Adoption Party

We had a party at our house this past Saturday to celebrate the boys' adoption. They were so proud and enjoyed playing with the other kids even though sharing is hard. I found this reusable plastic cake topper you can put a picture in at Michael's and I love it! I plan to use it each year when we celebrated the anniversary of the adoption.

We also got this frame with a mat for friends and family to write a special congratulatory message to the boys. We had a similar frame at our wedding, so we thought it would be a great memory for them as well. They will know how dearly loved they are every time they see it on display. I also made a Shutterfly book and calendar with pictures from our first year as a family of four.

Thanks Moore family for the coloring pad sets! The boys are big fans and so am I since the markers only write on the special paper!
Ms. Sophie and Mrs. Franklin are very popular gals in our house! Johnny talks about Sophie daily and they give each other such sweet hugs every time they see each other. They are both such affectionate little ones that Alyssa and I joke that we may have to restrict contact when they become teens!
The boys also LOVE when we get to visit with Gran and Poppa D so this day was no exception!
Meme and Papa also drove down for the party and we appreciate that so much! It was such a treat for you to share this special day with us!
The timing of the party being the weekend before Christmas made it impossible for many of our sweet friends and family to attend. Thank you to all of you that were there in spirit and we look forward to spending time with you during the new year!

Dear Sweet boys,

We could not be prouder to be your Mom and Dad! We love you more than words can describe and can't imagine our lives or family without you, our sweet blessings from God!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

December Recap

We have been having a lot of fun this December. Nearly every weekend is full of holiday fun! We are doing some of the things we did last year that are becoming traditions while adding a few new things to our calendar. We went to Santa's Workshop at Angel's school again this year. The boys made crafts, including decorating their own little Christmas tree. The trees make their rooms look so festive!

Here is a picture of Angel from Santa's Workshop last year! Johnny wore this shirt just the other day! We are sharing some hand me down love at our house, which makes this mommy happy!

We also went back to Bass Pro Shop or "Santa's House" as the boys call it year round! The boys made a reindeer ornament, visited with Santa, and played the fun (free) games. I am a big fan of the free part, especially since you get a free 4x6 picture with Santa and can take your own too. Why stand in the long mall line and pay $40 when you don't have to?!

I am also loving the pictures my new camera took! I'm sure thy will get better as I learn how to use it more.

This year the boys stood next to Santa and held his hand. I think the jolly fellow may have been feeling the weight of another year of aging like the rest of us!

Angel did not threaten to hit Santa even though that is what it looks like in this picture. This is when Santa was telling him to slow down so he could understand his wish list. He was just a bit excited!

Here is a flash back to 2009. Once again I will say, what a difference a year makes!

Jeff and I were both able to attend Johnny's Christmas party at school! It is such a blessing to have Daddy working from home! He can take a quick break to enjoy special memories like these!

They had a book exchange and Johnny ended up with the perfect book. It is about feeling loved and boy is he ever loved!
This was Johnny's last week at the Montessori school. We will miss his friends and sweet teachers, but truly feel it is God's plan for our littlest man to be home with us more before he starts kindergarten next year.
Ms. Patty and Ms. Christina, thanks for loving our sweet Johnny and taking such good care of him! They also made him a little photo book of memories of his time in their class. This momma loves it!
Johnny with Daddy at the party.
And with Mommy.

I got this shirt for both boys this year and think it is hilarious and oh so fitting for their daily antics! It says, "It's all fun and games until Santa finds out". HA!

Another post is coming shortly on the sweet adoption party we had to celebrate our boys officially becoming members of the Albus family!

Decorating for Christmas and 29

I promised you a lot of flash backs this holiday season to our first Christmas together last year. Here is a collage of us decorating for Christmas in December 2009. Look how tiny our little men were!

