Thanksgiving

I hope you all had as lovely a Thanksgiving as us. We spent the day eating delicious food with wonderful family and friends. This was our kids' table. There were a lot of kids.

The dinner was wonderful. There was a variety of dishes, too many to fit on one plate. That's what you get when you have three women split up the cooking: too much food. A problem I am happy to deal with any day of the week.

I have to give a shout-out to my sister-in-law Julie for her roll recipe. I used it and boy, was I ever popular. Those rolls are so yummy and everyone always loves them.

After dinner came the best part: DESSERT! I baked the chocolate pie and berry cobbler; my sister made the pumpkin pies. I can attest from first-hand experience that they were all delicious.

In addition to partaking of the delectable food, we had a wonderful time talking with the other adults about things we are thankful for. Our spouses, children, and the gospel ranked high on everybody's list.

As far as I can tell, everyone had a great time. My kids cried when we left, which was only partially due due to exhaustion from running around with their cousins all day. Mostly they were sad to leave. Thanks to Angela and Matt for hosting everyone!

Oh, and one more thing:
Gobble, gobble! :o)

Friday Favorites

So the slippers that I've had for a few years are all dirty and gross, so I decided to treat myself to a new pair this year. Enter (once again) Target, my fave one-stop shopping place.

These little babies are not only cute and stylish (you can't go wrong with leopard print, I always say...actually, I've never said that, but I should!), but they are mighty comfy as well. They have quickly become a staple in my wardrobe. I wear them all the time. See? I even wore them to Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Not on purpose, I was just wearing them while preparing food all morning and forgot to take them off. Apparently I think I'm a ballet dancer in this photo. Yep, that's me, all beauty and grace and thin-ness. Totally me. Nutcracker, here I come!

Way Back When-sday

This little slice of family history is from April 2003. We were living in Washington and paid a visit to the famous tulip fields. They were pretty amazing and beautiful, I must admit. Huge fields of tulips all lined up in a row.Erik looks very much the same, but needless to say, Olivia has changed a bit. Here she was just one year old. Her hair was long enough to have two ponytails, and she was walking all over the place. What a cutie!

We Have Lift-off

Maybe it's because he was home sick today, but I felt the need to do another post about my sweet middle child. He recently learned how to pump on the swing. Which, if you have children, you know is a big deal. It means Mommy doesn't have come outside and push every time he wants to go on the swing.

Now when he asks "Mommy, will you push me high in the sky?" I answer "No, buddy, you know how to pump now. Remember?" Then he smiles and his little eyes light up as it all comes back to him. You can just see him thinking "Oh yeah, I do know how to pump. I'm a big boy." And he scampers out to the backyard and pumps and pumps until he is indeed going high in the sky, just as he wanted. And I have to admit, as relieved as I am for this newest step of independence he has taken, a small part of me is sad too, that he no longer needs me to give him a push.

God Will Protect Us

After Caleb finished preschool the other day, we picked up his buddy Danny for a play date. We drove over to big sister's school to wait about 20 minutes until she got out. While I fed the baby, the boys played on the grass.

There were a couple of other boys on the basketball court that Caleb wanted to go play with. Danny was hesitant to approach kids he didn't know. Caleb said "Don't worry, God will protect us." Since he goes to a Methodist preschool, I asked if he learned that at school today. He said "No, Daddy taught me that."

For a kid who doesn't ever seem to listen during family scripture time, I'm glad to see something has sunk in. Even if it wasn't the exact application Daddy meant.

Fall Foliage

I know that the fall season is almost technically over, but where I live we pretty much go straight from fall to spring. So we are finally getting some pretty autumn leaves. This morning I went for a run/walk and snapped a few photos. I also discovered that having a camera is a good excuse for taking running breaks. "Naw, I'm not tired. Just wanted to get a few pictures. Pant, pant *wheeze*."Now I have to say, as lovely as these next trees are, they are pretty puny. I guess they haven't been around that long...but just think how large and full they will be in another deade or so. Grow, little guys, grow! You can do it!

I just love the contrast of the leaves and berries on this one.
I will say, I have never seen more beautiful fall foliage than when I lived in Michigan. That's one thing I do miss greatly about living there. But, I will enjoy what we have here in the sun.

Friday Favorites

So I had this idea to post a few of my fav-o-rite things (name that musical) on Fridays. Hence, Friday Favorites. Maybe it's silly, but I'm a girl who likes structure. Plus, I thought it would be fun to chronicle some of the random small things in life that make me happy. For as we know, it's the little things that count... right?

Let's kick it off with this: Almond, pistachio, and milk body butter.
Mmmmm, I love this stuff! Maybe because it's made from food products, but it is my favorite scent in the whole world. It's mild, fresh, and kind of vanilla-y. It's thick and rich without being greasy, which is my complaint about most body butters. And it just makes me happy when I wear it... like right now.

Because it’s my favorite, I brought it to the hospital when I had Ben. Then I ran out for awhile and recently got some again. Now every time I put it on, it reminds me of that hospital stay. Which should be a bad thing, considering this is when I got sliced open, shared a room with a teenage mom who watched TV when I was trying to sleep, about bled to death, and listened to construction on the hospital all day long while in a pain killer-induced stupor.Luckily, the memories that come to mind instead are of enjoying my sweet baby boy on his first few days of life. Erik would come and sit with me for hours. Since I had two IV's, I couldn't hold the baby very easily. Erik would hold Ben while I napped, or we would talk about the miracle of this sweet new baby, so fresh from heaven. I fell in love with my husband all over again, watching him so in love with our brand-new baby.

