Burr...

It's so cold here! I finally turned on the heater and saw the house was at 58 degrees!!! No wonder we are cold and my hands are numb. I guess fall/winter is here. I'm still hoping for a few dry days soon so we can get some fall family pictures but we may have missed our time frame with all the rain the leaves are going to fall off the trees. We will see though. I'm hoping we will get lucky.

This afternoon my friend called up to see if we would like to take the kids to the park. We were eating lunch but I got the kids to quickly eat and gathered up our stuff and headed out the door to catch some rays of sun before naps. It was an unusually summer like day though we were heading to a park in Troutdale and it's known for it's winds so I bundled the kids up which I'm grateful for. it was COLD there and warm at home. The kids LOVED it though.

Here's some Videos...you can hear the wind blowing through the microphone.

(LM and his little friend born a month after him)

numb toes for colorful lights

We went to the zoo lights tonight. It was beautiful but freezing. it was 33 at 4pm and just got colder and colder. We rode the train (an hour wait) and thankfully LM fell asleep so it was worth the $3 per person we paid for that to happen. Thankfully he stayed asleep in the stroller all bundled up with two fleece blankets over him. It was a fun evening and Grandma came along with my sister and my brother's family. My sister leaves tomorrow and I'm so bummed. We played one last game of canasta and thankfully I kicked her booty!

play, movie, and poop--what a week!

Sorry I've been MIA for over a week. It's been so busy and I have only had a few minutes here and there and I tried to get on over and over but the kids HATE me being on the computer and push any button they can so I get off.

All is well but life is just so busy and I hate that. I want to enjoy everyday but they just fly by. I've been exhausted too and keep thinking I feel like I'm PG BUT I just got over my monthly cycle so that's good. Talking with a friend today though I might have low blood sugar. She has been having the same symptoms and that's what her doctor thinks is going on with her. So now I need to pay attention to what I eat and when.

We went to DH's nephew's play on Saturday, A Christmas Carol. It was Fabulous for how tiny the school was. Sadly I kept falling asleep when the lights went low. I've been so tired lately and really can't figure out why even when I've been able to sleep in or go to bed early. It's weird (no, I'm not PG!). While driving how the temperature dropped and there was ice on the road right by our house. We slid past our road and had to back up and then turn. My in-laws carpooled with us so they stayed the night and were here until almost noon waiting for the ice to melt. Church got pushed back an hour and DH had to go to work so I was by myself with the kids. It was a crazy day but we all survived it.

Tuesday was a nightmare! (long story so you can skip this paragraph if you wish...I might but my MIL insisted i write this story out though I would like to forget it all together). The house was cold since we are trying to save on oil till we can get the tank filled so I put a space heater in the office to heat it up since I had preschool coming in an half hour. I was getting the kids ready and then myself and as I was blow drying my hair the fuse blew. The switch breaker is downstairs in the apartment of our neighbors and she didn't answer any of her phones (work or cell). I was freaking out because I had no lights for school. It was a dark cloudy Oregon day too. I ended up running and extension cord from DD's room into the office with a floor lamp from the living room. It worked out pretty well thankfully. The kids did okay though some were a little more crazy than normal. We got some gifts made for their parents though so that was great. Next week will be laid back with a train theme (reading Polar Express, making a ginger bread train, and drinking hot chocolate). After school I took my friends daughter home since we were having a cookie exchange from church happening. There were so many people there too so I have to take all three kids across the road along with all my stuff and walk down to her house in the rain. Thankfully that went okay until DD pooped in her pants and I realize I forgot the diaper bag at home amongst all the chaos. Thankfully my friend got me some undies for DD but then DD threw the biggest tantrum ever. My friend had to leave to pick up her daughter and left me a key. I tried to use her internet since my computer was out of power at home to submit my last Demarle order so everything would arrive before Christmas. I sadly forgot to inter in the VISA numbers when working on the order previously so I couldn't submit the order. I thought I might be able to use the laptop at home since DD was throwing such a fit. I had to get her to bed before I couldn't deal with her any more. I came home and put her down and then the baby and tried the laptop. It wasn't connected since the wireless wasn't getting power either. At this point I just wanted to cry! Everything was going WRONG!!! I called DH's mom and she didn't answer (weird for her...later found out she never got my message and had her phone with her but the message came the next day at 8am). I called my dad and he was at work until 5pm--too late to process the order. DH had my mom's car for work so I couldn't call her but my dad said maybe she could use my SIL car to come over to watch the kids so I could go to their house to place the order. My mom was able to use my brother's truck and come over and thankfully I got my order in and finally ended my horrible day at 3pm!!! That evening my mom stayed and chatted with me and helped me write all my Christmas card addresses! It was so nice to get that off my mind of things to do. That was one REALLY long day.

