Santa Claus

Santa visited our house and left gifts for the boys while we were in California. When they woke up on Sunday morning (still in the clothes they fell asleep in on the plane) they found presents under the tree and gifts in their stockings.

Santa brought Nathan a brand new sled to share with Dad. And a fire station complete with fire truck, ambulance, firemen, spotted day, and furniture. There was even a kitchen table, toilet, dresser, bunk beds, grill, and doghouse!

Santa brought Mathew a great little turtle to ride. There's a hidden compartment under the seat , so Mathew can continue to horde and hide small objects!

Nathan Says

I've had a sore throat and cough for a few days. My voice was all scratch and croaky. THis morning I felt much better.

Nathan: Mom, does your throat feel better?

Mom: Yes it does. Why?

Nathan: Because you have your real voice now.

Mom: Oh. What voice did I have when my throat was sore?

Nathan: (Shrugs shoulders) Not yours.

Mathew Says

Nathan was quizzing Mathew on words...

Nathan: Mathew, can you say red?

Mathew: Red

Nathan: Can you say green?

Mathew: Gween!

Nathan: Say lellow.

Mathew: Yellow

Nathan: Say puple.

Mathew: Burple!

Nathan: Can you say cow?

Mathew: Moo!

Christmas Afternoon

Gong Gong took Nathan to the hay press where he keeps a mini excavator. Nathan got to drive and dig some big holes with the scoop. When he was done digging, he got to push the dirt piles around with the blade. He kept saying, "We're construction workers!!" A dream come true for my little Silly Goat.

Christmas Morning

Before...

During...

After...

Comfort Food

For me, comfort food is a GI-NORMOUS bowl of noodles. This seems to be true of everyone in my family, and has been for as long as I can remember. Maybe it's a Chinese thing. Who knows. But it makes me smile that Nathan loves nothing more than a huge bowl of noodles. Gong Gong made him a bowl of noodles with ground pork and Nathan happily slurped away.

Four Wheeling Fun

So here we are on December 23, four wheeling on the dunes and happy to be without our heavy coats, hats, and mittens. Grandpa borrowed a small four wheeler (with helmet and torso guard) for Nathan to try out. He rode for a little bit, but then decided he would rather ride on the bigger four wheeler with Dad.

Nathan thought the gear was pretty cool!

Mathew napped in the car for a little while. When he woke up, he kept himself busy by collecting (and throwing) rocks.

Chris had a pretty good time too, playing in the dirt.

San Diego Zoo

All of us... eager to get into the zoo.

Shirley and Mathew pretending to be elephants.

Nathan sporting a piece of bamboo peeling... the latest fashion.

Nathan Says

I bought Nathan a couple shirts today. When we got home, I opened the bag and started pulling them out. Nathan came over to see what was in the bag.

Mom: I got you this turtleneck to go under this shirt.
Nathan: Can I see it, Mom?
Mom: Sure (I hand it to Nathan)

Nathan holds the shirt out at arm's length, examines it closely, then turns it over and examines the back. He looks at me and says, "But where's the turtle?"

Mathew Says

Mathew now refers to Nathan as "Nah-Nah".
He has also graduated from saying "ba-lello-ella-ello" to just saying "yellow".

Nathan Says

Last night's bedtime books included a book about snow and a book about the moon. So naturally, Nathan lectured me all the way to school. Here are my lecture notes, which are very nearly verbatim:

Lecture 1: "Snow"
Mom, when it's cold outside, the snowflakes are small. When it's warm outside, the snowflakes get bigger. And when the snow melts, it turns into puddles. And the puddles go into lakes. No! I mean the puddles go into rivers, and the rivers go into lakes. I think it all goes to the ocean, but I don't know how.

Lecture 2: "The Moon"
Did you know that the Earth goes around the moon? And it spins. The whole thing takes 1 day. And the moon gets hit by big rocks that leave "crates" that are like little holes.

Hmmm.. I think we need to read The Moon a few more times!

Like Father Like Son

Mathew is working on perfecting his elk call...


He is learning from his dad...

Street Saavy

When we got home from school last night, Nathan named most of the streets that we take to and from school. This didn't suprise me since I often tell him what street we're on or what street we're turing onto next. After dessert, he proceeded to name the 7 streets between the school parking lot and our driveway.... in order. I was impressed.

This morning, Nathan told me what street we were on all the way to school. When we got there I told him that I was very impressed with his street saavy. His reply was, "Yeah, I'm almost 4. What's saavy?"

Tent

We've had a tent up in the living room for several weeks now. It was one that I picked up in the clearance pile at Target. The kids love it. They read and play games in it, they dive in it head first, they watch movies from inside it, and they pretend it is a cave and they are bears. We take it down for awhile, then put it back up. They never get tired of it.

It is also the FAVORITE hiding spot when we play hide and seek. I hid in the tent with my camera and snapped this photo when Mathew "found" me! He's always so surprised when he finds me in the tent :)

Fall

I love fall. I love those days where it's "crispy" outside. Cooler temps, lots of sun, and beautiful colors. Have you noticed that these days smell good?

We got a package in the mail a few days ago which included a new hat and scarf for each of the boys made by Po-Po (Grandma Ma). Nathan couldn't wait to try them on, which of course means that Mathew couldn't wait either.

Halloween

Nathan was an elephant this year. I was happy to get one more year of a cute animal costume. I suspect from here on out it will be superheros, or some other "boy" type costume.

Mr. Mathew was a chicken, very appropriate for my timid little one. He loves his costume. He also had his first Reece's peanut butter cup. His reaction was precious. His eyes got big, and slow smile crept across his face. This was followed by clapping, and bouncing, and lots signing for more!

Mathew Says

Mathew's new word.... wa-fo.
He whispers it very quietly while eating his waffles in the morning.
Very sweet.

Pumpkin Carving

We had a sunny afternoon for the annual pumpkin carving get together at Bryan and Joan's. This year Nathan carved his own pumpkin! Chris helped him prep the pumpkin by cutting off the top.

Of course, he needed his huge deer-gutting gloves to reach inside and "gut" the pumkin.

I jumped right in and got to work.

Bryan, in the planning stages.

Joan, working on her masterpiece. Hmmm... looks a lot like Bryan's pumpkin!

After drawing a face on the pumkin with a marker, Nathan carefully carved his pumpkin using his pin-punching skills from preschool.

Mathew, who decided the carved pumpkin was a lot like his shape sorter toys, started shoving the carved out pieces back in place.

I carved pi on my pumpkin... pumpkin pi! I'm such a geek.

Nathan's finished pumpkin! He was so proud of his work!

Nathan's pumpkin after Mathew put some of the pieces back.

Unlike his dad and brother, Mathew has no problem reaching inside a pumpkin.

A picture of the four of us... only 2 of us looking at the camera. Par for the course.

A rare picture of just me and Chris.

Me and Boo-Boo.

Christine and the boys.