This year Jeff decided to put lights on the roof. Last year we mostly just put lights on the bushes so this was a bit new and challenging.
Jeff's ladder wasn't tall enough so he used it to get on the roof and then climbed from place to place armed with a string of lights and some toothpicks. Yes, my husband used toothpicks stuck under the shingles to hang the lights from. What a clever and brave man I have!
He kept saying, "I can't smile...I'm scared." He was so sweet to risk his life in the name of Christmas decor! HA!
The end result was beautiful!
We decorated the tree a bit later than we usually do, much to my husband's dismay. I wanted a change and it took me a while to figure out what I wanted and how to achieve it.
The kids loved putting the ornaments on! They still do, daily rearranging them to showcase their favorite ornaments, the ones they have made.
Here is the tree and mantle with a fire in the fire place. This was the one night so far it has been cold enough for a fire. I just love Christmas decor! My house is its coziest this time of year!
Last week I celebrated my 29th birthday. I was telling Angel one day I wasn't sure how I felt about turning 29 because that meant next year I turn 30. He told me "well mom, you just have to be okay with it because 30 comes after 29!" HA! He is right, wisdom from a 7 year old is just what I needed!
My sweet hubby took me to Las Alamedas and it was really yummy! He had flowers delivered there and waiting on the table when we arrived! He also bought me a new camera for my birthday/Christmas! I love it!! Thanks for spoiling me sweet Jeff!

Thanksgiving 2010 + a Flashback to Thanksgiving 2009

I feel like so many of us have already moved onto Christmas that it seems sort of silly to post about Thanksgiving. But it is still November for another day, so I think I am writing just in time. If you are one of those readers who mainly just scans our blog for pictures, please be sure to scroll all the way down for a collage of our first Thanksgiving (2009).

Of course, we had a ton to be thankful for this year, namely our sweet boys and their adoption finalizing just before Thanksgiving! Our precious Angel said it best here:

Just in case you can't read his writing, although it is much improved since this time last year, I will type it out:

1. Dad 2. Mom 3. house 4. dog Harvey 5. cat Snowflake 6. family 7. God

Soon he'll grasp the order, but for now he has all the important ones listed! It shocked me when I saw this....such amazing wisdom for his 7 short years! As adults we could take a lesson from his little grateful heart!

Wednesday everyone was home from school and I decided to take full advantage of my time with the boys while Daddy worked. We met up with my BFF, Jenny and her little girl, Ariana at Chick-Fil-A for lunch and some play time. Then we all went back to our house and made turkey shirts for all 3 of our little turkeys! Jenny saw the ones we made last year and loved them so I invited her to join us and make one for Ari.

Jenny was super excited to make it on the blog! I mean we are famous now, so who can blame her! HA! Here is Johnny posing with his future mother-in-law, Jenny!
We definitely benefited from Jenny's experience as a preschool teacher as she had developed a super secret short cut for tracing tiny hands! The mommas did most of the work as the project required a lot of cutting and ironing. In the meantime, the kids were happy to play together. It took a long time, but the end result was worth it! Jenny told me when Ariana wore her onesie on Thanksgiving, she proudly poked her little tummy out and pointed when asked where her turkey was! SO cute! I am happy to get my little girl fix from this sweetheart!
Our little guys were super handsome in their turkey shirts too! I am still glad I chose material over paint this year, even though it took longer and was a bit more work! I think they held up better too. If you want to try this project, I used this step by step tutorial from Treasures for Tots. I omitted the rick rack legs and used the boys' feet for the body, but otherwise I totally copied her idea! This year I even ironed on their names too since we are official!
My little turkeys got quite a few compliments on their shirts at the parade downtown. Here Jeff and Johnny are waiting for the parade to start. J had to be held up to see due to the crazed woman in front of us who brought a chair to sit in, but stood up and waved her hands every time a float came. She was trying to catch something, anything, free being thrown from the floats. Really, lady, I don't get it. You are grown, the whistles, candy, etc are for the kids. Whatever. I am fine with my little guys not blowing that crazy loud whistle all day or adding to their increasing sugar consumption.
These two were my favorite floats. I love the giant turkey and the kids were thrilled to see Santa for the first time this year!
After the parade we went to my parents' (Gran and Poppa D) house for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Here is our family picture we took before lunch. I totally made the boys change shirts to eat so they wouldn't get their shirts messy.
It worked because they still looked great for the Uptown Christmas Tree lighting that night.
Angel was a little scared to be on Jeff's shoulders, but Johnny was dancing on mine. They are so different in that way. Johnny is a daredevil to the max and Angel would much rather have his feet firmly on the ground. But really, who can blame him?
It started raining during the event, but it didn't stop Santa and Mrs. Claus from making an appearance to flip the switch and start the firework's display.
We really enjoyed the Christmas Tree lighting and may make it a tradition. I LOVE white twinkle lights, but I love them even more when my boys are posing in front of them!

