Merry Christmas To All...

And to all a good night!!

Rudolph The Encore

Since the last video didn't really capture the "essence" of Jacob's singing abilities, here is Jacob singing a solo version of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer...

Jacob's First Christmas Concert

To the tune of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer:

"Jacob and his Room 9 Buddies,
Had a Christmas concert tonight,
All of the kids wore antlers,
It was really quite a sight!"

"Mommy and Daddy and Joshie,
Watched and clapped when Jacob did sing,
Here's a little video clip of it,
Look* at Jacob do his thing!"

*note: Jacob is the little buddy on the very far right end



"Then one froggy* Christmas Eve,
After the concert was done,
All the kids lined up to meet,
Santa who to the kids did greet,"

**this is how Jacob says it

"Jacob was pretty frightened,
Then he shouted out with glee,
'Santa has candy canes for us!'
We got the photo op momentarily!"

Dinosaur Safety

A few months ago, Jacob's class learned about "fire safety." It was a great educational unit for the kids. One week, we counted all the smoke detectors in our house for Jacob's homework. During another week, we drew a map of our fire escape plan from the house for another assignment. On the third week, when asked by the teacher what to do if there's a fire in your house, Jacob responded:

"Get your baby brother from upstairs and get out." Way to go little buddy.

So, we were pretty pleased with the fire safety unit. This month, the class has been studying dinosaurs. One week, the kids played with dinosaur toys and the teacher wrote down each child's favorite dinosaur. Jacob's was T-Rex, of course. The next week, the class did an art project where each child made a dinosaur out of paper bags, coffee filters, "googely eyes" and paint. Jacob made a T-Rex, of course. On the third week, when asked by Mommy and Daddy what he was learning about in school, Jacob responded:

"Dinosaur safety." Hmmm. I wonder what that is?!?

So remember, just be very careful if you are ever in the presence of dinosaurs. You'd better get your baby brother from upstairs and get out!

Jacob's New Wheels

You know you're moving up in the world when you finally own a sports car:

Daddy-O!

The "O" stands for "Oregon" -- go Ducks! Here's a few photos from Daddy's birthday a couple weeks ago. We had a great weekend:

Golfing with the Westerlinds at an indoor golf course (so sweet!) We all didn't play very well, but we all had a blast wacking at the ball.

A pre-game dinner at Macayo's, one of our favorite mexican food joints. Glenn joined us for the festivities.

We ended the night by cheering on the Oregon Ducks vs. ASU at the football game. If you didn't see the game, Oregon killed the Sun Devils. Bonus: we got to get our photo with the mascot himself!!!

Happy b-day Jon (Daddy)... we love you!

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep...

A true conversation that happened yesterday morning...


Jacob: Mommy, I sleeped really good last night.
Mommy: Oh, good! I'm glad you did.
Jacob: I didn't have any bad dreams.
Mommy: That's great. I'm sure Jesus helped you have sweet dreams.
Jacob: No, Mommy. Jesus doesn't live in this town.
Mommy: Jacob, Jesus is everywhere. He's always here to help us.
Jacob: No, Mommy! He doesn't live in this town! I never see'd him.


Sigh, I wonder what they'll think of that in Sunday school.

;-)

Halloween 2008 Conclusion

We ended our weekend festivities with a costume party at Sam and Belinda's house. Otherwise known as:

Dorothy...

and

Napoleon Dynamite.

The kids went also. It was great to be able to get so much use out of the kids costumes!

We had to get some costumes of our own for this shindig. Say hello to:

Edgar Martiez and Mixed Greens With a Side of Dressing (ba-dum tsch!)

We also had a surprise appearance by "Thanksgiving Jon," also known as Steve:

What a fantastic party and a fun-filled weekend!

Halloween 2008 Continued

Here's us on our big evening of "Trick-or-Treating."

Batman and Robin were more than happy to be out and about gathering candy from the neighborhood.

The boys went together as a duo, which was pretty cute to see.

The family was out in full force!












What night would be complete without counting up the candy, and sharing some with a brother?

Halloween 2008

No Cavities!

Jacob went to the dentist for the second time in his short life. This time was the "real deal" as opposed to the 5-minute visual exam we had six months ago.

