Santa Pictures and Family Fun

As is the holiday tradition, this morning we met the Domrese side of the family and did a family photo with Santa. They started this back in the 1970's and we've continued the tradition with the whole family. The boys, while they sat very nicely, gave the cheesiest smiles. Oh well!

My family arrived shortly after as we've carried the tradition into my family as well. My brother and his family are in town visiting from Seattle so it was the perfect timing. This picture is only with the cousins. It is SOOOOO difficult getting 8 kids ages 5 and under to take a picture and all look at the camera. I can only imagine next year will be a nightmare with 10 kids. :) Again, cheesy smiles, but cute with all the cousins. You can definitely tell who belongs to whom!

We went to Mobius briefly afterwards to run off some steam and then ran home for a rest time...meaning mommy took a 2 hour nap while the boys played with daddy. Thanks Dan! We then went out to my brother's house for dinner and visiting while all the cousins ran around together. I imagine my mom, dad, and grandma thought their houses were pretty quiet after this experience. :) Like the day wasn't long enough we managed to stop by Dan's uncle house where it is "Game Night." This happens on a regular basis where all available cousins, aunts, uncles, etc gather for games. It's such a great family bonding experience. The boys and I stayed for a bit and watched a game of Trivial Pursuit and Liar's Dice before leaving daddy and heading home for bed. I'm pretty sure I'm more tired than the boys at this point, but I hear their movie ending, so it's off to bed we all go!
Joshua, Thomas (red plaid shirts)
Taylor (black dress w/ red dots), Sawyer (Santa's lap), Jamison (far right red shirt)----belong to my brother Eric
Macey (front left, white shirt), Natalie (Santa's lap), Abby (white shirt on right)----belong to my brother Adam

Raptor Reef

We started the day off on the wrong foot. After a long Thanksgiving Day, both boys were ready to stay in bed and watch movies all day. The good news is that we were getting out of bed for a birthday party at Raptor Reef. This is a favorite for the boys. It's an indoor water park with water slides, a wave pool, hot tub, and more. After we finally got them in the car, they seemed to realize that life would once again be ok.

Raptor Reef was a real blast. I, of course, didn't do too much except follow the boys around and watch from the sidelines. I did the wave pool a few times with the boys, but Dan did most of the running around. Joshua enjoyed seeing how far he could walk in the wave pool even if his head was not above water. Thomas did the water slides over and over and over again. Thanks for inviting us. Happy birthday Harry!

Afterwards, we managed to have well-behaved kids during a 1:30 PM lunch at Tomato Street. Not only is this invading rest/nap time, but they'd been so active we were sure we'd see meltdowns. They did great, but only managed about 4 minutes in the car before crashing.

The ride home was definitely quiet...and enjoyable! It's been a great family day! The boys are all currently sleeping in our bed. It's snowing like crazy outside. If it's light enough when the boys wake up, we'll go for a walk and enjoy the fresh snow.

Thanksgiving and the First Snow!

Today was Thanksgiving. A day where Dan and I run around crazy trying to clean, cook, and play with the boys all at the same time. Nearly impossible, but enjoyable in the end. The highlight of the morning was the snow. The boys had sat in front of the tv or played independently all morning, so we decided to put on some coats and gloves and enjoy the snow. The boys were so thrilled to play in the snow and immediately asked to make snowmen and shovel. Aaaaah, the sweet memories of last winter. There was enough on the ground that Thomas was able to form snowballs and chase Dan around the yard. It was very entertaining and really ran some energy out of the boys. Hooray!

People began arriving around 3:00 PM and we ate at 4:00 PM. The food was fabulous and the company great. I can say that when I am a mother-in-law I hope to have the same traits as my mother-in-law. She is fabulous. She sits, chats, plays with the kids, helps me clean up my kitchen, and is always praising the family. It makes Dan and I feel successful as parents, and leaves us feeling as though we are very blessed in family. Some great friends arrived as well and I hope all had a good time and enjoyed the good food. Speaking of which, I think there is some yummy moon cake in my fridge, I'm off to have another piece.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends!

Thomas & Joshua's Christmas Lists

This is what they are telling me:

Thomas wants:
2 Ho Ho Treats (candy)----
Mountains---- No idea where this came from :)
Volcanoes---- Again, no idea :)
Green Drums (the boys have both expressed interest in a drum set, but our only concern is where to put it)
Fur Real Animal

Joshua wants:
Drums
Fur Real Animal (but not the monkey, apparently it scares him) :)

Mommy & Daddy's list for the boys:
Anything GeoTrax
Leap Pad Books/Cartridge
Pretend Cash Register
Play-Doh
V-Tech Digital Camera
16" Bikes (they rode their bikes today and are too long all the sudden) :)

A Fun-Filled Weekend

What a great weekend! Having Dan gone from Wednesday to Friday made my departure on Saturday super easy. It's the first time I've ever left the boys overnight. I went with a group of friends from the Mommy & Me Group to Tacoma for the New Kids on the Block concert and some fantastic shopping! The concert was actually really good. It's amazing how songs come back to you so quickly! I got some great deals and some gifts for the boys for Christmas. Dan seemed to have a good time with the boys! They spent Saturday out at the river winterizing and then did the Sunday tradition of doughnuts. The boys were in good moods when I got home, although I don't think they'll let me out of their sights for a while! I'll get some concert pics up when Kari e-mails them to me!

