Thankful Thursday - 159

I haven't really gotten into the Christmas spirit yet this year. I feel like it happens earlier for me normally, but I am excited to feel super into it! It's my favorite season\holiday. I think we're going out this weekend to do our traditional tree hunt and cut with my parents, something I look forward to every year. I hope I don't regret setting up the tree so early... toddlers. 

At least this dino is ready for Christmas!

Dom's face on our walk last night with the dog to check out some lights in the neighborhood.

Had to make a few trips through this tunnel.

This week I am thankful for...

1. David being home. Okay, so really this is bitter sweet, but I'm trying to focus on the sweet part of it. David has not had a job in over 2 weeks. He was supposed to have one today, but it was postponed at the last minute. Yes, it is great having him home and we are really trying to make the best of it, but it is also very stressful. We aren't really the type to argue about money which is a real blessing right now. Prayers that things pick up back to normal in January! It always slows down this time of year, but this is the most dramatic slow down (drop off) we can recall in his 6 years with his own business. 

2. My new Keurig! Our Christmas gift to me this year was going to be a new Keurig purchased during Boxing Week. I went into Costco last weekend (silly me, going to Costco on Black Friday...) and stumbled across an amazing deal on the Keurig Elite! Yay!! 

I tried really hard to get a cute selfie of me drinking my delicious first cup of coffee from it, but it just wasn't happening.

3. Winter get-up. Oh my babies. I am so so blessed to be able to raise these two babies. I went to the Roots Outlet during the Black Friday sales and stocked up on some cozy-wozy clothes for the whole family. Love awesome sales. I NEVER buy things full price. Also, I bought myself a Roots hoodie. I realized I hadn't bought myself a new cozy hoodie in... probably 3-5 years. Hand-me-downs for the win!

At least he'll try to smile for pictures now.

She thinks his hat is hilarious

I think her lips are going to get us into trouble when she's older! Haha... unless she gets my crazy pre-braces teeth!

4. Winter Fun list. This past Summer I made a "Summer Fun" list for things I wanted to do with Dom. We got most of them done, but a few things didn't pan out. I decided to make one for this Winter as well. I got a little carried away with making it look pretty (typical Renee). We've already crossed a couple things off, too! (See #5 and #6)

5. The Fort. David spent some time the other day building a huge fort in the basement for Dom out of cardboard. Way too much fun! Apparently I forgot to take a picture this week, but it's really cool. It fit our whole family in there! 

6. The Surrey Museum. Yesterday we went as a family to the Surrey Museum! I didn't get many great pictures, and Dom doesn't look like he had any fun, but I promise he did! It was an awesome way to spend the afternoon! Free, warm, dry, indoor, educational fun! They had a dinosaur exhibit set up which we went to first, complete with animatronic dinos. Dominic was NOT a fan. He was shaking and his eyes were so wide and at the end when the T-Rex popped out he burst into tears. Oops... Our bad! He recovered quickly when we went into the TD Explore Zone! It's a whole kids play area dedicated to sustainability, recycling, farming, protecting the environment, and other things like this. Super fun! Definitely will be hitting this place up more this winter with friends for play dates!

Short video of the animatronic Dino

Dom "hiding" from the scary dinosaurs all around while we try to get him into paleontology. 

We got there around 3pm, and it was really quiet at that time. It got a lot busier with the after-school crowd.

Dom loved driving the "DUMP!"

Checking out the sites in the tree-fort

Naturally loved driving the "Vroom" too!

And the "row row" of course.

"Hoo hoo!" Dom thinks Daddy looks like an owl up there.

Generating electricity

Building towers

The garbage truck has little disks with different items on them (paper towel, cardboard, spray-paint cans, etc.) and you had to sort them into the appropriate slot and you'd get a check-mark or an X. Cute way to learn what goes in Organics, Recycling or Garbage!

Picking some fruit off the trees 

My favorite part. A system of tubes with valves to control the course. There is air pressure blowing through them, so you put a scarf in the one side, and it shoots all through the tubes and pops out one of the 3 holes at the end. I thought it was hilarious! You can see a yellow scarf in this picture falling into that little boy's arms.

And of course an obligatory family selfie before leaving. I'd definitely like to go back to the museum just with Dave one time, too. Learn about the history of Surrey... why not!

7. Dinner with Amy & Brent. David takes their family photo in front of their tree every year, so we went there for dinner this week. We had a great time, and Dom ate 3 full bowls of the Dutch soup they made for the kids. I think he ate more than their three boys combined, haha. No wonder he is 35 pounds *hides face*. Dom warmed up to the boys quite well and played along-side them for most of the time. At the end Devin gave him a tickle-torture (what a strange word...) and then Dom was sold. He didn't want to come home! He gave all the boys big hugs, and is still talking about it today. "Thank you Dedin (Devin). Bye Dedin. Dedin TCKL TCKL TCKL!! HAHAHA!" He has never really made a friend like this at a play date, so it was very encouraging for us to see our quiet boy acting this way. 

8. Another blankie baby. I made Emilia a crochet blanket a long time ago, and just started putting it in her crib with her. She hasn't really cared or noticed it, but this morning when I woke up she was rubbing it on her face and snuggling with it. Yay! I love the blankie obsession. Neither of my kids really took soothers, so it's a great source of comfort for them I think. 

9. A little more cuteness.

Such a strange smile. She will roll alllll over the main floor living room area. She can get up onto all 4's now and rock back and forth. I bet she'll be crawling by Christmas. Where did my baby go?!

Cheeky girl wrinkles her nose and snorts at us constantly. I remember Dom doing this, too.