Brrrr!!

I can tell you now, those of you in England will laugh at this, but it's a quite chilly 50 degrees here! We are enjoying the jacket weather and spent the day with a great balance of indoor and outdoor fun. We went to a lovely lunch at Beyond Bread and then headed to the Tucson Children's Museum for a couple of hours. The museum was packed and for some reason no one was watching their children today. Some of the much older kids were very aggressive with the little ones (I saw at least 10 incidents of older kids yelling at little ones, pushing, taking toys from them, etc.) and we had to stay right next to Hayden the whole time.  I suspect they were all members of the same family, but it was really avoidable had the parents watched them.  After we escaped the craziness indoors, we had a great time playing in the sand box in front of the museum. Hayden and a few other little boys played with the construction trucks for quite a while. It was chilly outside, but the warm sunlight was just perfect to balance out the air. This evening it hailed for about 20 minutes and we took Hayden outside to catch some. He was super excited and asked before bed if we can play in the hail again tomorrow. I hope so. Wish us luck for a chilly week and we here in the states will wish you some sunshine! Hayden has his official soccer sign-up meeting Wednesday night, so I am sure I'll have some fun details to report. These pictures are great...Love to everyone!

Happy Birthday Jane!! Surprise!!

Well, we did it!  We pulled off a surprise party for Jane this evening and it was wonderful!  Hayley and James, Cathy and Tom, Marcy and Tim, Sandra and Rick and Matt, Hayden and I all hid in the house and shut the lights off.  When Jane came through the front door, we all jumped out and yelled "Surprise!"  She had no idea what was coming and it was so fun to see her face light up when she walked in.  Matt and James did a traditional BBQ of hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, and a few sides.  Cathy made a wonderful chocolate cake, as usual.  Hayden got his usual shower of attention and loved every minute of it.  He even did some fancy dancing to the song, "Feliz Navidad"!  Happy birthday Jane, we love you!!!

By the way, the blue shirts Hayden and I are wearing in these photos have the slogan, "Miracles Have No Boundries".  They are in support of our family friends Lawrence and Beth.  Lawrence suffered a traumatic brain injury last November and has been fighting back ever since.  These shirts are part of their campaign to bring awareness and to help others with traumatic brain injuries.  Visit http://teamfongfund.com/index.html for more info on how to help their amazing cause!

Surprise!!!

Throwing balloons all over the house is the toddler way to decorate!

Dancing to Feliz Navidad

Santa!!!

We visited Santa this afternoon at the Santastic event at the mall.  Hayden absolutely loved putting his little letter in the mailbox and seeing he was rated "Nice" on the "Naughty or Nice" Meter!  Hayden and Matt also got shot in the face with snow from the magic mailbox, which they both thought was great.  When it came time to see Santa, I must say I was very nervous...I thought he would either cry or completely freeze, but he did no such thing!  He sat right up on Santa's lap and said "Hello Santa".  Santa asked if he had been a good boy and he said "Mommy says yes I am".  When Santa asked what he wanted, he simply answered with, "Transformers and a Scooter"  (Score! Two things I bought this morning!!!)  Santa sat with him for a couple of pictures and then when it was time to get off his lap, Hayden very politely said "Thank you" and hopped down on his own.  I was SO proud of my little guy for getting right up there to see Santa without a twinge of fear.  For the rest of the day, we have heard lots of, "So now Santa makes the toys the kids ask for?" and "Can I see Santa again?"  Little does he know he will see Santa at his school Christmas party, at the Zoo Lights and at Matt's Christmas party.  He will be so excited!

Gobble Gobble

Yesterday was one of the best Thanksgiving days I have ever had.  In the morning, we relaxed as a family and spent the whole morning playing.  We took a walk with Buster and wrote a letter to Santa.  The relaxation was awesome and I am so glad we did it.

In the afternoon, we really had a wonderful time at the Kallok's home and are so glad they invited us to join them.  Hayden really took to Cathy's son Cody who is our age.  They wrestled and ran around for a good portion of the day and it's always fun to see how he takes to people so quickly.  He is already asking if he can see Cody again so I'm sure another visit is in our future.  The Thanksgiving meal itself was awesome, full of all the classics and everything was delicious.  Everyone at their house was so friendly and warm and we were really reminded that we have so much to be thankful for.  Below are some great pictures of Hayden playing in their backyard before dinner and of him writing his letter to Santa.

