lights

Last night Cam and I made our first trip around the neighborhood to see the lights. I love seeing how excited he gets at each house. Unfortunately it's still a little early for too many lights to be up, but we still had fun. I will say that it was FREEZING...especially with our lovely wind that makes it's appearance this time of year. But it was worth it. :)

pumpkin pecan white chocolate cookies

Last weekend Chris's mom made the most scrumptious cookies. While they do violate my, "no dessert is TRULY a dessert unless it's chocolate" rule, as well as my, "no nut" policy...they were WONDERFUL!!! They are super moist, which I love in a cookie. I know many are fans of the chocolate/pumpkin combo. I'm not into that much, but the white chocolate combo is really a must try. :)

Here is the recipe...

Yesterday was lots of fun...and not lots of fun. :) The morning started out great as we decorated our home for Christmas. Cam had been very excited for this and was VERY into putting ornaments on the tree, which I thought was so neat.

Here they are putting up the outside lights. We don't go crazy, just enough for Cam to think it's cool :) Last year one of my favorite things to do was to walk around our neighborhood with Cam and look at the lights each evening. I'm excited to do that again this year, and hopefully some with Kendall.




Kendall LOVED playing with the village. I had to put a stop to it once she broke off one of the men's heads. What did I expect?? :)



The not so fun part came just as we were about to leave in the afternoon. The plan was for Chris to take Cam out and I to take Kendall. We split up like this sometimes to get some one on one time with the kids.

Anyway, Cam accidentally dropped a huge snow globe, shattering it everywhere. Both Chris and I have learned over the years to NEVER raise our voice at Cam, talk too sternly, or have an angry tone (obviously this doesn't apply in dangerous situations... like if he is running out into the street and I have to yell for him to stop). Any sense that we are unhappy/upset sends him into a funk (won't calm down, keeps talking about it, etc.). Knowing this, I walked in and cheerfully asked him what had happened and proceeded to tell him that we had plenty of snow globes...no big deal! It didn't work. I think the combination of being scared at the shattering, getting a cut involving blood (which, what kid LIKES blood??), and feeling like he did something wrong just sent him over the edge.

It took an hour for him to finally snap out of it. By that time, we had changed the plan and Chris had left with Kendall (Cam wouldn't really leave my side). I think the hard part for Chris and I was that we felt so helpless. We just CAN'T get through to him during times like these. We just have to wait them out. While this was discouraging for us, we did think about the fact that we rarely have things like this happen anymore. So while it was hard, the fact that we used to experience this type of thing much more often is of some comfort.

p.s. Once he snapped out of it, we had a great time going to play at Chick Filet. :)

thanksgiving

Today we went to my parents' house for Thanksgiving. We had a yummy meal (favorite parts: stuffing and rolls). After lunch, my dad offered to clean up all the dishes while we took a walk. Both kids love to walk around the rocks in one of the neighbor's front yards. My mom caught a few cute pics.

Cameron loves wearing my sunglasses. Both Chris and I agreed that it might be time to actually get him some of his own, rather than wear mine with bedazzled sides. :)



In honor of Thanksgiving, here are a few things I'm thankful for from my year:

*The HUGE progress we have seen with Cam, especially socially

*How good natured and fun Kendall is

*How hard Chris works to allow me to stay at home--wouldn't trade it for anything

*My mom and the endless hours of research she's done regarding Cam, her listening ear, advice, etc.

*Our neighborhood. I love our neighbors and love our little city. :)

weekend

Today we got back from a few days up north with Chris's parents. The trip was my idea since I knew Cam had this week off from school. I wanted to do something different/fun, other than rotate parks all week. Some highlights were:

*Homemade rolls from Debbie: My dinner on Sunday pretty much consisted of just rolls.

*Bowling: Chris had introduced Cam to Wii bowling a while back and he really took to it. We thought it would be fun to take him real bowling and he LOVED it! Kendall was a little scared of the loud pins and balls, so she stayed in my lap the majority of the time. :)




Watching the kids outside: It's so fun to see how excited they get about simply running around. Cam REALLY gets excited about his "girls"/dogs. The first day we were there was a little muddy, and I forgot his boots at home. Debbie had some from my nieces he borrowed. Quite fashionable I might say.





*Down time: I got a good amount of down time in the evenings and yesterday when Chris and his dad took the kids to McDonald's and shopping. I was also able to do some Christmas shopping while Debbie and Wayne watched the kids.

*Debbie invited Cam to come to work with her (she is a teacher). He was able to play outside with her class during PE and "help" out. I was proud that he didn't get overwhelmed with all the kids and seemed to really enjoy himself.

*It's always fun to see how much the kids enjoy their grandparents, and vice versa!

ponytail had to go

I feel like I've done pretty good in not slipping into the, "I'm a stay at home mom so I look like a frump everyday" mode. I pretty much always get dressed everyday (rather than stay in my Pj's or wear comfy sweats). I think it's not only important to look somewhat put together for Chris, but in general, I feel more productive and motivated when I've taken the time to get ready. This philosophy as not held true for my hair. I have worn a pony tail almost EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past year. I kept telling myself that once the cooler weather came, I would wear it down more (because I hated being hot and sweaty with hair on my neck). Well, it's been cool lately and I haven't followed through with that.

So I decided it was time to chop it. I've had it this short before and it actually forces me to do it each day. In reality, it takes less than 10 minutes to blow dry/style it, so I shouldn't have an excuse from now on. :) I was also VERY pleased with the woman that did this. I got it done at a Fantastic Sam's type place. I've always thought getting your hair highlighted was something you should reserve for a nice salon. But the woman that did my hair has been doing it for 20 years! How much better could she get?? Spending $100+ right now on my hair was NOT an option, so I'm very excited to say I got my hair done at Hair Masters. ;)

some good things

*Cam has REALLY begun to initiate play with Kendall. This is HUGE!! I can't even begin to tell you how my heart leaps when I hear him asking her to play. This morning I heard them locked in my closet. She kept saying, "Book, book!". I then heard, "Here, sissy, here is a book. I'll read it...Once there was a kiki (Kendall's odd name for an airplane) at the airport. Then there was a helicopter...". I should have entitled this post AWESOME, because that is what it was to hear this interaction.

*I'm excited to report that I found a meal that Chris likes. The only reason this is unusual is because it contains beans and it's a soup (which typically he doesn't consider a meal). His mom had emailed me the recipe a long time ago, but I never tried it once I saw the beans listed. However we ate it at my sister-in-law's a few weeks back and he really liked it...enough to rate it a 9!! Yipeee!

*Our kids have always gone to bed early. Very early. Kendall's bedtime is at 6:00 and Cam is at 6:45. This is simply because I'm a morning person, so I would rather them get up early and start the day...leaving Chris and I long evenings. The funny part is that because of their bedtimes, they rarely get to be out in the dark. It's quite a novelty, actually, to them. :) We went to Disneyland yesterday afternoon. I think Cam was more excited that it was going to get dark while we were there than actually going!

*Today I took the kids to a friend of my mom's horse stable. Cam loved riding the horse, especially when he got to say, "Ho!", for it to stop. Kendall loved seeing the horse as well, but not as much as sitting in the dirt getting FILTHY.