Brothers

For some odd reason, I was looking through my "2007" folder of pictures on the computer tonight. We have thousands of pictures, but not all that many of Seth and Caleb together. At this age, it is so hard to get a picture of both of them looking in the same direction! Here are a few I came across. Love these boys!

Bugaloos

For those of you who either have babies, will have babies, have friends with babies, or have grandchildren who are or will someday be babies...listen up.

I saw my friend Sarah from New Jersey very BRIEFLY (too briefly!) this past weekend, and she told me about some shoes for babies that are called Bugaloos. Keeping socks and shoes on babies is a tedious task! Bugaloos are soft soled shoes made with soft leather that have elastic around the ankles in order to keep them on babies' feet. They have really cute designs and are also extremely affordable compared to other brands of soft soled baby shoes (that I will refrain from mentioning).

How cute are those with the little tree and birdie? From what I saw on the website, every pair is $14.99 and if you buy three pairs, shipping is free.

And one of the best things about purchasing these little shoes is that 5% of their profits go to support the International Justice Mission which is an organization that fights sex trafficking of women and children around the world. So you can get a sweet little pair of shoes and know that at least some of your money is going to a very worthwhile endeavor.

I am pretty sure Tristen needs a pair of these:

Or maybe these....
Oh, but these are so cute, too!!

Great gift idea for a baby shower or Christmas!!!

O Christmas Tree

Our little cheap-o tree that we have had for about 5 years bit the dust last year. It had been leaning a little more to the left every year, and when I was taking it down the stand cracked. So we tossed it and wondered what we were going to do this year (real or fake?)....until I saw the day-after-Thanksgiving ads.

$129 tree at Home Depot - $49, Friday only. Limited Quantities

So I set the alarm for 5:30am but was woken instead by sick little Caleb at 4:30am. Got him settled by 5:30 and headed out at 5:45. Got to Home Depot at 6am (when they opened!) and still managed to be the 7th person to grab one of the 9 Christmas trees on sale! That's right, they only had NINE at that price.

Seth excitedly pulling ornaments out of the box.

Seth putting the first ornament of 2009 on the tree.

Mr. Turkey

I am thankful for my first ever turkey...

I am thankful that I found all the gross stuff inside that was supposed to come out beforehand.

I am thankful that I never dropped it, since a 20 lb slippery naked turkey is sort of hard to wrangle.

I am thankful that, as I was trying to tuck the wing under because it kind of freaked me out that it was swaying in the wind, I didn't gag when I heard the bone crack. But I thought about it.

I am thankful that Steve didn't drop it when I made him hold it while I rearranged the racks inside the oven (*note to self - do this first next time.)

I am thankful that, when it took an hour and a half longer to cook than it was supposed to and it STILL WASN'T DONE, my Mom was able to find enough meat off the top that was done in order to feed the hungry family. The rest had to go in for ANOTHER HOUR. Total cooking time - 6 1/2 hours

I am thankful that, after all that, it still tasted pretty darn good.

But mostly, I am thankful for God's provision in my life, for the love of family, and for days that are a great reminder of how much He loves us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Western Seth

Seth's elementary school had Western Day yesterday (complete with Square Dancing during PE...would have LOVED to have seen them teaching that to kindergarteners!)

I, of course, remembered Western Day on Monday evening about 7pm. So I went scrambling around for some things for him to wear and I think he looked great!

He was not excited about taking pictures at first. Here is the evidence:

It was a *tad* early in the morning for a photo shoot, I will admit! But he warmed up quickly.

He was the cutest little cowboy! Steve and I went to his class that morning while they had their Thanksgiving Feast party. I will post pictures from it soon!

Caleb's Homemade Fun

I love the way kids can turn anything into a toy! And with Caleb, it usually has to involve running, jumping, body slamming, swinging or sliding.

Today, it was sliding down our old crib mattress.

Then he paused for a moment...and showed me his baby blues.

And I am just not sure what this next face says!

Seth & Tristen

Seth decided to check Tristen for "fever". :-)

Let Sleeping Boys Lie

Darth Dynamite

OK, if you never saw Napoleon Dynamite OR if you didn't care for the humor in the movie, don't even bother watching this clip. You will think it is dumb, and then you will question my sense of humor and wonder what is wrong with me. So just save yourself all that hassle and don't even watch it.

But if you have a soft spot in your heart for Napoleon and you have seen the movie a couple times, then you might just get a laugh out of this spoof off Star Wars with Napoleon starring (sort of) as Darth Vadar. Check it out...

Desert Song by Brooke Fraser

Our band is doing this song at our church on Sunday morning. Love it! My favorite section is

All of my life

In every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing

I have a reason to worship

Goldmine (Or "Boo-ya", as Steve wanted it titled)

I went by the Salvation Army today - partly because I was in the neighborhood and partly because I had some time to kill while waiting to pick Caleb up from preschool.

Lo and behold - it was 50% off all clothing today! I do not usually find anything for myself at thrift stores, but Steve LOVES thrift store shirts (the trendy term would be "vintage"). And Caleb and Seth are 5 and 3, and it is great to find them play clothes there for cheap. I can send them outside and not bat an eye when they come in with rust, dirt, trampoline grime, sand, mud and grass stains on them.

Today, I found 4 shirts for Seth and 1 shirt for Steve, and the grand total (including tax) was $6.98!

(After I had posted these pictures, I realized how wrinkly the shirts were. I sort of wanted to go and tumble the shirts in the dryer and re-take the pictures. I then realized how silly that was, and decided to just make note of the fact that I KNOW they are wrinkled instead. It somehow makes me feel better. :-)