Cyber Monday!

It is CYBER MONDAY!

If you need a book or two for Christmas,
birthdays or just for you...

check out the deals HERE!

Naomi: 7 Months

Moving right along... literally... this girl is on the move! She is crawling, pulling up and getting in to all sorts of predicaments. :) She is about 22lbs but it doesn't slow her down at all. She recently discovered the wonder that are stairs. I love these pictures because it reminds me of one I took of Ben... you can see it HERE.

Naomi babbles all the time, and loves to go to bed early (unlike her brother). And she has a passion for ALL food, especially yogurt (goat yogurt, as she is still quite allergic to dairy. :( ). She is such a joy in our life!

Birthday Bliss

Birthday Bliss ONE:

As Ben came down the stairs this morning...

Ben: Mommy, I was outside and a blue dog was chasing me.

Leah: Oh my, Ben did you dream about a blue dog?

B: Uh huh. And I was scared. And I ran... and then... YOU SAVED ME MOMMY!

I wonder how much longer I will be the heroen in his dreams. I will take it as long as I can get it!

Birthday Bliss TWO:

Andrew kept both kids this morning while I went with a friend and cleaned a 3rd friends' house - she had a baby last week. So we cleaned and then we had breakfast, sat and talked and I got to hold her baby.

Birthday Bliss THREE:

And when I got home there was a MADE FROM SCRATCH carrot cake, waiting to be frosted. Yes, that's right. MY HUSBAND KEPT BOTH KIDS AND MADE ME MY FAVORITE CAKE FROM SCRATCH.

Birthday Bliss FOUR:

We have grand plans to cut down our Christmas tree and decorate it this afternoon. Everywhere we visit we get a Christmas ornament... so we get to relive our traveling days as we decorate.

Birthday Bliss FIVE:

and then tomorrow we are going to see Harry Potter 7a. :)

Birthday Bliss SIX:

I heard Christmas music on the radio this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Not a bad way to usher in my late 20's. That's right folks. 28. Yikes.

The Boy

Bumpersticker(s) of the Day

NEW HEALTH CARE PLAN
= DON'T GET SICK
--
DON'T MAKE ME RELEASE
THE FLYING MONKEYS
--
JUST SAY NO
TO SEX WITH A PRO-LIFER
--
MY INNER CHILD IS A TERRIFIC KID
--
NO YOUR MUSIC IS NOT TOO LOUD
IT REALLY DOES SUCK

Smile!

Family, Books & Cancer

These three words pretty much sum up my life in the last few weeks.

1. Family - my brother Ryan & his wife Meredith bought a house a few weeks ago, but before they can move in they need to fix a few things etc, so they have been living with us. Ben is in heaven. What better than two extra adults to race cars, read, play Go Fish and just generally entertain him? It has been fun to have other adults to talk to in the evenings and it seems more "worth it" to fix meals for more than just Andrew and myself (and a two year old who has to be coaxes to eat anything... even cookies!)

2. Books - my book business has been going crazy, it always does this time of year. So I have spent countless hours organizing books, doing book fairs, arranging childcare, doing home shows etc. 2 More weeks and 6 more events and it should slow down!!

3. Cancer - a nasty word. My first "close to home" experience was last year, when my brother Micah was diagnosed with Lymphoma. And about 2 weeks ago my mother-in-law Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer. It has been a roller coaster but God is good and He is walking all of us through it. Thankfully, it looks like it is stage one, we will know more once she has the lump removed, hopefully within a few weeks. My father-in-law Eric has started a blog so you can see it HERE.

And that's about it for now.

Ben Sayings

I am sure I don't enjoy it as much as I should, but on days when I have something that needs to be done, it is hard to answer all the WHY, WHY, WHY questions. :) But it continues to amaze me how much they can understand! Here are a few examples:

---
Getting ready to watch a movie, Uncle Ryan struggles to get the movie out of the case:

Ben: Uncle Ryan, you need to be gentle with the movie!! We don't want to break it!

- At least something is getting through!!

---

On our walk today.

B: Mommy, that tree is dead.

L: You are right Ben.

B: People die too, just like the tree.

L: Oh, do you know what it means to die Ben?

B: Uh huh. You go to sleep and wake up and then go to sleep again and then you DON'T wake up.

L: Wow, where did you learn all that?

B: Daddy and I just talked about it on our walk in last night.

A Movin' and a Shakin'

There is no going back now, this girl is on the move! She started going backwards at 5 months, a few weeks later she was scooting, and now at 6 months she if officially crawling. A whole new world of keeping the floors clean (I am LOVING my new mop... although I think it deserves its own post), and I am constantly pulling things I didn't even see on the floor out of her mouth. HERE WE GO!

I have discovered a love for poka dots I never knew I had. :)

These two videos are from 4 days ago:

I love her little rump in the air. :)

I just want to eat her!

This video is from this morning:

My Little Dinosaur

Well, we didn't dress up for Halloween, but in cleaning yesterday we came across this dinosaur costume that I bought a few months ago at a consignment shop and Ben has a few hours of fun with it. :) (At least until he tried to sit down... he kept asking me to remove the tail :).

Mama

Okay, I know she has no idea what she is saying, but I will take it anyway! :)

Bumpersticker of the Day*

Would Someone Please
Poke Some Holes In The Top Of My Jar!

*Seen by my mother

Pumpkins

Well, we didn't really do much for Halloween, but we did manage to color a pumpkin... or I should say Ben and Uncle "Wyan" did. My brother Ryan & his wife Meredith are living with us for a month of so while they do some of the major work on their new house! Ben is just eating up having all the people around. :)