Dan's busy birthday weekend

Dan turned thirty-three yesterday. It was a busy day! He woke up early to go on a long run and also ran up to the church (literally) to do some things on the computer there. When he got back, he opened his presents and we had breakfast.

It started to drizzle but we all went out to rake the rest of the leaves off the front yard. It was so nice to have help doing that! It went a lot faster. Next Dan screwed down plywood on the floor in the attic so that we could organize and spread out our storage up there. Then Dan took a little nap. After lunch, Sam had a birthday party to attend and while he was there, we went to Costco and Lowe's. We bought a new light fixture for a bathroom and when we got home, Dan installed it. Dan had to go to a church meeting at 4, so I picked up Sam and went grocery shopping with the kids. We met Dan for dinner at Chick-fil-a after his meeting. Then I left from there to pick up a babysitter while Dan took the kids home to get ready for bed. Then Dan and I went to his work party at his boss's house. After the party, I took the babysitter home and we relaxed by watching a football game for a few minutes. Whew. It was a super busy day.

Since we knew his actual birthday would be so nutso, we had his birthday dinner and cake tonight. Which kind of explains why I only got one sorry picture of Dan yesterday and that was at like eleven that night... I feel bad about that. Here's the lone picture of yesterday:

Here he is today with most of his presents.

He received: Running pants, a Bill Murray shirt, two bow ties, "David Copperfield", a 15-pound weight, and a framed picture from me. My parents got him a fancy hedge trimmer.

He requested BBQ sandwiches for dinner. We also had broccoli and strawberries. And a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

I am so, so thankful for him. He is such a caring husband and father. I'm glad I get to celebrate these special days with him!

In other news, Dan has begun his annual reading of "A Christmas Carol" and this time he's reading out loud so Sam can hear it.

Our master bathroom remodel is going very slowly and we're hoping it's done in two weeks. (Originally they told us they could have it done by this past Friday.) Dust is everywhere which really kills me. There's so much I need to do but can't do until the remodel is done.

And here's my tummy at 36 weeks.

And what is the framed picture of that I gave him, you ask? Well, it's a picture of Dan during his mission in Chile when he and a companion went on a hike and took model-esque pictures. He's had this large picture in a tube the entire time I've known him and it really needs to see the light of day. This kind of awesomeness can't be thrust in a closet any longer. (Apparently the store where they got their pictures developed had a deal where you got a free enlargement with each packet of pictures.) So that present is more like a present for me than for him, but I took the opportunity of his birthday to go ahead and get this baby framed.

Love it.

End of November

I wrote about Sam's tooth being loose on a Sunday. I think it was on Tuesday I went to pick him up from school and he said it was so loose that he could push it so that it was basically laying flat out of the front of his mouth. But he said it wouldn't come out. I told him to give it a little twist. He did and it came out as we walked to the car. He was pretty excited about that.

The pro to losing teeth later is that means his teeth are apparently stronger. The con is that everyone else in his class has already lost teeth, so they told him stories of what the tooth fairy brings. One girl got $5 and a t-shirt. What? We tried to lower Sam's hopes a bit. He got $1. Which fell behind the bed. So he was pretty sad when he woke up. But we went hunting for it and it didn't take long for him to perk back up.

His new tooth is growing in crooked. Looks like braces are in our future.

Wednesday Sam didn't have school, but we had people working on our bathroom, so the kids and I hung out at home. Afton decided to make things a little more interesting by barfing. Fortunately her bug didn't last long and we headed to Mom and Dad Cheney's that night.

Thanksgiving was wonderfully relaxing and delicious. We chatted and (kind of) helped in the kitchen, stuffed our faces with delicious food, played a game, went on a walk, and then (I am so ashamed to admit it) went to Walmart. It was Dan's idea. 

Friday Dan had to do some work so the rest of us went to a movie (Big Hero 6) and then met Dan for lunch at Bodo's. We left Saturday morning and headed to the DC temple, which was wonderful. The 3+ hour drive home was not so wonderful.

I forgot my camera over the holiday, so I don't have any pictures from that. Here's one from Sunday. 35+ weeks. Craziness.

Yesterday it was a glorious 73 degrees so I went outside to do some raking for an hour or so while the kids played and sometimes helped.

I filled 4 bags and probably got to about 1/5 of the front yard. Then it got dark. Then of course the wind was crazy strong last night, the temperature dropped by 30 degrees, and it rained. So the leaves are scattered everywhere and I'm too wimpy to go out again anytime soon to finish the job.

