Lots to be thankful for...

As I look back over this past year, all I can say is that we have a lot to be thankful for!

10. Selling our house in Duluth.
9. Finding, buying, and moving to a new place in Shakopee quickly.
8. Having a pool in our neighborhood :)
7. Friends moving into our town!
6. Being closer to family and old friends, making visits more frequent.
5. Super Target.
4. Vehicles that can be fixed by my hubby!
3. ebay sales ;)
2. My awesome, lovable, super smart hubby! We are so proud of you!
1. All three of my amazing little men; Sean, Isaac, and Andrew. I love you more than words.

We had a great Thanksgiving with both sides of the family. The Sunday before, we hosted Graham's side at our house. It was a great visit with lots of food! Thanks for coming up here, it meant a lot to us. Graham had to miss his first of many (unfortunately) holidays, but he was there in spirit. We went to my parents' on Thursday, and had a great time there, too! Great weather made it possible to spend lots of time outside, lots of great food to eat, and good company. We missed Alli, and we can't wait to see her at Christmas! Family gatherings are never the same when someone is missing...

I went Black Friday shopping at midnight with my good friend, Julie! We waited out the frenzy at Champs with a beer, then got rock star parking, and never had to wait in a line...awesome!! Can't wait until next year! We were home by 3:30am, and I was up by 7:00am with super excited little boys ready to put up the tree! Yipee!! It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday, the boys and I drove up to Cambridge to visit my old friend Sarah and her family. It was so great to see them and meet their newest addition, Betsy! She is beautiful, and I enjoyed being able to snuggle her! Sean loves playing with Annika and Sofie, and he always comments how beautiful they are when we get back in the car. I agree, her girls are beautiful inside and out, just like their mommy :) We are lucky to have them in our lives.

We ended the weekend with colds, laundry, and laziness...just what the doctor ordered :)

Need I Say More...

No Comment :) Ugh!

Oh, Isaac!

Well, it all started about a week ago right after my mom and sister came to visit. Isaac climbed out of his crib for the first time. He only attempted it once last Sunday, then I caught him in the act again on Tuesday. Thursday morning, he surprised me during my morning workout in the basement...by climbing out of bed, opening his bedroom door, crawling down the stairs, and walking into the basement to find a VERY surprised mama!

With all these "minor" incidences, I guess we should have been prepared for tonight. The longest night of our lives. We went through our normal bedtime routine of a bath, snuggle, milk, and to bed. Only this time the door opened up behind me and out runs Mr. Isaac! I have to say it made us giggle. This repeated over and over again. We were concerned for his safety, so we took the front off his crib to make it more like a daybed and turned his door knob so the lock was on the outside. This was fun for a little while, then the crying started, and it was so heartbreaking! I went in to rub his back, and he just continued to sob :( We figured that he was just really scared about his bed being different, as here is our little cub without his den :(

So daddy to the rescue! He was able to take apart the bottom of his crib to make the mattress lay on the floor with all four sides of the crib in tact and still up! Hooray! The den is back, and the little cub is safe, happy, and finally asleep! He was not able to climb out as it lowered it a good amount! Buys us a little more time! Phew...my babies are growing up way too fast :(

Which one of these is not like the others?...

Yup...

This explains everything...

Sean is our organized, friendly, clean little man.

Andrew is our organized, shy, neat, little man.

Isaac is NOT our organized, neat, clean, or shy little man...

more like our WILD little man!

Picture Wednesday...

Sean and Isaac
Daddy and Sean
Mommy and the twins
Mommy and her boys
Daddy and his boys

Catch Up Time...

It has been a fun and busy week at the King house, once again :)

Graham started a new rotation last Monday that has kept him very busy. He is in Med I, which is like Internal Medicine. He says that he is learning a ton, and he is also working a ton. He will have his first day off this Saturday...I can only imagine the spread he is going to be making for breakfast, as it is his favorite meal of the day...lucky us!

Sean has a preschool buddy that has started doing daycare with us. It has been a great addition to our routine. Sean loves having a playmate each day, and it is fun for me to do "school" with them. We love to go to parks and playing outside, so we really try to get out each day. He is excelling in school, and it is so fun to see what he is learning. Now, if I could just take the time to teach him how to tie his shoes...I always remember at 10pm...I need to add it to my "To Do" list!

Isaac is one determined little man. He just learned how to climb out of his crib on Sunday!! Yikes!! He has only done it that one time so far...I am waiting for the day he gets out of it all the time. I hope I have a little while yet! If I turn my back for a second, I can find him doing one of the following; climbing and dancing on the coffee table, climbing onto the kitchen table, opening the bathroom door and climbing into the tub/playing in the toilet, climbing Sean's bunk bed ladder, etc. (all things that we do not want him doing). This little guy makes our hearts stop often! He recently learned how to give kisses, and he still gives the biggest hugs.

Andrew loves building things with Lego's, and then loves taking them apart. He absolutely LOVES to be outside and hates having to come in (sorry neighbors). He will push a truck around outside forever, or until he sees something better that his brothers might have ;) He has a loud and contagious laugh, and he loves to be tickled and cuddled. He isn't that interested in climbing out of his crib...yet...I think he is waiting to see if it will hurt and/or if Isaac will get into trouble before he attempts it! He is our more cautious one.

Me, well, a friend and I are helping one another stay on track with working out. It feels so good to be on a routine. Now if I could get my diet under control...I often tease that maybe I should just workout harder so I don't have to worry about food...sometimes I think it would be easier! I love when we have visitors, and I have been blessed with some great ones this last week (Mandy, mom, and Molly). I did learn the importance of checking in on family and friends this week too, and I think that will be my New Year's Resolution this year. I need to be better at picking up the phone and planning spur of the moment visits...they mean so much.

Hug your babes today for me. I can't hug mine enough. I am so lucky and blessed.

Pictures!

Here are some fun pictures from the weekend. We all had fun at the Zoo, look at all the pointing :) Also, notice where their new play area is now that we have opened up the twins' room for play...Yup, that is the closet! Enjoy :)

Fun Weekend!

I love spur of the moment activities! They always seem to be the most fun :)

On Friday night, my friend Julie came over to cut my guys' hair. It was fun, not only because they all did awesome getting their hair cut, but because she brought her family. We hung out, had a few cocktails and snacks, and our kids always have a blast together.

Saturday, Graham worked on his car in the morning. It has had an engine light on for awhile now, and even after taking it in to have it looked at it, the light was still on. It has been frustrating, but Graham did some research online and discovered a common problem. The part cost $7, and it took him a only few hours. Now the light is off...Way to go, Babe!! Wish we wouldn't have paid for the computer diagnostic...waste of money!

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and took the kids to the Minnesota Zoo after lunch. They all had a blast! The twins really noticed everything and there were lots of oohs and ahhs and pointing :) Fun, fun, fun!!

Today, Sunday, has been a great, productive day, too! The time change really played with me all day, so I feel like it should be so much later than it really is. The kids got up at their normal time, only it was an hour early. We rearranged the kids' rooms so that they are more kid friendly. We are tired of having all the doors shut upstairs, and Sean really needed a dresser to organize his clothes. The babes sure love the freedom of being able to play in their room, now :) Then, we ran some errands, had a blast getting blown away at the school park, and treated ourselves to DQ for lunch (special treat these days, reminds me of when I was a kid).

It has been great having this quality time together :) We all needed it :)

8th Anniversary!

Where did the 8 years go?! We sure have made a lot of great memories in our 8 years together...and we celebrated in the most perfect way...a dinner date for two! Perfect! Looking forward to many more to come, Love You Graham!