Happy 35th Birthday Daddy!

On October 13th, Mike turned 35.  I offered to have a party for him, but he opted for a quiet family dinner and of course chocolate chocolate cupcakes.

 A couple of days before his birthday, Mike and I actually had an adult day at Disneyland!  I know it's not where he would normally choose to celebrate his birthday, but since our passes were expiring on the second of November, and we hadn't a chance to do some of the adult rides yet, we figured we would kill two birds with one stone.  We had fun going on the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion and California Screamin, plus others.  I also surprised him with reservations at the Blue Bayou where we, of course, each had the Monte Cristo sandwich.  Crazy expensive, but to die for delicious!  It was a really fun day for us and the kids did great with Grammy, so I think all in all, Mike had a great birthday!  We love you Daddy/Michael!

Person of the Day!

On October 11th, Wesley was Person of the Day as school!  I got to come and watch the opener (pledge of allegiance, prayer, God Bless America) and watch as he found out he was the P.O.D, in teacher lingo :)

 Crossing the street holding onto the safety ring and saying "Thank you God for this beautiful day!"

 Finding his cubby for his backpack.

Missy Peggy narrowing down the POD ("my person of the day is a boy...my person of the day is wearing stripes", etc)

 Sitting in his special seat next to Miss Peggy.  The person of the day gets to be the line leader, and help in other ways too.

 They also get this special balloon and get to choose something that Miss Mary will drawn on it... 

...Wes asked Miss Mary to draw his sister!  What a sweet big brother and awesome person of the day!

Jana Alayra in Concert!

Wesley attended his first concert on September 28th and it was one of our favorite performers, Jana Alayra!    We love her songs about Jesus and her amazing testimony plus is was so great that she came right to Wes' preschool!

 Hanging out with Miss Peggy before the concert started.

 Cora loved the music too!

 Wes had a perfect spot in the front row and stayed there the whole time singing along and doing the hand motions even if he didn't know the song.

I was kind of surprised that I had to go up and nudge him onto the stage when Jana asked for volunteers.  She had some kids come up on stage to help her with four different songs and when Wes hadn't volunteered by the fourth song, I encouraged him to go up.  I assumed he would have been the kid clamoring up on there each time!  But when the song was over he didn't want to come down!  I'm thinking that will be the last time I have to nudge him :)

What a fun morning and an awesome time praising Jesus!  We left with a new CD and lots of fun memories of Wes' first concert.

Give Save Spend

One of the things I am most thankful to my mom for is teaching me how to handle money and to be an overall frugal person (Michael might choose a different adjective though!)  But Wes has always been interested in money (what kid isn't?) and we figured it was best to start teaching him to be responsible with his money as early as possible.  We decided to teach him the Give Save Spend concept of handling his money and gave him three mason jars to keep it all in (lids and labels courtesy of Etsy).  We're not quite ready for allowance and chores and that sort of thing, but he's really good at helping out when we're recycling our cans and bottles, so hopefully the lesson will sink in quickly!   

Miscellaneous Happenings

Just a few random pics:

Some counting practice with the canned goods.

Playing with Pop-Beads (Wes would never let me put them on his head like a crown...Cora loved it!)

Wes teaching his sister about ladders.

Wearing Daddy's gear (I love this one where he's looking at me!)

Hanging out with my friend Allie

Discovering how much fun it is to throw things down the toilet (Yes, I totally disinfected her hands!!)

Helping me get out all my fall decorations!

New Do

My hair has changed so much since having my two kiddos...pregnancy hormones are no joke!  Since I lack the extra time it takes to make my long hair look decent, I figured it was time to pass it on to to someone who was more in need of it than me.  At the end of last month, I had it all chopped off to donate to Locks of Love.  The stylist who cut it asked if this was my fist time donating my hair.  After I thought about it I realized it was my 4th time donating!  That's 40 inches of hair!  I am so thankful for my two healthy kids and am blessed that, in this small way, I am able to help those precious little ones suffering with cancer.

10 Months Old

On September 24th Cora turned 10 months old!

She's standing on her own and taking a step or two...but only when it's her idea!  

Unfortunately learning to walk to dangerous business, I forgot how many bumps, bruises and stubbed toes there are at this stage.  She claps and waves and knows where her head is.  She loves food and playing in her brother's room.  She's a trooper when she misses her nap, she has a big gap between her top teeth just like her brother and she has curly hair in the back!  

I love you sweet Cora!