Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't believe that it's already almost Thanksgiving. Where did the year go?

We finally had Evan baptized yesterday. We've been trying to get this done for a couple of years (literally!) but it finally all came together. There was a really nice service at the church followed by a little party at our house. He was so adorable during the service and didn't mind the water on his head a bit.

Connor has been doing well in school. We had our first parent-teacher conference a week or so ago. He's still being a little shy some of the time and is hesitant to ask for help when he needs it. Academically he's doing well though. I can't believe how much he has learned in just a couple of months. He's starting to write more and even read a bit. Thankfully, he seems to really like school too. He's got a really nice teacher who makes it fun for the kids. Tomorrow Keith and I are going to the school to see him in a Thanksgiving play. He and his classmates are going to be Native Americans while the other kindergarten classes are pilgrims and turkeys. They've been practicing their songs for a few weeks so it should be really cute!

Since today is opening day of hunting season, Keith has taken to the woods. Bambi beware! :( He should be home soon, hopefully he's not asleep against a tree somewhere!

I hope that you and all of your families have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! If you're traveling, stay safe! :)

Happy Halloween!

Well, we finally had Evan's birthday party. After postponing it due to the birthday boy's sickness, we had it this past Friday night. Evan had a great time! The theme for his party was "The Wiggles" (ugh!), complete w/a Wiggles cake, pinata and decorations. We had about 30 people here and Evan loved being the center of attention. Connor, on the other hand, can't stand when Evan gets presents and he doesn't! Typical, I guess. I'll have to figure out how to insert pics in here one of these day so I can show pictures of stuff like this. Yeah, I'll get on that as soon as I have some free time!

For the past month I've been having a rather difficult time with my back. It's been particularly frustrating since I've been so good for so long. I had hoped that maybe the days of my spine controlling my life were behind me. Now I don't know. I had about a week where I couldn't do much, thank God my Mother and Mother-in-law were such a help. They both pitched in to help w/the boys and do some cleaning for me. I wouldn't have been able to do Evan's birthday party without my mom's help. I was able to take it easy and that probably helped me to start feeling better. My back is much improved so I hope things can return to normal now.

Tomorrow we're having a Halloween party here with about 20-25 of the boys friends plus their parents if they decide to stay. Yes, I do think I may be insane! I started planning this when my back was feeling good, if I'd known then what I know now it might not be happening! :) The boys are so looking forward to it (and I am too) that I didn't want to cancel it. They are really into Halloween this year. Connor is dressing up as Spiderman and Evan is Bob the Builder (both major shocks, I'm sure!). Last night they went to a Halloween party at Connor's karate academy and today Connor had a party and Halloween parade at his school. On Sunday night we'll just take them trick or treating a few places, most likely in my Dad's neighborhood. Tonight Keith carved pumpkins with them which they thought was pretty cool! Evan wanted a happy face pumpkin and Connor wanted a scary one. Hmmm.....what does this say about their personalities?? LOL

We're blogging!

Hi All!

I thought I'd start an online blog as a way to keep everyone updated on what's going on with us. It's so hard to email everyone individually all the time and it never fails that I forget *someone*. So, for my first entry I'll try to hit all of the high points! :)

The boys are doing great! Connor celebrated his 5th birthday in September. It's still unbelievable to me that he can possibly be FIVE! I was forced out of my denial when I put him on the school bus for his first day of kindergarten. After a rough start, he now loves going to school. I thought (hoped?) that he would come home everyday exhaused but this boy has more energy that anyone I know! He is also taking karate (taekwondo); he started in May. He is in a class called "Tiny Tigers." He was promoted from white belt to yellow stripe over the summer and will soon be testing for his green stripe belt.

Evan turned 3 last week. Something about "three" seems so old; he's not my baby anymore! On the evening of his birthday he started getting sick so we ended up postponing his party. With a little luck, he'll finally have his party this Friday night. He's adjusted fine to Connor being gone all day, he probably secretly loves being able to play with ALL of the toys without risk of attack! He keeps me company all day. He is constantly talking and is so much fun to have around. I am enjoying having some time alone with him.

As for me, I am enjoying being a stay at home mommy, though at times I would love a little more contact with the outside world. I babysit our next door neighbors kid, Charlie, 3 days a week and I am volunteering the other two weekdays at Connor's school. I love being able to see what is going on in his classroom and to get to know all of the kids. I've been getting involved with the home-school association too (kinda like PTA) so I've been helping with stuff like the school book fair and class pictures. I figure it's a perfect way to meet other moms and keep informed of what's going on at Connor's school.

Keith is busy ALL THE TIME! It seems that if he's not traveling, he's working late. He's recently been promoted to Vice President so I'm sure it's not going to get better anytime soon!

The house is an ongoing project. We recently had to have it dug up all around the house and had the outside basement wall resealed because of water in the basement. In the spring we want to put the deck on (finally!), get the sidewalks and landscaping done, and probably pave the driveway. This summer Keith and my brother, David, built the boys a playset outside that is really more like their own private playground! They LOVE it! And so do all of the other kids!

Anyway, that's it for now..... Keith is working late and I have a couple hungry kids on my hands. Feel free to comment or email me anytime!! :)