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.