what i am thankful for

A few things I am thankful for this year...

• my hubby who works hard and somehow manages to do it all and balance life so well
• my Emma, my girl with such a beautiful imagination, who always keeps me guessing and smiling
• my Ava, who is fearless and bold and excites me to see what kind of adult she will be one day
• my Lila, the little kicker inside me reminding me just because she is the 3rd she will not be forgotten
• a steady income when so many others are suffering this holiday season
• a warm home to live in
• good friends who keep it real
• a church with a caring pastor and wife who are incredible godly leaders and good friends
• good health and happiness

Happy Thanksgiving!

finding nemo

A couple of weeks ago we were able to attend Disney's On Ice Finding Nemo.

It was a hit with both of the girls. I don't think we have ever been to an event where BOTH of the girl's attention was kept from start to finish. They did not move a muscle while the show was going on.

I'll even have to admit that I really did enjoy it. The costumes were beautiful and the show moved along well. There was never a dull part. We will definitely go see another one!

thanksgiving tree

My kids have been super confused about the holidays this year.

A week ago, I went ahead and put out our Christmas decorations. Normally, we have a tradition of putting it up on Thanksgiving weekend after we celebrate Thanksgiving. I was afraid, however, that I would be too tired to put it up later. I had a burst of energy (that didn't last long), and I convinced Jason to drag out all the Christmas decor. I just love my house decorated for Christmas!

Emma and Ava are convinced that Christmas is coming any day now. I have been trying to tell them that first we celebrate Thanksgiving and then later we will celebrate Christmas. They both decided that this was not good enough. We needed to skip the holiday and bring on Christmas since that holiday comes with presents. So in my feeble attempt this week to talk about Thanksgiving and prove that it is a fun, worthwhile holiday that needs to be celebrated, we sat down to make a Thanksgiving Thankfulness Tree.

I grabbed a branch from out back (so nice to have woods that back up to your backyard), and cut out some leaves. I had the girls tell me some things they were thankful for. I wrote Emma's down and let her copy it and write it herself. Ava told me what to write and then she drew a picture on the back of the leaf of what she was thankful for. I believe this will be a new tradition for our family!

Behold the Thanksgiving Thankfulness Tree...

Some of the things that Emma was thankful for was her friends, her bed (because we often make her sleep on floor?) and the mall. That's my girl!

Emma's also thankful for her daddy.

Ava's drawings

Emma's also thankful for school.

Ava right off the bat told me she was thankful for her all of her animals. All of the zoo that we have here. It was so sweet because of the two of the girls she is the one who always notices our cats or dog and rushes to "love" them. She is also thankful for the "horseys she gets to ride at the mall and the train set she plays with at Barnes 'n Noble. She is also thankful for mommy and daddy and playing outside.

accidents

This is what I was I saw when Ava came downstairs to tell me that she pee-peed all over the floor.

Of course you did. How could anyone looking this fabulous be bothered to stop and take care of something like that?

bullet points

A blog I read always put up bullet points when she has random things or ideas to express. I think it is one of those days.