After sitting down in the dental exam chair (which REALLY makes a small kid look even smaller since the chairs are designed for adults), our big boy bravely endured the following:

• Scraping plaque off the teeth
• Polishing the teeth
• Flossing the teeth
• X-rays of the teeth

All that and NO cavities to boot! What a stud. The x-rays showed that his lower jaw is a little narrow and is crowding the teeth. Perhaps there are braces in the future, but we'll save that sort of visit for the teenage angst years.

The day was topped off with four stickers which Jacob promptly put all over his shirt. What more could you ask for?

Pumpkins Roasting In a Summer's Heat...

Well, even though it was 100 degrees today, we decided it was close enough to Halloween to go to our local pumpkin patch!










We've gone to Tolmachoff Farms for several years now and they seem to have the best selection and that "down-home-country feeling" when you arrive at the farm.

Aunt Ali and Uncle Kyle went with us and the kids as we all sweated our way around the haystacks to pick out the best pumpkins.

We ended up with two really nice pumpkins, one for each child, and also purchased some homemade blackberry surup and some spicy salsa (what fall season is complete in Arizona, without some chips and salsa! p.s. - notice the homage to Glendale Prep in this photo)

Later that afternoon, we carved and ate the fruits of our labor (or are pumpkins a veggie??) by roasting the pumpkin seeds and also making some pumpkin cream-cheese rolls from the insides.

The kids loved carving the pumpkins. Ali helped Josh make his scared pumpkin, and Angela helped Jacob make his scary pumpkin.

What a fun day!

Now, if it would only cool off a bit, we might feel like we can go trick-or-treating without all the candy melting...

We Love Our Boys!

Even with a few bumps and scrapes, our boys are the cutest! Here's some fall photos from school recently.

Peekaboo!

Here's a fun peekaboo game the boys were playing tonight! There's a few disclaimers* about this video, noted below.

*Note: Jon wanted to mention that while it appears that he's lounging on the couch in a "wife beater" t-shirt watching TV, he's been very involved and working hard helping with the kids. Angela wanted to vouch for that fact as she's been immersed in work and Jon's been picking up the kids, making dinners, running to Costco to get diapers and all sorts of various other things. Jon and Angela both wanted to also mention that while it appears that Marty and Molly are causing trouble, they are really just playing and generally get along very well 98% of the time (phew... those were a lot of disclaimers!).

Holy Costume, Batman!

Wowzers! I wonder what the Rickey boys are going to be for Halloween, Batman?

You'll just have to be patient and wait a few more weeks, Robin the Boy Wonder.

Irony

A bit of irony this week:

• Cleaned out Joshie's closet and found some new clothes, size 12 months! Too bad he's already wearing size 18 month clothes...
• Made some healthy berry oat bars with hidden spinach inside! Too bad Molly got to the ingredients and snuck off to eat a whole tub of margarine while they were baking...
• Found out picture day is back at the kids school on Monday—that will be cute! Too bad Jacob fell on the sidewalk tonight and has a giant bruise and bump smack dab in the middle of his forehead... (poor little guy!)

Bob the Builder

We don't ever even watch Bob the Builder, but somehow when we got these cute hats from a friend's birthday party, they became a huge hit with the kids.

The boys put these on when they play toys in their rooms.




It's a hoot to see them running around in construction hats (like the video post earlier).

I'm sure they are hard at work...


We sometimes even get the plumbers crack!

A Dog is a Dog's Best Friend

Family Updates

Stole this idea from a friend -- so cute! Here's some family updates:

• Jacob is saying the funniest things. Lately, he'll preface sentences with "Your never gunna believe this...!" It's hilarious. He also stated this week that he's married. To Mommy. Cute!
• Joshua is walking like a pro now. It makes us giggle because he sort of leads with his stomach, as if his belly is guiding the way. He can also say "book" pretty well.
• Angela is gearing up for a busy season at work. Thank goodness for a supportive husband and family/friends network!
• Jon is thriving at his new job. The boys football team for his school just won their first home football game. Go Glendale Prep!
• Marty is fitting in so well with our family. He's a delight to have around. Great with the kids and keeping Molly on her toes (or paws). We also took him to the vet this week and found out he's a pure bred beagle in good health. Phew!

