Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Well, we sure have a lot to be thankful for!!  We are so blessed to have each other, a loving family, great friends, our health, a roof over our heads, running water we can drink from the tap, heat/air conditioning, food to eat, money to pay our bills and most of all a God that watches over us!  We try to pass this thankfulness on to our children daily by thanking God every night for something.  Sometimes they get it, but many times we have to remind them that there are more important things to be thankful for than their toys.  The very fact that we can see, hear and taste is awesome! 
Grandma Peggy came for a visit and the kids were out of school all week, so they had lots of grandma time.  We didn’t plan much because every fun place around here is packed with people on school breaks.  Ainsley and Reggie still had gymnastics and swimming, so grandma got to experience our crazy Mondays and Wednesdays.  They made a trip to Walmart, so Reggie could get an early birthday present.  He got a Lego set that took him a couple hours to put together (he was complaining that his fingers hurt when he was done.  He has been obsessed with Ninjago these days.  

Painting nails:

Playing in the leaves:

We also checked out the new Paragon Outlet mall in Pleasanton.  They have lots of great stores, but not thrift store prices, so I don’t think I’ll be hanging out there much!  That night we went to Uncle Yu’s to celebrate Reggie’s birthday dinner.  They have the best Chinese food and we were all stuffed when we left, although we managed to get a cookie at Nestle :o). 
Peggy started cooking early, so the deserts were made on Wed. and then just the turkey and fixins on Thursday.  We got a Butterball turkey and it was awesome!!!  So juicy that it spilled over while we were out on our bike ride.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and almost 70 degrees, so we rode bikes to the park and hung out for awhile.  When we got back, we played a new game….Apples to Apples, junior.  It was a great game, but definitely not for younger than 6 unless they can read well.  Grandma showed them how to play Yahtzee in the morning, so it was a day filled with fun and games.  That night Peggy and I went to Walmart for some Black Friday goodies.  It wasn’t that busy and we got everything we wanted and were out the door in 10 minutes!!!  I was very thankful she was there because there’s no way I could have done it by myself.

Reggie made the crescent rolls all by himself...he was motivated because he loves them!

It was quite a feat to take this picture.  I was turned around while riding my bike!

Getting Reggie up in the tree was quite comical...he's not a fan of heights:

Tooth number 3!

Before....

 After.....

First Scout camping trip:  Wow what a day we had out at Del Valle park in Livermore.  It's only 15 - 20 minutes from our house but you really feel like you're up in the woods when you're there.  Reggie and I decided to sign up for the last scout camping trip of the season.  We had never attended one and I really wanted to experience that with him.  The first half of the day we had just Khalif with us as the boys were out in the woods!  Here's a picture with K, Reggie, and Colin.

We did many activities throughout the day as the scout leader had everything planned to the "T".  We started out by warming up our legs with an hour and a half hike through the woods looking at many different animals and birds.  We saw 4 deer walking through the park and the kids were very impressed.  Here's Reg getting ready for his hike with his water camel pack on his back.

After we got back from our hiking trip (I had K in the jogger stroller and he had a great time) it was time for a snack.  Instead of eating a granola bar and drinking some water the scout leader had the kids make everyone a peach cobbler by using a cake mix, water, and fresh sliced peaches cooked over our fire.  The kids also helped prepare the fruit salad that would be eaten for dinner that same night.  Reggie was concentrating on cutting up the fruit for the fruit salad!

We stayed busy the entire day.  The kids then learned how to tie different knots (Uncle Wade would have been so proud of Reggie), built their own tool boxes, widdled with their own pocket knives, and played badmitten.  To close the day out, the kids put together some songs and skits to present to the parents.  We then had some smores and hit the sack.  Biggest mistake I made is that I thought I could handle the rough ground for the one night sleeping in the tent and decided not blow up my air mattress.  Bad move as I thought I broke my neck and back...  Even Reggie couldn't get comfortable.  Though it was a rough night, we had a lot of fun...

Reggie building his tool box with his own hammer and nails!

Reggie's finished product

Reggie widdling with his own pocket knife - man he's growing up!

 Reggie and Colin at the talent show

Bed time (dad is dead and doesn't know how painful the night sleep will be!

Last couple weeks....

Life has been crazy….not sure how it happened, but Ryan traveled 8 of 16 days.  That alone would have added enough craziness, but add 2 weekends of camping, Halloween, K’s emergency room visit and surgery, K’s visits and therapy, homework/reading, grocery shopping, volunteering in the classroom, running Ainsley to gymnastics and Reggie to swimming and piano, playdates with friends, making lunches/dinners/snacks, paying bills, cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc. etc. mostly by myself and I was just about to go insane!  Thank goodness for exercising, although that was super hard to fit in :o(.
And now that things have slowed down a bit (amazing what a quiet weekend and a date night can do for the soul (we went to the Cal/Husky football game and it was a blast),  I have a nasty cold…can I say less sleep and a whole lot of running around didn’t help my body fight it off.  I am REALLY hoping life slows down a bit until the end of the year.  This can’t be my new normal, can it?  NOOOO!!!
We had awesome seats at the game :o).

Halloween

It was a lot of fun, but I’m glad we’re done with all the festivities.  We had classroom parties, scout trick-or-treating and by the time the actual day came, I was wiped out.  This was the first year that we weren’t all together.  Reggie was begging to go with his friends, but we had already committed to go to another party (which was all girls his age).  So, we decided to let him go with his good friend Tyler and he had a blast.  We sort-of already had our trick-or –treating fun at KOA as a family, so I didn’t feel too bad.  I think we are going to have to alternate years with friends to make it fair. 
The kids loved the Halloween parade and assembly at school and it was fun to see all the costumes…there was the coolest jellyfish with LED lights!  K had snacks at his party and one activity and he thought it was the best ever :o).  It is good he is easily impressed :o).  Reggie’s party was awesome, lots of activities and games.  Ainsley watched a show and whenever there is TV involved, my kids are happy.  It was a long day and late night, but everyone had fun.