Getting Caught Up!

Yes, March is quickly approaching and my last post was before Christmas! Yikes, so much has happened and there haven't been many nights where I don't lie in bed and think about the fact that it's been so long since I updated the blog! I thought the title would be fitting since this will be a post to get caught up on the past 3 months.

Sadly, this post and maybe a few to come will be without an photos because we have lost a computer to water damage and haven't gotten the new one set up for uploading photos yet. We should get this set up soon as I feel like there are so many events that have been so fun and need pictures to accurately portray the excitement that we've had.

Yes, we have lost a few personal items in our home and even though these were all accidents, Thomas and I are beginning to ask each other why it is that we continue to buy nice things while we have 3 little boys in our home. The computer was spilled on by a pitcher of water and our new flat screen television was cracked by some sort of flying object. The kids aren't aware of when this happened and how it happened, but we are sure that something happened and cracked our screen. At first what seemed to be a minor crack and black spot in the bottom right hand side of the screen has now turned in to a television that will not even turn on. We were all a little shaken up and disappointed but now realize that our next tv must be covered! We should have thought about that in the first place.

Ethan had his 5 year check up this morning and is growing right on track. He was a man of few words with the doctor but managed to be polite, answer all her questions, and pass all the tests! He did great and we are so proud of him. Simon was anxiously observing as he knows that his 3 year check up is coming up soon and wants to be well informed of how this goes. Ethan did not have any vaccinations today...Simon has 4 coming up! It's not going to be fun. During his last check up, the pediatrician was pretty impressed that he could say "no thank you" to all of her requests. I told her that he says no so much that I at least wanted him to be polite about it. We'll see how this one goes.

EThan had a carnival party in December for his Birthday. He shared his day with Ava and we all had a blast! We had face painting, ball tosses, crafts, a trampoline, and Thomas stole the show! He performed a magic show and juggling act for the kids which in my opinion, made the party one of a kind! It was awesome! I did take a few pictures and will get them posted when I can. Grandma Fawcett made Ethan and Ava's cake. It was a clown cake that THomas had when he was just a kid. It was pretty nostalgic for him and Helen did a great job with the cake and cupcakes to match! What a fun party!!!

January was a warmer than usual month. We were actually able to play outside several afternoons and despite the fact that we have had very little snow, the boys have still enjoyed bundling up and being out in the cold temperatures...as long as they know that there will always be a cup of hot cocoa waiting inside for them! I love treating them and it's become such a sweet time with them as we come in, sip on cocoa and read a couple books together on the couch. There is something so precious about it...moments I will cherish forever.

The time really is going by fast. Samuel is already 6 months old! He is doing great! He loves to smile and giggle, is quite ticklish, loves his older brothers, especially when they jump up and down and has recently learned to blow bubbles! He is sleeping much better and really loves his bed! He loves baby cereal and so far has expanded his diet to include squash and sweet potatoes. Next on the list...peas, or maybe green beans! I'll never forget Ethan's first reaction to green beans. Hilarious and it would be pretty funny to see a similar response from Samuel. What a blessing he has been and such a wonderful addition to our family. THe boys love him so much and his smiling just melts our hearts!

Ethan is now pretty engaged in a kindergarten curriculum and enjoying all that he is learning. I am learning quite a bit too! It's been so much fun teaching him new things and watching his mind take off. He loves all things science and we have been enjoying finding information of certain topics at the library or online together. He is also beginning to read! He is pretty excited that there are a few books in which he can complete on his own. We have started with BOB books and he has already finished the first set! We are so proud of him and love that he absolutely loves to read and be read to. I have developed a new love for books as well. It is definitely a favorite activity that we do together.

Simon is now covering some preschool material. He joins us at the table and oftentimes will even join the discussion or activity. He is very quick to pick up on things and oftentimes, when I think he's not even listening, he will fill in the blanks! He loves shapes, colors and is beginning to write some of his letters. He is meticulous and oftentimes I might have to give him a bit of extra encouragement to complete something that doesn't come quite so easy to him. He is very creative and very articulate. He continues to love balls. Anything that is round and rolls or can be bounced. He loves marbles, rocks, any kind of sports ball, and super balls. He pretty much has a collection of every kind of ball you can imagine. THis year, for his third birthday, we are having an under the sea ball party (he also loves blue whales). I will continue to post about the party as I think it's going to be a great one! We have some great ideas on how to transform our basement into an under the water experience. It should be fun!

Thomas and I are oh so busy, but feeling more and more blessed every day. We have found new ways to create special times together. ONe of our new favorite things to do together is have a date night in! When we combine our efforts, it's worth the all the hard work to make it happen. I tidy up the basement, set up a nice candlelit table, prepare a special dinner while he puts the kids to bed. We wait to eat until the kids go to bed and enjoy an uninterrupted meal together oftentimes with a glass of wine and soft music playing. The basement seems so serene and quiet and there are no toys in sight! It's a wonderful way to enjoy our time together and reconnect in a way that is practical for our season of life. We do try and get out together once a month though as we both value the kids being used to a babysitter.