We have just arrived home from some Black Friday shopping, where Matt and I had a blast shopping together.  MeeMaw watched Hayden and Matt and I went out at 4:30 this morning to snag a few deals. We picked up everything for Hayden for Christmas and a few other things as well.  Our little man got a Thomas Scooter, blocks, Transformers, a soccer ball, art supplies, a tent, a Garbage truck, books, trains, puzzles and games.  Honestly, he would be happy with a few books and some boxes to stack, but Matt and I love being able to provide a variety of activities to do together as a family, and every single thing we got him is for us to play together with him.  Christmas morning is always an awesome time around here and we always have a great morning of pancakes, hot chocolate, toys and laughs, then a huge turkey dinner in the afternoon!

We are heading out to see Santa at the mall this afternoon and Hayden is very excited.  We will post some pictures of his visit this evening.

Hayden's little projects

As I said yesterday, Hayden has been making a ton of art projects, both at school and at home.  I believe at this age, it's not so much the finished product that is fun, it's working together to follow steps to complete a project and seeing his face light up when I pull out the scissors, glue, glitter, paint, etc.  I think it's the preschool teacher in me, but I do not care about the mess.  It's all part of the fun.  Here are a couple of the projects he has done this week.

This picture is sideways on purpose.  Hayden took the picture :)

Oh, those tiny hands.  This is a placemat he made at school.  I nearly cried when he brought it to me when I picked him up today.  I am a sucker for those tiny hands.

He was saying, "Gobble Gobble" behind his placemat

So proud of his work!

Working so intentely

Making a cournucopia

He is so careful with his scissors!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We love you!

Things I am thankful for

Wow, I am absolutely amazed that it is almost Thanksgiving already. I can't believe how fast time is flying by! With Thanksgiving just a day away, I want to make note of all of the wonderful things I am thankful for this year. 

I am thankful for my amazing family.  Matt is the greatest husband and father any woman could ask for. He is such a genuine person who cares more for others than he ever does for himself.  He's supportive, funny, intelligent, adventerous...I could go on for hours.  I really am the luckiest woman alive.  Hayden is the coolest and sweetest kid I could have ever asked for.  He is just like Matt, so thoughtful and kind and he amazes me every day with his intelligence.  He is our little miracle baby and we are so very blessed to have him!  I am just as thankful for the rest of our family members as well, especially Jane, Sid and Di.  They are 3 of the greatest parents and grandparents I have ever seen and we are all so lucky to have them to support us, laugh with us, and share our lives.  I am also thankful for our little Buster.  He is a great pal for Hayden and really is more of a brother to him than a dog, even though Buster thinks Hayden is his baby sometimes.  I am thankful for Hayden's godparents, Hayley and James.  They are wonderful people who have a real interest in Hayden's well being, and I am so happy they will be around to watch him grow...along with a baby of their own soon!

I am also thankful for every basic thing we have in our lives.  We are lucky to have a beautiful roof over our heads, healthy food to eat, clean water to drink, clothing, medical insurance, etc.  Some people can't say that this year or any year, and so for those things I am especially thankful.  I hope one day everyone can say they are thankful to have all of those things.

I am thankful that all of us have our health this year.  Last year was rough with my stomach problems and surgery and I can say this year has been such a blessing.  I am so thankful we figured out Hayden's tummy issues and allergy and he is on the right track to gaining some height and weight!

I am also thankful this year for our wonderful friends.  We may not see some of them all the time or talk to them as much as we should, but most of them are still there for us as we are for them.  One of my New Year's resolutions this year will be to try to keep better contact with friends we don't see regularly. 

I am thankful for Hayden's school and his teachers.  I would rather not have to ever hand my child to someone else to nurture and care for during the day, but unfortunately I have to do just that.  We are so lucky he has such a wonderful little school full of sweet and genuine people to care for him.  When he arrives in the morning, all the kids on the playground run to the gate to greet him and I think that's just awesome.  His teachers treat the children as if they were their own and I feel blessed every day that we found that school.

