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{picture taken from my parent's backyard 2 christmases ago}

* it is raining again, after a week of hot weather. i think it may be safe to take the air conditioner out of samuel's window. then again, december can still be pretty warm some years... i heard it snowed back home last night and that always seems to make me a little bit homesick.

* tonight i am driving to the airport to pick up my friend christy, who is flying here from canada. it has been almost 2 years since she has visited and we are all excited to hang out with her for a week.

* a week after christy leaves, my brother andy, his wife cara and their 2 kids are coming down to stay with us. we will have a full house and are still trying to figure out sleeping arrangements, but i am thrilled that they are taking the time to visit us and can't wait to see the cousins play together.

* 2 1/2 weeks after that, my mom will arrive for tristan's 4th birthday! by then we are hoping to have tristan and samuel in the same bedroom.....something i've been avoiding for as long as i possibly can. samuel still wakes up during the night (he easily falls back to sleep) and tristan is a light sleeper, plus tristan is an early riser and i'm afraid he'll wake samuel up instead of allowing him to sleep for an hour or so later in the morning. any ideas from moms who have successfully made the transition from 2 rooms to 1?

* i am enjoying this mommy thing a whole lot lately. especially the "stay at home" part of it. i love setting up playdates, getting to know other moms while we watch our kids play and interact together. i love teaching tristan basic skills, and seeing his knowledge increase. we are not sending him to preschool and i'm happy with our decision because he gets a lot of social interaction from the playdates, and a lot of learning happens in our home. i'm also loving just being there for so many small things: popping popcorn, baking cookies, playing board games, building sandcastles at the park....things i wouldn't have nearly as much time for if i was a working mom. i'm grateful to God for providing for us and for my husband who works so hard, making this lifestyle possible.

* samuel is still not talking. he says "hi" all the time and "apple" (which sounds like "ah-oh") and that is it. i am not even a tiny bit worried because he signs a lot, but i am definitely looking forward to hearing his cute little voice chirp out a few words now and then.

* tristan didn't start talking until he was 2 and not very fluently until he was 3. now i can't get the child to stop talking! his latest thing has been to make up stories, starting with "once uponta time"... i posted a video of a robot story he told on the boys' blog recently. he is not even 4 yet and is wearing size 5 & 6 clothing. some of the bigger shirts that i had boxed up, waiting for him to grow into are actually already too short, so i've learned from my mistakes and now hang every one of his hand-me-down shirts in the closet so i can see right away when they'll fit him. he has a long torso like his daddy.

* i regularly dream that i am pregnant, and i always wake up terrified. just for the record, i am not currently pregnant.

* we are celebrating thanksgiving in a week and, as thrilled as i am at the thought of turkey and stuffing and yams and all of that, i am especially looking forward to the start of the christmas season. because thanksgiving happens so late here in america, most families tend to wait until after thanksgiving is over before pulling out the decorations and putting lights on the house. i've been listening to christmas music since the beginning of the month and i am SO ready to put away the pumpkins and bring out the nativities (which, according to josh, i have far too many of). let's get this christmas thing started already!