Nesting?

My friend

goes through terrible nesting when pregnant. I always wished this would happen to me during my pregnancies. But, I prefer to do NOTHING with the household. No cleaning, no cooking, no laundry. . . you get the picture. However, the last week or so I've been doing pretty good. And I'm NOT, not, not, not, not pregnant. I cleaned out the fridge, I've purged the kids' toys and I'm hitting my closet and finishing my office next. Ta-Wanda!

The next FIVE posts are new. Blogger was fast at uploading my pictures tonight (for once), so I thought I'd try to get caught up on a few more happenings. I'm still not up to date with my pictures. Just think, if I'm this far behind on my blogs, you can imagine how belated my actual photo albums are!

R. J.

Our dear friends, the Cochrans, have this adorable little girl, RJ. I wish I could tell you her full name 'cause it is really stinkin' cute. They came down to visit us while we were visiting T's family in Missouri and we got to spend time together for the first time in YEARS! She has this great big smile that engages her whole face and I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of her!

We love ya'll and hope we can hang out SOON, before another five years passes!

Fall Days

Now that we are moving into winter, I am reminiscing about the wonderful Fall we had. It was really spectacular. Warm weather, a little rain here and there and so much greener and more colorful than past Falls we've experienced in CO. So, we did get out quite a bit. Here are a few shots from a day we went 'hiking' at Red Rocks:

The boy loves his new red 'fireman' boots from Oma, but they are not great for hiking

Trying to be like Daddy:

Zoo Land

Here are my Babes in Zoo Land:

The Giraffe exhibit is one of JG's favorites, since they are right at his level

On this day the grizzly bears were wrestling, which was really cool to watch:

Look at those CLAWS!

I was so preoccupied watching the bears, I kinda missed this one trying to escape:Whoops. Next time check stroller tires for flats before heading to zoo. Rented strollers suck.

Halloween Shot

So, this is a tad bit late. . .

on Halloween, the first house we went up to, JG tried to go inside. That's what you do when you knock on someone's door, right? Well, he was given his piece of candy and we went on to the next house where he learned we don't go inside, but instead, he tried to give this nice lady his candy that he got from the first house. Sweet boy.

E's New Napping Bed

Normal?

Okay, so I can't really post pictures very easily these days since my computer is on the verge of crashing from overload. But, I have so much ripe material from JG that I simply must record. After his 2 1/2 hr nap today, he wanted to stay in bed and read books. (?!?!?!?!) So, after 20 minutes, I asked if he was done. "No. I gwugernna read mores boops" Okay. (?!?!?!?!?!??) So, another 20 minutes I shout up the stairs, "you ready to come down and paint or play or somethin'?" "NOPE!! I read!!!" Okay, then. He is still reading. . .

French

We checked out a video at the library to teach JG some phrases in French. (See "Learning a New Language": http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/11/09/115-promising-to-learn-a-new-language/) So, JG is learning really quick, he's such a sponge. I asked him yesterday, "JG, how do you say Hello in French?". And he replied right away, "Hello in French". Right.

Mimickery

Well, here are the ways my children mimic me these days. They really crack me up!

E: Will wave at me, copy my raspberries and laugh when I laugh. She also crawls around the kitchen chasing me.

JG: Being two, he is really into mimicking me. He went into the office last night and said, "ma, MA. I work. gowiejrlkemf ijew WATCH!Da, Gack (Jack) WORK. And he has started to interrupt me and T when we try to explain things or show him how to do something by saying, "I know, i know, iknow, iknow iknow iknow iknow iknow"

You can lead a babe to bed. . .

Um, just wondering if anyone has advice on how to get your kids to sleep. I know they are both EXHAUSTED, but they are still awake in bed after being there over 2 hours now. (It is 9:00 p.m and JG is still making fire truck siren noises and E is just hollerin' trying to copy him!) I've tried separate rooms, same rooms, singing and other bedtime niceties. Oh well, at least they aren't crying the whole time. Still. . . any other options other than drugs?

By the way, lest you think I'm at wit's end, I am enjoying a large glass of delicious wine and working while propping my feet up. So clearly I'm not too stressed out about the whole thing.

JG's BIRTHDAY

JG turned 2 in September. Two is really fun. We had a small group to paint pumpkins, eat pizza and cake and just generally party in a two year old way. 

At last time to catch up

Well, since I'm at Mimi and Grandad's and am not working on kitchen/laundry/children until 10:00 every night, I'll try to update the blog with a few pictures! Enjoy!