Fun Family Day

When Jeff got to the hospital this morning he discovered that he wasn't actually scheduled to work today. We were so excited to hear that he would be spending the day with us. We decided to head down to Disneyland for a couple of hours.

Family picture in front of the giant Christmas tree.

His favorite thing in Bug's Land--the benches.

Riding the new Toy Story ride at California Adventure. It was so fun!

Macho Man

The other day Zeke and I went hunting for sticks at the park.

These are the sticks that I brought home.




And this is the stick that he brought home.

Friday Favorite: Early Morning Bargains

Sometimes having a kid who wakes you up at 5:30 every morning is a good thing. Today he must have smelled the sales in the air because he decided to wake us up at 4:15. This made rolling out of bed to get to Target by 5 seem fairly easy. I got there before they opened to find a line wrapped all the way around the building. I still managed to get my $3 crockpot (only 5 left when I got there) and my $3 coffeepot (the last one!). Then I picked up the boys and we headed to Home Depot for some 99 cent poinsettias. I love a good bargain and I love having all of my shopping done by 6:30 am.

I didn't get any Thanksgiving pictures of Zeke, but here is a Thanksgiving Eve picture. We went on our after dinner walk and he wanted to wear my beanie.

I guess this is technically a Thanksgiving picture (taken early yesterday morning). We surprised him with a little Thanksgiving treat--big boy underwear. He was pretty excited about it, but wouldn't wear anything else, which must be why I found him wrapped up in a blanket on our bed.

His Sunday Best

Jeff would not have let him wear this to church tonight. But, Jeff was at work and Mama appreciates his sense of style.

Friday Favorite: Cheap Decorations!

I wanted to do something festive and meaningful for Thanksgiving, so I created a Thanksgiving banner to hang over our table. It lists all that our family is thankful for this year. Best of all, this little bit of decor didn't cost me a thing. I used left over scrap paper from last year's Christmas cards to make the banner. I also added some flair with bits of nature that Zeke and I have picked up during our walks in the park. I didn't realize decorating on a budget could be so fun.

Although my motivation for making the banner was a mix of wanting to create a meaningful family tradition and wanting to have a cute holiday home, what we have discovered is that displaying our thanksgivings has really made a strong impact on our attitudes. In the midst of stress about jobs, school and finances, all of the worry has been overshadowed by those many things listed on our banner. We have so much to be grateful for this year and it is great to have a constant reminder of that.

Twinsies!

Under the Sea

On Friday we visited the Long Beach Aquarium with some friends from church. Auntie Cokes and Camryn joined us, too. We had so much fun and it was free thanks to Sonia hooking us up with some tickets. Zeke loved all of the animals, but of course his favorite part was playing in the water. Here are some (a lot of) pictures from the day.

Friday Favorite: Dogwood's Market

This week I checked out a small local market here in Monrovia. I couldn't believe the great deal I got. Two dozen eggs plus all of this produce for only $6.18! I love food and I love a good deal so I will definitely be back.

Trick or Treat

On the morning of Halloween we woke up early to check out some garage sales. First, we had to make a couple of stops at Starbucks and the donut shop to get some fuel food.

Of course he had to wear his costume.

I dressed up as "sleepy mom still in her pajamas".


In the afternoon we headed to Old Town Monrovia where all the shop keepers give out candy on Halloween. There were a lot of trick or treaters and it was really hot. My poor little giraffe was sweating in his costume.


It was a long walk.

Stopping in the shade for some rest.

Almost there.

Jeff and I had been so excited about Halloween for Zeke this year. We thought it would be the perfect holiday for our crazy kid who loves to dress up and also spends a lot of his time hanging out on our neighbors' porches. We practiced trick or treating and Zeke had it down. He could even say trick or treat. However, the first shop we came to had a girl passing out candy in a pretty awesome Scooby Doo costume. Our social butterfly quickly became a very nervous giraffe. I ended up doing the trick or treating at the first and second store.

By then, Zeke was bored with the whole thing and ready to dig into his candy.

Looking for just the right piece.

I know it's in here.

Found it!

Another rest stop and candy break after visiting two more stores. And that is pretty much how it went the entire time. Lots of stopping and eating.

It took us about 45 minutes to go a block and a half. But, he had a great time.