Thankfully today was DH's last day of work. I'm so happy to have him home tomorrow. LM is really walking. Last week he started standing up from the middle of the floor on his own without needing something to push off of. I knew it was only days from then he would be walking. This week he's walking all over the place. I took the kids to the library yesterday and a lady asked me how old he was and when I said 10 months she said she thought he was too little to be walking around. I agreed with her. He loves it though and has the biggest grin. He's such a sweet boy and tried helping put all the contents of the frig back in with me tonight that he pulled out. He also is starting to bring one piece of the manger blocks to us and then get another and another. I remember DD doing that with all the Tupperware. It's so cute. He's also the biggest Ham ever! It has two laughs and knows he's funny. He loved to have pillow fights and will drag a pillow that's half his size over and hit your legs and start laughing. It's wonderful.

DD is on week three of being in her undies. She LOVES it and finally went poop in the potty yesterday and not in her undies. I noticed when she got up from her nap and peed that she tutted and usually that means she will poop in the next hour or so. I just left her pants and undies off and though that maybe she won't go without being on the potty since she didn't have pants on. We read stories in the bathroom, she got off for a little while and started pulling her butt so I had her sit back on there and we read some more. After just a little while she looked at me and said, " I did it, I went!" I was so proud of her!!!! Today she never went so I hope tomorrow is another good day.

Funny story from tonight:
I was gone making cookies and watching White Christmas with the girls from church and DH put DD to bed. She called out for him and he went in to see what happened. She told him, "monkey hand". He just repeated it but she repeated it again while rubbing her eye. He though she was rubbing her eye because she was tired. He again repeated her and then was about to leave and she said, "No, monkey hand" and covered her eye like it was hurt. He asked if the monkey's hand hit her eye and she said yes. He then told her he was sure it was an accident. How funny is that. DD's the one that did it to herself since the stuffed monkey couldn't have hurt her on it's own. I was laughing at that one when I was told the story. She also heard me when I came home so I went in to give her a hug and she also told me the monkeys hit her eye. LOL

I'm FREEZING here. It's in the 20's but the wind chill brings it down to the single digits/ Surprisingly Oregon is dry so we don't have snow which is nice for driving but it would be pretty to look at. We took the kids to see Santa at the mall today. LM sat on his lap fine for a little while and DD wouldn't get within 2 feet of him (though she was SO excited to see him earlier and on the drive there). While trying to get DD to sit on his lap LM starts to cry. It was funny. I got a happy picture of him and a crying one too. DD's off in the distance in one. Not the best for her. I may try again later.

LM is walking ALL over. He's trying to walk so fast now that he falls over a lot but its so cute. He's giving tones of open mouth kisses too (tries to eat us). It's so fun! I just love it.

Tonight was our Christmas Choir Performance and devotional. It went really well and I even played my flute that I haven't picked up in 2-3 years. I was surprised I was able to play it as well as I did. Thankfully the kids did a great job sitting through it too.

It's so COLD here. It in the 20's and a high of 30 but with the wind it feels like 6-17 degrees outside. BURR!!! Even DD mentions how cold it is every time we go outside. I think we will be burning a LOT of firewood this week.

It's FREEZING here today. We finally broke down and turned on the heater today instead of using the wood stove. DD even said she was cold! I didn't know she knew what that meant but I guess she does and she was already in a long sleeved shirt so we put slippers on her feet and that made her happy. She didn't want anything to do with the sweater. lol

LM is trying to walk EVERYWHERE. The past few days he now is walking to random objects and not needing us to entice him to walk. I think he now prefers to try and walk than crawl which has JUST happened. It's so cute and exciting.

The kids have been really good about the Christmas decor so far and have only played with the items I've told them they can touch. LM has tried to unwrap a present already...Ü. We haven't been able to decorate the tree yet but I'm hoping that will happen tonight since we have the evening free!