Thankful

What a great Thanksgiving week this has been.  I have so much to be thankful for, too many things to list out here.  But I'll try...my husband and children, my parents and in laws, my siblings and their families.  Good health for myself and those I love.  My friends who enrich my life in so many ways.  The school communities that teach, support and encourage my children.  Last but not least, I am thankful for the challenges God has thrown my way.  Without them, I would not have grown into the person I am today.  At the time, they were anything but welcome, but in hindsight, they served a purpose.  Today my life is so much better for the many lessons I have learned.

Some pictures from the past few weeks:

Mike with the supplies for "Bill's Nuts"

Grant and Terry loading up the bin with freshly roasted nuts.

Our dear friend Bill.  94 years young! 

Bill filling one of the many jars.

Emily helping by handing him the jars.

M and Em sitting on Bill's  "Johnny Walker". 

Flowers we received for Thanksgiving.  Sent by my husband's new boss to welcome him to the company.  Could be my favorite part of Thanksgiving!!  

The Real Deal

Michael and Emily had a "real" birthday party this year, meaning we invited friends, instead of a family only party at home.  They are the first to turn 5 in their class, so it was a pretty big deal.  We went with the party in a park, and I would do this same party again next year.  The weather was picture perfect, 75 degrees and sunny.  The playground was empty except for us, and the kids were totally entertained.  Add a bunch of chatty moms, a veggie tray, chips and salsa and a birthday cake, and life is good. 

The funniest event of the party had to be the pinata. No sissy pull string deal for my kids, I wanted them all taking a whack. 20 four year olds, a few 7-9 year olds, 2 on the edge birthday kids and one swinging shark. Thankfully Kathleen was there in teacher mode to direct the kids. No one lost any body parts, except for the shark, of course.

Terry and I are wondering if we have insurance to cover serious injuries

Sophie helps Emily by trying to hold it for her

My sweet Michael, what happened to him??

Didn't know he had it in him

Take that, Mr. Shark!

And of course, the candy frenzy always leaves someone crying......

(And a big shout out to Niki for these pics, they are great!  No offense KK....) 

I want to ride my bicycle.....

Michael and Emily got new (to them) bikes for their birthdays.  They are small two wheelers with training wheels.  It is hilarious to see them hop up and ride.  Especially with the helmets, that really completes the picture.  I was happy that they took to them right away with no hesitation.  Here's Michael looking like a pro:

I was helping Emily balance, so it was harder for me to get a still shot of her, but here is a brief video of her attempt to navigate the culdesac.  The difficult thing about our street is the slope of it, even our driveway has a slight slope that will spell disaster for a new rider.  We will have to take them to a flat area to really work on turning and braking skills.  That's as much for them as it is for me, makes me nervous when they get up too much speed....

 

Here's another one of Michael, he was apparently telling me about some trick he did on his tricycle, but I wasn't paying attention to that, as evidenced by my surprise at the end.  

Halloween Happenings

We had a great Halloween this year.  I was never really into it as a single adult.  I did enjoy it more once we moved into our house, handing out candy was a lot of fun.  In fact, I've been handing out candy to these 3 since they were toddlers.  And look at them now!  I remember when they wore costumes like Simba from the Lion King, or Thomas the Train. I did think it was funny that they are in 7th-9th grade, and they were waiting on the doorstep for me to get home from the neighbors so I could give them candy.  The guy in the middle is our babysitter, the kids LOVE him.   

Once again Terry did a great job with the kids (or maybe I should say despite the kids) on the pumpkins. He has each of them draw the face they want him to carve, then he tries his best to duplicate that. I may be biased, but I think he is pretty talented.

Oh, you probably want to see the kids too, right? Here they are, Batman, Blue Pixie and Pink Skeleton.  Thank you Kathleen and WalMart.  

It's becoming our tradition to forgo the neighborhood pizza chaos and go instead to Michel and Sylvia's for pre-trick or treat chili and other yummy stuff.  This year our new friend Malin (just moved back from Sweden) brought some witch's brew, which the kids and adults thought was really cool.  Apparently it didn't taste great, but they didn't care, they were more interested in seeing the smoke. 

Our neighbor Alex decided to be Robin once he heard Michael was going as Batman.  They were cute together. We are so glad to have him on our street, he will be going to K next year with my guys.  More bus buddies!

I actually got a friend to take a picture of me and Terry, have to start doing that more often.  Thanks Sylvia for loaning me the cute pumpkin headband. 

The crew right before heading out, they were chomping at the bit at this point, there was much yelling involved to get this photo. 

Michael and Emily lasted about 40 minutes trick or treating.  Michael took several spills with his cape and after the last one, told Terry he was done.  They were very happy to help hand out candy, and even called out to the kids, "Hey, trick or treater, come and get your candy!" 

Who could resist these two? 

Nine is nifty, but still sometimes not so nice.....

Yesterday was Sophie's birthday party with her friends.  When we were planning it, I knew I did not want to spend a lot of money, and was racking my brain to come up with something that would still be fun.  We decided to try The Picture Show, which everyone I know refers to as "The Dollar Movie Theater".  This could be one of the best ideas I have had in a long time.  The price was so much less than any other "party place", the staff was great to work with, and the girls had a great time.  We met in the party room an hour before the movie, Sophie opened her gifts and the girls had cake and ice cream.  Then each of them got a kid's pack (small popcorn, drink and candy) and we were off to our reserved seats in the theater to see Toy Story 3, which was great.  (Even though I did miss the last 10 minutes because one of our guests could not hold it.  But I'm not bitter.)

Sophie was a great hostess, making sure all the girls had what they needed.  She was also impressive opening her gifts, she took the time to thank each girl, and had them come sit with her for a photo op.  The enthusiasm and genuineness of girls of this age is something to witness.  There is no cattiness, no hierarchy.  They all really like each other and that is nice to see.  

With friends Caroline, Natalie and Lauren

Wanted everyone to see the sweet card

Ann Amelia and Soph

Cool peace sign purse, filled with more fun stuff

Emily sneaking in some help with the candles

The only glitch in the day...Sophie's birthday presents are all currently in my bedroom closet.  She will earn them back one by one as she demonstrates respect and kindness toward her siblings and her parents.  After arriving home from the party, there were, shall we say..issues around letting our siblings see what we got, and attitude, selfishness and complete disregard for others reared it's ugly head.  Am hoping this will make an impact.  That will make being the mean mother all worth it.