McDonald's

I swear we do not eat at McDonald's that often. Okay, we do eat fast food more than I wish we did. . .but, I didn't realize how prominent a role McDonald's was playing in my kids' life until my 2 year old turned over my laundry basket and turned it into the McDonald's checkout counter. He came up with this all on his own.

First he took the order. It always had to be "chicken nuggets, fries, and chocolate milk."

Next, he swipes Dad's credit card.

Then, he picks up the food from the side.

Finally, he gives Dad his order.

I actually found it a little disturbing how well he knew the "drill." Such a terrible reflection on me. But, it was really cute and very imaginative. I was impressed!

Less Talking, More Pictures

Is a blog more of a journal or a scrapbook? That is my dilemma. I spend a lot of time talking about myself, my thoughts and feelings, and probably need to focus a little bit more on the real stars of my show--my kids! I do enjoy writing and "waxing verbose" about a lot of things, so that will inevitably continue. But, at least today, I'm just going to show off some fun stuff!
Gavin's first day of school. It's not exactly a milestone, since it's just another year of preschool. He even has the same teacher again this year. But, nontheless, he was very excited! His preschool is now at the new PG Rec Center which is only about 3 blocks from our house. So, I walk him to and from school everyday. And yes, even 3 blocks sends me into contractions!

Now for some pictures from some of our end of the summer mountain adventures. The big boys--Daddy, Gavin, Uncle Brian, and cousin Oakley--braved the cold and snow on Labor Day to go jeepin' through the mountains! Crazy! They felt so manly that they had to go Cabela's aftwards and eat Buffalo and elk meat.

Me and Jessica wouldn't venture to the mountains until it was at least 25 degrees warmer. So, we took everyone last weekend for a picnic and to let all the kids take turns going on jeep rides with Mike. It was so fun, but you can definitely feel Fall in the air up the canyon. I hope we can squeeze one more "adventure" in before it gets too cold.

THIRTY

My husband says that I'm only as old as I feel and that I am making myself old by feeling old! It's not that I feel old, per se, although being 30 and 8 months pregnant does sort of make me feel like my body is falling apart never to be the same again, but it is that there is something really odd about crossing that threshold into 30!

I actually love everything about being 30. I like who I am now so much better than at any previous age. I would never, ever want to go back to 20. I think, for the most part, I am exactly where I wanted to be by now--great husband, 2.5 kids, a nice home, my dream job (SAHM), the only thing is that I do not have my college degree. (But, there's plenty of time for that.)

The weird thing about being 30 is that it's the official entry into complete adulthood. I'm no longer a peer to the 20-somethings. All of the college students are so much younger than me, the hottest pop stars and actresses are younger than me, 1/2 of the news reporters on local news are now younger than me, and everyone on reality TV shows (America's Next Top Model and such) seem like bratty little kids to me.

It's just weird! It's weird that I've had some friends for 20 years or more. It's weird that this is the 4th presidential election that I have been of voting age. It's weird that I've worn the same shoe size for 15 years.

But, it's also awesome to have 30 years worth of a great life behind me! My heart and mind are so full of happy memories, funny memories, wisdom gained, lessons learned, life-changing events, and so much love and friendship and joy! I feel blessed to be healthy, I feel blessed to have an amazing husband (over 1/2 of my life was spent worrying I would never get married), and I'm so blessed to have healthy, smart, and extremely cute kids. (I'm sure I'm not the only person who ever hoped their kids would be not just healthy, but cute too!)

And last, and definitely least important, is that I'm better looking now than I was at 20, too! I hope I can say the same thing about 30 when I'm 40!