Give Thanks

I am really looking forward to this holiday season.  Maybe because things in my life, although far from really settled, seem more peaceful.  Things I am especially thankful for this holiday season:

An amazing husband who is my best friend.  I am happy to be his wife. 

Two great stepchildren...Kennedy is an amazingly thoughtful girl.  I am so thankful for her kind spirit and welcoming nature.  The day that she and Shane proposed to me with a little black box was a very special day! Without her sweet and accepting personality, I don't know that I could have married her Dad.  Or it certainly would have made the decision alot harder for me. Isabella's silliness and sweetness makes me smile and laugh all the time.

Two healthy dogs...they may be getting up there in years but they are still healthy and mobile.  They have been with me through very happy and sad times in my life and I'm so grateful to see their puppy faces every day.

Two roofs over my head! Our housing situation is still up in the air but I'm thankful I am able to afford the back-up apartment.

Two jobs. In a time when many people have a hard time finding one job, I feel blessed to have two (especially when I'm not so tired I'm resentful of needing two jobs!).

Two terrific families:  I'm grateful my family got to spend three amazing weddings together this year!  We are so spread out now it is harder to get us all together at once - this year was a terrific year of reunions.  I'm also thankful I received great in-laws this year and two new nephews!  All of the Bruce's/Everitt's have made my new life in Tri-Cities much better.

Many great friends who have supported us and me this year.  I'm truly lucky to have amazing friends that even through the miles apart still stay connected.

We will be in Raleigh, NC this Thanksgiving celebrating with Reid in Kelsey and Kevin's new home.  I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving - may there be lots of pumpkin pie!

Christmas Lights

Because our weekends are (somehow) completely booked until Christmas, we decided this weekend was a good one for putting up the Christmas lights.  We didn't quite get it done, we want to decorate a few of the trees in the yard, but we did make good headway this weekend.

 

I couldn't resist sneaking in a few pictures of the puppies...they are such good posers.

While Shane was on the roof, the kids and I put the clips on the lights by fireside (of course!)  Mason was doing a service project for Cub Scouts with Heidi so he missed this part.

Oh-la-la!

Ramona and Beezus

Friday movie night selection:











 

I remember loving the Ramona Quimby books when I was growing up.  Since this is a cute movie about two sisters who fight each other and love each other like typical sisters do...I thought the moment below was especially great.  These two sisters actually decided to wear matching jammies that night:

 

Say cheese!  I also love this picture because Belle is smiling in it.

Reminds me of the pictures of Reid growing up when Mom would tell him to smile with teeth - the smiles she got as a result seem very similar to Belle's!  Seems like in the past few months she has decided it's fun to smile for pictures...she used to avoid them or frown (see Haunted House picture from this Halloween). Kennedy is a good big sister.

I also love this picture because Lady is pushing the limits with two paws on the carpet! The dogs are everywhere in the house except in the girls' rooms and on the living room carpet.  With Shane's and Kennedy's allergies we had to set a few boundaries for dog hair (although I'm not sure this rule actually works for that but it's a good effort).  Lady has been caught a time or two sneaking in where the action is - isn't she cute?!

Isabella-Isms

What she means: Knock it off.
What she says: Knock yourself off. 

What she means: Yesterday/the other day
What she says: Lasterday

What she means: lasagna
What she says: bazana

What she means: all the time
What she says: all the day

What she means: How dare you?
What she says: How dare you? (she knows the perfect time and tone of voice for this one!  Especially if you try to sneak a Cheeto out of the bag she is eating from)

Electric Jamz

Shane and I are exchanging pajamas for Christmas Eve this year.  I have begun my hunt for the perfect pair.

I'm leaning toward this pair...what do you think?  The guitars are screaming his name!

The dropseat is available at no extra charge

Also available are the ever-so-warm hooded footed pajamas.  So many choices...

