change that had happened in just a few short hours since he had gone to bed. Instead he walked out, took a quick look around with his tongue out, walked over to make a snowball, and said, "TAKE THAT" while throwing the first snowball of the year. What a funny kid.

We walked up the little hill and built a great snowman in the perfect packing snow and took in the beauty of this first snow that covered everything. I love that first untouched snow of the year. It was a quiet and beautiful evening of great memories! Oh, and he went right back to bed when we came inside. What a great kid! No wonder we like to hang out with him even in the middle of the night!

Community Food Share

This morning, Kendra and I took Tristan and Blake to the Community Food Share in Niwot to teach them about helping others. So far the things like letters, numbers, colors, and shapes were easy to teach. They are all over the shows they watch, books they read, and super easy to fit into conversations where ever you are. To me, the more important things to learn in life take time and hands on experiences to really understand.

While the zoo, butterfly pavilion, or playground are all some of our favorite activities to do, this morning at the Food Share was no less fun than any of these activities for the boys. The people who work there were really friendly and the work they gave us to do was super age appropriate, but we still felt like we were able to really help. We sorted food into like groups (very three-year-old appropriate) and built a pallet. Kendra and I would hand the boys food and they would build the boxes. After we had been working a while, Sue the director came to find us. They were short on drivers that day and just got a call with a smaller size donation. She asked our boys to be truck drivers and go to collect the food. Well, they thought that was exciting and off the two direction challenged moms went.

This was so fun, so easy, and so something we will continue to do. I want my kids to know how easy it is to find ways to help others if you just look for about 30 seconds... about how much time it took me to Google and find this place. If we wait until they are older, they might not think it is as much fun. At this age, they find fun in some amusing places and will now forever think of the Food Share as a fun place to go. Two of the sweetest three-year-olds I have ever met ;)

Pumpkin Time

Last week we took our first trip of the year to the pumpkin patch. It's our favorite thing to do in the fall, mostly because it's outside with beautiful views and the kids can out and about. I think we are getting better at being mobile with all these little kids. This trip, we ditched the stroller and wore the babies.
I love that the pumpkin patches provide nice wagons to use while we are there, because all the boys enjoyed the ride. The kids were really good sports while I took the four hundred pictures just to get a few good ones. They were so interested in everything going on that it was hard to get them all looking in the same direction. Don't worry though, this is my favorite time of year for pictures. The colors, the lighting, and the cute outfits are just too much for me to only go once. We will have a few more days to run through the corn maze, pet the animals, ride in the wagons, taste a few pumpkins, and yes take lots more pictures.

These are a few of my favorite things

This week I am very thankful for my little family. Haha, little? Well, it is made up of a lot of little people. While I would not say that everything in our life is perfect, I would say the most important things in life are pretty close to perfect. Even after fifteen months, I am still in awe of how healthy and happy the twins are. After three years, I am still in awe of how funny, nice, and cute Tristan is. After thirteen years I am in awe of how Neil is still my best friend in the world.

This past year went so fast while I was so busy and tired, and I feel like I woke up to three big kids today. My little babies are not babies anymore and Tristan is so grown up and smart. It hit me hard the other day at the zoo when I realized Tristan could ride the carousel all by himself. It was kind of nice not to have to hold him, but to be able to ride side-by-side and just have fun together. It gave me a little window into the future where Neil and I get to enjoy more activities with the kids. I liked it. I like my kids. I like my family. I like my life.