Lovin' Leaves

Jude and Liam had a blast jumping in the leaves yesterday.  I think they played for a full 2 hours in this little pile! The were laughing, running, jumping, sliding. Man, it was good for my soul to see and hear them having so much fun. After Liam went down for his nap, Jude had the biggest grin on his face and kept talking about how much fun he had with his brother.  Thank you Lord for giving me to wonderful boys! Oh, and three cheers to leaves!

Star Wars - The Takeover!

Move over all you other action heroes. There's a new love in town. Star Wars 4, 5 and 6 are the new favorite movies for Jude. At least that what he says. He still can't sit through a single one of them. I think he mainly likes them because all the other boys his age are obsessed and because he had to be a "big boy" before he could watch it. Insert one small step into manhood here! Sniff, sniff! He got a new costume (Captain Rex - Clone Wars) with his money that he has saved up from each of you giving a dollar here and there. Thank you - I think. Gramma got both boys their very own light sabers and now the obsession, much like the force, is strong it is.

The other night Adam had to work late and I didn't feel like cooking (what's new). So we had pancakes. If that wasn't wonderful enough for the boys, we made them green and called them Yoda pancakes. Awww yeah - insert 15 coolness points for Mommy! They were a HUGE hit! Sweet! Who knew something so simple could bring such happiness? Thank you green food coloring!

Don't worry family, and villains, there is still a love for other super heroes. Just look at this...

Seriously, all you "bad guys" don't stand a chance in the Fish House. We're a fierce group! Oh, and if you're wondering why Liam has on big boy undies, it's because he is officially potty trained! Woo-hoo! Many thanks to Pull-ups, the patience of Job and Lemon Heads! 

Trick or Treat: Double Vision

That much anticipated time of year has come and gone. It's Jude's favorite time of year and the holiday that seems to come everyday at our house: Halloween. Tricks are provided daily by the boys. Treats unfortunately requested daily by the boys. So when the "official day" came, the excitement was not what I expected.





Things finally began to look up at the party that was full of boys dressed head to toe in Star Wars costumes, food, candy and bounce houses.  Awesome!  Thanks to the Jeters and the Rasmussens (the following night) Halloween was a success.

Love to the Core

Bad days can linger for me. After dropping Jude off at school last week, I decided to ditch my bad day and have a good time with Liam. We went to the Arboretum. The mix of fresh air, cool breezes, sunshine, laughter and pumpkins immediately turned my mean reds into calming blues.

After all the pumpkin play, we were off to play in the water, look at the fish and have a snack.

That apple didn't stand a chance. I love this sweet boy more than sunny days, waterfalls, laughter and apple cores!

Sweet Jude...

I use to think that they said the funniest things when they were little bitty, but now I'm starting to second guess myself.

Today - Jude came home with two stars. He said, "oh cool. One for me and one for my brother." I replied, "awww, that's sweet Jude." Then he said, "no one for me and one for Jamesy." What? I told Jude that wasn't very nice, he should share with his brother. Jude responded, "but Mom, Liam's color blind-folded and the only color he can see is blue. So, I'm gonna give him a blue one."  Ha ha ha!  I guess he really does listen to what is going on around him. Every time you ask Liam what color something is, he replies, "blue."  This had me worried and I began asking friends about it. Yes, I know now that it's too early to tell. But - it sure did make for a good chuckle today!

This one's sweet and heart-wrenching, not funny.

Last week - When I asked Jude to pray for our meal this is what came out of his 5 year old mouth:

"God, thank you for this day. Thank you for this food and everything you've made. There's just one problem... Please help all the kids that don't have anything get whatever they need. Amen."

What? I cried so hard when I heard those sweet words. Jude said, "I know Mom, those are happy tears. Right?" Oh yes, happy indeed. I love my big boy!

A Little Fishin and A Movie

Liam found a fishing pole in the garage Friday. We brought it inside to have some fun. There was no fishing line...or so I thought. When Jude saw the pole, he wanted in on the fun. I figured out they both had some line left, so we got their "bait"(bobbers and buttons) all hooked up and the fun began!

