Oh the weather outside is frightful and the fire...

The weather has been cold a few days this fall and stores have been changing every inch of their buildings into a winter wonderland! I LOVE Christmas and all of the meanings with Jesus' birth! I have already started my shopping which is fun, too! It is really not fun waiting unil the very end of November to get ready for Christmas. I usually wait until Friday after Thanksgiving (my morning shopping) to begin decorating the house but this year may be different. I know I have a friend who has had her tree set up for days. (Crazy girl!) David did get all of the boxes down with decorations and it is killing me not to put them up.

Who knows he may come home from hunting with a decorated house?

Drew's Feast

Drew had his class breakfast feast on Thursday. I had fed Drew a little because he is like his Popaw who likes to eat within 5 minutes of getting out of bed. After we got to school I had to bribe him with some snacks to stay in my room and someone else brought powdered donuts which Drew also ate. It was a special day so I couldn't say "No." But when it came time for the feast, he did eat more and even ate part of his lunch! Silly little boy!


My feast was good, too! My students and I made a pumpkin ice cream dessert in a cup. I had a few moms to help and the kids were pretty well behaved.


Now on to Christmas!

Thanksgiving Feasts

Wednesday was John David's feast at school. We went up even though it wasn't his actual school day. John David wanted to go early to play with his friends. It was fun to watch Drew trying to "play" with the older kids. They watched him closely and thought he was a "cute to have a baby" to play.

We went inside for some Chicken Express. I had made Drew a grilled cheese and brought him some milk but as soon as he saw chicken strips & juice, he gave me back his grilled cheese and tried to say "juice" while giving me his milk.

John David had a great time with his friends and his indian headband! John David is sitting next to Tanner one of his good friends (whom I approve of). Here are some pictures from today:

This is Drew who figured out how to stand in his chair!

5 carseats!!!

Yes, I had 5 carseats in my Tahoe last Friday on my way to MOPS! A family in our church has been in need with some of their children lately. One of our friends (Lisa) took care of them plus their own two kids for several days last week. When trying to figure out transportation to elementary school (two cities away) and getting to MOPS, it wasn't working out. So the boys and I went over to help get their kids ready plus another child. It was quite interesting. Hayden fed the kids while I got the girls dressed. I even got to brush and do two different girls hair! It was so much fun!

Meredith and John David had a great time in the very back talking about her doll with backpack. John David hasn't moved his carseat since.

P.S. I was stopped at a stoplight while I took the photo.

Random...

Here is a picture I took of Drew one morning before school. Drew had wondered into an empty room and climbed into a baby swing and even put the arm down. Crazy boy! The ironic thing is that Drew was never happy in our baby swing at home. We decided to donate the swing to the church since neither one of the boys enjoyed it at home. Guess what happened, Drew fell asleep at church in the swing!! That silly little boy!

Drew has a tendency to run off while I am getting ready for school in the mornings. John David will usually respond to me when I call in the mornings. He has gotten really good at asking to play in a certain room which is OK with me. Drew doesn't respond when I call for him to come. Should I expect anything else from my son who is nearly two? :) I devised a way to get Drew to respond to me which makes all of the teachers laugh. When I need to find Drew I start yelling, "Snack? Drew, do you want a snack?" He immediately comes out and calling out, " 'nak, 'nak". Of course he gets rewarded with a snack. He is usually too buys pushing a stroller into different rooms!

Chef John

I started watching Food Network a while back and have several favorite shows. It is also not bad to have on during the day. John David and I enjoy watching "Ace of Cakes" with Chef Duff. John David can even quote the opening "make it bigger, make it badder, make it awesome." John David loves helping me cook, mix, stir, and even crack eggs! For a while he didn't want to crack eggs because the shells kept getting into the mix but now he can crack eggs without getting the shells in the mix! He loves my mixer. He turns it on, off, and changes the speeds effortlessly.

He likes to be called "Chef John" since that is what Duff is called. I haven't told him that Duff went to Culinary School to earn his name. He has an apron of mine that he always insists on wearing. It is cute! I need to get him one with his name on it soon.

This fall we have been making lots of pumpkin rolls from those who have had babies, MGM, birthday, and for a dinner with friends. Tonight we made 2 for David's Thanksgiving meal for work! We always make sure there is at least half without nuts for those who aren't "nutty"-David!