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

No, we're not talkin' Doublemint Gum. We're talkin' TWO DOGS! That's right: this weekend we expanded our family. We took a trip to the County Animal Care and Control facility and rescued a beagle to join Molly. The guess is that he's three years old and he didn't have a collar or a name. So, we're calling him Marty.

When we met Marty, he was great with the kids. He licked their faces and sniffed around gently. He didn't seem a bit bothered by the laughing, poking and proding of the boys. So, we figured he would fit right in.

However, we weren't able to bring Molly with us when we met him so the official dog introduction didn't happen until tonight. We waited until after his surgery (getting neutered so there's no "frisky business") and then brought him home for keeps.

The introduction went something like this:


(sniff, sniff)



"bark, bark... bark!!"

All in all, it went great. We consider it very lucky that Marty is already following commands like "sit" and "stay." He even went to the bathroom OUTSIDE. Bonus: he's already house trained.

Both dogs seem to be tolerating each other for now. Perhaps it takes longer than four hours to develop a friendship :) We're hoping that the added companionship for Molly during the days while we're all at work/school will be a huge benefit.

So, tomorrow starts the first day where the two are alone in the house together. All day. Hmmmm... hope they don't decide to double the destruction. But, even if they do, how could you get mad at two cute faces like this:

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Domestic Goddess...

For a brief moment, I can actually imagine that this is me:
We had a very productive family weekend and I'm on a "mommy high" looking back over the past two days and what has been accomplished. So far, Saturday and Sunday has included:

• Taking the kids to the zoo
• Shopping at the mall, which amazingly produced finding an early Christmas gift for someone
• Family swim time in the community pool
• Cleaning the house and doing laundry
• Making veggie purees for the week to sneak
  into the kids food
• Doing an art project with Jacob
• Teaching Josh the word "book"
• Going to the library

We've just given the kids baths and now it's off to make dinner. This only happens once in a blue moon that I feel so domesticated! Back to reality, fast food and TV this week I'm sure.

;-)

A Nice Quiet Evening At Home...

... yeah, right.

Walk This Way!

Joshie can walkie! Every day he gets better and better. It's awesome! Go Josh:

Slip and Slide Back To School

School starts next week in Arizona which means Dad goes back to work. We've had SUCH a great family summer! One of the big thrills this year was the slip n' slide we bought for our backyard. Here's a glance at both the boys using it a few weeks ago.

We're going to go swimming this weekend, so the water play will continue. It's funny because "back to school" usual signals the "fall" weather coming. However, Arizona doesn't usually dip out of the 90/100 degree weather until after Halloween (sigh). So, we may pull the ol' slip n' slide out yet again!

Of note: We had a scare with Joshua a couple weeks ago. He burned his little precious hands on the bottom of an outdoor grill. Thanks to some great docs at the burn unit and all the prayers, he'll be just FINE. Our little Joshie is quite a trooper! Thanks to our family and friends for your support.

Our "Cool" Friday Night

Here's us tonight, bumming around the house just hangin' out as a family (warning: this video is not exciting, but it's what we do on a Friday night!)

Date Nights = Great Nights

While our lives are mostly about the kids, Jon and I have been doing a lot of "date nights" this summer. It's a very healthy thing for a relationship, not to mention a lot of fun!

Here's a list of the great movies we've been able to see this summer:

• Wanted
• Indiana Jones
• Hancock
• Get Smart
• Batman

Ahhhh... a list that long is reminiscent of the "old days." A special shout out is due to our family and trusted babysitter who've been utilized a lot more than normal recently :) We love you!

Cool Boyz

Check out these cool boyz...

These photos are a tribute to Chris and David who have taught us that it's ok to have our kids dress with "pizzaz" (as C & D are regulary seen wearing pink shirts and aviator sunglasses).

Back To The Future

The funniest thing happened: we recently had to take our beat up, old 1998 Honda Civic to the shop to get the speedometer fixed. For some reason, the whole thing had to be replaced. Even though our car has over 100,000 miles on it, we now own a car with just over 100 miles on it:
The inside of the car is like being back in 1998. The outside of the car reminds you that the car has been around for 10 years... ha ha!

Happy 1st Birthday Joshua!