In case you want to shop for yourself:  http://www.jumpinjammerz.com

Weekends Just the Two of Us

Shane and I didn't have the girls this weekend.  The pace of life without them around is much S...L...O...W...E...R...  We didn't have any plans this weekend.  No-plan weekends are sometimes the best thing!  Shane helped Ryan on the boathouse most of the weekend.  I had a productive weekend: cleaned, mowed the lawn, got groceries, graded papers, gave Dan & Lady baths and haircuts, vacuumed the Jeep.  It felt good to get caught up on things around the house.

Oh! And I cooked us dinner!  And dessert!  Which was the third night this week I have cooked!  Well...to be fair, Shane cooked the meat for one of the meals, but I bought it so he could cook it so I'm gonna say that sorta counts. Did I mention this is the second week I have done this?  Yes...two weeks in a row...my sistas are in disbelief (I can feel it from here).

I realize this sounds ridiculous to most wives/moms who make sure a balanced meal is on the table EVERY night. The important thing is I'm taking baby steps toward improvements in this area. I think in this 11th month of having two jobs I am finally adjusting to a (no)sleep schedule and finding a second wind.  That with the end of the quarter in site...only 4 weeks to go...I suddenly feel revived!

My goal...keep in mind I'm starting small here...is to cook two good meals a week strategically picking meals that provide adequate leftovers. This seems feasible, right?  Instead of tucking my written goal in my pocket as a constant reminder, here's my written affirmation of that goal: Cook two meals a week (and one dessert!).

It is amazing the guilt I've been carrying because I rarely cook.  Mom always had a homemade meal for us, always a fresh made brownie or dessert when we got off the school bus, taking care of 6 kids while working her part-time jobs.  What is my excuse?  I think from living by myself for so long I have become the prime example that you can survive happily on cereal and instant oatmeal...which I would be perfectly happy to continue.  But I do realize it's not healthy and it's not the example I want to set. I'm excited for my new goal.

Off the cooking topic, I wanted to share a few highlights from the weekend.  Yes, a few of these are very simple, but brought me a smile nonetheless.

Here is Dan with his new "baby." I found a 7-pack of toys at Costco for cheap and it's the greatest!  When one baby gets accidentally carried outside and/or de-stuffed & ripped to shreds by Lady, I can pull a new one out of the cabinet. Dan's excitement for a new baby makes me happy inside.   Look at that smile...

I love this time of year when all the leaves change colors.  The hydrangeas have changed from white to this beautiful color:

And lastly, what an amazing husband I have!  Last week I went bunko about the hallway closet being so unorganized.  It was overflowing with empty boxes / random stuff / things we never use.  Shane surprised me one day when I got home with this:

Everything in its place, and a floor you can see now!  What an amazing surprise!  Mops hanging neatly on their hooks made me so happy! He is so good to me!

Put Ya Hands Up!

So I'm a little alot OCD about having a clean house.  I'm used to everything being in the (correct) spot I left it in, if there are dirty dishes in the sink (which rarely happens) it's because I left them there, everything in its place...yada yada. On my best day I like to think I have an overabundance of patience (ha-ha....as I write this I'm even laughing at this statement). Sharing a home with two kids has forced me to consider my previous housekeeping mannerisms. Awhile ago in one of my amazing displays of patience, I frustratingly asked Shane why there are A-L-W-A-Y-S handprints on the mirror. It doesn't matter how many times I wipe that thing down, they are always back. He just laughed at me and said I would probably find out sometime - which didn't help my frustration (or patience) at the time. Then I caught this on camera....

 

How can you be upset at messy fingerprints when this is the reason?  I'm constantly learning new things from being around Shane and the girls.  This was my reminder for what's really worth worrying about.  I say "Put Ya Hands Up" for a dirty mirror! 

May the Force Be With You

What do you get a couple for their wedding that already have everything?  Star Wars pancake molds of course! Kelsey and Kevin bought us these and we used them this morning for pancakes.  Our Stormtrooper started out like this:

"I have a bad feeling about this."

We heeded the words of Yoda: "Do. Or do not. There is no try." Our Darth Vader and Yoda pancakes turned out better.

Do Star Wars pancakes taste better?  We think so!

