We have always had blocks in our house, but Ethan was just never all that interested in them. We brought them up the other day and they are now the new favorite toy in our house.
Jax will sit and build with them for the longest time.

And since Jax is interested in them, so is Ethan.  They actually sat and built something together.

But as everyone knows, the best part about building a tower is knocking it down!


and rolling in the pieces of course. I mean come on the more spread out they are the better!

I have no idea how this happened, but I couldn’t do anything other than laugh when I figured it out.
I usually lay out Ethan’s clothes and he gets himself dressed. On Sunday I had laid out his church clothes and went to get myself dressed. Ethan came to me a few minutes later needing help with the button, so I buttoned the shirt and went about getting everyone else ready and out the door.

When we got to church I noticed his undershirt was hanging out an awful lot, but I just sort of tucked it in and sent him to Sunday School.
After Sunday school I was getting his jacket on and noticed that his shirt sleeves were way too short and that the shirt only came half way down his stomach. I am looking at him and wondering what the heck was going on and it dawned on me that this was not his shirt, it was Jax’s!  I look on the tag and sure enough Ethan was wearing Jax’s 18-24mth shirt. I have no idea how he even got it on, but he did and we never even noticed. They have the same shirt or one very similar and I must have put Jax’s shirt in Ethan’s drawer without realizing it.

OOPS!
And yes, he wore it until nap time, that’s just how things are right now:)

With the Christmas Season in full swing I have been trying to do more fun activities with Ethan in attempts to have the holiday season last a little longer and mean a little more.

I had picked up a few crafts  to do while Jax was sleeping and Ethan decided he wanted to paint the ceramic Christmas tree. I have to say we had a lot of fun painting together and Ethan really enjoyed mixing the colors to make new colors. He did a great job considering how cheap the paint was. The finished product now sits proudly on our dining room table. Its these little things I will cherish forever. And I won’t lie these little projects will be perfect to embarrass him with when he starts bringing home girlfriends.

I think I have mentioned in previous posts that my parents, especially my Dad, are big into wine. They have begun passing this love of wine down to my kids at a very early age.  And I do not mean that they are drinking it, neither Ethan or Jax has ever tasted wine, but they are learning to appreciate the wine starting with smell.

We were all laughing on Thanksgiving when Jax really got into the wine. Again, he never so much as had a drop of the actual wine, but he sure did enjoy smelling it.

First you start with the cork. Ethan especially loves corks.

Then you swirl and smell the glass *Again he did not drink any!

And then you comment, in Jax’s case you make serious facial expressions.

This past Sunday our pastor talked about being thankful. I know that it seems plainly obvious that we are thankful for things, but sometimes we don’t always say it and we don’t always see what we have to be thankful for.

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving, probably the best yet and as I look though the pictures from Thanksgiving day I see so many things that I am truly thankful for. But rather then just saying I am thankful for my kids, my husband, my Mom, etc.. I want to be thankful for more specific things.

I am thankful for family meal times. With Mike working late most nights I cherish the times when the four of us get to sit down to a meal together.

I am thankful for Mike’s youngest brother Jimmy, and that we got to see him while he was home from school.  We don’t get to see him as much as we would like, but he is so sweet and we always enjoy spending time with him.

I am thankful that my boys can sit in the same chair together without screaming or picking on each other,  even if its only for a few minutes.

I am thankful that Mike enjoys cooking and does it as well as he does.

I am thankful that we have a home that allows us to welcome our family for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. And that our family actually comes for that meal:)

I am thankful for Mike’s Mom in too many ways to say, but I am very thankful that she was able to join us for Thanksgiving this year. I am even more thankful that she raised Mike to be the wonderful man that he is.

I am thankful for Tina because she always takes the time to play with Ethan and comes up with the most creative games.

I am more thankful than anyone could possibly imagine that every person seen in the picture below joined us for my husbands favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. Having everyone together, from both sides of our family, at our house for an enjoyable meal makes me the luckiest girl in the world.

I am thankful to have been born into a wonderful family, and to have married into a family just as wonderful. I am most thankful that we can all get together as one large family and have such a great time.

I am thankful for my grandparents. That I know them and that they took the time to drive 6 hours from New York to be here. I am also thankful that my kids are fortunate enough to get to know their Great Grandparents.  I am also insanely thankful for my Grandma’s pumpkin roll, which is super delicious!

Again, there are too many things to be thankful for regarding my Mom, but I am thankful that she and my Dad raised a family that stuck together.  I am thankful for my little brother Patrick, because he is a super cool person who is fun to be around even when he has to get up super early to work black Friday.

I am thankful for all of the men/boys in my life, because without them I wouldn’t be who I am . I have always been out numbered by the males in my family and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I am thankful for my beagles despite the fact that they both make me crazy, and are a ton of work but honestly, they make me very happy and keep me company when I am lonely.

