I know I am not the only the mother that rewards (a.ka. bribe) her kids sometimes. Especially when you have 3 with you in the grocery store. I am fairly certain that I am not the only mom who gives in to begging in moments of weakness. Sometimes you just need a little peace. I really don't like shopping with all three but sometimes you don't have a choice so yesterday was one of those days that I gave in to the pleading and bought the kids their treat. I made them wait until if was paid for- of course- and that they were buckled into their seats in the car. And then I let them eat their crab meat. Imitation crab that is.





So am I the only mom who has a 4 year old who begs for crab? When has she even tasted crab meat?!

Wow! That haircut makes you look years younger!

Well, we did it. We cut Luke's hair. Here is little Sampson as he looses his strength.
I thought I would give you a quick tour of Luke's hair career. His very first haircut was before Kelly & Erin and Taylor & Krista's weddings (also knows as THE Weddings) when he was 1 and a few months old.

The photo below was shot in September after The Weddings.

Here we have a sweet little boy at his 2nd birthday in March (or is it April?). April 19th it turns out according to Joy.

Luke at the park campaigning for Al Franken

Allie (who looks great herself) massaging his hair to make it longer.

Oops, how did this one sneak in here- an impostor:

Looking happy out camping. Curls at their max.
And here we have a snapshot of Luke at the low point in his career. This was last Saturday at the tennis court during Allie's demo lesson. Luke had reached rock bottom. His Grandma Payne would have arranged an intervention if she were here.
And now the finished product. I came home from a business trip this week and Luke surprised me. He was terrified of the clippers every time we tried to cut his hair the last few months. Joy took him to some little kid place and we asked for only scissors. He fell asleep in the chair!I took him in the bathroom and combed his hair. We sprayed a ton of hairspray in it after I promised him it would not hurt (like the clippers, adult shampoo and everything else that touched his hair for the last 8 months). His hair started to go back to its true self shortly after snapping these photos.
We love our little Lukie- he seems so little all of the sudden.

Christmas shopping?

My mother has always said that one of her favorite ages for little children is around 4 because of the funniest things they say and do. Last Sunday morning, after working really late Saturday night to be ready for his business trip and presentations etc. etc., Jason and I were fast asleep when Allie ran in our room practically shouting "Dad! Dad! I know what you need for Christmas! A jawhorse!" We were both quite startled and confused and I jumped out of bed to take Allie out of the room so Jason could sleep a little more. My groggy head finally cleared as we reached the family room and realized Allie had gotten up and was watching an infomercial for the Rockwell Jaw Horse. And actually that is just what Jason needs! Ok not really but wow, they do a good job of convincing you of that. We don't usually watch TV on Sundays but Allie is still learning the days of the week so in her defense- she didn't know it was Sunday. But I have to admit, I have been thinking about the Jaw Horse all week. It would have really come in handy with the bathroom remodel (which I know you are still waiting to see the photos. We just have to finish the mirror! Argh. Almost done).

And speaking of Allie and her 4 year old mind, we count to discipline our children. 1- the first warning, 2- the final warning, and 3- time out, go to your room! One day Allie said to me "Why do we always go to our rooms on three? How about 1- Tie your shoe, 2- Brush teeth, 3- Drink water, 4- Go the the park... (5 through 9 I can't remember now) and 10- Go to your room!" She must think we are really very unclever parents.

Or was she watching when I cut through my plastic folding table (think workbench) with a Skil saw while making my bathroom shelf? Not so clever. I really do need a Jaw Horse.

Saturday AM Adventure

Rather than do chores at home, the three neighbor girls came over and we all walked a few blocks away to the gym for their annual kids day. I think we were the major customers, there were only a few other families that showed up. Given that they are trying to drum up some business, here is how we fared:

Rock climbing: $0
Personal pan pizza making: $0
Jumping in the jumper: $0
Turning down the $10 face painting: $0 (kind of felt bad for the face painter lady on this one)
Tickets to the ABQ Thunderbirds B-ball game: $0
Popcorn and cotton candy: $0
Tennis lessons w/ Coach Robert: $0Not needing to share tennis balls with your pesky brother: priceless.

