Two good boys!!

WOW - as I looked through the pictures to decide which to put on the website, I was taken aback by how sweet each of our boys are! (Not to mention adorable!)

I enjoy watching their little personalities develop.

Nathan is a young man who wears many hats . . . not usually all at once, but he did on this particular day.

I took this picture to show all of you up north that it got cold here and I had to bundle them both up in sweaters. When I looked closer, my heart was warmed to see Nathan looking adoringly on his little brother.

Noah gets his first 'horsey' riding lesson.

Noah is quite the planner. Note the progression of fun . . .

Nathan and I were home one night. Dad was at work, brother was in bed. He had been an especially good boy - and we were really having fun. We, then, had our first 'date.' Just right there in the kitchen. We treated ourselves to some hot chocolate (or mildly warm as was the case for Nathan). It was such a sweet time!

"hey mom, why does yours have more marshmallows???"

Every so often, Nathan likes to carry and play with his baby. (This is the doll we got him before Noah was born to teach him about being 'soft' around the baby.) He likes to be like Mama, and to help Mama. He was playing with the baby and told me that he had to fix something, but he didn't want to put the baby down. After a bit of confusion, I realized what he was telling me he wanted to do . . . hold the baby like Mama does when she fixes things.

Here are some pictures of when we put the Christmas lights out. The boys played together.

Nathan was helping, us by mowing the lawn while Dada hung lights in the tree.

Some things stood out to me as being different from when we hung lights when I was growing up. 1- there were leaves in the tree

2- I never thought about mowing the lawn when we were hanging lights

Here Dada helps Noah strike a pose

Ready - set - go!

This picture was from our early Thanksgiving at the ranch with Oma and Gran and Pappy. They all look guilty if you ask me. . .

Noah is now eating solid (puree) food. He is a quick learner, I tell you. Here he is praying with the family. :)

We got to take a trip up to see Richard at work and have dinner with him. It was fun for us to see where he goes and what he does. It also happened to be a Saturday, so you know what that means? Red Raider football! Nathan, especially, had a great time seeing his Dada in action.

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving lunch. We all had such a great time. I enjoyed having everyone over. The food was great. The company was even better! I really am thankful for my entire family. Richard and the boys. Chrisi & Mike and their family and having them so close by to share these times with. My parents and Grandma who I have memories of Thanksgivings with near to my heart. Our friends that have become like family over the years.

I told you Noah was eating solids, he is wondering when he gets a chance at one of the drumsticks!

Nathan is thankful for Thanksgiving dessert!!

Doug always does enjoy Nathan's toys.One of Richard's favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

Our new family tradition. We all took slips of paper and wrote what we were thankful for, and put them in a jar. We have all been very blessed!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Three - in - one

BABY DEDICATION

Here are some pictures from Noah's baby dedication at church last Sunday. We had to cancel the 'party' at the house afterward because of an icky virus that was going around. But now all are well.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR COMING TO CELEBRATE WITH US AT CHURCH!! It really meant a lot to us!

BATH PICTURES
Noah's first bath in a 'semi-big boy' tub! (too big for the baby bath, too small for the big big tub)

WHAT A DEAL!!

I went to the grocery store to pick up the Thanksgiving (a week and 1/2 early - because this is when Richard is off of work) Brisket. Yes, we are having brisket. For those of you who have never heard of brisket - you are missing out! (except you crystal, I don't think Boca makes one). It is a cut of beef that is typically known for being not very 'desirable' because it can be very tough. BUT, prepared the right way is SO tender and SO flavorful - it is one of my favorite things to eat!! Anyway - I was on the way to the store to get the Thanksgiving brisket and Chrisi told me that it was the feature of the 'meal deal' for the week. ("Meal deal" - noun. a special they have at our store every week where you buy one thing and get some other stuff free.)

And this my friends, is where I will let the pictures do the talking!

Buy one brisket (at only $4.99/pound!):

Get this free:

All of this for $35 -( because I picked the biggest brisket I could find). You don't want to run out on Thanksgiving afterall!!

There were some as small as about 4 pounds! That would be all of that stuff for like $16!! And there is name brand in there - can you see it. Yes for the first time, my family and I will eat "Libby's" green beans, and "Jimmy Dean" bacon, and "Betty Crocker" mashed potato flakes. lol

A trip the the Pumpkin farm!!

We had such a BEAUTIFUL day at the pumpkin farm! It was a good thing too, because they are not as plentiful here as they are in Wisconsin. We had to drive an hour to get to one! It was a breath taking drive through 'the hill country' - so even it was enjoyable.

Nathan and his friends:

All of us on a hayride: Feeding the goats straw:

Feeding the goats carrots and petting them: (they liked the carrots better than the straw - go figure!)

Like father, like son - I love 'em both!!!

My litte pumpkin!

Each of the kids picked out a gourd, and we came to the house and painted them. We all had a ton of fun!

Look What I Can Do!!

Here are some videos of Noah's newest skill . . .

And Nathan's impression of his brother's new skill . . .

What's NOT to love?!?

Making "tillas"

Dictionary entry:
"tilla" (tee-ya) noun. two-year old version of a tortilla

Lately I have been in "I could make that!" mode.

When you have pictures like this - who needs words??

Nathan and I both agree that the round tortilla gets too much press - we are supporting funny shaped tortillas everywhere!! Hey - that one looks like Abraham Lincoln!!

strange new animal sitings!!

Hey there! Welcome to the second edition of 'strange new animal sitings.' I am your host. If you have forgotten the first edition of this program please see the post from February, 26th 2007 featuring the armadillo. In todays edition we will look at the horned toad. Yes, the horned toad. We saw this little (actually pretty big) guy in the road while we were driving on the ranch. Me, being the 'northerner' that I am - had them stop the truck so I could see it. Then Dad W. and Richard even humored me and found a box for me to put him in and bring him back to the house so we could take pictures. I named him samson, because he looked pretty strong to me.

Check out this video of Nathan's first encounter with a horned toad.

fun fact - when an "H.T" gets mad it spits blood out of his eyes!! EEWWWW!!! I was fortunate enough to NOT experience this! We all made sure to use 'soft voices' around him so as to not make him mad!!!

going for a walk

The boys and I went for a walk the other day. It was a beautiful day - and we like to walk. It always gives Nathan and I plenty of time to sing our alphabet song naming things we can see or do (ie. "A" is for apple, "B" is for big truck, "C" is for cat . . . ) It is also fun to have teach him colors and bigger/smaller. We have great conversations about fire hydrants and how fire trucks pull up to them and attach hoses. Nathan is BIG into fire trucks right now. I really think if he ever saw one with it's lights / siren on he would crawl under a leaf and hide, but he likes to look at pictures and read books about them. :)

I also got to teach Nathan a very important skill on this particular walk. I taught him how to pick flowers for Mama. I taught him to:

1- ask Mama or Dada if that flower is ok to pick

2- pull it from the stem, not the top

3- bring it to Mama and say "here Mama" and "I love you Mama"

These are skills no boy should be without. No Mama should be without a boy to do this for her either :) (I have never seen a more beautiful boquet!!)

This walk also marked Nathan's very first skinned knee! Really - can you believe it?!? This was his first one ever. Of course when he stood up, the first thing he said was "dirty dirty. Clean it?" All in all he took it like a champ.