Weekend

This past weekend the boys were with Grammy & Popaw! It was a great weekend and productive, too. David and I had a list of things we wanted to do without the boys. Boulder had to be taken in to the vet before we got to enjoy a late dinner. On Saturday, David and I slept in before going to run some errands. I am wanting a dining room set for the holiday season. We went to several stores checking out prices and styles we liked. We also went to Jared jewelry store to look for anniversary gifts. Our 10th wedding anniversary is next year and we want to travel and possibly some new bling. Watches or rings? We spent over an hour looking at all kinds of watches and diamonds. Did you know Cartier makes a $32,000 watch for women? It was beautiful and even had diamonds on the knob that sets the time! Of course it is way out of our price range but how cool to have something that expensive on my wrist! (Some brand new cars don't cost that much!)



The boys were excited to see us and we were excited to see them on Sunday! Drew threw a fit when we put him in our car instead of Grammy's minivan. It broke Grammy's heart. They had a fabulous time.

Congratulations Dad!

Most of you know my dad retired from the Air Force and decided to teach public school-junior high! He graduated from Baylor (years ago) with a teaching certificate but hasn't really used it. It took some work to become certified in Oklahoma but he has been teaching since 2004 at Central Middle School. He has taught History and English in seventh and eighth grades. Being in the military, he requires students to refer to him as Col. Gorham, as well as, "Yes sir" and "No sir." He also pays them the same respect with "Yes sir/ma'am". He has many interesting stories working with families with different values. He is very strict with the students and expects a lot from them. Parents are usually pleased when they hear what he is expecting of the students. He also has the support of the principal and asst. principals. The students are always amazed that he has three grown kids who survived. :) A few years ago he decided to get a master's degree, too. This past spring he graduated with a master's degree and turned 60!

This afternoon my dad found out that he was the Teacher of the Year for his school! YEA Dad! He was surprised and humbled. I am very proud of him and look forward to see what happens in the future! He wants to become a principal and hopefully he'll move to Texas!

After Trunk or Treat...

David left Trunk or Treat to go deer hunting while I brought the boys home. Here is a picture of Drew throwing a fit in the kitchen over having to go to bed.

Here is a picture of my boys playing with a blowup that John David played with a few years ago.

Halloween 08

Here is my pirate & Mickey Mouse! The pirate wore Crocs because I knew he would be in and out of bounce houses all night long. It is easier to put on than tennis shoes. :)



I was very fortunate this year and didn't have to buy any costumes! How, you ask? John David was Mickey in '05 so it was only natural that Drew would become Mickey. Our wonderful friend, Adrian, gives us tons of boys clothes all of the time which included a pirate costume months ago. (John David wants to grow up to be a pirate!) For a month, John David wanted to a be a doctor like last year. Finally he changed his mind to be a pirate. This past week I bought him an eye patch and hook to complete the costume. On Friday night, John David didn't wanted the eye patch but wanted to take the hook (renamed a "sword") without the cup. The cup made it look more like the character "Captain Hook".

Here is Drew playing with a skeleton-Jack.


My boys with future girlfriends, Kensley as Cinderella, and Grace and Catherine as brides.
We went to FBC Grapevine's Trunk or Treat. John David loved the bounce houses, went to a few trunks before eating dinner and playing a few games. He went to more bounce houses and games before we headed home.




John David and Natalee (skunk) crawling out of a funky looking caterpillar.



Drew had a fun time and not too sure what to think about everything. Drew ate a snickers while walking around to different trunks. He didn't know what to do with the opened candy at first but after much convincing he started to eat it and didn't want to stop. We only carried one bucket for both kids because we don't need two buckets full of candy.
Drew was great to hold my hand but always wanted a piece of candy to carry, too. He finally figured out that if he put the candy in the bucket, he would get another piece of candy! :)

Carving a pumpkin

Here are the boys carving pumpkins last week in the yard. It was fun to watch them. David thought it would be fun for John David to draw out the pattern for David to carve into the big pumpkin. The eyes and nose are his pattern but I made the mouth a little easier to carve. John David thought it was fun to pick up the pieces and play with them on his face so Drew had to follow. It kept us laughing to watch the boys play with the cut-outs of the pumpkins.

On the smaller pumpkin, I used a bat and moon pattern. We had fun watching them light up on the porch!