Saturday and Sunday we spent time with Jeff's parents (Meme and Papa) at their house. The boys helped Papa harvest pecans and loved every minute of it! They earned us 10 lbs. of pecans too! Yum!

As promised, here is a collage of our Thanksgiving last year. Sweet Ariana is in last year's collage too. She is in the bottom left corner with her betrothed, Johnny! Whew! I am glad to have done our Thanksgiving post, so now we can decorate for Christmas! I just love this time of year!

Weekend Wrap Up

I cannot tell you how nice it is to be able to post pictures of the boys! I have some ideas for how to show you some of our photos from the last 14 months while not neglecting the present. During the holiday season, I will include some photos of our first year doing some of the traditions we have continued this year.

Dewberry Farm is a local popular attraction in the fall. It provides a full day of family fun including a hay ride out to a giant pumpkin patch and Christmas Tree farm, a petting zoo, pig races, and all kinds of other activities. Last year we went in October so we got a lot of sweet pumpkin pictures. I remember being so nervous the whole day because the boys had only been with us for a month and had no desire to walk next to us or hold our hands in this type of setting. We were so afraid we would lose them in the crowds! Jeff and I both commented on how much more relaxed we felt this time. It is amazing how much progress the boys have made in the past year!

We couldn't fit Dewberry Farm into our October this year, so we went this past Saturday. Most of the pumpkins were sold and the rest were rotten, so we decided to skip the trek out to see them. We still took the hay ride though and looked at the Christmas trees. We also went through the corn maze and I got this great picture of the boys with the hay ride behind them. I may have done a happy mommy dance after I snapped it.
We also got a family picture in front of the duck pond this year. Last year we weren't able to get a picture of all 4 of us, so I was also excited to get this one!
My 3 guys also let me take a picture of them by the barn and windmill.
This picture cracks me up! Look at that grumpy looking cow! I promise Jeff was having fun he is just incredibly awkward in pictures! He says he doesn't know "how" to smile. Ha!
We enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the corn field!
The boys loved trying some new things this year. They rode the cow train, drove some cars you pedal, and enjoyed bouncing on the giant inflated pillow!
We pealed them off the bouncy pillow long enough to take a couple of photos with the pretty sunset!

We ended the day at dusk, just as the farm closed. I am telling you, the sunset was AMAZING! I was not the only one taking a bunch of pictures of it!
Saturday night we shopped for and filled shoe boxes for Samaritan's Purse. Our church is participating in Operation Christmas Child and the kids had a goal of 100 boxes. The boys were excited to pick out toys for their "friend in another country!" Surprise, surprise the boys were determined to include as many Hot Wheels cars as possible! We also put one of their school pictures and their name and address inside. My sister made the suggestion of registering the boxes online, which allows you to track where the boxes end up. I am excited about this part because one of the things we are really working on is the concept that it is better to give than to receive. Check out my cheerful givers! Here they are just before church on Sunday with their shoe boxes.

They went to church with their daddy and I stayed home. We have only done this 2 times in the last year, but I had been fighting a cold for a week and really needed some extra rest. Especially since we had family pictures scheduled for Sunday afternoon that had already been rescheduled once due to rain. We had the photo shot sans Sunday naps so I am crossing my fingers that the pictures came out well! We are looking forward to sharing those photos with you very soon!

Thank you again for all of your sweet comments and congratulations! We are going to print them all out and save them for the boys so they will always remember how loved they are!