Veteran's Day Parade and Hockey

 Mason and Brady were in the Richland Veterans' Day parade Saturday morning with their Cub Scout troop. After our breakfast at "The Hut" we drove to Richland to watch them walk through the parade.

Girls with their Meme and Nanna

After the parade, we came home and watched a Roxy Hunter movie that Debbie got them.  Kennedy really likes those movies.  We had a pretty laid back Saturday afternoon.  That evening, Heidi and Tyler invited us to go to the Tri-City Americans game with them.  The boys were earning a cub scout patch for going and we had a great time.

The couple in front of us bought "Chuck a Puck" pucks and asked Kennedy to throw one of theirs for them. I was impressed she got her puck to the ice, it seemed like a long way.

Isabella was excited to see Winger.  At the last hockey game she got to give him a High-5 but last night she settled for a wave.

Friday Banana Pops and Movie Night

While Shane was cooking the taco meat, Kennedy was honing her skills cutting the tomatoes.  Shane is teaching her much better knife technique than I have....phew....I am terrible with knives.

 Belle and I made banana pops for dessert.  She mixed the chocolate and crushed the cereal all on her own.  Kennedy helped us do the dipping.  Cooking is much more fun when you wear your cooking "helmet" (as Isabella calls it).

Friday night movie selection:

We also did root beer floats this week.  Shane just wanted the ice cream and Kennedy wasn't really fond of the ice cream texture once the root beer was poured over it.  I was getting a little worried that if I ever want to make them I would be the only one drinking them (it's not as easy to justify making one for just yourself).  But (much to my relief) I have a stand-by buddy in Isabella....she liked it!

We Need More Monkeys!

 Debbie (Meme) put these balloon bags into the girls' Halloween bags.

Who knew that 7 foot long monkey balloon bags could be so much fun?  The girls were impressed they could touch the ceiling with them. Belle liked hoppin' and jumpin' in between 'em.  They did just about everything possible with them, except smack each other (as suggested on the label).

First Week of Preschool

Isabella has been doing "homework" just like her big sis for awhile now.  She has a 3-ring binder with a zipper pouch for her fun pencils and pens and lots of blank paper. She tells us that she has to practice her spelling words.  She likes stickers and Grandma Rambo sent these for Halloween, which became part of her "homework"last week.

She is really good at writing the letter 'I' but when we help her write her whole name, she always crosses the 'L's' making it look like IsabeHa.  She thinks its so funny!

Shane got her enrolled in pre-school this week.  She had a good first week.  Heidi teaches at her school so she can peek into Isabella's classroom.  Heidi snapped this picture during recess.

Isabella's Award

Trick-or-Treat?

About 4:30 we heard a fire engine outside our door that honked its horn a few times.  Like good nosey neighbors, we went outside to check out the commotion.  The site below sent me into an instant rush of panic.

Are all these people stopping by trick-or-treating?  I did not have enough candy for all these kiddos, considering it was only 4:30 and not even dark yet! To my relief, they turned the corner. 

Turns out it was just a Halloween parade through our neighborhood!  A trick that turned into a treat.  How great is that?  And even better, there were just as many dogs dressed up! Which led me to wonder, what was Daphne for Halloween this year?

Heidi, Tyler, Debbie, and Don came over for trick-or-treating and pizza. The kids were W-O-U-N-D up!  Kennedy's peanut allergy comes in handy when it comes to swiping the Snickers bars out of her bag.  She doesn't mind one bit which works out great for Shane and I!

Belle's "Super Boots" had her blasting house to house for more candy! Those are her favorite boots. She has been practicing the trick or treat song the past few weeks, her version goes a lil something like this: "Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, errbody gimme sumthin."  Kennedy's poor pumpkin face didn't make it a whole week and had to be propped up with toothpicks but I'm happy to say that for Halloween, all pumpkins were slug-free.

Beautiful Gypsy

SuperGirl in her SuperBoots

Between the trunk-or-treat at church and the neighborhood trick or treating, they scored big-time...Belle says "We got much!"