Thankfulness

Sullivan and I are TOTALLY pumped about cooking our annual Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. I LOVE cooking for Thanksgiving and have since we have been married. We almost left this year, but decided to stay home. Tomorrow we will cook away and have leftovers for weeks. HOORAY.

Here are things we are thankful for over here:

Me:
A husband who loves me so much, who has desire and a crazy ambition to be the boss
A little boy who is as gorgeous inside as he is outside, who is learning to read, and soaking in knowledge by leaps and bounds
A little girl who looks ridONCulously cute in pigtails, allows me to dress her in some crazy outfits and put very large bows in her hair, who is taking in the world around her faster than I can teach her
Parents who love me dearly and support me in any way possible
Family, LOTS of family
My best bud Jamie, who has listened to hours of gab, who sends random cards when I need them, and who I am loving raising families with at the same time
My BFF Tiff, the bestest friend a girl could ask for- we are too alike for our own good
Too many loving friends who are willing to open up their lives and families' lives to share!

Sullivan:
Legos
My daddy building legos with me
When people give me legos so my daddy can build them
That there is a Santa Claus who might give me legos
(and just in case you think he is rotten)- That God is proud of me

Sophie:
Dora
Dora Potty Chair
Dora Pullups
Dora Movies in the car
Dora Movies on my daddy's phone
Dora Movies you can rent
Dora shows that come on the tv
DVRs to record Dora shows on

1.83!!!

I got gas today for ONE dollar and 83 cents. Can you believe that? I feel like we got a HUGE raise. Its insane.

Our amazing Sarah got some excellent pictures of the kids again. There are about 70 GREAT ones of Sullivan with a big smile on his face and about ONE great one of Sophie with a smile on hers. There are quite a few great serious shots of her. Now, I can't share alot of them because you'll be getting them on your Christmas cards, but here are a few of my favorites. Isn't she great? Let me know if you want her info!

In other news, Sullivan has really begun praying alot. Its very sweet. He prays all of the time, at random times. The other day, he found some legos he really liked at Target. I told him he would have to ask Santa Claus for them. He replies, "Mom, how in the world is Santa gonna have enough money for these? Oh wait, just a second." Then, he bows his head and asks God to give Santa some money in his sock so he can buy him some legos. Now, don't go thinking I am raising him wrong, he asks God for other great things too. A few days ago, he asked God to start covering his mouth for him whenever he coughs so that he doesn't have to do that anymore, but he doesn't want to spread his germs. He also asked God if he would start opening the playhouse door for him because he doesn't want to hurt his daddy's feelings by telling him the door handle he made doesn't work.

Ain't he sweet? He has discovered "Dick and Jane" books. I have no idea how we ever learned to read with them, they are by no means phonics based. But, he likes them nonetheless. He cracks up laughing at the ridiculous lack of plots. It seems that the fact the Jane likes to pet her cat is the funniest thing he has ever heard.

MIA

So, I know I have been MIA on the blogger scene. Sorry. We honestly have alot going on right now, more than normal ;) Anyway, I need to get the pictures of my matching dragons from Halloween off my camera. Sullivan couldn't be Indiana Jones because he is that everyday and people wouldn't think he was dressing up. So, he was the same dragon he was last year and had to get Sophie the matching costume in purple. She wasn't too down with wearing a costume, but wore it long enough to get a few pictures in. She did LOVE her pumpkin shirt and didn't want to take it off. Speaking of not taking stuff off, Sullivan has worn the same Indiana Jones shirt for the last two weeks. I finally went and bought a few more at Blockbuster because I am sick of washing it every night. The thing is, they are adult mediums because they don't really make them for kids. So, the shirt swallows him. My mom also got him a real hat, so he is really Indiana Jones now, not pretend. He makes everyone call him Dr. Jones.

So yesterday we took the kids to the fair in town. Sophie was too short for the rides and was bummed. So, she thought that maybe if she just tore down the sign she would get to ride. Sullivan had a BLAST. There was an Indiana Jones funhouse with climbing walls and a bridge to run across and a huge slide. I am pretty sure he did it more than 30 times. He was worn out at the end of the three hours. Sophie, on the other had, had LOTS of fun with Sullivan's real hat that she got to play with when he was on the rides.

Live a Little!

