Thankful. So thankful.

Well, despite not being able to go back for Thanksgiving due to the crazy amounts of snow that have hit here...It. Was. Wonderful! We got to spend the day with friends! New friends. Which I am so so so very thankful for! There was a TON of yummy food. A few took all but 2 kids sledding! They said it was a looooong walk home but it was so much fun!! The kids watched movies and just hung out. We talked and laughed and ate and talked and laughed and played Apples to Apples and laughed and ate and laug......It was so much fun! I really missed being able to spend time with our family over on the "other side" but this was a special year anyway, and that I am very thankful for! Thomas had 4 days off! In a row :) we had lots of fun just hanging out all together. He built an awesome snow fort with the boys! We went sledding down our front stairs and yesterday we went and got our tree from Greenbluff. The snow was so deep! I had to carry the younger kids while Thomas carried the tree! It was up to Ethan's waist :) I am starting to really love the snow. I am so scared of it. I love to look at it. I love the icicles and pure whiteness of it. And the beauty gives everything it touches. But when we drive in it...I think I actually have mini strokes the entire drive...and I almost pee my pants. Every. Single. Time. Maybe one day, just maybe, I'll learn to drive in it or at least get more used to it. I'll keep you posted :) Moving over here has been nothing but an adventure! I have had some lonely moments, but by far the blessing after blessing after blessing after, well you get the point, have far outweighed it! I love it here in Spokane and I love and cherish the friendships that I have made over here and I'm so excited as I a sure they will only grow! Praise be to God! He's done it again. He has taken care of my EVERY need. My cup runneth over!

Today.

• Had a wonderful visit with sweet friends.
• Cozy chai tea lattes.
• Kids played out in the leftover snow.
• Tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch.
• My almost 16 month old decided she didn't want a chocolate chip cookie, but would rather have orange slices. I can't complain.
• Elijah gave away 2 "hotwheels" cars to a special friend.
• Ethan has been wearing one pair of underwear all day!
• My sweet hubby is bringing me home a peppermint white chocolate mocha. I. Can't. Wait!
• Bible study and fellowship tonight!
• Today was and is great!

Let's celebrate the first snow!!

The littles. And me.

• Lyla's newest. She has to have everything whole...bananas, bars, fruit leathers. Everything. If I break off a part, or bite off a part, she falls apart. Looks like a little training is in order!
• Ethan says our house is cold. He said, "I'm touning to ice!" I told him to put some clothes on. He cried.
• I tried this http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/ . Elijah cried. He thought I was mad. I laughed so hard I cried. Now he thinks I'm crazy.

It's a Lightning McQueen, prince, happy kind of day!

Today is the big day! My Ethan Landry is 3. I. Can't. Believe it! Has it really been 3 years?! We lost our Cars movie over a year ago. But Ethan still loves Lightning! He said, "It will be my bewthday. You all will sing happy bewthday to ME! And I will eat a why keen {lightning mcqueen} bewthday cake!" He was so excited about this for the past 2 weeks :) Seeing him smile makes my heart melt. So today he is a prince. He gets whatever he wants. All day. He gets to be spoiled. Rotten. For 1 day. That is what I would want. He wants oatmeal for breakfast. Pancakes for lunch. And pancakes for dinner. So that is what we will have. I made a banner for him and hung up some streamers. He opened his gift before Papa went to work. Elijah made him a sweet card. And bought him {with his own money} a color changing lightning mcqueen car and a grabber thing. We got him some mcqueen slippers. He LOVED it! And tonight, after pancakes, we are going to surprise the boys with Build-a-Bear. I can't wait to see their faces! Birthdays are a fun thing around here! I hope it's always as special as it is right now. Happy 3rd birthday to my oh-so-sweet, strong-willed and very intense, loving, funny, little Ethan! I love everything about you with all my heart.

Never A Dull Moment. 4

Well though it has been a while, I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not...Ethan has passed along his "love" for baby powder to Lyla Jane...so twice in the past couple weeks one whole 15oz bottle of Johnson and Johnson's baby powder {about half each time} has found it's way onto the carpet and the couches and in the bird cage and on the coffee tables and all over two very guilty and darling children...once I was eating and the other time cleaning up the kitchen. Both times I suddenly smell this very strong powdery fresh smell...to which I say a bit aggravated, "Who is playing with the powder?!" And faintly from around the corner I hear Ethan. "Me and baby was..." So off to trouble..and a couple days later, same scenario. The good thing? Ethan has learned how to vacuum! And Lyla Jane? Well Lyla decided she won't touch the powder for a while...instead she takes the birdie food {by the handfuls} and throws it all over the carpet and couches and coffee tables instead...{sigh} Today though. Today was different...I sent my big boy Ethan into the bathroom to dispose of his potty diaper, use the toilet and put on some big boy undies...I went downstairs to help Elijah find some plain white paper. Ethan still hasn't come out...so I go in. Then I go right back out of the flooded bathroom. Breathe. He is just a curious little boy. God help me deal with him with out getting angry...so I go back in. GASP. The hand towel is stuck down the toilet. He said he flushed "a really lot of times" Only about 1 inch of water covering the entire floor...a few towels will take care of that. But then I see he has taken out the bubble bath. And squirted it all over the toilet, floor, tub...I guess he wanted a bubble flood? This all took place in about 3 minutes flat. That's my boy! Very efficient :) Needless to say the clean-up was a bit more than 3 minutes. But somehow his sweet, "I sowy fo doin dat mama." Makes it all better. Really. I love those little knuckleheads! There is NEVER a dull moment!