Turkey Day in PA

Hope everyone had a great Than'ksgiving! We had a lovely trip to PA to visit GranDora (a.k.a Dundore) and Poobah, as well as Auntie Voo and Uncle Ben! It was a whirlwind of a visit, as Rob and Caden also had duties to fulfill for the Padge wedding, as D&J got married on Saturday after the feast (will post soon!). Caden and Cole enjoyed their stay grabbing as much of Dundore and Poobah's time as they could get! All the while learning about Seiko the poodle and Waldo and Gatsby the Pionus' (parrots!). Caden was able to show off some of his Wii skills to the family and enjoyed 'snowboarding' with Uncle Ben and Auntie Voo (who was a bit upset when Caden outscored her on one of their runs! hehe!). Thanks to all for a wonderful visit! Here are a few pictures from the trip...

Caden eating breakfast with The Poobah.. sitting as close as possible!

Cole enjoyed riding the Bee, but the rugs were getting in the way of the speed he was ultimately striving for!

Cole found the Lindt Chocolates!! A Poobah choc-o-holic in training!

His shirt says it all with this devilish grin! He is certainly our little monkey!

Caden plays Dominoes with Auntie Voo and Uncle Ben

Crazy Voo!

Cole supervises as Poobah carves the Turkey

Cole mastered the computer chair in no time... he is now joining his Daddy's fight to get a Mac!

Caden and Dundore play some Wii

Caden at least thinks he won! By the look on Dundore's face it might be true!

Feast!

Today Caden had his Thanks'giving Feast at Preschool. At the beginning of the month the kids had to draw a "ticket" to decide whether they would dress like a Pilgrim or an Indian. As you can see we have a young Pilgrim here! And so happy! He also got to draw a "ticket" telling us what we had to make for said feast... hopefully this does not depict his luck for the future... or maybe it is my luck! But we got to make mince pie! I decided on a tart form so it would be easier to divy out, and a whole piece wouldn't be wasted should anyone not like it (who could imagine!) Caden helped me last night to make them. Below is a picture of what we were going for, they looked almost as good. They are made in the mini muffin tins, and we came to the star part and I wondered how I was going to get a star that small... I had a genius moment... Playdough tools!! Sweet! There was a star cut-out just the right size! Although it was a bit smaller than the one pictured below. So anyway, that is a tip for anyone out there who needs small cookie cutters in a pinch! I let Caden try one this morning after I convinced him that they were going to be delicious (he had overheard Rob and I complaining about having the worst pick ever!) He bit in willingly and even took a second bite before telling me "Mommy, these are NOT delicious!" He plucked the star crust off the top and we threw the rest away. However, I have been informed by Kim that Cole has been eating up all the extras sent home! Thanks Kim for the great photos!

Bunk Beds!

Rob worked diligently to stain and polyurethane the bunk beds, and atlast they were ready for him to put together!! We still have some re-hanging of wall decorations, but other than that! It is all set up, and very clean! Much to our surprise Caden was all gung-ho to be on the top bunk!... until bedtime came. He informed us this morning that tomorrow night he might sleep on top. We won't hold our breath. Cole loves the top bunk, and we have to keep a close watch on him as he has a tendency to sneak up there by himself! We are currently teaching ladder etiquette.. one on the ladder at a time, although Caden will climb up to the top and just stand there so his brother can't come on "his" top bunk. I guess we will also need the no loitering rule!

Caden around lunchtime when he still thought he wanted to sleep in the top bunk. He even volunteered to take a nap! Although it only lasted 5 minutes before he decided he wasn't actually tired!

The boys at bedtime on the top bunk together.. At this point Caden was still excited to sleep up there! It wasn't until after story-time that the decision was made.


Cole in his future position on the bottom bunk. Note the quilt I made for Caden when he first moved into a twin bed... it has never been used, he refuses to use blankets like a normal person. First he lays down one of his ribbon blankets over his sheet and pillow, then the other lighter softer ribbon blanket is his cover blanket (you can probably see his set up in the 3rd and 4th picture!). Now that it is winter before we go to bed we pull up a heavier blanket that we spent our life savings on because it was the only twin size blanket that had a soft ribbon around it... of course he will not voluntarily use it! Ahh, Caden... he's our special boy! Anyway to make a long story short.. this adventure has reminded me that I need to make Cole a quilt. I think I will do it in a very similar pattern, however I can no longer get some of the fabrics since most of them were from JoAnn's and they often discontinue prints, but it is okay, because many of the fabrics are themed after Caden's particular interests, so Cole's would have been slightly different anyway!

Cole.. already mastering the ladder!

