Noah's surprise visitors

For Noah's 5th birthday, Aaron's parents decided to come and surprise Noah. I gotta say, I really had a hard time keeping the surprise. But we managed to pull it off.

Noah was so excited to have them here...

and have their undivided attention:)

(This is how N always talks, with his hands. We have no idea where that Italian part of him came from:))

There is just so much to show Lolli and Poppi when they come, where to start?

We were playing a game and I was trying to take some pictures, but this is the only face B would make for me...such a silly boy

N was in school several of the morning they were here and B was having so much fun getting some undivided attention with Lolli and Poppi for the first time.

Noah also started a new adventure...Soccer! We found a great deal on Groupon and its proven to be a great way to get him some exercise and a place to run the wiggles out.

It may seem silly to say, but not very often do I get to observe his behavior when we aren't around. And I gotta say I was so excited to see how well he followed directions and listened to his teacher. (whew! All that hard work does have a reward!)

And then he'd show his non-athletic side and wave and blow kisses. Super sweet, but A couldn't understand why he wasn't always paying attention:) I do have to say that we have discovered that sports completely undermine all of what we as parents teach our kids-sharing, letting others go first, being nice, not hitting or shoving. N has been having a hard time understanding why the others won't let him take his turn at kicking the ball:)

B LOVES being N's cheerleader

And he loved having Lolli and Poppi to play with while N was having so much fun of his own.

We have had to re-organize our legos. Gone is the tacklebox, atleast for the time being. Maybe when they are older we'll bring it back out. But for now, multiple boxes with lids make a whole lot more sense and help Mama remain sane!

We started up our tradition again this year of unwrapping one book a night until Christmas and the boys love it.

And just for proof...Lolli and Poppi are helping decorate the tree.

(The first time they have ever done it together that they can remember!)

We also had our Christmas with them while they were here we all had fun playing with their gifts for the next couple of days.

How do the boys say Thank You? With a tackle hug!

And I think B is part acrobat. We were playing with his Legos and he suddenly started climbing the entertainment center to stand on his head:)

Thanksgiving feast attire

So, the week before Thanksgiving, Noah's preschool had a Thanksgiving feast (yes, I'm getting further and further behind) and we had a little fun with his costume. (The 3/4 year old class kids were dressed as the pilgrims and the 4/5 year old class kids were dressed as indians.)

Noah needed to model his costume for me since Daddy was the one to escort him to his feast.

Breven couldn't wait for his turn

And then they wanted Daddy to try it on...

And of course the experience wouldn't be complete without the Mama dressed in the costume too.

Gotta say we make some pretty cute indians:)

Happy Birthday, N!

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, N!!!!

Okay, so I'm a few days late, but its been a crazy week-great, but crazy. Lolli and Poppi surprised N by coming in to celebrate with him for his birthday and at his party (pics will come soon).

(2 days old)

N, I can't believe you're 5! It seems like just last week you came into our lives and made it so much richer and more interesting. When I look back at baby you, I can't help but miss those days when I used to just sit and watch you, with nothing else on the agenda all day. But I also wouldn't trade where we are now for anything. I love your curiosity and enthusiasm for anything with wheels. I love the compassion and kindness that you show others. This week you wanted to share one of your motorcycle magazine with Esha (to send back through Lolli and Poppi)-a testimony to the generous, kind heart God has given you.

(1 years old)

I am always amazed at how easy it is for you to talk to anyone. Something you definitely didn't get from me. :) But you remind me that it doesn't have to be a conversation about rocket science, that you only need to show you're interested in the other person and God will give you the words.

(2 years old)

You are getting so independent. I let you go into the bathroom at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago for the first time. I did however stand right outside the store, counting the minutes, prepared to come to your rescue if you didn't come out in time. But you did just fine, came out in one piece, so proud of yourself for doing what big kids do.

(3 years old)

This is also the year you started school. So its only preschool, but its the beginning of a new part of your life that I won't be able to...okay, I'll just say it-Control. I won't be able to control what you hear, read, who hurts you, or what you're learning. Up until now, that has been my job. But I've learned that it has been the best thing for you. You get so excited about all the new songs, stories, crafts and activities you are learning and doing. You are so confident, you don't look back, don't worry about what I'll be doing while you're gone. You are so ready. You'd have opted for the bus option if preschool offered it. You are just that independent, and I'm thankful for it.

