There's no place like home

I have been away from home for a week now working. This is the first time that I have had to go away for work and not take Isaiah with me. Now that he is in school he can't leave. I felt so bad leaving but my work is undergoing a huge computer update and I had to come up for training. We are finally going to electronic medical records. Learning a new data base is always so hard but in the end it is going to make my job so much easier....famous last words huh?

Daniel has been super dad at home taking care of it all. He takes Isaiah to school in the morning and then my friend Cami has been bringing him home and watching him until Daniel gets off work. Thank you sooooo much Cami!

Daniel was a little nervous at first at how this was all going to work out. I talked to him the other night and he was actually really glad he had this time with Isaiah. This term has been a killer for him and he really isn't home much, so he hasn't had much dad time with Isaiah.

He told me a cute story about Isaiah. Daniel had gone to the bathroom and noticed there wasn't any toilet paper on the roller. He must of not thought much of it because he didn't replace it. He went in later and noticed that there was toilet paper on the roller and the old cardboard had been discarded. He said to Isaiah, "did you do this." Isaiah, "yes" Daniel, "why?" Isaiah, "because it was empty." Daniel was so proud of him (and of course me being a wife and mother I was quite proud as well). Isaiah was so excited to make his dad proud that that night when he went to bed he said, "Dad, be prepared to be surprised tomorrow with lots of good things." The next morning he came running out of his room saying, "dad, dad, I made my bed all by myself without having to be asked!"

I just love those two so much! I hate being away for so long but I am glad for the time they have together. Isaiah learns things from Daniel that he can never learn from me. He watches and looks up to Daniel so much. At church the other day he had his leg over the other one just like Daniel and was wiggling his foot the same as well. He loves to listen to Daniel play the Cello, (something I can't do:), and he loves watching Dirty Jobs and Man versus Wild with dad. Oh and they both love Little Caesar's Pizza! They both hate wearing ties to church and tucking in their shirts but do it anyway.

I couldn't ask for anyone better for Isaiah to look up to. Life isn't perfect but I am a very lucky person!!

Christopher's Welcome Party

As many of you may already know my sister Erica and her husband adopted a little boy in August from Kazakhstan. We decided to throw a "welcome party" for him. The party was a lot of fun but very crazy. The only way to truly describe how crazy it was is to show you videos. We have a lot of little boys in our family now with a lot of energy.
(This was my first time making a cupcake cake:)

This was only the beginning.

Isaiah danced a circle around the whole room.

Christopher opening his presents. He was so precious!

There were two more videos of our balloon popping game that wouldn't download because they were too long. I am so sad because they were hilarious!

The Oregon Coast in November

Isaiah had two days off of school for Veterans day so we went to the beach with my sister Debora and her family. Daniel had to work and he had school so he didn't come:( I can't believe how nice the weather was! The boys had so much fun playing on the beach.

Uncle Hodge helped them make a drip castle with a moat. He dug so deep that it started to cave in so it really just ended up being a giant whole. That's Jarem waist deep standing in it.

Someone had made this giant maze in the sand. Isaiah and grandpa decided to head down and try it out.

They made it!

Justin, Stephan, and Isaiah at the beginning stages of the castle.

The final product.

The boys running out to get water. That is how Hodge kept them busy so he could work on the castle:)

Going from cold to hot can be tough sometimes but I think Isaiah's face is a little dramatic!

I Got Tagged

My good friend Chelsea tagged me a week or so ago and I thought I might finally respond. But first I want to pay a quick tribute to our fun times in Hawaii. She will probably hate this but I had such a blast looking through old photos and remembering the good ole' times! Sorry about the crooked photos I scanned them to my computer and didn't do too well on lining them up. Can you believe this was a time before digital cameras! It was 1999 for crying out loud! Man I'm getting old!

Chels you were totally fun and kept us entertained! I miss you:(

I wish I was the one hiding behind the board. Chelsea was smokin'!

Okay now on to the questions.

8 TV shows I like to watch

1. The Amazing Race
2. Survivor
3. How it's Made
4. Dancing with the Stars
5. Samantha Who?
6. Desperate Housewives (judge all you want:)
7. The Office
8. Okay so I occasionally dip into Oprah or Dr. Phil if I'm folding laundry:)

8 Restaurants I like to eat at

1. The Melting Pot
2. Chevy's
3. Block 15
4. Hogi Yogi
5. Francesco's (It's a dessert place but I don't care it rocks)

I seriously can't think of anywhere else. Corvallis is lame when it comes to eating out.

8 things that happened today

Okay so today was so mundane. All I can do is tell you my typical day with no significant events. Drove Daniel to work, came home got Isaiah ready for school, drove Isaiah to school, came home worked for 4 hours, did a pilates video, went for a jog in the cold rain, picked Isaiah up from school, picked Daniel up from work, said goodbye to Daniel as he left to study, did homework with Isaiah, fed Isaiah dinner, put Isaiah to bed, read some of my book, watched Dancing with the Stars results, read some more of my book, took a trip down memory lane with photos, and here I am. Boring huh?

8 things I am looking forward to

1. My new adopted nephew's welcome party
2. Daniel graduating
3. oodles of children
4. Thanksgiving
5. Christmas
6. Daniel coming home from studying
7. Taco Tuesday
8. Sister's weekend in Bend

8 things on my wish list

1. oodles of children
2. A real family vacation
3. A second honeymoon
4. A road bike
5. A long life with my husband
6. Daniel and I being sealed to Isaiah
7. A job offer for Daniel (hopefully soon)
8. To get my running muscles back (totally let myself get out of shape)

8 People I tag

1. Nicole
2. Lindsey
3. Monica
4. Bridget
5. Julie
6. Crystal
7. Lexi
8. Cami

Belated Halloween Post

Halloween was a little different for us this year. I had my niece and nephew with us until early afternoon and then Isaiah had to go to his dad's house that evening:( We were able to go downtown Corvallis and trick or treat in the stores, but we didn't have time to go treat for treating like we usually do. We were sad about that because Isaiah enjoys that much more than trick or treating. If we tried to go during the day we would have missed everyone anyway so what do you do? Isaiah didn't want to dress up alone so last minute Daniel and I rummaged through our costume box. Daniel ended up being Mr. Potato head and I was, well you can see...

I thought Isaiah looked pretty funny in his costume. I was super lame this year and didn't do anything creative. In fact this is a borrowed costume from Isaiah's cousin Connor. I just didn't think I could beat Daniel's work on last years costume. Hopefully I will do better next year.

Isaiah's costume from last year.

Mr. Potato Head and Spiderman.

Spiderman and his guilty conscious.

Mr. Potato Head and his guilty conscious.