What we've been up to

I posted this picture first so that whenever I check my blog I will see my husband. This is only bc I really never see him anymore for he is a slave to his studies. I am happy to say he is doing well in school and that this will come to an end one day.

Here we are setting up the Christmas tree. This is the first year we went with a fake tree. We will be departing Norfolk on the 16th so we figured we didn't want to come home in Jan to a pile of needles. It is a cute little tree and the kids and I had fun putting it up. We turned on some Christmas music and had a festive day of Christmas joy.

My cute little Adam who is loving the tree and also loving to take everything off. We love our little people in our life. He sure is cute though. This kid is STILL nursing. It is time to be done but it's just not happening. Oh well. Keep on nursing Adam.

Here I am setting up the tree. It is fun to have Liam in my life bc the boy is now 6 years old and as smart as they come. He reminds me of his father bc he can figure anything out. We have a Wii and if I don't know how to work something, he is right there figuring it all out. He took out the tree and got it all organized and he does projects all day around the house. He's loving to spell and write lately and he's just a fun guy to be around. I love that kid.

Here he is making sure everything is just right on the tree. He and Sean were playing pirates previous to this activity. He is very good at helping Sean and teaching him new things. He is a good big brother. Sean and Adam have enjoyed having him around Thanksgiving break while school has been out.

THANKSGIVING. Here it is. I decided to cook all the items that I love whether the people around here would enjoy it or not. Michael had to study all morning but around 2pm he came down and the five of us ate honeybaked ham, mashed potates, stuffing, jello salad, rolls, deviled eggs, veggies and dip and pecan pie.

Oh yes and the boys really wanted little sausage smokies. We also had a special drink. Mostly the boys, who arrived in their underwear, didn't enjoy the Thanksgiving tastes, but oh well. It came, we ate, it is gone and now I'm eating all the leftovers. Yum yum. I obviously missed my Colorado people but what are you going to do when you live on the other side of the country.

Liam turned 6 on Nov 22. He is huge. We had carrot cake cupcakes, his favorite. We got a few presents from the dollar store which he enjoyed. It was a good bday.

Lizzy was here to help watch the boys while I took a quick trip to CO. She had a bday while she was here so we celebrated. The boys had fun with Lizzy and they can't wait for her to come back.

Here I am in colorful CO with my people. This was fun. Thank you to all ya'll for the fun weekend. Delicious.

My Erin, My Teri, and me. Happiness.

My Jenny. I was lucky to sleep at her coolio apt. in Denver one night. She has it going on there, that is for sure. Her and Emma are living in a lovely spot there and are doing quite well. How exciting for them and oh how I miss them.

My cute little Sean and Adam. They play together very well. Third children are so lucky with all the entertainment they receive from their siblings. Adam is a lovely child with a great personality. Sean, well he is a little flirt with cute little lips.

Oh yes, then there was Halloween. We have Woody, the old fall back tiger costume, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Comand. Adam was loving the suckers.

Cute little ADAM.

They were quite the pair. These two really watch out for each other. We went to the library for some Halloween activities, then we went trick or treating in our neighborhood, then we went to trunk or treat, then we went to one of Michael's fellow students house for a Halloween party. It was fun.

I love this picture. Liam had just gotten his new cowboy boots and a belt. He had his gun and a hat and he thought he was the man. I really do hang out with boys 24/7. I'm sometimes wondering if there is a little girl out there somewhere that might come and join this group of boys. I'd love to have at least one girl around here. We shall see. Only time will tell. For now it is me and the four boys in my life, actually only three bc Michael is missing in action. I'm a lucky girl to be surrounded by such cute boys.

fall

Look at these handsome boys that I get to live with. I love these guys a lot and I'm so lucky that they are here in VA with me to keep me busy and keep me happy. Yesterday was the primary program and Liam and Sean both did a great job saying their parts that they memorized. It was a nice program and it went well.

I love the ties. You might not be able to tell but Adam's shirt is really tight at the neck but he didn't mind bc he loves doing anything that his brothers are doing.

On Sat. we got a Halloween package from Grandma. We're so grateful to those who send us mail. Liam asks every day if he got something. The Krumholz family sent us a package a week ago Sat. so October has been a fun month with packages. The kids just love it!

She sent starbursts, swedish fish, jelly bellies, toys, games, pumpkin keychains, a little something for everyone.

