learning a new lingo

i'm behind on blogging. a lot. we just traded in our old PC for a macbook, and i admit, the iPhoto software has me a bit dazed. it's not as user-friendly as i had hoped. it appears that all my meticulously-organized folders of photos from our last computer got unorganized when they were transferred to the new mac. so finding photos to upload and share has become a challenge. and when i do upload new ones, finding them...period...is also a challenge. so i'll work on it, and go from there!

for now, just a quick update that many good things are happening around here. christmas decorating is done as of today. not sure i've ever done it before december before (granted, it is nov. 30th...but still). we went to a real tree farm for the first time.




wow, people go early for their holiday trees! so many of those trees were spoken for! we picked a tree that really didn't look too large when we were there...but getting it home, we discovered it is big. really big. it's beautiful, but big. i had to buy new lights just to have enough to go up! you probably can't tell from these photos, but we have 9 ft. ceilings and we had to cut the top off the tree (and a foot off the bottom):



we don't have much by way of holiday decor, so it's simple. but nice. and easily put up and torn down :)


the boys are starting to feel the christmas spirit. and we ordered their big joint gift from santa last night (a large bounce house for the basement, to help kill the winter blues and work out that excess energy when we are held up inside).



got their photo taken with santa at bass pro shop. nothing says the holidays like getting your picture taken in front of a dead, stuffed animal. am i right?

Benjamin's Funny Bugs Gymnastics Class

Benji is taking a once-a-week toddler gymnastics(ish) class and it is FABULOUS for his self-esteem. He eats it up and is the best behaved kid there. It's amazing to watch him shine like an all star when he's not in competition with his brothers. The instructor tells me how impressed she is with how he listens to instructions and follows the rules...I love watching him in that class.

1st snow of the season

we were out by 7:45AM to play in the snow. BEFORE preschool. i know a lot of other parents were, too.

halloween, etc.

i've been a little behind on the blogging. so here are some quick shots of what's been happening around here the past month...ish.

a fun lunch with alicia, kelly, and the most adorable cheeked girl in iowa


a fall leaf project




uncle adam came for the day of beggar's night and helped carve pumpkins (and trick-or-treat)







Gav's "mean" face

Training Wheel Free!

Jack has been bummed because his new bike this summer was on the larger side. We figured he'd grow into it. But it has been tall enough that riding without training wheels means he stays up once we send him off, but he can't reach the ground comfortably to start/stop on his own. So we got a 2nd hand bike that is an "in between" size of the bikes we already have. It will be perfect for Benjamin next summer. In the meantime, we removed the training wheels. Within an hour Jack was officially training wheel free. I think the shorter distance to the ground was all he needed :)



Today Gavin and I went to return our books to the library, and happened to see that Dan Wardell of IPTV was there for a free kids' program. He is great with preschool aged kids, and Gavin sat for the entire 45 minutes of reading and interacting with the program. It was a good morning!


Even our little tree outside has received the message that fall has arrived:

Fall, fall, fall.

I can't enough of fall activities. This weekend we took our annual family outing to Howell's Pumpkin Patch. That place has grown into a mini-state fair! I'm glad people are enjoying them so much! This was the first time I can remember we were there in mid-October and I was sweating in a tank top.