Top bunk Cole

It Bloomed!!

At last after 5 years, our Chris'tmas Cactus bloomed! Although it's not covered with blossoms, and starting to go by, this is the first time since moving in that we have seen flowers! I've tried all the tricks.. putting it in the basement with a box over it for a few months then bringing it back out when we wanted it to bloom... nothing. But we went through our plants and got rid of a few and moved this guy from the family room to the living room and Voila! a few weeks later we had buds! Apparently it just wasn't happy in that room! When we lived in Na*shua in our apartment it used to be loaded with blossoms, hopefully next year we'll see that again! For now we'll enjoy the 5 that we have!

26 Week Belly!

It's hard to believe we're at 26 weeks! Well.. almost 27 now that I finally post these pictures we took this weekend. While the weeks dragged up to #20, now they are flying.. and kind of wish they might slow down! Having 3 kids sounds scary! We had our 26 week appointment last Thursday and all was well. Heart rate was 135ish.. boy zone! But the baby was also sleeping soundly, so I'm not sure if that counts?! I really have no guy feeling this time around... perhaps it's just a fear of being wrong since I was correct the past 2 times! We'll see. I've flip-flopped between the two and still haven't set myself on either one. I guess I will be just as surprised come February! I have begun composing a list of purple (preferred much to Caden's dismay) or pink (Caden's "fravorite" color) things we'll have to have Rob or my Mom (surprise! You'll love this job!) go buy to have ready at home if the little one pops out with two X chromosomes! Enjoy the belly comparisons!

26 Week Baby Belly!
Cole at 26 Weeks
Caden at 26 Weeks (I barely even started this small this time around haha!)

Caiforn-I-A

This past week I had to travel for work to see an animal study.. rats. My friend 'T' and I were travel buddies! After the study was finished we had some extra time, especially because it took much less time than they had expected. Meanwhile back at the ranch Rob played SuperDad! He and the kids had what sounds like a great time, and they behaved like angels!Perhaps I'm the problem?!! Too bad.. I don't want to ever go away again! Here are some pictures of our time there!

We had lunch at the Wilshire Hotel.. $24 for a burger?! Best salad I've ever had.. I even ate the tomatoes! (I do NOT like tomatoes at all!)

The view looking down Rodeo Drive

Birds of Paradise (?) were everywhere.. here they were lining the street, making a much nicer view!

Where the Academy Awards originated?

The view down a residential street

Interesting zoo-scape in someone's front yard.. fitting because the next day we went to the zoo!

Who wouldn't have sweet dreams on these pillows?!

Wednesday we drove down to the San Diego Zoo.. what a beautiful place! Luckily we had our walking shoes on, as it is very hilly! Some day it would be nice to take the kids here, as it is definatley superior to any of the zoos I've been to around here! Here is a slide show of the animals we saw.

And before the trip ended we had enough time to meet up with Cousin Dan and Nicole in downtown SanDiego for some midafternoon dinner? lunch? what was that?! other than a terrific way to end a business trip?! The drive back to LA took less time than expected thankfully.. with zero traffic. The flight home unfortunately took exactly how long they said it would... far too long in those uncomfy seats!

Happy Birthday

Cousin 'G' turned 3 this month!! Hard to believe the kids are getting so grown up! 'G' was the definition of excited to blow out candles! It was adorable! Caden and Cole both had fun at her party

Cole with Cousin 'C'... unfortunately we barely had enough time to snap this photo, so we didn't have time to get Cousin 'J' in there too.. the 3 are less than 2 months apart! How's that for timing?

New Soccer Class!

Okay.. we are currently playing Blog catch-up... bare with me!

Caden has started a new soccer class... WITHOUT parents. Not going to lie! He is not a fan of us not playing with him, in fact generally 7/8ths of the class is spent trying to convince.. a.k.a. bribe him to go play with the other kids. As it turned out the class that I brought my camera to he actually did most of the activities.. of course the promise of Vanilla Chai from Dunk*in Donuts loomed in his head. In case you are looking for the blond kid.. no, look for the boy in the hooded sweatshirt.. hood up. This is his new look. We finally convinced him that this sweatshirt was cool, since the one sweatshirt he would wear previously is getting a bit short in the arms. Now he won't take it off! We are not sure where he gets his one track mind from... clearly not from me!

He even let the coach tie his shoe! Wow! who is this kid?!

Cole on the other hand is ready for a game, never mind a class! He would play with the big kids if we let him! He gets to start soccer once he is 18 months. He should be a blast to take to class! He's already great at kicking!

Approaching nap-time for the Cole-bear