Thankful

On the eve of Thanksgiving, it is more profound than ever how grateful I am for the life I have. I look around and although so cliche, I have a beautiful family - immediate and extended, amazing friends - lifelong and new, and a life that I love. We are truly blessed!

This year, we are particularly focussed on sending out every ounce of light we have to my sweet mom and Dave. It has been a difficult time, but I KNOW that health and healing are the only options, and this is the truth. These two little turkeys are too, sending blessings their way...and are the apples of all of our eyes!

And the traditions live on...

As a kid, Halloween was a BIG deal. Was it the fact that my parents went all out with decore, halloween parties, and festivities? Or was it the fact that we were channeling the inner - theater fan through costumes? Probably both. But I have so many memories of Halloween, and it is so fun to continue the excitement of my favorite holiday with my own little ones!

This year's theme began a couple months ago after Colin and I saw the stage production of Mary Poppins. From that day forward, Colin (and soon Logan) were completely taken with it's magic, and the characters of the movie. They have now seen the movie several times but mostly it's the music that they adore! There hasn't been a car ride, or meal in the past few months where they don't beg to listen to the soundtrack. And in early October, the conversation began about how to dress for Halloween... Not surprising, Colin proudly announced he would like to be Mary. Challenge #457 of having a boy who is in tune with his musical side and is nothing less than passionate about it all...sports, dance, music, art - you name it. Luckily I never had to totally "go there" as he decided Bert and the "black stuff on his face" would be cooler - especially if Daddy would be Bert as well. So soon, we had our 3rd annual family halloween plan: Mary, 2 Berts and a penguin. Morgan and I joyfully dressed up twice and the boys had FOUR occassion to get into their darling costumes!

Pumpkin patch fun, carving pumpkins, and the various halloween parties and carnivals have kept us quite busy (and happy) over the week as we definitely enjoyed every minute of this holiday!~

Pumpkin carving and toasting the seeds!




Pumpkin Patch tradition!



Community carnival and our little costume contest winner!



Trick or treating:

As it should be

Giving and playing and learning...! That's a pretty good summary of what it means to be thriving as a family in my book. Pretty neat stuff that over the last week, we hit on all 3 of these points! :)

Last weekend, we had a glorious time out in the sunshine among friends and family. We started it off sharing a celebratory walk with our friends. It was a beautiful morning, cherishing so many people - babies to adults - who have Down Syndrome. We loved being a part of this joy, and supporting sweet Jocelyn!! As a mom, it means so much to me to expose my kids to the important stuff so that we hopefully raise children who are extraordinarily compassionate and caring. I know this will be a special memory for all of us, and we look forward to next year's Buddy Walk!!




After the walk, we headed from beautiful Balboa Park to the San Diego Zoo - a short trot in our double BOB. What a fun time we had! The kids had an absolute blast checking out the animals... Hippos, elephants, monkeys, polar bears...and even the panthers (Colin's special request). Such fun with Auntie Court and Uncle Kris and the perfect 2nd half of the day!!




And tonight, we headed over to ABC Preschool for Open House. I have been excited for this night for a few days now! There is something so special about seeing the pride on your little one's face as they show you their artistic masterpieces, their special gardening, and their favorite school books. I feel SO lucky we have the BEST preschool teachers for both Colin and Logan. We adore these special ladies: Miss Sarah and Miss KK. Of course, there was a part of me that had a pang of sadness knowing that this is Colin's last open house at ABC since he will fly off to kindergarden in the fall!! (GULP!!! Pulling a Scarlett O'Hara on that one - I'll think about that tomorrow!!)

Playing catch up

I feel like I am entering back into reality after living in a bubble for the past 6 weeks or so. Now having gone through two Septembers with Hospice of the Valleys, I realize that as long as I am with my beloved company, I will be MIA for that month each year. Come about mid-August, I move into ultra high speed mode, and really don't slow down until my signature fundraiser concludes. I realized that this year on Monday (9/26), the day after the event, I literally felt like I was walking around in a haze, functioning in slow motion after living at such a fast pace for weeks on end.