There is so much going on but so much joy in it all! We love our family. We feel so blessed by each of the children and love them so much. God continues to be faithful to guide us and extend grace to us. We are so unworthy of His love and grace and find so much fulfillment in living daily as His servants!

Christmas 2012

A lot has happened since I blogged last. In my defense and what has been the biggest contributor to my lack of posts...Simon spilled water all over my laptop and it is now sitting on a desk in the basement, opened up, drying out and completely fried! Yes, we were able to recover the pictures and some other data and unfrotunatley, this isn't rhe first time our household ahs ruined a cpmuter. So now, we are set up in the basement at a desk with a nice large monitor and a Mac that Thomas used to use until it flew off the hood of his car! It works fine but the screen is shattered. ANyway, it's working great for now and I'm actually liking the fact that it is immobile and can't get spilled on, sat on, jumped on, spit up on, etc...Now, here we are, a month later and I do my best to get caught up with where we are at in life!

Christmas came and went so quickly but not wihtout a lot of laughs and good times! The boys had a blast in West Branch prior to Christmas Day with cousins, friends and family.

Party Weekend!

This past weekend we celebrated Ethan and Ava's 5th Birthday. EThan has been talking about his party for some time now and has been absolutely thrilled that he will be turning 5 very soon. He is so excited to be 5 that he insists on checking all of his clothes to make sure that they read 5t. Unfortunaely I have had to explain to him that I will have to do a little shopping to fill his drawers with 5t clothing and I am trying to reassure him that th 4t clothes still work, despite the fact that he isn't 4 any longer...difficult concept, yes, I know :) It's pretty m..l,;k.huhjhnnknmkm

25 days and counting! It's hard to believe Christmas has snuck up on us so quickly and yet, December is here and my list of things to do is getting longer and longer. We have checked a few things off the list already...

Christmas tree...check!

Christmas Cards sent...check!

Christmas shopping...almost!

This year I did most of our shopping online and it was great! The cyber Monday deals seemed ok and not having to wait in lines was well worth it. I do however love to be apart of all the hustle and bustle of Holiday shopping but when we go, it's nice to not have an agenda of gifts that I need to have bought. So, at some point we will all head down to the mall in DesMoines and take part in the Holiday cheer, walk around, maybe buy a thing or two, and enjoy all the Christmas decorations and Holiday music playing!

This is our tree that we picked up from Lowe's. Can't beat Lowe's $30 tree and service! The boys thought it looked pretty good when THomas pulled it out. They were, however, a bit distracted when THomas told them to help hold it by the some 50' Santa Clause standing nearby. We had to get a picture!

So, with only 25 days left until Christmas, I actually think we're doing pretty well. The shopping is almost complete, gifts will need to get wrapped, Holiday cookies to friends and neighbors will get decorated and baked, we'll make one stop to the nursing home to drop off some Holiday cards we made, we'll visit Santa and finish with a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's House. Our tradition is to go to West Branch for a few days prior to Christmas, drive back on Christmas Eve and spend Christmas morning in our home, followed by brunch at my mom and dads. It's a fun tradition that I think everyone will grow to love more and more. And we can't forget that in the midst of everything going on...we have one special Birthday coming up very soon! Ethan is pretty excited to be turning 5 in a few days! December is a crazy month!

Check out this basement!

These final months of finishing up the basement have seemed to drag on however with some help from Thomas's Dad and my brother, Jon, the final touches have come together quickly. The basement is livable and quite comfortable. We have already enjoyed hosting quite a few suppers down there while all the International guests were here for the Summit Conference that our church hosts. We had some men over from Nigeria along with some others from the states. We set up a long table and brought all the chairs that we own down into the basement so that we could fit everyone in. It was wonderful to finally be able to fit everyone at the same table and I also liked that after the meal, everyone got up and sat on our sectional for a more confotable spot to chat and hang out. It was great and I think the kids really enjoyed having so many people in their home. Thomas and I were so glad to have a space where we could enterntain comfortably. The lighting, the sectional, the flooring...everything looks great. Thomas did a fantastic job. Even though everything looks great, Thomas and I still know there is a lot of work to do. The trim needs painting and Thomas needs to do some wiring for the new 50"tv that we bought on black friday. He managed to get a fantastic deal on a television and even though we had no idea we would end up with a televesion that large, it actually fits nicely down there. It seems like we are going to the movies when we all sit together on the couch with the lights turned low. THe boys are pretty excited to have our first movie night with popcorn and hot cocoa! It hasn't happenned yet but I'm sure we'll get there soon. We also had a dance party with the boys and we would never have guessed that our boys love to dance as much as they do! They had us going strong for almost an hour...dancing to all types of music! It makes us quiestion whether or not we should even look for carpet to put down (our intentions were to cover the floor with almost wall to wall carpet). We may have to reconsider...maybe even invest in some wall mirrors for practicing good technique :)

The boys enjoying the couch and ready for MOVIE NIGHT!

