Santa's Coming

Christmas this year is going to be a hoot! Lucas is all about Santa and can hardly wait for him to come. If it wasn't for all the stores and Christmas lights in the neighborhood, we would wait to bring up the whole idea until after Thanksgiving. However, no such luck! Seeing Santa and Christmas trees everywhere we go has definitely created some excitement in this house. For a three year old, Christmas is light years away!

Lucas got very excited when I told him he could write a letter to Santa and decorate it. I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring this year and he came up with quite the list! After making the list, decorating was serious business. He was so intense and made sure everything was painted just right. "Santa loves red...I do too, it's my favorite color!"


Here's the final product!

It a little hard to read but here's what his list reads:
- Doctors Medical Play Kit
- Alarm Clock
- A Pen that goes "click"
- Coffee Press
- Orange Cones
- Big Crayon money Bank
- Bike
- Vacuum
- Yo-Yo
- Books

Keep in mind, this is right after a trip to Toy-R-Us to check out the potential goods! Only Lucas could come up with a no toy list for Christmas!

The next day we received a fun gingerbread making kit from Grandma Anderson. It had a rough time in the mail so we had to "glue" some pieces together. However, we were much too excited to wait for them to dry.
The house needed a little extra support and I was impressed Lucas gave up some of the candy for decorations. It was a challenge at times because that's a lot of temptation setting right in front of candy eating monster! He made sure to try all the different kinds available. "I love candy everyday!"

Mommy & Lucas...my, my mommy looks pregnant with those chubby cheeks! :)
The final house, barely holding together!
Thanks Grandma A. We love and miss you!

Everyday!

Lucas has a new phrase these days and it always starts out with "But I like ______ everyday!" The blank can be filled in with anything he wants to do or is doing at the time no matter what it is. Here are some examples...

Mommy: "Lucas, please don't throw the football by the T.V."
Lucas: "But I like to throw the football everyday!"

Daddy: "Lucas, it's time to go to bed."
Lucas: "But I like night time everyday!"

Mommy: "Lucas, no chewing gum right now, you just had a piece."
Lucas: "But I like chewing gum everyday!"

Daddy: "Lucas, please pick up your Legos before starting your puzzle."
Lucas: "But I like puzzles everyday!"

Tonight, instead of his normal phrase, I heard "I'm soooooo excited everyday!" Here's Lucas showing his excitement which nearly paralyzes him. It makes Mommy & Daddy smile EVERYDAY!


The reason for all the excitement...getting to eat the cookie dough!
And this photo? Enjoying a little hot chocolate after helping Daddy use the drill to hang up shelves.

How could this not make you smile EVERYDAY?!

We love you Lucas...EVERYDAY!

Ouch!

Yesterday, I bashed my thumb in the kitchen separating two frozen steaks. I had the butter knife between the two pieces of meat, pushing as hard as I could and WHAM!...my thumb smashed full force into the frozen meat! Obviously, the wax paper separation hadn't totally worked as planned! I thought my nail had popped off it hurt so bad. As I danced around the kitchen taking big, deep breaths and grabbing my thumb not wanting to look at the damage, Lucas watched in wonderment.

This was our conversation from that point on...

Lucas: "M o m m y, what happened?"
Mommy: "I banged my thumb really hard and it stings a lot."
Lucas: "Mommy, are you okay?"
Mommy: "Yes Lucas, it just stings a whole bunch."
Lucas: "Okay Mommy, do you need anything?"
Mommy: "Yes, I need a little cup of ice water please."
Lucas: "Okay Mommy, I'll get you some water and ice and then you'll need kisses too."

He was so calm and collected and caring. What a baby doll! I think I'll keep him. :)

--Thumb is fine, just a little bruised!

Round Two

All the leaves are falling down...falling down...falling down. Now it's time to rake them up...rake them up...rake them up. We love Autumn! (All to the tune of London Bridges)

Lucas learned this song at preschool and sings it daily.

It was a cold day but we still headed out back to play in the leaves. A few weeks ago we spent about 2 hours raking and bagging over 9 bags of leaves. Today, they are all back thanks to the beautiful grand Oak tree behind our fence.

No bags this time, just one HUGE pile and one HAPPY boy!

Fall Hangs On

We took our Saturday morning drive down to The Red for more climbing and hiking. The weather was much colder and a hotel was very welcome Saturday night. Sunday was just too cold too climb so we took Lucas on a short hike to get some energy out of him before heading home. He hiked over 2 miles by himself with little complaining and most often running!

The colors are just barely hanging on. It was beautiful!













Mission accomplished! :)

Dayton Days

This week has been a pleasant surprise...70 degrees in November and not a flake of snow yet. What a mean trick too! It's supposed to be in the 40's this weekend. However, we made sure to get out everyday to enjoy this "Indian Summer."

The colors are still changing. Many are past their prime but it's been really neat to see the different variety of trees and bushes change at different times during the past two months. Pink is pretty popular these days!

Here's our house all dressed up in pink.
These brightly colored bushes are all over the neighborhood.
Lucas and I headed to our personal metro park (less than a mile away) to take advantage of the hot day. The colors were bright as we drove in.

But pretty dull across the lake.
Luckily, there were a few rocks to be found and tossed. He just stared at the rings they produced and had a ball. Simple things in life!

Giving me the look...don't even say we have to go home yet!

Major Anderson

Daddy is big stuff now! :) He pinned on Major officially November 1, 2008. Congratulations Daddy, we are proud of you and love you very much.

--Thank you Amy for the image I borrowed from your blog! :)

Too celebrate, we headed to The Red River Gorge for another wonderful weekend of climbing. It was a hot one for sure and in the mid 70's but absolutely gorgeous. It was the most spectacular weekend we've seen (ever) with the Autumn colors in full bloom! We drove along one of the most beautiful stretches of road, for at least five miles, covered with a colorful canopy, winding through gorgeous Kentucky country. I was ah struck! I just can't believe how red some of those huge Maples can get....amazing and truly a gift from God!

Of course, both cameras left at home accidentally. Poo!