We got home late Sunday night. It was a nice drive home but traveling can be tiresome. Monday we got a slow start and by the time we left to drop off Allie at preschool, Luke was still wearing his footsie pajamas. That's ok- he is only 2 1/2 years old. He can wear his pajamas out in public (Lindsay). We needed milk so we ran by the store on the way back to the house. We got one of the little race car carts. How lucky! Luke "drove" while we went and grabbed milk and one or two more things. He was quite happy and content and as we were checking out to leave, I looked down at him in his little car. He had taken off his pajamas and was now sitting there in only a diaper.

Must of had the heater on.

Thanksgiving

I knew it would be over too fast but what a great time, what a great trip, and what great memories we made for our Thanksgiving Holiday. And to be together, all of us (minus Wendy and Pete whom we missed a lot) all under one roof, it was so... soothing to my soul in ways that I hadn't realized I needed. The cabin was great, the views spectacular. The weather was gorgeous and we had so much fun playing, relaxing and eating yummy food! Did you know that it was during the Civil War that Abraham Lincoln declared the 4th Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday. The men at war celebrated with chicken dinners (and something else I just don't remember what now). And we had turkey and ham... Mmmm. I love this time of year. The last three months are so loaded with holidays that it seems like they just fly by (as if the rest of the year passes slowly... ya right). October and Halloween are so fun and so neighborly. And then November- my birthday month (you too Sam and Aunt Linda) and Thanksgiving. Which then turns into December with Christmas and New Years and all the joy and celebration that go along with that. And in the midst of all the fun and celebration I think it is so great that we have a day to stop and give thanks for all that we have, all that we are blessed with- the good and the bad, and with gratitude and humility rejoice in the gift of life.

(And for the record, we took a LOT more photos that document all of adventures and fun. They have just all been downloaded onto Kristyn's laptop so we will post more about Thanksgiving later when we get some shots to share).

Allie Cousteau

Dad here in journal mode. So my little Allie cracks me up all the time. I traveled for work the last part of the week and left poor Wanda at home (see below). When I returned and walked in the door Luke squealed something about candy, super excited to have his dad lift him up and hold him. Wesley was totally excited too. Allie on the other hand--- no running, no squealing; my feelings were about to get hurt. The neighbor girl was over and the two of them were in Allie's bedroom playing dress up. I had to hunt her down to say hi. She gave me a nice little courtesy hug then I asked her if she missed me... Hesitation... "Um... yea a little bit... well not really... but I still love you dad."

My little Allie has always been like this. Homesickness and separation anxiety are not her thing (unlike Luke). These snapshots show her at the end of a downed hollow Great Sequoia log that she and her Aunt Ilene explored. The entrance was pitch black so I gave her a key chain flashlight to use. Always the intrepid explorer.
We visited Pismo Beach during our trip to Jay and Ilene's. Allie had a great time playing in the cold water and then decided to go see what she could see. I watched her for a bit and waited for her to come back but she kept wandering off. So I decided to teach her a lesson by keeping a far distance so as to let her get lost and look around for her family and cry a bit. She won, I got bored, she never turned around and was halfway up the beach playing in puddles, heading for a distant swing set. I went and retrieved her- she was furious that she could not play on the swings.On her first day in nursery, she just ran in without ever looking back. Sunbeams - no sweat. Primary class in California: no hesitation. We got home today from church and instead of running inside she ran outside and yelled across the street at our neighbor Bob who was in his driveway. "Hi Bob, what are you doing?" So we went outside and chatted with Bob for a bit.
Our home teachers came over tonight (Jim Jeppson, the father of our babysitters). He showed Luke and Allie some pictures out of the Friend magazine to give them some clues about what they are thankful for. Allie's response: "I'm thankful to be a good dancer, good gymnastics and I love everyone in the whole world."

She sure is a little Joy.