Halloween 2011

So, once again, I'm behind...It's almost Christmas and I haven't even posted any of our Halloween pictures yet! Yikes...I have a good reason to be behind...right?!? This Halloween was a blast! I kept saying to Thomas when Samuel was first born that Halloween this year would be great! The kids would be so much fun in there costumes and by then Samuel would be sleeping through the night (as any 3 month baby should be). Well, the boys did have a blast, trick-or-treating on Main Street and again later that evening in our neighborhood and well, Samuel, let's just say he looked cute too...we're still working on sleeping ALL the way through the night for mommy and daddy :)

This year Ethan wanted to be Buzz Light Year and we went on a search to find the perfect costume. Aunt Lauren let us borrow an old costume that was the suit and yet Thomas felt as if something was still missing. So Thomas, being the amazing father that he is, took the time laboring into the late night hours (the night before Halloween and after a few trips to Lowes) constructing some way cool wings for Ethan's costume. They turned out absolutely amazing...better than anything you could buy in the store. I don't know all the technical terms, but Thomas used all sorts of gadgets to get these things to open and close with a simple pull on the string! Amazing...YES!




Simon wanted to try them on as well.



This year Simon wanted to be a DINOSAUR and was able to comfortably fit into Ethan's costume from last year...with a little extra room :) He was probably the cutest dinosaur walking our block! I was concerned that he might not want to wear the hood but he was all about it this year!



We started the day at the library with some friends and from there met up with Thomas and went trick-or-treating at all the shops on Main Street! Such a beautiful day and so much fun. It was a bonus to have THomas there with us! Then we went home for a quick nap and rested up for the evening festivities. After dinner we headed to the neighbors and stopped for an extended stay at Dennis' house (our neighbor who has the model train in his yard) The kids love his train and he tries to have it running any time he knows kids might be walking by. It's great and I think every year, he adds more! Thanks Dennis for some great train viewing!



Here's a good shot of the back of the kids costumes, and the train!



After we did some hard core trick-or-treating, we head back to the house and Thomas ended the day with his now, going on two year tradition, of letting the kids play in some dry ice! They love this new tradition and I think Thomas loves it just as much.

All in all, I would say Halloween 2011 was a success! New traditions were formed and we all had a blast!

Good News All Around!

Here we are, October 24th, 2011 with several wonderful updates...

* Thomas is off crutches! We were beginning to think that this day would never come however last Wednesday when he went in for an x-ray, the doctor said everything looked good and is healing well so she gave him the ok to head out without what has been his "lifeline" for weeks...crutches! He has been taking it pretty slow as not to aggravate his foot and he is sore when he walks on it too much, but all in all, he says it feels pretty good and he is just thrilled to not have to go everywhere with crutches. It's amazing how long this process has been and I'm sure glad I didn't know it was going to take this long when it happened. SOmehow it was better just not knowing and dealing with it week by week. He got his cast taken off (which was a very painful procedure that shouldn't have been...poor guy) and is not wearing a large boot. Next week, he is hoping to wear regular shoes with a small boot over them. Yay for progress! He's already talking spring soccer...

* Thomas turned 30! Yes, Thomas has reached his 30th Birthday and we wanted to make it big! It fell on a Thursday so the boys and I wanted to make his day special with decorations, fun finger foods, cake, and presents. I also had been planning a surprise party for him that weekend. I bought Thomas a nice watch, and a few other nicer gifts this year...hey, why not, you only turn 30 once! EThan knew about the watch and was helping me do all sorts of research! It probably wasn't the best idea to let him in on the secret so after he somewhat spilled the beans, I did all sorts of things to convince Thomas that he wasn't getting a watch. I think he ended up surprised. We had a great day and he had no idea of what was coming that weekend! Saturday morning we went out for a while as people came and arrived at our house to set up. I made a ton of appetizers and finger foods for the party. I made one big sheet cake in the shape of an apple computer with an apple logo on it. It was fun to make! I hid everything for the party without Thomas knowing at all what was going on. We got back to the house and our friends and family were there to surprise him and hang out for the afternoon. It was fun and again, I'm pretty sure Thomas had no idea! I'll post pictures soon!




* The basement is finished! My brother Jon came and finished up all the molding and framed in the windows. I had everything cleaned up so that we could show off the basement for the party. It looks great! Thomas has seriously done an awesome job and I couldn't be more proud of him. There are several things that still need to be done but it is definitely livable and we have already had Mom Fawcett stay on the bed down there (the sectional that we bought also turns into a full size sleeper) and we had friends over yesterday for coffee and enjoyed it down there! It's so nice to have that space useable and I love how the lighting and color came out. It's so warm and welcoming. It's really fun to think of all the work that Thomas and other family members have put into it and now enjoy all their hard work. A job well done!

* Samuel is sleeping through the night...almost! Yes, this needs to be included because it's amazing to get 8 hours of consecutive sleep when all you've had recently is 3 or 4! We don't always go to sleep right away and get 8 hours, but we could! Samuel is going to sleep around 7 or 8 and sleeping until 6...and in his own room. Good news...Absolutely!


*