big boy

Just a couple of short videos to show Simeon's little budding personality. He actually crawled for the first time yesterday and then a couple of times today. But he still prefers the army crawl or just cruising around on furniture. He is working on tooth #4 and eating a few solid foods. He is almost never without a smile and is so affectionately called "big boy Sim" by his sister.

I love watching these two play together and make each other laugh. It is so awesome to see them bond and hopefully they will always be good friends. In this video Simeon was laughing so hard at Hallel and of course when i started filming he kept getting distracted by the camera. But it is still super cute!

festivities!

Josh and I are both suckers for the Christmas festivities. We love singing carols, reading advent, drinking peppermint mochas, family traditions, and anticipating opening presents!

This weekend we went to Sausalito and looked at gingerbread houses on display in the local businesses and then watched the parade of lighted boats and fireworks. Hallel loved it and especially the fireworks (in her words the lights that make noise).

Today we went to the Depot in Mill Valley to go down the man made snow hill but it broke a few minutes before we arrived. Kinda glad we weren't sledding when it collapsed. So we walked around the town and enjoyed the Christmas singers. 

One of my favorite memories growing up was when our friends would bring over a plate of Christmas treats and we would carefully pick out our favorites cookies and savor the peanut butter balls till the next year!

Well now it is my turn to try my hand at Christmas delectibles and share the moment. So for those of you whom we cannot deliver to this is our best try.

Enjoy the season...only 13 more days...

the last day of November

Well, its the 30th so I thought I would take this opportunity to share the November news before we embark on a new month!
The week before Thanksgiving Josh went to his annual ETS (Evangelical Theological Society) meetings this year in Atlanta. He presented a paper and caught up with old friends from all over the world. And put his resume (CV) out there for some schools. He had a great time and is in the midst of writing, job hunting, working and still giving his family priority. He is doing an amazing job and we all would appreciate your prayers.
The same time that Josh was gone two of my sisters came and stayed with the kids and me in Cali. We had a blast and the four cousins were able to meet for the first time!
We had a nice Thanksgiving with friends and ate way too much. Josh cooked a bird and I made pumpkin pies so we had plenty of leftovers. yummo!

ALL BUNDLED UP

HALLEL LOVES SCARVES THIS WINTER

COUSIN TIME

CYNTHIA AND SABRINA

ENJOYING THE SUN AT THE SPIT

READING BOOKS TOGETHER

JOSH PLAYING FLAG FOOTBALL
Then we had a few fun family days of Christmas shopping and of course getting a tree! I love the smell of pine and the kids are in love with the lights! It is so fun this year to talk about Jesus' birth and see Hallel beginning to understand.  She has been singing along to some of the Christmas songs. Yeah Christmas, here we come!

DECORATING THE TREE

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

boots

my 3 favs

This morning Josh, Simeon and I were sitting on one couch and Hallel was on the other couch drinking her milk. She got down with two blankets in one hand, her milk, and a pillow from the couch and said, "sit by you". It was sweet and a good family moment.

all dressed up

My 2 favorite little cutie pies were donning their adorable costumes at the Harvest Festival on campus. Of course, I brought the camera to the fest but between eating the annual chili cook off lunch and Hallel experiencing a jumpy house for the first time the camera never made it out of the bag. So you will have to settle for quick snap shots while Hallel was in tears that Simeon's mane was touching her and that i wanted her to put her bunny gloves on. Simeon just sat there the whole time with wide eyes. They never stop making me laugh!

G & G time

Our kids absolutely love their Grandparents! 

The other day Hallel was talking to Grandpa O on the phone and I told her to say, "Have a good day" and it came out, "Have a Grandpa day". It was so sweet. 

A few weeks ago Grandpa and Grandma Mathews came for a visit and the kids were delighted to have 

G & G all to themselves. We decided to take them into the city for Fleet Week. It was so fun to see the Blue Angels in flight. 

 Of course we can't wait for Christmas for more G & G time! 

sleep cycles

One night when Josh went to put Simeon in his crib he whispered for me to come look at Hallel in a funny sleep position on her toddler bed. Since then Josh and I have tried to capture some of these great positions on film. 

So far Simeon sleeps in his swaddle so his sleep style is pretty much mummy like but that is about to change. We tried laying him down without a swaddle today and he cried for an hour freaking out with his hands so free:). He is such a character. He can do one arm out but two is just too much for now. I am sure we will have some great pictures for him soon too.

My favorite one of Hallel is when I came in to check on her at nap time and she had gone and found her striped socks and put them on and pulled them up over her pants! She definitely has style:).

Her beloved "doggie blankie" wadded up beside her.
 One day she somehow fell asleep with a hand holding on to each side of the railing.

Upside down and hanging off the bed.

Deep thoughts in dreamland.

Favorite position-booty up!

I had to throw one in of Simeon when he rolled over and fell asleep after watching his fish mobile.

Classic one leg off the bed trick.


There is something so peaceful about these little wiggle worms that don't stop moving from the time they get up till when they go to sleep and then complete stillness.

camping

As usual I am a week behind in the blog world but better late than never. Two weekends ago our family of four went camping! I am happy to say that it was a great time. 

You see, last summer we tried camping and i did not fare too well. So this was our trial run to make sure that we are still a camping family. Both Josh and I were pretty nervous but it was a success despite the rain! Hallel and Simeon were covered in dirt and had a blast. We borrowed a tent big enough for all of us. And Josh set up camp,made a roaring fire and his usual bacon, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast!

 Hallel trying out the zippers on the tent

Being silly in the tent with daddy's hat.

 Sleepy Simeon after a night of rain.

 Home sweet home.

 Josh rigging up the lantern-everything about camping appeals to his manhood-he loves it!

and I enjoy watching him:)

 Hallel spent a good amount of time walking around and sliding in the leaves!

 Simeon watching all of the fun.

 I absolutely love his bright blue happy eyes.

 Trying to get a family picture

 This is about the 10th picture and its still blurry.

 Thanks to my patient husband-we did it!