Whew! I certainly didn’t intend to get so instense about lotion! Bottom line, it’s great stuff, it smells wonderful, and you can get it at Target for ten bucks. Check it out!

Way Back When-sday

OK, so I changed my mind. I'm new to this, I'm allowed. Instead of Flashback Friday, I will do Way Back When-sday, because I have something else in mind for Fridays. I know, I know, I am such a clever, tricky gal. So without further ado, here is one from an entire decade ago (October 1998, to be exact):

I know what you're thinking: "You're so young!" "You're so thin!" "Your hair is so long!" You may also be thinking: "You're so cute!" "You're so fun!" And to each of these I answer "Yes, it's true."

But I also say this: I snagged myself a good one. And I'm hanging on tight for the next decade, and the next, and the next. Because so far, it's been a great ride.

Eight Months Old

Baby Ben is a whopping 8 months old today. It's hard to believe he's already that old, and yet it seems like just yesterday that he was born. I definitely can't imagine our family without him. As soon as he was born, I realized I'd missed him and never even knew it. Of course, I felt that way when each of my children was born. Here's what the "birthday" boy looks like on this very day. These days he is rolling around like a maniac and turning himself around on his belly, which gives me hope that he will someday crawl. I wouldn't worry about it at all except we've dealt with crawling issues in the past. Ben is also grabbing everything in sight and starting to cut his first tooth. Hence the drool hanging from his mouth. If you look closely you can see the little puddle of drool on the carpet too.
This is another picture from a couple of weeks ago, just because. I love his pale blue eyes, his chubby cheeks, and his flyaway hair. I also love his happy disposition and his sweet giggle. I'll have to get some better pictures of his hair to show because it's pretty funny.

We love you, Ben! Thanks for coming to our family 8 months ago!

Spy Kids

Last month, we had a family movie night viewing of "Spy Kids". The next afternoon my big kids had fun pretending they were spy kids too.

They dressed up,

snuck stealthily around the house,

and held whispered conversations on their hi-tech super-spy phones.I love to see them play together creatively. It gives me hope that they won't someday become video-game addicts or couch potatoes. Not that there's anything wrong with that... :)

Bookclub Excursion

Yesterday, I went here:
To see this:
My bookclub read the play last year, and we were excited at the chance to view it live and in person. It was a cute, smallish theater with the stage in the middle of the room and audience seating on all four sides.

Perhaps due to the afternoon performance time, the majority of the audience was in the white-hair crowd... except for my favorite audience member, whose hair was unique and vibrant.

I love her. I also love the two hard-of-hearing ladies sitting behind us who made loud comments about the actors during the performance, such as "He's so skiiiinny" and "Look at that hat!"

Fun times were had by all. I was glad to share a fun afternoon with some great friends.

We'll have to do it again sometime. And next time, please believe Lori when she insists one of the actors from the play is sitting at the next table at the restaurant. Because she's probably right.

Soccer

Little Miss Cute and Fun finished her soccer season yesterday.

Can you tell it was windy?

Her daddy was her coach this year, which she loooooved.

Her team was the Dolphins, and they were tough and wild. Their last game ended in a tie, which was the highest score they had all season. Here's girly-bop showing off some of her mad skilz.

That's some pretty great flexibility, yes? She was a great defender, keeping the other team from scoring goals. She even scored a goal herself.

Bottom line, she had a lot of fun and we will miss watching player and coach sharing their talents on a weekly basis. For as you know, soccer really is a whole-family activity.

Whatever will we do with our Saturdays now? Without Prop 8 and soccer, I may have to take up a new hobby.

Flashback Friday

OK, so I'm totally lifting this idea from some stranger's blog I saw once, but I thought it was a cute idea so here goes. Each Friday I will post an old picture from the depths of my files. Today we get to view a photo from 3 years ago, July 2005 to be exact.

This is at our old house in Seattle (I miss that house!). We had this great deck and the kids would sit out there in the summer and eat popsicles. I stripped them down due to the drippage factor. Middle Kid was just a year old, and Miss Thang was 3. My, how time flies.

Mr. Smiley

I know everyone says babies bring so much joy to their families, but in Ben's case it is really true! He is the happiest, most mellow baby I've ever met.

He always has a big smile for everyone he knows, and even for people he doesn't know. He is always charming the ladies in the fabric store, the grocery store checkers, and even the crossing guard with his big, friendly grin.

One of his favorite games is to stare at someone, grinning, until they finally look at him. Then, when they finally do notice him, he gets so overcome with glee he can't even keep his head up straight.

One of my neighbors who we see walking to school in the mornings tells me she always starts her day off right with one of Ben's smiles. And I have to agree.

Halloween

I know Halloween is already over, but I needed something to post about, and I already have pictures. Although they didn't seem to upload in the right order...is that a common problem with blogger? Anyway, we got lucky this year with a couple of hand-me-down costumes in excellent condition. We had Batgirl, A cute little pumpkin (we bought his costume--I've always wanted a baby pumpkin costume),

And Buzz Lightyear. To infinity and beyond!

And here's the three of them together.

They had fun at the ward trunk-or-treat and trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. We are still enjoying the fruits (or should I say treats?) of their labors.

It Has Begun

This is my initiation into the blogging world. I have no clue what I am doing, so get excited! :)