• I do have pics to post, but my husband has bigger fish to fry in photography. He has been super busy with weddings and family sessions. I think I might have to make an appointment with him to get our pictures.
• I just ordered our Christmas cards. I think they might be my favorite of all that we have sent. I was a little upset though after I ordered them and paid for express shipping. After I placed my order, they informed there would be a shipping delay. My luck.
• I think I could just skip Thanksgiving and head straight for Christmas. I think the decorations will have to go up tonight. I can wait no longer. I already have my Christmas shopping half done!
• After slacking off on potty-training Ava, we have broke through again. The child might just be ready for panties in public. Watch out world!
• I would really like to coerce my husband to go see New Moon with me this weekend. Somehow I do not think that will happen.
• Jason and I are arguing over how to spell our 3rd child's name. I was pretty adamant about spelling it Lila, the most traditional, so she would not always have to correct everyone. Jason is determined it will be spelled Lyla. He just talked about her on facebook and used that spelling. I'm pretty sure he's ignoring my wishes.
• Last week has been a hard week as is this one. Really bummed out about some things going on. Hurting for some friends and discouraged for our family on some issues. Just really burnt out...
• I have been on a crusade for new makeup products. I have been reading reviews and blogs and asking friends. Love 2 of the ones I found. Smashbox Face Primer really does make a difference under your makeup. It smoothes out your skin, makes your skin oh, so soft and keeps your makeup in place all day long. Benefit Lemon Aid is a eyelid correcting primer. It can serve 2 purposes. You can wear it alone and it makes your eyes look more awake and open, or you can wear it under your eye makeup to keep it in place longer. Love them!
• As I am typing this I have a cocker spaniel laying across my lap in a single seater chair. Lots of room here with a 7 1/2 month pregnant girl. Why is it that the animals that are not mine and that I do not like somehow like me the best?

random bits of info

So we have had a busy/crazy kind of few weeks around this house. I'm not even sure where to begin with all the random tidbits of information.

First of all, Lila's due date ticker on the right side of the blog is haunting me. Every time I go to get on the blog it screams, "Get ready! She's going to be here soon!" Don't get be wrong. I am excited to meet our next precious girl, but it just seems like it all went by too fast. And now, with the holidays coming up it is going to go by even faster!

I went to the doctor this past week for my check up and glucose test. I got good news and bad news. Good news was that I passed my glucose test with flying colors, the bad news was that I horribly failed my blood count test. I had a feeling this was coming. As soon as I hit the 3rd trimester with Ava, I became anemic. Apparently, this one is no different, just actually worse this time. So, they put me on a prescription dose of iron and said that hopefully I will feel better in a couple weeks. We shall see. Right now, I am energy-less.

We also had a crazy day last week where apparently all of the bills we mailed got lost. We found that lovely tidbit out when our water just got turned off all of a sudden. I went to take a shower and no water. Out here, the water company doesn't play. If it is 10 days past due on your bill, they shut you off. Lovely. So we had a fun time of calling a bunch of places and trying to figure out where our mail is. Still have not answered that question.

Then, Jason went to lean against the bar in our kitchen and our granite bar fell off. Can we say shoddy workmanship? It was definitely quite the day.

And now on to Ava. I so need to keep a record of everything that comes out out of this child's mouth. Yesterday, she told me, as I was putting on her pj's, that they were "so not cool." I have a teenager in training on my hands.

Every morning as soon as I sit down for breakfast, she asks me, "Mommy, does your foot hurt anymore?" She is referring to 3 weeks ago when I feel down the stairs. For a week and half, however, my foot has been fine. I answered her the same way I also do, "Yes, Ava. Mommy's foot is all better now. It doesn't hurt anymore." To which she replies to Jason, "Daddy! Mommy's foot is all better. It doesn't hurt her anymore!" Same thing. Every morning.

This morning, she did ask me how Baby Lila was doing. I told her that Lila was very busy kicking me this morning. The solution from Ava? "Well, Mommy. Maybe you should just spank her."

I love that kid.

dorothy has a halloween photo shoot

This year I thought their costumes were so precious! They both decided that they wanted to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. This is their favorite movie (of the moment). Jason's mom made both of their costumes, and they turned out so cute! The girls were able to get plenty of wear out of it because we had 4 Halloween events to wear it to this year!

emma's preschool halloween party

This year I was one of the party planner moms for Emma's Halloween party. It was so much fun to get to see her in her class. At age 4, they are getting so big and are able to understand and do so much! It's hard to believe my little girl will be in kindergarten next year.

The kids got all sugared up first with cookies, cupcakes and kool-aid. Then , they decorated/painted some mini-pumpkins. And, finally they had story time.

Ava came along with us. She thought she was such a big girl sitting next to Emma in her class.