So this morning, Sullivan and I were cuddling on the couch because it was REALLY cold! We didn't turn the heater on last night because you usually have to use the air conditioning around here on Christmas day. So, he asks me if I would get him a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch in a cup. I told him that that probably wasnt' a good idea because he couldn't get the spoon down far enough, the cereal would get soggy, etc. To which he immediately replies:

"Mom, live a little, its only cereal!"
true enough.

The daring and brave

So, Sullivan, errr Indy is very into what he wears lately. It has to be THIS exact indiana jones shirt, THIS exact hat, a khaki pair of pants, and carrying a whip. That way no one would mistake him for being exactly who he is, Indiana Jones. So, yesterday, we were having a play date over here, I was making last minute clean ups, while he ran in flipping out. You see, he realized that he didn't have the satchel that Indiana Jones has, and he was very afraid that someone might mistake him for Sullivan. So, being intuitive, old Mommy pulled a purse out of her closet. I thought he might get upset thinking it was a girl purse, but he was super excited! He couldn't believe I had Indy's satchel up there, and this one was super special because it even had an ark key on it!

On to the motorcycle. This motorcycle is not new. No, my mom bought it when Sullivan was a toddler for a dollar at a garage sale. When I first saw it, it was missing all of its stickers, its tires were so worn, I thought "I would never let my kids ride on that." Well, Sullivan LIVED on the thing at my mom's house, and now it has moved to my house. Sophie has brought the OUTSIDE toy in and claimed it as hers. You are not allowed to walk within five feet of it, or she screams. She rides it (I use the term rides loosely, she can't reach the pedals) around the house for hours at a time. If something gets in her way, she sits there screaming until someone moves it. It would take too much energy to get off of the dang thing and move the obstacle itself.

Happy Fall!

Entering the maze.

This is Sullivan cheating, he climbed high so he could see how the maze worked. Then, he led us right into a dead end. The trick apparently didn't work!
CHEESE!

I took the kids to a local pumpkin patch today (to sophie, they aren't pumpkins, they are either apples or monkeys depending on her mood). They had a blast. They have a maze with hay setup and ducks and roosters, then they have a huge area to climb all over pumpkins on. I tried my best to get a good picture of them together, but I had not much luck.

Enjoy the pictures.

And, for an extra added bonus, I haven't included videos in forever. Sophie is really talking alot lately, so I thought I'd let you hear. By the way, her best friend is Abby, and instead of please, she says Cheese!

Ahhhhhhhhhh.............

So, on Friday, I did something you won't believe. I know I can tell you, but you probably won't believe it. I drove my kids halfway to Beaumont and left them with my dad to take back to Beaumont for the weekend. I haven't ever been away from Sophie that long and didn't know how she would do and was kind of nervous. I got REALLY nervous when I saw cookies on his front seat (if you have ever seen my dad after sugar, you'll know why). But, he assured me they were for the kids, and off they went. Sullivan called to inform me that he was on vacation, which meant that "you get to do whatever you want to do." He apparently convinced his nanny of this because he came back with quite a few new toys and LOTS of new stories. They apaprently ran the kids ragged, because they both had HUGE bags under their eyes and have been sleeping alot since Monday. I was going to get them Sunday, but they weren't ready to come home, and honestly, I was having fun!
You might be wondering what someone does with a break for the first time ever, go see lots of movies, go to lots of non kid friendly stores, etc.? NOPE, they lay around and do NOTHING. I watched ALL of the college football games on my couch. Aaron tried to get me to go to the football game here, but to no avail. Every once in a while I got up and did something around the house. I actually did get alot done, its amazing what you can get done when you don't have small ones running around sabotaging any work you actually accomplish. Aaron and I did manage to go out to eat a few times. We relaxed together on Sunday, watched more football, took long naps, and did stuff around the house you can't do with kids running around (ok, dirty minds, we installed the vent in the bathroom necessatating him going in the attic- not easy with climbers around).
The funny thing is, as wonderful as it was to have a break, I think my parents enjoyed it more! At one point, I wasn't sure I would ever get them back. HONESTLY. They both did great (or so I am told). Sophie was over joyed to have me back though. She has been randomly running up to me and kissing me, and hugging me. At night, she wakes up like 50 times to see if I am there. That little voice in the middle of the night saying "mommy" is so sweet! I missed them tons, but honestly, I am wondering when they can have their next fun weekend :)