We said farewell to our Thankful Tree.

Some items on Sam's list: Wood, Are great dad (sic), water, the moon and the sun, baby blueberry, natural resources, grandmas and grandpas, church, Heavenly Father, our earth world, me/Sam, senses, Holy Ghost, Dad and Afton, soil, the good fairy (there's a good fairy at his school), the tooth fairy, sunlight, the thankful tree, our #1 dad, family, sound, rain, Are lovely mom/Kristen (sic), and ice cream.

Since Afton can't write, she drew pictures of each thing and we wrote what the picture was of. Here's what she was thankful for: boxes, dad, nail polish, donuts, hangers, spaghetti, phones, eagles, glow letters, birds, magazines, walruses, light switches, cups, trees, markers, giraffes, couches, tape, duck, and microwaves.

More random fall things

Friday Sam came home with his first report card of the year. He did really well and got all "E's" (Excellent's) except for an "S" (Satisfactory) in art. He is a good student. We offered to celebrate by taking him out to Chick-fil-a yesterday. He asked if we could go to Costco instead. We obliged.

Man, it was packed. I had to wait for a table and finally got the very furthest one. Right next to the tires. Nothing like the smell of rubber when you're eating your pizza. And may I just ask why, for heaven's sake, they only offer one non-caffeinated beverage choice? And it's lemonade, at that. I have written a formal complaint in their "Comments" box, but nothing has been done. Maybe I should start an online petition. Can I get some Sprite up in there? Or Sierra Mist? Or 7-Up? Am I asking too much?

Yesterday was another celebration for our family in that Dan completed his first (and, according to him, his last) marathon. It was in the 20's at the start. We went to watch him around mile 13. It was so cold. He was looking great, but I guess around mile 22 he hit a wall and the rest was "grueling." But he did it! I think it's awesome.

 Sam's picture is of him holding his picture. Afton's is of a map with snakes. Duh.

 Pretty happy! And pretty leaves!

 He stopped to shed his jacket and say hello, and then he was off once more.

The Richmond marathon claims to be "America's Friendliest" for unknown reasons. Runners did throw us candy, which I guess is pretty friendly.

After we put the kids to bed last night, Sam came out to tell us that he has his first loose tooth! I took a picture after church.

 It's his bottom right. See how he's pushed it out in front of his top tooth?

He's really excited about it. He asked me to send a picture of it to his teacher. Then he changed his mind and just said Grandma and Grandpa. Speaking of, at school they were asked to write a letter to someone they love. Sam chose Grandma C and I had to snap a picture of it before it was off in the mail.

Melts your heart, right there. He said "I love you the most" because he likes that in Tangled they say, "I love you." "I love you more." and "I love you most."

I took my first pictures in a long time for a paying client the other day. That was stressful, but good for practice. I think they're happy with them. We also got our pictures taken, but haven't gotten them back yet.

Our master bath remodel starts TOMORROW and it will be pretty chaotic, but we're looking forward to the "after." I've taken pictures for comparisons once it's done and I'll share those in a few weeks.

No post is complete without a picture of Afton's latest dress up outfit.

Cracks me up.

Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, but our trees seem to lag a few weeks behind the rest.

Until next time!

Halloween stuff and our weekend

Monday for FHE we carved pumpkins.

Tuesday night was the ward Trunk or Treat. It was also a chili cook-off. As of Tuesday morning, there were only 5 people signed up to bring chili and 6 for cornbread. So I made both. When we got to the church, there were probably 25 pots of chili and cornbread lined up down the length of two long tables, so we put our chili in the church kitchen and ate that to avoid the long line for food. We also just brought the basket of cornbread over to our table. Maybe we'll do that from now on. We were done eating way before everyone else.

Friday we went out trick or treating in the neighborhood. We only saw 5 other trick or treaters. That means that people who give out candy give out giant handfuls because they want to get rid of it. Our kids got three full-sized candy bars in their loot. Lucky ducks.

Saturday it got super cold and we went to Sam's soccer game. I finally remembered to bring the camera. This was his best game by far. He was much more aggressive and tried to score a few times. (Never got a goal, though.) He's the one with the black beanie.

After the game we ran home to bundle up some more and then we drove over to Charlottesville to meet up with my parents and pick some apples at Carter Mountain.

 First we had delicious apple donuts and cider. Then we ventured into the freezing temperatures to pick one apple each. Just so we could say we did.

 I now have to skip a button on my coat. Very flattering.

Then we hit up Bodo's before driving back home.