Nutso Matthew

Have I told you how much Matthew loves turning upside down during meals?  He cannot get enough.

Sanctity of Life

"We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, killings, of wars, or of hatred...If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?"  ~Mother Teresa 

I pray with all my heart, with all my mind, and with all my soul for our culture to learn to value the sanctity of life.  May God watch over those families who lost their children today.  This is an evil beyond what many of us can imagine, but it is certainly an illusion that this now chronic problem can be solved by politicians and laws.

Coffee Shop Date!

The other day, we bundled up and walked to our nearby coffee shop (a local chain called Beans and Brews).  Of course, every good walk should involve a snack of some sort.  So, we stopped in the coffee shop and the boys sipped on hot chocolate while I enjoyed a gingerbread latte and we snacked on a rice krispie treat.  Although the conversation left much to be desired (lots of talk about trucks, air vents, fans, furnaces, water pipes, etc etc...), I enjoyed having a fun little date with my 2 favorite kids.

My 2 little buddies:

Andrew has no idea how lucky he is to have a view like that on just an ordinary walk!  I wonder how long we'll have to live here before I get used to seeing mountains all the time and in nearly every direction.  I hope it never happens.  Amazing.

Someone wanted to make sure his "worker boots" worked in the snow (Of course they do. They are snow boots).  Oh, and yes, those are both his tracks--one set on the way there and the other on the way home.  He loves his boots.

He walks!

Matthew finally figured out walking!  He's still much faster at crawling, but it won't take long to perfect this skill!  I am not a huge fan of the crawling stage, so definitely excited about Matthew working his way into toddlerhood.  Next stop--temper tantrums! :)

Brotherly Love

It melts my heart when I catch Andrew and Matthew playing peacefully together.  It's starting to happen with a bit more frequency and I just wanted to share some recent moments of brotherly love.  Future post:  Brotherly Hate.  :)

Playing under the coffee table, again: 

Builders, hard at work.  I have no idea why Matthew's not wearing pants.

Both loving Christmas Juice (Egg Nog) on Thanksgiving morning:

Macy's parade on Thanksgiving:

I gated them together in Andrew's room so I could clean the bathrooms and caught them enjoying some quality chainsaw time:

Andrew the builder and his assistant doing a big project on the coffee table.  I believe Matthew was sawing the table and Andrew was fixing it with pliers.

Hanging out at the train table at Barnes and Noble after story time:

"Mom!  Watch what Matthew can do!  Watch! I give him the block and he can put it away!" ~Andrew

Here they are this morning-working together to dig a hole:

I'm noticing I'm able to step away and let them play together a little more these days.  That means--more coffee time, more reading time, and potentially less smeared banana on the floor in the not too distant future!  

Saintly Confusion

I told Andrew all about St Nick's day today--how he would put his shoes out on Wednesday night and on Thursday morning, there would be a surprise in his shoes!  He started crying and said he doesn't want the surprise because it will hurt when he puts his shoes on.  

Last week we celebrated the feast day of St. Andrew.  I talked to Andrew throughout the day about how he was named after St. Andrew and told him some things about the life of St. Andrew.  At the end of the day, Andrew asked me if he could go back to being Andrew the builder because he doesn't want to be St. Andrew anymore.  

I think B may need to take over in the teaching department around here...

Santa Run

Yesterday, my weekend hiking friends and I did a Santa 5K in Provo.  Everyone in the race was required to wear a Santa suit.  It was hilarious and even though I've only run once since living at 4000+ feet, I survived.  I definitely recommend running while listening to Christmas music....made me so Merry!


All of us in our oh-so-flattering Santa suits:

Of course Santa doesn't go anywhere without his reindeer!  :)