Catching up...

We've had a fun few days 'round here! With Christmas shopping pretty much completed on Sunday afternoon, we spent that evening decorating our Christmas tree with Luke. Ellie is still a bit too young to participate in that part, so once she was down for the evening, we set our minds on beautifying our tree! Luke helped hold each strand of colored lights as I wrapped them round and round the tree and he squealed with delight when he got to climb to the tip-top of daddy's big ladder to place the star atop the highest branch. Our tree is just a tad bit crooked this year :( so Ty had to help along Luke's placement and straighten out the star! But Luke was full of pride for having dawned the finishing touch on our tree! He was so much more into decorating this year, which was A LOT more fun for me! He was interested in each and every ornament and the story of where it came from or who gave it to us. He LOVED looking through them as they sat on our table, awaiting to be placed on the tree and was so well-behaved when we asked him not to touch certain ones! The best part came when we were all done and we scurried to turn off all the house lights. He had crawled up into my lap as Ty turned out the last lamp and in sheer, breathless delight he exclaimed "Ooohhhhh...Mom!! It's beee-uuuu-teee-ful!" And it was!

On Monday, we baked some Christmas cookies and worked around the house much of the day. Nothing too exciting there. I was surprised that day when Ellie hardly seemed to notice the tree and took very little interest in touch or exploring it! Yay! She still has yet to really pay it much attention! Amazing to be for a little girl who LOVES to get into just about everything! But so far so good! We'll see how long it lasts! :) LOL!

And last evening, Sarah and Laura came over to 'rap while we wrapped'. After all of our kids were tucked tightly into bed, they came over to sip tea, each snacks and, best of all, to catch up on lost time. (We were hugely productive too in wrapping all of our Christmas gifts, which was AWESOME!) But the best part was just to be together and spend some time! It was well after midnight when we finished! :)

Today, we got to meet up with Sarah and Hudson again to celebrate Hudsy's birthday! We got to revisit the awesome Cabazon Dinosaurs and the boys had a blast! There is a whole new section open now with an amazing collection of dinos to explore and even one that the boys got to RIDE on! They dug for dinosaur bones in the huge sandbox together, and even Ellie enjoyed getting dirty in the sand with the boys! It was a fun morning! We came home for naps (I even got one today.....it's been months and months since that happened last!! It was great!) and then Luke spent the rest of the afternoon playing with his cowboy guns in the backyard that he got at Cabazon today (that was his reward for filling his bean jar again!) When the sun had sunk far into the horizon and the air was much too chilly to stay outdoors any longer, Luke came in and I was able to record this little video of him practicing his bible verse we've been working on this week. I am so proud of him and I just had to share!!! Ellie wanted to say hello too! :) Oh! And don't forget to pause the music on the sidebar to the left before you watch this!

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, for unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

This kid has SUCH a good memory! I am constantly amazed at the things he is able to recall and memorize! And to hear him recite Scripture.....oh! I am so proud of him!!!

Oh! I almost forgot the mention that on Sunday Luke also got to sleep in his new 'big boy' bed for the first time! We will be painting and decorating his room (finally!) for his birthday present this year and part of that included him moving up to a full size bed! His crib, which converted into a toddler bed, also converts into a headboard and foot board! And while we are still waiting on the conversion kit to arrive (its been 12 weeks already!!!!) we decided to just go ahead and move the box springs and mattress into his room for now until the rest arrives (hopefully) in a few weeks. For now, I bought him a warm set of camouflage sheets and he is just over the moon about it all! He LOVES it! Ty and I do too....having the big bed makes reading stories before bed MUCH more cozy since we call can snuggle there in bed together! :) I have been (for months!) on the search for good, new bedding for him, but am having little luck in finding something that is both affordable AND generic enough to last the next several years. While he would love firetrucks or dump trucks or trains now, we know that in two or three years time, bedding like that will lose its luster so to speak. So we are looking for something very boyish, but simpler, like stripes or something, with red, blue and browns as the main colors. I totally know in my mind what I am looking for, but have yet to find it under $200 for just the quilt! Yikes! Pottery Barn Teen has the best options at this point, but unfortunately we can't afford what we like there right now! :( So the hunt will continue and the painting and such will just have to wait until the bedding is purchased, so we know what colors to go with. If you all have any good websites to share that have cute boy bedding, please,please, PLEASE let me know here in the comments! I am in need of some serious help!

So that's life for us this week! So far, at-least! Nothing very poetic or inspirational from me lately! :) Just normal life, I guess! :) Ellie and I will run errands while Luke is in preschool tomorrow and then it'll nearly be the weekend again! We will celebrate my mom's birthday and my parents anniversary this weekend, and Ty and I will also be getting away for the day on Saturday to another San Diego wedding (what's up with all this stuff in SD lately??) I am not complaining one bit though...I always relish time alone with my honey! :) Hope you guys have a good rest of the week! Night!