Thankful

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with our family. Granmanette and Grandpa Michael spent the week with us. We enjoyed their company very much. They spent lots of time with the boys, playing, driving trucks, doing puzzles, reading books, and watching the antics of both Jacoby and Morgan. Morgan has come a long way with crawling over the past week, so now he's quite speedy and goes just about anywhere he wants and leaves a minor path of destruction behind him. We went on walks and enjoyed our beautiful Colorado weather. And we even ventured down to the Aquarium for an outing. Jacoby much prefers the zoo over the Aquarium--he wasn't thrilled about the dark tunnels and the simulated flash flood/thunderstorm. But he did enjoy watching the big fish and turtles. We then took Granmanette on the free mall bus ride downtown from Union Station up to Civic Center Park (where we attended the Obama rally with Jacoby a while back). Uncle Jared arrived on Turkey Day, so we celebrated on Friday with a very nice dinner and a walk around the lake. We have much to be thankful for this year, and it was a blessing to spend the holiday with family once again.

Jacoby went with Justin to drop Uncle Jared off at the airport today. He reported back on all of the airplanes he got to see. Morgan and I caught up on a few things around the house. And I went and saw New Moon with a friend. We had a good time seeing the movie and catching up with each other. We put up our Christmas tree this evening--we'll see how long it lasts with our two little mobile monsters.

Justin is finished with his quarter and has a few more Greek classes to teach before they take their final exam. It's nice to spend time with him and not have the pressure of school hanging over our heads. Tomorrow is my fifth anniversary at work! I can't believe its been that long already...and I really can't believe we've been in Colorado 5.5 years too!

Thankful for Jacoby

Thankful for Morgan

Thankful for Our Family

Morgan's New Moves

Our littlest munchkin is on the move, and he sure is on a mission to figure out how to get into everything! Here's a peek at what he's up to as he perfects his crawling skills.

Turkey Time

So much to look forward to this week! Grandma & Grandpa Barber are visiting, Uncle Jared visits, celebrating Turkey Day. We're excited about spending some time together with family and counting our many, many blessings. My confession of the week is that I'm not actually cooking Turkey dinner. Actually, if I was really going to confess I would add that I haven't cooked Turkey dinner on my own in a long time because my wonderful mom-in-law does a fabulous job when they're here with us. However, this year we've ordered a yummy dinner from the caterer I use at work. I'm only feeling a little guilty about this. But there's only so much this super-mom can handle with working full-time and being a full-time mommy too. So, not too much guilt and we'll see how it goes.

Morgan and Jacoby have had a good week. Jacoby's paper chain has helped him count down to the upcoming festivities. Morgan is officially crawling and is embracing the role of "trouble-finder". He's also sprouting his first tooth. I'm always amazed at the things these two boys decide to do together to amuse themselves. On the way home from school this week they decided to hold hands in the backseat of the car! And when they held hands they just laughed and laughed! Jacoby is perfecting his fireman routine. We've now added a ladder to the firetruck and he wears his red rubber boots. Last night I was taken to the hospital after he rescued me. You could tell he wasn't sure what was supposed to happen after he dropped me off. (: He's in a really fun stage of toddler-hood right now. He continues to enjoy helping me cook, and we put up our map last weekend so he could see where all of our family members live. Quote of the week: "Don't tease me right now, Mommy!"

I was in Portland on Monday for a trip for work. It was so fun to visit--I really miss the Northwest. All of my meetings went well, and I spent some time downtown where I happened upon a really cool toy store.

Justin is just days from being finished with the quarter--hooray! He'll continue to teach into December, but the pressure will be off. Winter quarter won't be quite so crazy, but he will be studying for one of his comprehensive exams taking place in the spring. And then he'll enter the dissertation phase--finally!

In case I don't get another post in before the holiday, we hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Our Family Map

Checking out the recycling bin

Making Tatertot Casserole

Weekend Update...

