Happy Thanksgiving!

We're spending a somewhat quiet day at home this year for Thanksgiving--our house is rarely ever quiet.



The girls helped Gramma make their favorite strawberry Jello with Coolwhip.


Gracie is kind to let Lily have a turn licking the spoon.


Then we did turkey crafts. Lily mostly enjoyed eating the glue. The boys decided that crafts weren't their thing, so they took off to find something better to do.


Here's what the boys decided to do..."Quick! Let's play with our sisters' new birthday toys while they're doing their craft!"

Birthday Party Pictures

New Jammies

The girls got these Bitty Baby jammies from Gramma and Grampa tonight.



We had a little birthday party for the girls today. I'll post those pictures tomorrow. Here are just a few pictures of the girls enjoying their Grampa and Gramma.


And here's one of Gracie snuggling with her Daddy.

Ten Things I Do

In response to Ten Things I Don't Do, my friend Stephanie thought it would be appropriate to think of 10 things that we do do (yes, I know that sounds dumb).

I make my bed every morning.
I do one load of laundry every day.
I read to my kids every day.
I love to bake.
I make Phil coffee every morning and tea every night.
I pray for and with my kids every day.
I take my kids to the library.
I pack a lunch for Phil every morning.
I'm thrifty (sometimes to a fault).
I sweep my kitchen floor several times a day.

Now, I tag Michele, Mariann, and Sue

Tagged Again

Now I'm supposed to look in my wallet, pull out 4 coins, look at the date on each coin, and tell one significant event that happened during that year.

1979: I started Kindergarten

1989: I was baptized on November 19th of that year (which just so happens to be today!)

1999: I got married

2002: I found out that I was going to be a mommy for the first time

Now I tag: Mom, Emily, Lizzie, and Stephanie

Birthday Girls

Happy Birthday, Gracie and Lily!

I can hardly believe that my babies are two years old today! Here's what I usually do on "Birthday Eve."


We had our usual Sunday morning blueberry muffin breakfast. Phil and I searched and searched for birthday candles last night, but they must have gotten lost in our move. I found these floating candles, instead.



It was so fun to see the delight on the girls' faces as they opened up their gifts. We're going to have a little party for them on Tuesday evening when Gramma and Grampa arrive.

Thankful Turkeys

We made these thankful turkeys last week by tracing the kids' feet. Gracie and Caleb wanted to wear shoes while doing this activity, so that's why their turkeys are much larger than Jared's and Lily's. Each night after dinner the kids share one thing for which they are thankful, we write these on paper feathers and then add them to their turkeys.

Lily's turkey has already been taped twice, the writing is smeared, and she's the only one who has mentioned food so far...gotta love her!

Baffled!

I'm already aware that I'm not exactly cut out for city life. But some things really do throw me for a loop. For instance, my next door neighbor is out mowing his lawn right now. Seriously, he just did that the other day, or maybe it was last week. Whatever the exact day was, it was fairly recent. Phil mowed our lawn back in September just after we moved in, and I honestly don't think it needs to be mowed again just yet. Our neighbors mow their lawns all the time! Are we missing something?

My friend Stephanie told me that there is also snow etiquette. She said, "You cannot allow snow to accumulate on your lawn. It is the equivalent of not mowing your grass. As it falls, you must shovel it into wheelbarrows and push it out to the curb for the snow trucks to pick up."

Here's the thing: we don't mow our grass, so how often should we shovel the snow? This might be a very long winter!

Where's Gracie?

While the kids and I played outside after lunch this afternoon, I noticed that Gracie was missing. This is where I found her--inside, on the couch, with her blanket and a good book! I wanted to get a picture of her sitting there, so I tried to be as quiet as possible. Never mind that she has a little bit of mud on the bottom of her shoes. If she wasn't so cute, it might have mattered to me.

BRRR!

We tried to clean up the yard after lunch today. After about 15 minutes, the kids were ready to go back inside because their little hands were too cold. While outside, my sister Emily called to tell me that it's 90 degrees in San Diego today.


We drove by a thrift store on Sunday and saw this Little Tikes house sitting outside. They only wanted $5 for it! The door's a little beat up, but for $5, I'm not complaining!


Caleb's trying to clean his dirty hands here. Silly me--I gave each child a popsicle after lunch. No wonder their hands were so cold! Caleb had a blue popsicle. When it was time to come in, his nose was runny and his lips were very blue! He looked very cold.



Jared loves to be in charge of the remote control and the camera. Here's proof that I really was working out there, although part of my head is cut off.

Being Restored

I'm in the process of restoring this old cabinet that we found downstairs in the basement. I have big plans for this cabinet! I'm going to place our coffee machine and espresso maker on it, but it will be placed against the wall in such a way that I can work from one side while visiting with those sitting on stools on the other side.

This idea of restoring has been on my mind lately. We just finished our little devotional book on Psalm 23 with the kids. One of the pictures in the book shows a gentle shepherd holding a lamb around his neck, carrying it back to the fold. This little one has no doubt wandered away and is in need of his shepherd's tender care. He may be scratched up a bit, maybe hungry or thirsty. There, in the fold, the shepherd restores this little lamb, giving him all that is needed to make him well again.

"He restores my soul." ~Psalm 23:3

As I remove the doors and strip away the old paint from this cabinet, I can picture my kids sipping juice and snacking on cheerios on one side of the counter, while I work on the other side preparing dinner. My purpose for restoring it is to make it beautiful and useful once more.

"He restores my soul." ~Psalm 23:3

...so that I can be useful to Him. Some days I don't feel very useful. There are days where I can't keep up with the laundry, my children or the toys on the floor. There are days where I'm not happily waiting at the door for my husband to come home, but frustrated with keys in-hand, ready to run out the door as soon as he enters. How thankful I am to have a gentle Shepherd to restore my soul when I'm anxious about the future or angry with my children.


"He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young."
~Isaiah 40:11

Monday Morning

Mom's a little behind this morning. Lily's waiting for her breakfast.

I know it's Wednesday, but it feels like a Monday morning. Phil had Monday and Tuesday off. Emily went home yesterday. It just feels like a Monday morning. I accidentally put the laundry basket of yesterday's clean clothes in the washer. I didn't realize it until I walked up the stairs and saw the basket of dirty clothes in the kitchen. Ugh!

Coloring Contest

The kids are working diligently with Auntie Emy on their pictures for the Disney Princess Wishes on Ice coloring contest. We thought it would be fun to take the kids next month--even better if we could win 4 free tickets! Maybe the girls could wear their new princess dresses to the show!

A few pictures from Emily's camera...