A Sandy Christmas

With the help of the "Adopt a Nobmann" fund :) and a strong desire for family, beach, and a good time, we had the priviledge of spending Christmas this year on the beach of North Carolina...Pine Knoll Shores to be exact.  Rain was in the forecast everyday, yet the only day we saw a drop was on the day that we left for home (which made it a little easier to leave).  It was perfect weather.  Sunny and blue skies, just the way I like it.  It was so good that the boys (and kiwi girls) got in the ocean and swam--multiple times!

 The house we stayed in fit nearly the whole crew, which makes for good times 24 hours a day.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and getting loved on by their aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

We played, made goodies, and relaxed--listening to the sound of crashing waves the majority of our visit.  We loved every minute and from the moment we got there, I thought it'd be a great place to live.  The sand and salty air does that to me.

So from now until forever (maybe it won't be a dream that long), I'll be dreaming of a sandy Christmas once again.

Tight quarters

Recently all 3 boys have been sharing a room...which means occasional mornings of finding them giggling like this.

Santa Cruz

{Oshyn would call this a "double meaning" word :) }

Consistent

{2011}

 {2010}

Oh Happy Day!

We celebrated Tyce's 2nd birthday with a Dinosaur bash.  We stomped like dinosaurs, pinned some tails on a dinosaur, "passed the parcel" like the down under crew that we were hosting, and of course enjoyed some cake and ice cream.  Simple and fun!

Like every birthday for each of my boys, I cannot believe Tyce is TWO YEARS OLD.  Wholly cow.

Some sayings he says about 500x's a day are...
How fast I run mom!!
Oh my tenders!
I like it!! (about songs that are playing on the radio)
Hold you! (when he wants to be picked up)
Have some cereal/milkies?? Sure mom!! (his own conversation)
Can I Mom??
Oh...okay
Sure!!
What? What? What? What? What? What?
Up until about yesterday when someone asked him what his name was Tyce always answered "Isaac".

I love this little crazy pants to the moon and back!

I'm sitting inside with a sweater on.

It is 54 degrees out (in the sun).  Is that 154 degrees in little boy temperature?  I wouldn't be caught dead with that little of clothing on in "winter".  And I MADE them wear pants today.

We may not be related after all, but I sure do like them. :)

Oshyn came home with this letter he had written to Cruz.  After I read it to Cruz he got a huge grin and gave Oshyn a ginormous hug.  I love--when they love.

Lodi Lights

I enjoy living in a smallish town.  I love that there is tradition here and that when activities go on, nearly the whole town is there.  The Lodi Light parade is one of those things.  The parade is after dark and people decorate floats, cars, horses and crazy grape picking machines with lights.  It is awesome, cold and can last for a reallllly long time, but it gets us all feeling the Christmas in the air.

And it wouldn't be the same without hot chocolate (its usually better when I don't spill it all over the sidewalk).  This year we were blessed to have our cousin Phoebe with us from New Zealand.  She was enamored with the lights (in NZ during Christmas lights aren't a big deal--b/c its summer, so it doesn't get dark until 10pm :)

YMCA

Cruz worked it this year playing bball for the Y.  He handled the ball well and was one of the only 4 year olds that could really dribble :)  We all had fun cheering for the little big man.

Wet, Dirty and Happy Turkeys

The turkey trot was in the rain this year!  That didn't stop us from running our hearts out just to enjoy a big fat meal later on in the day.  We had a delicious dinner and a wonderful time with the Panttaja's, Pop Pop and Ya Ya, the mish doggs and some friends.  We stayed 2 nights and had tons of fun with cousins.  The day after Thanksgiving we had a nice trail walk/run/bike ride and all of the kids romped in the red mud.  Good times that we are truly thankful for!

Nice Tyce

Tyce has become quite the assertive little man lately.  He lets you know if he doesn't like something and throws on a pouty face & a good stomp session.  He is a chatterbox and has started really streaming some good sentences together--for example,
"Cruzer hit me!"
"Oshyn hit me!"
"NO!  I don't want to!" (I doe wann ew!)
The funny part is, half the time when he's blaming his brothers for something, they are too far away to have committed the crime.  So not only is he assertive, but he already cries wolf.  Tyce has been tempting me to sell him on the corner just about every other day.  I think one of the kickers is that I got called to Nursery at Church, so we have about every waking moment together.

At the end of the day in his crib--or just during a car ride, he'll sing a song from one of our favorite CDs ..."I'm not perfect, no I'm not!" and everything is put in perspective.  I fall in love with his craziness once again and remember how many times he says, "I luh you Mom" and I don't think he's crying wolf about that one!

Growing up

Every time I turn around these guys are growing leaps and bounds.  They're already growing staches...well, not quite yet, but its just around the corner.
I love the excitement that is bottled up in their bodies just waiting to come out.  I got out some winter clothes yesterday and as I let Cruz go through the box to see the hand-me-down awesome clothes, he was beside himself.  There are no words to explain how happy he was.  He kept telling me THANK YOU!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I LOVE ALL OF THEM!!  Cruz laid all of his new gear out on the floor and made Oshyn come look at it all.  Hand-me-downs are a blessing...for ALL of us :)  and that 3 part word gets a bad wrap for how FABULOUS it truly is.

Free Candy & Sugar Highs

Halloween is such a long-awaited good time.  I love that its the first in a lengthy line of grandiose holidays.  Halloween is simple, fun and it gets you out into your neighborhood.  And when you're little...nothing speaks louder than sugar--FREE CANDY!!

Oshyn decided he'd never been something scary before, so he wanted to be a vampire.  We painted his hair black, put in his contacts, and spruced up his evil face.  Oshyn looked SO different from his regular self, that he truly scared Tyce to tears.  A LOT of tears and crying and trying to convince Tyce that it was just Oshyn.  I was beyond sympathy by this point of my day with little T man--luckily Daddy showed up just in time.

Cruz has been 3 different things this week--Robin, a football guy, and tonight a jet pilot (with a basketball jersey underneath).  We are so lucky to have such a great dress up box & such a versatile guy!  He was a great little tricker-treater and only needed some refueling (read: sugar) once during the journey.

Tyce had a vintage costume--an astronaut.  He couldn't have been any cuter & he was pretty reflective :).  I love the sound of a one-year-old saying "Twick or Tweet" and "Tank You".  Tyce walked the entire time and kept up pretty good with the big kids.  As I was putting on his pj's, he started giggling and dancing crazy style and I knew his sugar high was peaking.

 We had a nice little soup pot luck at our house complete with some fun witches brew (dry ice) & great friends.  Then we walked a block or so up to start our rounds.  It was a beautiful night and in the mid 60s!  Halloween is over just like that--but its memory will live on for days and days and days as we make our way through the mountain of sweets.