I am thankful that we have the tools and the ability to teach our son that giving back is more important than receiving.  We are constantly trying to show Hayden ways to help others, such as recycling, handing out meals to the homeless (which we will do again in a few weeks), collecting canned food and dropping it off at a food drive, giving to Toys For Tots, buying items for adopt-a-family, and giving his old toys and clothes to children who need them.  Hayden really has an awesome sense of empathy for others and always wants to help, and I am so thankful for that.  I hope he continues on that path as he gets older.  I know he is spoiled and has a lot of toys, but he is truly grateful for all he has and that's what matters.

I am thankful I have such a great job that allows me to make a difference in children's lives each day.  I love every single kid in my class and I look forward to going to work every morning.  I may not make a lot of money, but my happiness makes up for it!  I am thankful Matt works at such an amazing company, for such good people.  He is treated as a member of the family at work and that's not something you find often. 

I honestly could go on for hours about all of these things, and I know this post is boring, but it is something I wanted to have for me, to look back on later.  I hope everyone is counting their blessings this year...I know we are.          

Tomorrow I promise there will be pictures of Hayden's newest project, a paper plate turkey.  Our house is bursting with art projects, but he loves them so I figure, why not?  We will have to just start sending the family some extra projects here and there!  :)

Ironman Arizona and Thanksgiving

Argh!

Hayden and Malik beating up on Matt

Lunch Time

He discovered we had hundreds of cups of ice!

Random snow shoes at Ikea

I just love the look on his face

Telling his Transformers, "Guys, It's quiet time!"

Whew, it has been a busy couple of days!  We are a little tired and plan to relax the rest of the day, so I will make this short.  We had an absolute blast at Ironman Arizona and this year's theme for our aid station was pirates.  We all had hats, swords and eyepatches, and the kids thought it was really awesome.  It is always life changing to watch the athletes compete in such an amazing event and I feel honored every year to help such wonderful people.  Here are a few pictures of yesterday...I didn't take all that many because we were VERY busy and having too much fun. 

I am hoping for a quiet 2 days of work before our wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  We always cook a huge traditional dinner and have people over to our house, but this year we were invited to our dear friends, The Kallok's, for dinner and we decided that would be a wonderful change.  I already have a whole line-up of dairy-free Thanksgiving foods to take over for Hayden, so it should run pretty smoothly.  I just have to watch other people giving him food so we don't have any incidents.  We are very excited to have dinner with their family and it will be a great day to celebrate all of the things we are thankful for!

Following our tradition the past two years with Hayden, on the day after Thanksgiving, we will sit with Hayden and help him write his letter to Santa.  After we address it to the North Pole, we will go visit Santa at the mall and mail his letter.  I was thinking this would be the year for him to be terrified to sit on Santa's lap, but he is very excited about it so we will hope he thinks so when the jolly man is in front of him!

Also this weekend we have MeeMaw's birthday, which Hayden is very excited about.  He already has a plan in the works, but MeeMaw reads this, so I'll keep his secret safe!  Love to you all :)

Random Cuteness

Our last Movers and Shakers class

This morning was our last class of this session of Movers and Shakers, and most likely our last class of it for good.  Hayden has definitely outgrown the class and will love to do something more organized, which he will when soccer starts in 3 weeks.  I do really love the teachers at the class and they really have a good time with the kids, so we will miss them.  Ou favorite teacher was Ms. Gigi, who always gave Hayden lots of hugs and encouraged him to try new things.  We will have to make a point of stopping by to see her on a regular basis. Here's a few pictures of the fun from class today. 

We are going to rest this afternoon, make a handprint turkey placemat and get ready for our day in Phoenix tomorrow.  We are heading out early to shop at Ikea first thing in the morning, then we are working all day at Ironman Arizona with TriSports and I am sure we will be absolutely exhausted when we get in tomorrow night, so I will post pics on Monday.  For those of you that are on Skype, we are home for the afternoon and Skype is on, so feel free to call!