You might be wondering if they caught anything... Umm, yes!  Their Pop isn't a fishing guide for nothing and their last name does fit the bill. These boys were destined to catch fish.  Here are the spoils from a long day at the pond:

Later that night we went to an outdoor movie! I had found out earlier through a friend that Whole Foods was having a 30 year birthday bash with cheap pizza, cheap ice cream and cheap beer. Throw in a free outdoor presentation of Back to the Future and you couldn't keep us away.  When we got there we found popcorn, bounce houses and face painting. SCORE!  The boys were so excited! Christmas in September!

Remember I mentioned face painting? The line was LONG, but Jude wanted his face painted so badly. I let him wait in line while we finished dinner. Of coarse Liam had to do whatever brother wanted to do. I was SO proud of them. They waited in that gigantic line for a long time and they were unbelievably patient. They were last ones to get their faces done and the lady even commented on how patient and pleasant they were! Ahhh, that's my boys. They got smiley faces for being so great!

Liam was so excited and proud I couldn't get him to stop moving long enough to say "cheese!"

Pretty tough guy with his "mean face" huh?

My girlfriend Emily took these:

yup, Jude waited in line all that time and he asked the lady to paint his face black. That's all... black. What???

Jude was trying to scare me and Liam, well, just look at that cute face - can you tell he's in heaven? He cried when we washed it off.

The boys sat so sweetly and politely in their chairs Aunt Sister gave them. The movie was awesome.

Unfortunately we had to leave before the movie ended because the boys were so tired. We tried to watch the rest on Netflix with no luck. Instead, we did another 80's flashback with the Karate Kid!  It was a great date night for all involved! 

A Two Week Vacation

August in Texas is HOT! There is nothing that can really cool you down beside as very high electric bill. So, we opted for a two week vacation. Part in Des Moines. Part in Portland (without the boys). Here'a look in photos.

A stop at Braum's on the way to Des Moines!

Des Moines State Fair! Jude and Liam went down the BIGGEST slide I've ever seen with their PapaDude.

Jude taught Grandpa Fish the strangest card game ever. Boy this kiddo has an imagination. Especially since he was playing with drink coasters! Ha ha ha. "Do you have a haunted house?"

Cannon Beach - Haystack Rock. Uh-mazing!

(it deserves another look)

We so wish the boys could have seen this!

There was sea life all around: hermit crabs, starfish, mussels and more.

It was definitely a time to look at God's creation, our marriage and deep within. A worth-while process.

The three images above are the drive back to Portland from Cannon Beach on the 101. It's hard to believe there is this much beauty in one state. But, time to get home to our awesome boys!

Liam. Gotta love him.

There are so many amazing memories that weren't captured on film and many captured by my husband and not me. While in Des Moines we got to have dinner with Grandma Pat and Uncle Karl. We all laughed as the boys fed the ducks and were chased by the geese. All while trying very hard not to step on all the bird poop. Then Grandma, Karl and myself laughed as Adam and the boys ran all over and open field playing chase.  We also got to meet our relatives (Grandma Fish's side of the family) that were in town as well. It was a huge family dinner with a ton of Fishes and California family. So fun. They boys were up til 10:30 or so. Yikes!  We finished our time in Des Moines with an amazing trip to Ledges State Park. It was beautiful. The boys had a great adventure in the water and the woods and I got to pee on a tree. HA! Anna had school and we missed her a ton, but the adventure was one that will not soon be forgotten. Oh, I should totally give Anna a shout out for all the DQ shakes she blessed us with. Yummers! (And if you haven't seen her room redo, check out my other blog on the side bar here.)

Once home, it warmed my heart to see my boys continuing to love on each other. I walked in on Jude reading a book to Liam. He was really reading it - he has that one memorized, but whatever...it's the gesture that counts. I think it would be impossible to love my family more. I am blessed. Truly blessed. (And this is just part of the family part! There is a ton more Texas & Carolina family and an abundance of friends!) God is good.