I am thankful that my dad (not pictured) is a great wine connoisseur and that both of my children are learning to check for a good wine by smelling the cork. I am even more thankful that my Dad knows what kind of wine I like and brings it to family gatherings:)
And last, but not least, I am thankful that we can never ever get a decent family picture. If we did, we never capture what is the essence of our family,  and folks, if you haven’t figured it out by now it is not us smiling and looking at the camera. We are a goofy, funny, silly bunch and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

1 Thessalonians 5:18

¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Ethan loves his preschool! One of things Ethan has always loved is music. His preschool has a music teacher that comes in every Monday and teaches the students about music as well as fun new songs that he likes to share with us at home. Last week his school preformed at the Fire House for the area trade fair. The place was mobbed and it was extremely hot, but Ethan was so excited to get up on stage and sing with the other kids from his school. The music teacher was there conducting and Ethan was thrilled that his teacher, whom he adores, was also in attendance.

The Edinboro Singers

As I was standing there among the other parents watching my little guy sing I took the time to really enjoy the experience. Yes, it was hot, yes Jax was screaming, yes, Mike made it movie moment when he showed up at the very last-minute and tapped me on the shoulder from behind, but as I stood there watching my little guy sing I was filled with so much pride and such overwhelming joy. We have truly been blessed with the most wonderful children and sometimes as life goes whizzing by I forget to really enjoy these special times.

It is bittersweet to watch your children grow so quickly before your eyes, but we are truly enjoying the new experiences that Ethan is bringing into our lives as he gets older.

A couple of months ago the kids discovered what a great playmate they have in our beagle Jefferson. They chase him around the house for sometimes 30 minutes at a time coming up with fun ways to ”play” with Jeffy. As long as they don’t throw things or hit him I am ok with them harassing him a bit as he steals food right out of their hands and deserves the payback. I think he also secretly likes the kids playing with him as he keeps howling and chasing them, he could hide in his house or on a different level like our other beagle Gibbs.

After a fun play session with the dog late yesterday morning the kids had followed me downstairs to do some laundry. I headed back upstairs before them to finish a few things before nap and all of the sudden Ethan comes storming up the stairs. He had on his Optimus Prime mask, a gun slung over one shoulder and a very large softball in the other hand and asks me in this very serious voice “have you seen Jeff?” I just had to laugh!
And poor Jeff was sitting in the sunroom relaxing, you should have seen the look on his poor puppy face when Ethan rounded the corner of the island decked out in his gear (minus the softball).

My computer crashed about two weeks ago and I am lost without it. I can’t get to all of my pictures very easily so I am a bit behind in blogging. Here is some of what we have been up to:)
We have been fortunate to have been able to spend a lot of time with family. The day after Halloween we went over to Mike’s Mom’s house to celebrate her birthday. We were able to spend time with family that we don’t see nearly enough, including Mikes brother Levi and his wife Katie. They are expecting their first baby in late February and Katie looked adorably pregnant. I am sad that I didn’t get any pictures of her.

Here are the boys helping Judy blow out her birthday candle.

We have been wrestling with Daddy

Cuddling with Mommy

working together

and watching the Redskins

Hopefully my brother can save my computer and the files on it and I will be back to blogging a bit more regularly.

After all of the parties, costumes, pumpkins and everything else we finally made it to Halloween! Ethan had a soccer game that morning and then we were having a get together with our closest friends and family for dinner before heading out to trick or treat.

All the kids looked adorable, including my parents baby:)

Ethan decided to be a dragon for trick or treating so that he was as adorable as Jax:) They actually looked really cute together.
Here are me with my very ready to go out and trick or treat dragons!

The weather was a bit iffy and we headed out really early in hopes of beating it.We did really well and only hit a few sprinkles. We were happy that so much of our family was able to join us for trick or treating and I think we can say we all had a great night.

Look I caught a dragon and he is smiling!

Ethan and Rachael leading the group!

The best of our little group

Here’s one that includes Kaitlyn, who just looked adorable!

Jax pretty much ate his way though trick or treating! He thought that every piece of candy he was given he was suppose to eat. I do not care to admit how much candy he ate that night.


Since we had gone out so early we were home in time for Ethan to hand out candy. I am not sure which enjoyed more, getting candy or giving it out! He would stand at the window and watch for people and then squeal with delight when the doorbell rang!

It was also Judy’s birthday so we sang Happy Birthday and the boys helped her open a few small gifts from us.

I have so many more pictures from Halloween, but with my computer crashing I am limited to the number I can get to right now. I also want to thank my brother Jeremy, my sister-in-law Nicole, my parents and Judy for coming out and going trick or treating with us. It means a great deal to us that you  join us for this fun holiday tradition. I can’t wait to have Baby Lucas with us next year!

Our wonderful daycare provider, Ms. Dawn, throws great parties for each holiday and Halloween is no exception. The kids dress up, there are games, yummy food, and the parents join in. I like that the parents are invited as I feel more connected with the other children and it’s nice to get to know everyone. Ms. Dawn’s house was decked out in full Halloween decorations including a grave yard and spooky scarecrow in the front yard.

Here is Ethan with a few of his friends

Game Time!

And then you have Jax!

Who of course was only there for the food!

And what kind of party would it be if I didn’t make cupcakes?

Mike and I really enjoyed seeing the boys and all of their friends dressed up and excited about Halloween!