(4 years old)

I love how your smile lights up a room.Even though your boundless energy wears me out, I love that you are just like a Tigger in that you bounce every where. You just learned how to skip and you skip all the time!

(5 years old)

Happy Birthday, Lovebug! Mommy and Daddy are just as in love with you now as when we first met you and we're thankful for the ways God is using you to make us more kind, loving, thankful and patient!

And now, a bit of silly N:

He has a huge knitted blanket from a former co-worker of mine and he loves to use it at nap time. And lately, he's discovered a new way to use it. As a cocoon...

Can you find the N in the pic?

All tucked up and warm, inside, with all of his animals around him.

And another time...

I don't know how he gets in there, but he is definitely sleeping, with all of his animals supporting his legs and back. Silly boy!

What we've been up to

The weeks are getting away from me. This whole "being on a schedule" thing is really tough for me. I've loved our time of doing what we want and now we're trying to embrace the new

Celebrating with my boys. (and yes...I know I'm that far behind!)

Noah is loving all the fun things he makes at school. He loved running around "scaring" Mommy with his spider hat.

Who knew...they spent the whole summer avoiding the sandbox just to discover a love for it just as the leaves are falling off the trees. I've finally had to tell them the sandbox is closed for the season. But I forsee a bright future for the sandbox:)

We had a fun small group night of carving pumpkins. We are no dummies. We knew the boys' attention wouldn't last long, so we only carved one pumpkin. And as Aaron said...

That's as Hawaiian as a pumpkin can get in our neck of the woods:)

Most of our small group. The night was a success.

We also got to take a trip into the big city to visit the Aquarium and going in the middle of the week was great. We were able to take in all of the exibits we wanted to without dealing with the crowds.

The boys enjoyed watching the dolphins and whales

And I think the boys finally found Crush...from Finding Nemo

We had a great day. We ended the day at the Lego store and I could have filled a pool with all the boys drool. I wish I had pictures but they were in heaven...and definitely couldn't decide which set was their dream set

B likes to Rock the hair!

Field Trip!

We got to go on our first official field trip a couple weeks ago...a trip to the farm for a corn maze, pumpkin patch, hay ride, games for the kids and some farm animals.

B-are you excited to be riding on a haywagon?

N-what do you think about your first field trip?

We went with our buddies, Miss J and O! Fun to have a buddy to play with.

The boys took a trip on the cow train and thoroughly enjoyed making the "Moo" sound

...at the top of their lungs.

Noah could have played on these all day. Whenever we had even a moment of free time, he would dart back to these trikes and race

B liked to watch the ducks "race" as he pumped the water

And his group for the morning, with some siblings, right before our

crazy, we-almost-got-lost-in-the-itty bitty maze mania.

B wasn't so sure about the jumping pillow but N loved it.

I love how blue the sky is. I may have to keep looking at the picture all winter to remind myself that there is still blue sky and it will come back again:)

I think we wore him out!

More Candy!!!

I think I'm going to rename Halloween to the day of "More Candy!".

B would get so excited when we got to each house and shout "MORE CANDY!!"

Noah's trash truck costume-he requested to be a trash truck man. Thanks to a couple of friend's ideas, we created our own trash truck. Whew...this was a lot of work. And we didn't take into account how heavy it would be, but he loved it and manuvered around all the kids and houses pretty well. He couldn't really reach the door to knock, but quickly figured out that he could use his back end to bang against the door.

As B has already requested his turn in the trash truck costume, we need to design better wheels, as he was wheel-less by the end of the night!

B was our little Bee! He wasn't so sure about it until he went to show big brother and N told him how cool he was. (Way to go Noah!)

We planned to stay out for just a little while since the boys don't really need that much candy, but they were having so much fun, they begged to stay out even longer and we were out the whole 2 hours!

(Yes, for our back home family, there are designated times for trick-or-treating!)

And of course, what trick or treating would be complete without checking out the new stash! I really wish B was more into candy...(just kidding!)

And I thought it would be fun to go back and see all the costumes:)

2007

2008

2009

2010