Thanksgiving

We are thankful for so many things.  The list is long and more than I can type.  As we put the boys to bed we often talk about what we are thankful for.  Being thankful is something we should do daily, not just one day.  That will be our goal:  To be thankful on a daily basis instead of here and there.

Some of the things that boys said they were thankful for:
God
Our house
Food
Clothes
A bed to sleep in
School
Teachers
Friends
Mom and Dad
Toys

This year we spent the long Thanksgiving break at home and it was so incredibly nice.
No packing.
No rushing.
No driving.
No times to meet.
No hurrying.
No worries.

The boys and I didn't leave the house for 2 1/2 days!
We slept in.
We stayed in our jammies forever.
We didn't have a routine.
The boys watched movies.
We played outside.
We ate when we wanted.

Dinner was yummy.  Leftovers were just as great.  The pie was the best!

Thankful for a wonderful, long weekend to relax, move at a slow pace, be present, accomplish some things, decorate for Christmas.

Enjoying every moment.

Wolf Pack Member

There is a new member of the Mountain Meadow Wolf Pack in our house!

Cannon was awarded this honor from his class.  The Wolf Pack students are chosen by their teacher for going above and beyond.  They are students who always follow the Timberwolf Way (behavior expectations), who work hard and are kind, caring individuals.

That is definitely Cannon.

This was the first group of Wolf Pack members, since it is a new program for our school.  It was wonderful for Cannon to be one of the first to be honored!

We are very proud of him and he sure does deserve this award.  Tuesday, all of the honorees were honored at a luncheon.  The tables were set up beautifully with many types of treats to choose from. The students had a family member come to eat with them and listen to what their teachers said about them as they received their award.  Chris came for the entire time and brought Cannon a special lunch.  I was able to stop by a couple of times to visit Cannon and say hi.

What a great moment for Cannon...and for us as parents!

Enjoying every moment.

Normal

Our normal weeks consist of...

Breakfasts together.  

Out of the house by 7:20 am during the week. 

Busy, busy days.  

Playing with friends for the boys.  

Legos.

Making lunches.  Every. Single. Day.  

Exercising for me. 

Usually arguing between Cannon and Colson.

Meetings at work. 

Laundry.

Reading to Colson. 

Cannon reading to us or himself. 

Homework. 

Reading in bed for Chris and I. 

Watching a recorded show after the kids go to bed. 

Church on Sunday morning.

Cleaning on the weekend. 

Minecraft for Colson and sometimes Cannon.

A few pictures from this past week:

White bean chilli....it's more like a soup, but oh, so good!  

Colson snuggled up with me in the morning time. He's my early riser!

Cannon's discussion and thinking this month at church as been about service towards others.  This is a great topic and one that I hope to instill in both kids.  

Opening the package from Grandpa and Grandma Anderson.  Cannon read the letter out loud while Colson opened the gum!  

Toys...Legos, trucks and nerf gun.  Watching the last race of the season.  Boys' toys!    

Enjoying every moment. 

Preschool Music and Movement

The preschool classes had their annual program this last week.  This year is was a focus on Movement and Music and the importance of getting up to 'move.'

The preschoolers sang four songs and did some fabulous movements and dancing as they sang.

Colson was very nervous about this performance.  He didn't want to do it at all and was very verbal about this to Chris and I.  As the days drew closer to the program, he was still feeling a bit apprehensive but said he would do it if he could stand by Preston!  Colson started talking about the songs they were practicing, sharing only a little bit.  Finally, the day before the program, he started to feel a little better.  The day of the performance, the class practiced on stage and that helped!  Because that's when Colson changed his mind about being nervous.  He knew what to expect, there wasn't any unknowns and he said he was now EXCITED for the program!

Colson is in the back row with the number 1 on his shirt.

Colson with his teacher, Mrs. Teresa.

Colson and his buddy, Preston. 

Enjoying every moment.

Daily Life

I'm trying to do a better job capturing daily life.  Still need to work on it.  Maybe this post will remind me to take those pictures that I wouldn't normally think to take.  We always capture the funny things or the special moments.  But most of our days are consumed with the normal, daily routines.  It's important to remember that, too!

Here are a few photos from our daily life.

When Colson asks to play Candyland, the answer is always yes!  

We are winding down with the soccer season.  The boys won their game last week.  It rained off and on but we mostly stayed dry!  Only one more game to go.  

Colson is a great student at school and at church!  He enjoys going to his class on Sunday's and I snapped this picture of his group as I was going to pick him up.  They are all eating snack and watching a little Veggie Tales...waiting to be picked up by parents.  

Colson is an EARLY riser and he often comes downstairs and snuggles on the couch.  I am usually up, too and we hang out together.  If you look closely, you can see DC's head right in the middle of the orange blanket...on top.  I see his whiskers and a tiny bit of white.

Noelle (my teaching partner) brought Cannon and Colson a cakepop as a surprise one morning this week!  They had huge smiles on their faces!  

Colson playing around in my room before school.  Cannon took this picture of him!  

Working out, which is a nightly routine for me.  Trying to eat better, too.  Some days I'm good. Some days I'm not. It's a constant battle. 

Cannon got a cool nerf gun for his birthday that they had to put build.  Colson really wanted to shoot it and Chris and Cannon are giving him some help.  

(Notice the skeleton pajamas, which were a Halloween costume for two years in a row and are still being used as jammies!)  

Enjoying every moment.

Boo!

Halloween is always an interesting holiday.  The boys have never got too excited about it, probably because Chris and I don't make a big deal about it.  We always celebrate at the Autumnfest at Mountain Meadow.  It is a safe and dry place to go trick or treating.  Often we, don't go out to trick or treat at houses because we don't need or want to.  The boys have plenty of candy from the Autumnfest.  As they get older, this may change, but for now, it works for us.  

Here are a few pictures from the Autumnfest this year.

Colson was a wolf this year.  (Thank you to Mindy for loaning us Dillon's costume from last year!)

Cannon was a Ninja.  (Thank you to Julie for letting us borrow a costume!)

Colson was to nervous (or shy) to get his pictures taken with his Preschool teachers.  I have to admit, they didn't really look like themselves!  We did get a quick shot of Colson and they snuck up behind him!

The boys at the photobooth.

Some of the Mountain Meadow kids.

Lola, Jen, Colson, me, Cannon, Noelle, Molly, Brayden and Scarlett.

Enjoying every moment.

Photoshoot

We had pictures taken at the end of June by a high school student.  He did a great job with the boys and took a ton of pictures!  However it took 4 months to get the pictures from him and they weren't edited.  :(

But, we did get the pictures finally, which I consider a victory and there were some good ones, even unedited.

Here are a just a few:

Enjoying every moment.

Celebrating Cannon!

October 26th was Cannon's 'real' birthday.  We celebrated all weekend long, but we have to celebrate on the actual day, too!

We started out with a birthday breakfast.  A candle in the waffle and "Happy Birthday" sung to him!  

Ms. Bauer, my teaching partner, bought Cannon balloons and some yummy candy!  Cannon was so excited to have balloons at school!  

I'll never tire of taking pictures with my kids, especially on their birthday!  

Cannon was the guest of honor as we celebrated his birthday in his classroom.  The kids asked him questions and then sang Happy Birthday to him.  Then Cannon handed out the mini cupcakes he brought in to share.  

I still can't believe that Cannon is 8 years old!  I'm so very proud of him!

Enjoying every moment!