37 Months

The boys are 37 months as of yesterday. Here is their monthly photo. This morning it was beautiful out, but by the time we got home from our playdate, the rain was starting to pour down. We enjoyed a nice quiet afternoon and then ran to the store one last time before dinner. I am slacking on the November photos, and will work on being better. This whole exhausted pregnant thing isn't really working with my photo abilities. The no napping doesn't really help either.

3 Year Dentist Appointment

Today was the boys' three year dentist appointment. This visit, they got a full cleaning. They did great! They sat back in the chair and watched the movie on the ceiling. A great life!

Joshua- Nearly fell asleep in the chair. His arms were hanging limply off the chair, it was pretty cute. Joshua has a cross-bite. Sorry kiddo, you got your teeth from mommy. He had some stains on his teeth, so we'll be doing a better job brushing. As for the cross-bite, he gets to follow in mommy's footsteps. Sorry bud. In middle school, they'll give him a retainer and every week we'll expand it in an effort to expand his jaw. Josh got everything from Dan, but got my teeth and height. Poor kid.

Thomas- Teeth are perfect.Welcome to daddy's world. They line up perfectly and had no stains.

Overall, the dentist was happy. We go back in 6 months for a cleaning and some x-rays. Unfortunately our new insurance is a tiered plan. This year, we are covered 70%, next year 80% and so on. So we'll be paying about $150 per visit next time and then hopefully 10% less every year. Ugh. Good thing we'll be at 100% by the time they actually need work done! :)

Getting Caught Up

Because it was so crazy around their birthday, I neglected to do the regular birthday appointments. The 3-year check-up, 3-year pictures, and a dentist appointment.

On Tuesday (because Dan was off) we went and got their pictures taken. They turned out alright. Joshua, generally very photogenic, decided to be squirmy and was difficult to get a good picture. Thomas, generally camera-shy, decided to follow directions and flash his pearly whites. I guess I'll never totally figure out my kids.

This morning, we had the boys 3-year check-up. Thomas weighs 33 pounds (55%) and is 40 1/4" tall (above 95%). Joshua is 31 pounds (50%) and 38 3/4" tall (75%). Thomas is slowly creeping away from Joshua, but based solely on eating habits, I'd say Josh might be about to go through a little growth spurt. The boys did great during the appointment. Thomas never shut up. That kid just talked and talked the poor doctor's ear off. It happened to be their favorite doctor, so Thomas took the whole appointment to tell him everything he ever needed to know. The doctor at one point asked me if Joshua even talked because Thomas wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise. It was pretty cute. We will make an appointment shortly for Joshua to get checked for color-blindness. My dad is 100% colorblind and sees only grays. Joshua responds to some colors the same way as dad, so I figure it's better to know before he goes to school and gets in trouble for not knowing his colors.

Both boys got the flu shot. This was a big discussion in our house this year. Dan got the flu shot when he was just under 2 and became very very sick (as in paralyzed from the neck down). They can't say whether it was that strain of the flu shot or not, but he was, at the time, the youngest person to survive Guillain Barre syndrome. We decided that the flu shot has evolved and that because I'm pregnant and they are so young, we all need the flu shot this year. The boys did great. Thomas went first and cried and cried. Then walked out in the hall with the nurse to get a sticker while Joshua got his. Joshua looked at me, "Mommy, someone poked me." I nearly burst out laughing. The nurse could not find the injection site because Joshua had stayed so still and calm through the whole shot. He never cried, just was ticked that someone had poked him without first getting his consent. Both boys got stickers and a goody bag and were perfectly happy.

Next week we go to the dentist. Last time they really liked it. We'll see if it's the same this year.

A Day at Endicott School

What a great day! We got a late start, but overall, we had a great time. We drove down to Endicott (for those of you who don't know, that's where I use to teach) and started by visiting with some friends. Hannah is 4 and Issac is 2, the boys had a blast playing with them and almost opted to stay there instead of going to school with me! For lunch we had sloppy joes, one of my favorite school lunches. The boys enjoyed the apples and cookies a bit more. They then got to go to recess with all the "big kids." Then I got to visit alone with some of my good friends! HOORAY! After lunch we went back to Katie's room for some buddy reading. The boys were trying so hard to be a part of the class and generally followed directions. After that the 1st & 2nd graders did a book share. Thomas watched about 3 and then grabbed a math book from someone's desk and decided he wanted to do a book share too. :) He showed the cover (like the big kids) and explained the picture on the front. When asked his favorite part, he opened to a page with dominos and showed the class. It was REALLY cute! I had a hard time convincing them that they weren't old enough to join the K-2 music class and that it was time to head home. They were sure it was time for them to continue schooling! :) It makes me think that they might do ok in preschool if I decide to put them in in January. Thanks for visiting with us!!!!