Fam photo shoot

We needed to take a family photo for my parent's Christmas card, so after church, we headed outside to find some fall foliage. Much to our dismay, it appears the leaves all fell off last night. No joke. We had a vibrant yellow tree in our front yard yesterday, and this morning it is barren. 

Anyway, we also have a forest-y area behind our house, so we went leaf stomping to find a location. Pete did an amazing job locating our tripod in record time. 

Parker was compliant with having his hair combed and smiling nicely. 

 Austin on the other hand had blue lips from a sucker, and was ready to do the OPPOSITE of everything we asked of him. The first few were okay...

 Oh the self-timer...

 Then things went downhill... the "shooter" poses began. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a two year old aiming a finger-gun like a gang member at the camera.

 If you can't beat 'em...

 Then the wind kicked up...

 And then there was nose-picking...

 Then we were done. Heading back home...

 I should really take the boys back here more. I think it's just community property, though the homes we were near did not have fenced in yards. Lots of leaves to stop and things to explore.

Antler children

Picking up Parker from school the other day... 

 At Target on Saturday, they were giving away "Frozen"giftbags filled with stickers and antlers. Is Austin the cutest popcorn-eating reindeer ever?

 And then we got out some of our Christmas decor. These antlers were a hit.

Later the reindeer felt ambitious and helped us clean. The windows were filthy so Pete vacuumed while  Parker wiped. Awesome team! My favorite thing about Parker is his cheerful demeanor. It doesn't always happen, but sometimes when asked to do something, he'll respond, "Sure, I'd love to!" How sweet is that? No one else in our family says it, so it really gives you a glimpse into his heart. 

Thankful

I am so grateful for these two. Their relationship is everything I prayed it would be. It's not perfect all the time, but it's loving and real. They are always there for each other. If one is hurt, the other is checking on him (unless they inflicted the injury). If one creates something, they are eager to share it with the other. The give hugs, kisses, and wrestle plenty. Thankful for these boys. 

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are lucky to spend it with Pete's brother and wife. Looking forward to a day of fall foliage and good food. And missing those who are not with us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Trampoline park

The boys loved going to the trampoline park in San Diego, and we were excited to recently learn there was one nearby us in Virginia. In addition, the owners were members of our church and had boys our kids' ages. They invited to meet them one afternoon, and it was so much fun. Parker bounced around like crazy, including swinging from ropes and doing obstacle courses, while Austin just bounced and speed walked. He still sticks to the one arm pumping method. 

Can't wait to go back again!

Glimpse into our lives...

These boys are seriously crazy. Never know what they'll come up with to entertain themselves. Here is one of Parker's Lego creations.

And I think they are longing for swimming days of summer...

Thanksgiving week

Reflecting on our blessings is such a wonderful thing at this time of year. We really have it all, especially when I am confronted with reality of the challenges that so many are going through. Especially when we stop to view life through a child's eyes, we can see the beauty in all that is around us. It doesn't take much to keep a child happy.

Parker has been doing lots of Thanksgiving activities at school. I am looking forward to their class party on Wednesday, as another chance to get to know some of the moms.

Here's some of Parker's latest work from school. Love how his letters are progressing. 

 Whoops, hate how Blogger won't let you rotate photos. Still cute.

Catching up

Apparently I've gone dark on the blog. Sorry folks. I haven't been taking many pics, which amounts to fewer incidents of blogging. 

Parker made his way into our bed the other morning. We also love our morning cuddles with Aussie who asks if we want to "cozy up." 

 We had dinner with the Sanchez family, who Pete lived with over the summer. We knew them in San Diego, and sadly for us, they'll be returning there in the next few months. But we'll enjoy them while they are here. My boys loved their kids (they'd never met). Shelly and I get along great, not counting the parts of her life that revolve around Crossfit and Bikram Yoga. She's a warrior woman.

 The boys have been playing very well together lately. They especially love using ropes to lasso and tie up things.

 Parker is still enjoying school. They were learning about the letter H, so they celebrated with "hat day." Cute kids. We are looking forward to the Thanksgiving Party next week.

 George, a fellow JAG, comes over every other Sunday for dinner. We love his visits. Last Sunday we also had 2 other JAG's and their families. We had a burrito bar and "Swig sugar cookies" for dessert. We were extra proud of Dennis who ran a marathon the day before, so he ate off of the "You are Special" plate I just made. I will have to get a pic of that soon.

 Picking up Parker from school. He looks like such a big boy coming out of school. And now with the weather getting cooler, I am appreciating the carpool line.

 One of my friends in San Diego was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Boo. It is incredibly sad, but she is such a fighter and has the best attitude. It's so inspiring. On Tuesday, she had her first chemo treatment, so her friend organized that her friends and family from all over would send pics to her throughout the day in their pink attire. She felt the love and is doing great so far.

Austin is still a stinker these days. He says he "hates" everything. Like he used to say that he wanted to "punch" everything, now it's "I hate lunch", "I hate dinosaurs", or "I hate friends." If he doesn't want to talk about something he will say, "I'm not asking you!" He has the pouty, mad face down pat. Good thing he's cute!

My svelt hubby

I don't know if I should be proud of him or disappointed in myself that Pete now fits in my jeans... We went jeans shopping and he just couldn't find any he liked as well as mine:) Wishing him luck on the PRT test today (physical training assessment). He's so awesome!

Nighty night

The cuties getting in bed. Sharing a room is still working beautifully. So amazing!

Austin has become much whinier and more demanding lately. If I ask if he's ready to get Parker he will say, "not today mom."

And Parker is still doing great. He is amazingly intelligent in the way he explains things. He loves discussing things and sharing his insights. Like we were talking about brains. He explained, "when you learn something it is like putting a sticker on your brain. Then when you want to remember that thing you go back to the sticker and you can remember it. If you see or hear bad things that puts a sticker there too so you  have to be careful to not see bad things. But if you don't go back to that sticker it can help you forget the bad thing. You can also choose to change the channel in your brain if you are thinking bad or scary things to see good things instead." No joke. That is Parker Higgins Dahlquist, PhD.

Virginia beach

We ventured out to the commissary on Saturday (little creek base is much better than Norfolk) and then headed down to the virginia beach boardwalk. It was very pretty. It's weird how one second you are driving down tree lined roads filled with fall colors and the next you are at the beach.

Then we went to Taste. A hippy-ish sandwich place. Fun family outing.

Pizza date night

We have decided that Thursdays are our family date night. Usually we will go out to dinner and explore our town. I really look forward to this mostly because it's a no dishes night! So our first date was at Y Not Italian restaurant (apparently it is owned by tony and the name is his name spelled backwords). Dumb name aside, the food was really good. We split chick parmasean and pizza.

This kid downed two slices.

Good morning

Hello all. Daylight savings is no bueno and we've had some early mornings around here. Well, 6am... Which used to be our normal wake up time but recently was extended until 7am or so. That extra hour is amazing and it has been so sad to revert back to old ways! Anyway, I try to get either boy to join me in bed once they wake, so I can soak up a few more minutes in my cozy bed. It's the best.