And, as fabulous, successful and rewarding as the event was, I COULD NOT BE MORE HAPPY TO BE D-O-N-E!

My work schedule will be less for a while so I can 1) SPEND TIME with my sweet family, 2) recharge and revisit the other work projects which had been put on the back burner and 3) Catch up on my house, my to do lists, and my life!

In the meantime, I did manage to capture a few sweet moments this past month. Here is a quick recap:

Highlights from Courtney and Kris' beautiful wedding...








Weekend slumber party with Keaton!





SILLY MOMENTS!!!

Clown day at school!


And our little German leader :)

Born with it!

I never totally got it when pre-kids, people would say: they come out with a personality all of their own. Ok, I get it now. It is so amazing and fun and exhausting and wild to watch the personalities of our little boys unfold. They certainly live up to the title of this post because man are we in the midst of a personality explosion - all their own! These are unfolding more and more, but the interesting thing is that although they have of course evolved in magnitude from their early teeny tiny days, the core of them has remained the same since birth.

Particularly, Colin. (More on Logan for the next post). Our feisty yet sweet first born is sure strong willed, independent, particular and confident. He showed signs of this early on, but that has grown and grown. Everything and I mean, EVERYTHING is a negotiation and his brain works in ways that I literally never knew a 4 year old could even consider! Take his justification of why he NEEDED to bring 2 toys to swim class for instance. After many rounds of affirming he was to only bring 1 toy, he finally reluctantly agreed only to turn around 30 seconds later with 2 toys in tow (a motorcycle and small toy bird) and tell me that he knew he was only supposed to bring 1, but the bird would have no way home! And because of this, the motorcycle was something he just had to bring!!! Blew my mind.

Also, he most definitely has certain ways of how to do things, and an orderly fashion about him. I can tell you, this does not come from me! :) If something he deems important is not done is the manner in which he feels necessary (vitamins distributed the same each morning, underwear not hanging from the knobs of his dresser etc.), he not only notices, but it unnerves him! I keep telling myself all this will serve him down the road - his organized and confident self - and that this is a kid that clearly needs to exert himself. In the meantime, we are living the life of learning boundaries and consistency....and facing the meltdowns with the knowing that this too shall pass :)

While I was taking in groceries from the car, Colin (unbeknownst to me) unloaded the first bag in Colin-like fashion)! ;)

My little fish

It's so much fun to see how far Colin has come last summer and this summer (courtesy of weekly lessons with Miss Kate). Aside from being a true water lover, he has become very competent in his abilities to kick and pull and easily swim across the pool. I'm looking forward to watching him grow even more, and also to have Logan jump in next summer too!

Busy Bees

While summer should stand for relaxation - in the sun, by the pool, beach days - it somehow always manages to kick my butt with busy times. Yes, we have done all these relaxing things, but man have the days (and nights!) been packed with countless things to do - none of which I can even think of right now!! Guess it's just the fact the this is my busiest time of year with my big fundraiser coming up, and all the activities the kids are in, plus lots of visitors and activities and commitments. All good things, but I have felt a bit overwhelmed, and short fused lately. 2 busy boys who are definitely in the stage of independence in addition to a full schedule can be exhausting!

This past week, our bodies rebelled and let us know we need to slow down. All four of us got slight cold symptoms. Not enough to knock us out initially, but enough for us to pause. And then the dreaded firsts came on Saturday night - Colin's first bought with an ear infection, first dose of antibiotics, and first Urgent Care visit. Of course this all had to explode at 2am and Morgan and Colin disappeared into the night until 4am, returning with the meds.

SO... this week, I am focussing on fun, and true relaxation!! AND... maybe a little hokey pokey to remind us to slow down and cherish the journey - all that comes our way - whatever they may be!