I'm pleased to write that there hasn't been a ton of excitement going on in our lives over the past week. That's a good thing for us! We're catching up on some chores around the house, and believe it or not, I'm working on a few Christmas projects. (: We're supposed to get quite a bit of snow in the next few days, and the only downside of that will be if I can't fly out to Portland tomorrow evening for my trip for work. It won't be the end of the world though.

The boys are both doing great. I got to meet with Morgan's teachers this week for an update on how he's doing in the class. I was happy to hear that he is a very content, happy little boy in the class. They love his bear hugs and how soft and squeezable he is! It's great to hear that he's adjusted well, especially since he only goes on Tuesday and Thursdays. I think I can officially say that as of today Morgan is crawling backwards. He can also go from laying down to sitting...which is quite a feat for one of his size and stature. (: As for the crawling backwards, he's following in his brother's "footsteps" by trying out reverse first. I expect him to kick it into overdrive any day, and then we'll all be in trouble!

Jacoby is BUSY! He's kind of hard to keep up with these days! One of his most recent interests is cooking. He loves to help me in the kitchen, and he's always making Morgan something. I got him an apron this week (thanks to the $1 bin at Target!). Here's his quote of the week: Mommy asks "Jacoby, what are you wearing?" (when he's got the apron on) Jacoby replies "I'm a princess". On another occasion he told me the apron was called an "airplane". (: Jacoby is also very interested in doing "projects". So, this week we made a paper chain to help him keep track of how many days there are until Grandma & Grandpa Barber visit and Turkey Day. We're going to make another one for Christmas.

That's about all of our news. Justin is busy writing a paper for his class. He's also busy as a research assistant, continues to teach Greek twice a week to graduate students, and last but not least, watches the boys three days a week. He's definitely got a full plate right now and is looking forward to being finished around Thanksgiving time.

Cooking with Mommy

One of their favorite activities

Who's in charge of this child's hair?!

Back to "Normal"

Its been a busy time around the Barber house this past week, but thankfully things are returning to a more normal pace. The board meeting at work went extremely well, and I feel really good about all the effort that went into it but even better about being finished with it. The Lt. Governor stopped by and gave a presentation, which was really interesting, and we had a lovely reception and dinner event. So, I'm back to a much more normal schedule at work and relieved to have less pressure in my life. I'm looking forward to spending more time with the boys, enjoying the rest of the fall, and getting ready for the holidays.

We spent time outside this weekend raking up all of our leaves. Jacoby loved jumping in the piles. We also enjoyed a great visit with Grandpa Michael and Granmanette. It was so nice to see them. Both boys enjoyed their company and showed off all of their tricks. Morgan is as close to crawling as one can be without actually doing it. He's very proficient at rolling and reaching. Jacoby is busy, busy, busy. He enjoyed going to a friend's birthday party over the weekend. They held it in the gymnastic center at one of the rec centers here, and he loved jumping on the trampoline, going down the big slide, and leaping into the foam pit. We were really proud of him for joining in with the rest of the kids. We've also been introduced to "Fireman Jacoby" who "saves the day". So cute! I've been meaning to start posting a "Quote of the Week" from Jacoby, but so far the ones that have popped up this week can't be posted publicly. (: We'll have to share those with you in private because they are hilarious.

Justin is working on all of the end-of-the-quarter tasks. He'll be done with the quarter around Thanksgiving time. I'm flying to Portland next week to scout out the location of our spring meeting. It will be nice to spend a bit of time in the Northwest, which is one of my favorite places, and have a little "me" time.

Jacoby has taken a lot of interest in the upcoming holidays and all of the different activities that come with them. Here's his holiday schedule (which he reminds us of quite often):

1. Thanksgiving--when Grandpa & Grandma Barber come back and Uncle Jared visits
2. Zoo Lights--the most important event in the schedule (apparently going last year made a real impression on him)
3. Trip to Montana for Christmas and to see everyone (and then he goes through roll call of all our loved ones)