Here we are at the Farm collecting pumpkins and doing all kinds of fun fall festive activities.

Sean looking for the perfect pumpkin.

We went to the petting farm and my kids were all over chasing the animals and petting them. I thought they were scared of this kind of activity but they loved it. Maybe we should live on a farm.

Here is Adam trying to join the chicken family. I tried to tell him that he already has a family but he really wanted in with the chickens.

We went on a lovely hay ride.

The boys.

A visitor!

Allyssa came to visit us for one whole week. We were so excited and happy that she came and stayed with us. We love it when people come to visit us. This is a picture of Sean and Adam smiling about Allyssa.My wonderful Michael made us breakfast in bed the first morning she was here. Look at this beautiful plate. I'm also secretly married to a professional chef.

Not only did we get bfast in bed we also got two smiley faces welcoming us to morning time.

She got in late Fri night and the next day on Sat we went to the Neptune Festival in VA beach. We were excited to see a parade and a sandcastle competition.

They were throwing out candy and other treats. Liam and Sean were sure to catch many treats.

Here is Adam. He caught a necklace and some suckers.

Allyssa helping the kids with sandcastles.

Always a sign of a good day. Sleeping children are happy children. The boardwalk was filled with lots of booths and fun things to see.

While Allyssa was here we made these delicious cake pops from Bakerilla.com. This treat has become my favorite treat ever. I just made some cute pumpkin ones last night.

Here we are at the zoo. Here in VA we have beautiful trees and flowers. We were very happy that Allyssa could hang out with us all week. She watched my kids while I went to a Pres. mtg and she watched the kids so that Michael and I could go out to dinner by ourselves. The kids loved having her here and she has been in all of Sean's prayers since she left.

This is a buzz lightyear costume that Grandma sent us. Dolores always sends the best stuff. We have an entire library of good books thanks to her. Sean occasionally believes that he is Buzz Lightyear so this costume was perfect. Thanks Grandma.

Adam says cheese now when I take his picture. He's one of the cutest people I know. He's such a happy little person and he's so fun to be around.

Liam goes to school!

Liam started school this past week. We started out with a little blessing on Monday night for part of FHE. That was good and Liam was cute.

Tues. morning it was pouring rain and a bit chilly so dressed him warm and sent him off. I was a wreck but Liam was brave. He sure is cute and he is so grown up.

Now that Liam and Michael are at school all day, Sean, Adam and I hang out together. At times I wonder where my Liam is but this is a good thing.

Adam and Sean have been playing a lot. Sean can make Adam laugh like no one else can. Sean is also proud bc he taught him how to go down the stairs in our house. I sure love these cute boys.

Here we are picking him up from day #1. He's happy and good. He had nothing but positive things to say about his day. He tells me about the little butterflies that represent the students and how the butterflies stay high in the sunshine if they are good but if they are bad they sink down near the snakes. So far his butterfly is high every day. He must love school like I did when I was a kid. Michael told him to always hang out with the butterflies who fly high. I thought this was all very cute. His school is on a very large piece of land with tons of grass and beautiful trees that grow flowers.

Since Michael has started school he is very busy so it's just me and the boys most of the time. Since Liam was gone every day we decided to head to the beach on Sat. We loaded up the bikes in the truck and hung out in VA beach. We rode on the boardwalk and explored and then the kids played in the ocean.

They can play with sand for hours. Adam took an almost two hour nap on the beach towel so I got to lay and enjoy the sun while Liam and Sean played. It was good.

This is Sean in the bike trailer after the long day. He fell asleep and I just had to take the picture from the side bc Liam and I were cracking up.

Sean is my cute little man, especially in this picture.

This is me making my usual sausage and pancakes. We don't start church until 1 so it is nice to have a good breakfast before church. There is Adam, my counter sidekick who enjoys being next to me almost every moment of his life. I should enjoy it while it lasts but sometimes I wish Jenny were here so I could take a little break.

As some of you remember from an earlier post, we planted a garden when we first got here and this is a pic of our tomatoes. We had wonderful basil and green peppers. Our corn didn't really make it but it was fun having a garden. We'll keep planting stuff and see how it goes.

Anyway, over Liam had a great first week. We're happy about that. I'm so glad he likes it and I'm glad he's happy. I hope it stays that way.