friday...

self portrait... i meant to take a pic of me and the kids... and as i leaned on the table, it tilted and i almost dropped james and nora almost fell... this is how it turned out!!!

my sweet girl!!!

my sweet boy!!!

the gorgeous view at the park today... in the 50 degree weather!!!

a wonderful friday. a great workout at the gym, park, got stuff to do operation shoebox. nora was great with that. when i first mentioned it, she was bummed that she might not also get Christmas presents! but, now she's excited about it!

oh... and a HAIRCUT!! whoo hoo!!! i think i lost 5 pounds in the haircut!!!

a week...

my little trip to nyc this week!!

the george washington bridge.

my cute babies. i am so stinking in love with them. we were getting ready to walk out the door, and he walked over to nora and just sat in her lap. and kept scooting closer and closer. it was so cute!!

okay, monday, went to nyc to see stef and em. SO MUCH FUN!! we did a little outlet shopping, then had dinner in the city and i stayed at stef's hotel for the night. SO MUCH FUN!! did i mention i had fun?

came back, got nora from school, hung out with my kids! then, weds, hit up the gym! (yeah for twice this week!!) last night, i had NINE girls over for keeno night! (my san diego girls used to play keeno. i missed having a girls night... so i started one here!! and, i think everyone loved it!!) today, david had off! we slept in until 8 am!! so wonderful!!! then, went to the children's museum. the kids had a BLAST!! it was so fun to watch them. nora got to be a in a research study about play and imagination (which is perfect, since she has a CRAZY awesome imagination...).

ihop for lunch. naps (and i did some major sewing). fun new Bible study and kids did GREAT with the childcare!! (think 10-14 kids with two college kids!!!) just a fun week. more pics when my computer will upload them!

our day... a tour of newport!

today, we went for a drive!

the kids just chilled. watching a show... of course!

our new house! (just kidding... one of the smaller ones we saw today!)

the beautiful colors...

even more colors...

another view of pell bridge. from the south side, this time!

looking back towards the "downtown" of newport...

vista...

doesn't it totally look like you will just drive right into the ocean? (don't worry, the road curves!) so beautiful!

the mighty atlantic.

driving...

mighty, mighty atlantic...

the remnants of that mighty atlantic on the road... this was the "good" section! it was crazy... parts of the sea wall were broken...

so, we went for a drive today along ocean drive on the southern part of our island. i accidentally found this a few weeks ago with sue, sarah and dorothy. david and i were looking for something to do, and the stuff we planned wasn't turning out as well. so, we drove. and enjoyed the sights. david hadn't been down this way before.

it's gorgeous. if you come visit me, we can go for a drive. the houses are overwhelming. beautiful. the sea is breathtaking.

so, david and i were discussing the time change. he got so excited about the extra hour of sleep. i reminded him that no one told our kids it was daylight savings. (BTW!!! i get my wish... NO daylight savings in hawaii!!! yeah for me!!) he reiterated that HE gets an extra hour of sleep.... we'll see!!!

snow...

one of my favorite things. although missing a few! but, (if you can't tell, they are starbucks mugs) good memories from the places i have visited. HUNTING down the ONLY starbucks, in the rain, in paris, with byssa. our stopover in nyc with my mom before my officer indoctrination school. a visit to hawaii to see lt, our family vacation in florida, a trip with my mom and sissy to la... got to see ryan seacrest. pike place... enough said. san diego, bought when i was out looking at apartments with stef. cleveland. and, the others that i remember... great britain, from stef, remembering our trips there. palm springs, remembering our wonderful trip to paul and paul's my first christmas out west. i love them!!!

nora came with me to joann's on saturday. she found veggie tales fabric and HAD to have it. well, her brother also had to have some, so i cut it down the middle. that fabric has been priceless! james didn't sit still long enough with his to make it in the picture. but they sleep with it and it gets carried everywhere. why bother to sew it into something when it's so loved like this!

the christmas wreath i made! (and plan to remake for spring, fall, summer, etc!!!)

how i found my bathroom the other day. we had an accident on the couch, and this is the inside of the cushion. the outside was in the wash. not how i wanted to find my bathroom!!

btw... i woke up to snow on the ground today. interesting!! today i am leaving the kids with grammie and going away for the night!! i get to see my sissy and emmy. CAN'T WAIT!!

also to note... david and i went on a date. the service was horrible. and i woke up that night with my dinner revisiting me. at both ends. NOT FUN! thought it might be food poisoning, but david was visited by the same thing last night. now i am not so sure. fun times!!

my sweet boy just climbed on my lap and asked for a kiss. and a hug. then, had to wrestle down. such a sweet boy!!

this book is amazing...

EVERY. TIME. he gets on the lion, he says "bye". it's so cute! and waves. like he's going somewhere huge!

she wanted a closeup!

hugs!

"CHEESE!!!"

reading

more reading...

his favorite place to eat. i love it!

nora just told me her book is amazing. yesterday, another book was sophisticated! great vocabulary, kid.

we were sitting at the little table in the kitchen yesterday for lunch. i had the ipod on, and a song came on. nora remembered hearing that with jeffrey, and told me about it. i told her i remembered listening to that song in the car on the way to the hospital the day she was born. she asked if she could be born again. seeing a teachable moment, i used the opportunity and told her she couldn't be born again from mommy, but she could be born again into Jesus' family. that He died on a cross for her sins so that she could be born again. that mommy and daddy were in that family.

apparently i didn't do a great job, because she then told me she didn't want to be born again. i asked why, and she said "because i want to stay with my mommy".

this afternoon...

my sweet babies... snuggling and enjoying a show. earlier (while james took his 3.5 hour nap!!!), nora and i laid in my bed and read books. it was so much fun! then, we ichatted for a minute, and she was so animated. so much fun! she got this book from school where they made faces (happy, sad, angry, scared), and we were supposed to discuss how they felt, what made them feel that way... she was cute, and asked dd, byssa and me. and loved to read!

something new

pieces of my latest project...

partially finished.