The talk

Steve had the "Santa is pretend, we play along because it's fun" talk with Luke yesterday. They talked about God's love for us, His amazing gift to us and St. Nicholas' generosity in Jesus' name.
It's probably pretty confusing for a 5 year old since everything in the Big Box stores and on TV is about Santa and presents, presents and more presents! We've talked a lot over the last week about Jesus' birthday and that's reason we celebrate Christmas and that we give presents because we love others and want to show them that, like God showed his love for us by sending Jesus to earth.

Fastforward to today. My uncle stopped by and was talking to Luke about Santa coming tonight. Luke looked at him for a minute, then said point-blank "Santa isn't real ya know." My uncle seemed shocked that a 5 year old would say such a thing. I'm sure he was surprised that we had told him the truth, ultimately "ruining" Christmas for Luke. He looked at Luke and while pointing to his heart said, "Well, but he's in here and in here" motioning to Luke's heart. Luke paused for just a moment then said, "And so is God!" I was so proud of him!

All dressed up with places to go

I think I can

Believe it or not, this went on for over 5 minutes! It was so hilarious; we were laughing hysterically!!!

Halloween

Luke is going to be the red Ninja Turtle, Raphael. We've had this costume for almost a month and 2 days ago Luke says to me, "but mommy, I wanted to be the blue ninja." Who knew?!?

My little green monster, rrr, I mean dinosaur.

Jonah thought the insides were gross to look at and yucky to touch, yet fun to fling around the table with the carving spoon.

Smile!

Ooooooo.......

The end result:

Happy boys and awesome jack-o-lanterns!

School starts again!

Luke was so excited for the first day of school! He got to wear new "cool" pants and a "cool" belt. His "cool dude" pose.

Luke's cubby and new school supplies.

Mrs. Jenkins let the kids open their paints on the very first day!

Meeting Jonah

My grandparents, Wally & Barb, live in Kennewick, Washington.  We don't get to see them very often, which is why they didn't meet Jonah until he was a year and a half.  We had a grand time visiting with my kid's great grandparents!  I love them both dearly; spending time with my grandpa Wally reminds me how much I miss my dad.

Jonah is a curious one...he tried really hard to get in to the cat house.  My aunt had a little chat with him and he moved on to another exploration.

Teeth brushing 101

Jonah is learning to brush his teeth, but really all he does is chew on the toothbrush.  He's required to sit on the bathroom stool while he "brushes," otherwise I find him brushing things that shouldn't be touched with a toothbrush...the sink, the floor, the mirror, oh, and bath toys.  After he spends a few minutes chewing on the bristles, it's my turn to finish up.  He doesn't like this part which is evident by the fight he puts up by hand over hand hitting.  I usaully have to hold him down on the ground in order to get the toothbrush in his mouth.  Don't worry, we both come out giggling in the end!

  

Hiking between the raindrops!

We planned to camp for Labor Day Weekend this year, but the rain scared us away! Mom and Terry braved one night of camping, so we drove up for the day. It was raining when we arrived, but it lifted just long enough for us to hike to Silver Falls.

We made it to the top and got wet under the falls...oh, wait, we were already wet from the rain!

Fair is fair, let's ride!

We made it to the Waterville Fair this year! The kids had fun at the baby animal petty farm...chicks, bunnies, piggies and more!

Despite the look on Jonah's face, he LOVED all the animals!The Super Slide was really high up, but we weren't scared...well, I wasn't. The look on Luke's face speaks louder than his reassuring words, "that was SUPER!"Jonah thought fishing was the best! Luke hit all 3 cups with the cork gun. He won one of the pandas in the background.

Safety First

We stopped at Pig n Pancake for breakfast on the way home from Pacific City. While we were waiting for a table, Gumby caught Luke's eye so we purchased one on our way out the door.

Jonah thought Gumby was pretty neat, but after a few minutes of play there was a frustrated squeal from the backseat of the van. I looked back to see Jonah struggling with Gumby by his seatbelt. I reached back and slid Gumby in his seatbelt strap and, boy, did he light up! I guess he thought Gumby should be buckled up for safety!

I'm always up to something...

The Climb

Jen, Valeri, Sarah, Abby, Emma, Caleb and I climbed the HUGE sand mountain at the end of the beach in Pacific City. It was even harder than it looked; the last 50 feet was extremely steep!

I stood as straight as I could to take a picture of the incline. This was before the really steep part! Me at the top. I took a picture of myself, can you tell? The view of the beach from the top. The sun was down by the time we made it to the top. We could start to see camp fires light up the beach.

The Hodson's at the top! I love this picture of my girls!

I have a great video of us running down the hill, but it won't upload to my blog. I'll research and try again later.

A day at the beach

Our vacation at Pacific City, OR was filled with relaxation and exploration! Luke got buried up to his neck in the sand. If you know Luke, you know that this is a HUGE step towards "boyhood" as he really doesn't like to be dirty. Smashing sand "rocks" with his bare hands; he's sooooo strong!
Jonah on the other hand is all about dirt. He was literally rolling in the sand from head to toe!
We drove to Lincoln City to buy kites and Luke picked the 3D shark kite. It was our first time flying kites as a family. I have very fond memories of flying kites with my dad when I was a kid. I hope the same will be true when my kids are older.

Random Acts of Jonah

Jonah is definitely my random baby. He's into everything...closets, buckets, drawers and more!

My mom taught him to help unload the dishwasher by getting all the plasticware and putting it in the drawer. This day, he decided to roll on the floor and play with all the clean lids.

He's learned a few signs so he can communicate basic needs. This means "up."

Kisses for Mommy.

Cold watermelon on the front porch. What more could a kid want...besides another shoe!