Christmas is only 97 days away!!! Get Ready!!

My weekly blog is being written later and later every week so pretty soon (if I don't shape up) it'll be a monthly blog that is really long.
Not much has happened lately although reading Jenny's blog, Fall is coming!!! I love fall when the leaves are changing (maybe because Jake proposed in the 25th of Sept. at Enger Tower when the leaves were changing) I love winter too! I love being snuggled inside when it is freezing outside sipping hot chocolate and watching it snow. I thoroughly enjoy Christmas (who doesn't?) It is for me better than my birthday. (Some of you don't know but just about every other year when I was a kid my birthday party was cancelled because of a snowstorm in March. My birthday is March 3rd and this past year we were all going to paint pottery at the Pottery Burn in Hermantown and I HAD TO CALL AND CANCEL because of a crazy huge snowstorm.) Anyway back to Christmas. I enjoy everything about it and actually start planning it 3-4 months in advance. Now I have been chastised my whole life for listening to Christmas music all year, wanting to keep the tree up (haven't convinced Jake yet as to why it is a great idea) and buying anything "holiday" that I can get my hands on. I also love Christmas crafts and this year Kaleb is going to make gingerbread houses with me. I've never done one and love the fact that we'll do one together for the first time. He loves Christmas too, as much as a 2 yr old can, and requests that we listen to my favorite Christmas song "Dominick the Donkey" all the time in the car. We can't do it in the car with Daddy so every morning when I drop him off at daycare the whole ride over is dedicated to "Dominick the Donkey!" I just love that Italian Christmas Donkey.
So I'll post some pics of the boys from Sunday when we just lounged around and spent time together. One of them is of my brother Dave's new kitten, Simba the 2. We had a family cat that we put down in February and when Dave acquired this kitten for free she looked just like her namesake. In fact when my sister and I saw her we both teared up a bit.
Ian now signs "more", "milk" and sometimes "please." He is such a cute little boy. I'm not just saying that because he is my baby; it's the word on the street!! He is "commando" crawling all over the place now and hates to be on his hands and knees to get places. He pulled himself up last night for the first time and of all places, the bathtub!!
Kaleb informed me that he is going to school now instead of Grandma Dianne's. He wants her to be his teacher and Grandpa Mark is to watch all the kids. He has started to want to watch Christmas movies when it's time to relax. You honestly can't get enough "Christmas Story", "The Grinch", "Rudolph" and "Polar Express." I'm rubbing off on him a little I think. He's not a big fan of "Home Alone" though. When the robbers are getting hurt in the end he has too much compassion and we shut it off!!
So here is my weekly insight and wisdom as well as a little update on us! The first picture is from Wed. When I came home from a play with my friend Anne, I encountered 3 boys asleep on the couch in various positions. Kaleb was actually half on the couch and half hanging off. The next pic is from one of our RE/MAX softball games. (I had to include it. He looks so cute~again the word on the street!) The next 2 are hats that we found to try on Ian for winter. He would make the cutest elf wouldn't he!! Next is a cute one of Kaleb. The next 2 are kitten pics and the final one is of Kaleb and his messy, messy face which happens to exactly how he likes it! ENJOY!!