Weekend Recap

Well, we made it through our Thanksgiving! My parents flew up to Alaska to spend Thankgiving with family up there, and since it was our year to be with my side (we switch each year--Thanksgiving with one side, Christmas with the other), we decided to have it at our house with Brian & Emily and Blake. Sickness threw a little hitch in my plans for the festivities, but we did it anyway, and I'm glad we did. Everyone said the food was tasty (I couldn't taste a SINGLE thing all day--such a big bummer!), and the kids loved playing with their uncles and aunt. Brian brought over their Wii and an extra TV (so they could watch football at the same time), which provided our entertainment. Brian and the kids were the only well ones, so they're the only ones to make it in a photo. Blake and Emily were both sick, too. We're we a pathetic bunch?


By Friday my antibiotics had kicked in, and I was feeling quite a bit better. Greg was feeling somewhat better, too, and I'm so glad because I did NOT want to miss my annual early morning shopping with Michelle. This year we were on the road by 5am, and as always, we had so much fun! I had no idea we were risking our lives by shopping on Black Friday. So, so sad what greed can do to people. We actually went to Walmart, and it was crazy. I don't know that we'll go there early in the morning next year--just not worth it and not very fun. We had a great time everywhere else, though. We stick fairly close to home and always see people we know. Michelle and I both enjoy the thrill of a good deal. Our lists are usually pretty short (no shopping cart needed), so retailers aren't making much off us, and really, it's just fun for us to hang out together and shop, kid-free, for several hours at a time. We'll do it again next year, I hope!

Our family always gets a Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to this year, but Greg mustered up the energy to make it happen. Thanks, my love! :) We went back to the same place we got our tree last year. Mom and Dad came with us in their truck and got a tree, too. The kids fed the ducks and geese, it didn't rain on us, and the nice tree farm lady gave the kids lollipops. It was an all-around successful outing. We'll get our tree up soon.

Progressive Brunch

A couple years ago we hosted one piece of the progressive dinner we planned for our get-together with the Thom family (Greg's mom's side), and this year they put together a progressive brunch for all of us at their houses. We don't get to see them very often, and they've all moved to different houses in the last couple years, so it was fun to see their homes and spend time catching up with them all. We started out at Jeremy and Kristina's house, made our way over to Katie's house, and then on to Uncle Bruce and Aunt Sue's. Joy had all kinds of fun games planned for us, little toys hidden for the kids to find at the different houses, and prizes at the end. Thanks, everyone, for the yummy food, for welcoming us into your homes, and for all your careful and thoughtful planning that made it such a good time for our families.

(double-click for better viewing)

Happy Thanksgiving, from the infirmary

We have much to be thankful for, and right now, I'm thankful for parents who love us and who are willing to come pick up our kids so we can get a couple hours of rest. Kari and Joel are both doing better, recovering from their ear infections. I am suffering through a sinus infection, and Greg is currently in bed with a nasty cold or whatever it is we've had, feeling miserable, too.

This may not go down as our best Thanksgiving ever, but we do have much to be thankful for--our family, our three little kids, our home, Greg's job (and health insurance), friends, our church. God has blessed us with so much.

May you have a wonderful day of thanksgiving with friends and family!

Thanksgiving Party

Last Friday Joel, Aubrey, and I went to Kari's preschool class for their Thanksgiving party complete with turkey dinner (lunch meat, cheese & rolls), Thanksgiving bingo, a Thanksgiving craft, and, of course, pin-the-tail-on-the-turkey. That's Kari doing a fine job pinning the tail.

Joel's sitting in Kari's chair while they all play pin-the-tail, eating a roll, and still feeling rather insecure. He felt more comfortable toward the end and had fun playing with the toys.

Playing bingo

Kari's placemat she made at school. The teacher asked the kids what they were thankful for and wrote down whatever they said. Some of the things on the other kids' had on their placemats were pretty funny: skeletons, cheesesticks, hair. Kari had a pretty good list--stuck to the big, important ones. :)

According to Kari, the upper stick figure is Joel and the lower one is Aubrey. The red drawing is a silly flower, whatever that is.

Testing that spirit of thankfulness

Another ear infection (Kari this time), cranky, not-feeling-so-well kids, and a tired, not-feeling-so-well Mommy. Can I still be thankful? Yes, I can. I can be thankful no one is throwing up (yet).

Dirt Baby and Jumping Baby

Kari's dirt baby grew lots of hair (grass) and received many hair cuts before he started growing mold and had to be thrown out.

This baby's hair is growing, too, but will not be receiving a trim. She had a great time the other day in the johnny jump up while I work on dinner prep. It's nice that we have a doorway she can hang from between the kitchen and living area.

It's also nice when you can finally give the baby Cheerios to keep her happy during dinner prep. You're probably not supposed to let them eat and jump at the same time, but it worked out well for us that day.

She's starting to scoot around now, and I can't vacuum often enough. She's always finding little treasures to put in her mouth. Ironically, she has all of a sudden become terrified at the sound of the vacuum. What's a mom to do?

Long night with the JB

We were up half the night, or so it seemed, with a crying, tossing and turning in pain, Joel. We assumed it was another ear infection, since that's what usually happens with him--no fever, no ear complaints, just crying and thrashing. When you ask him where he hurts, he points to his stomach, his knee and various other body parts, doesn't seem to know where he hurts, just feels miserable. We were correct in our assumption. Early this morning he came in and said, "Mommy, my ear feels better!" His eardrum had burst. Yuck! At least he felt better, though, and at least I didn't have to take him in--pretty obvious what his problem was. I talked the doctor, and they called in some meds for us. We were hoping to make it through the fall/winter season without any Joel ear infections. Our ENT specialist told us if Joel could make it through, he'd most likely be in the clear and wouldn't need another set of tubes. We'll see! We're so glad Aubrey hasn't followed in her brother's footsteps. By the time he was her age, he'd already had at least 5 ear infections and got tubes put in shortly thereafter. I'm feeling very thankful this morning, even with my lack of sleep, for our wonderful doctors (we have some good ones!), for our three healthy children, and for the fact that we're not dealing with anything more complicated than a simple ear infection and the occasional sinus infection.

Mom Vacation

I had the BEST time the last three days at the bazaar. I sold more covers than I was expecting, and I just really enjoyed my time with the other two ladies with whom I shared a booth. Both have young children and are in the same phase of life that I am. They're people I've known for a long time but not well and don't get to see often. We spent lots of time chatting, sharing ideas, talking about our kids and husbands (positive talking--no bashing going on). It was just a lot of fun. It's been a very long time since I've spent that much time away from the kids. It was great because I was away, but I was close (a 10 minute drive) and was able to come home at night and be around in the mornings, too. I ran home once each day to feed the baby and say "hi" to Kari and Joel, and Greg brought all three kids out Friday night, but pretty much it was a "mom vacation" for me. I got paid to relax and chat with people! What a deal! The kids did great without me. (Do they even need me??) I was kind of nervous aout how it would work out, nursing baby and all, but Aubrey did really well. Joel gave me an extra long hug when they visited Friday night, so maybe he missed me a little.

I saw many old friends and got to chat with a lot of people I just don't see very much anymore, some I haven't seen in years. I was able to relax and have uninterrupted conversations without a child "needing" something from me. I didn't have to do anything! I had a wonderful time, and I'm so thankful to Greg, my mom, and to my mother-in-law for watching the kids and giving me the opportunity to do this. I appreciated the time away so much. It was refreshing to step outside the daily routines of my life, to gain a little perspective, and to remember that I am more than "just a mom." I came home very tired today but energized at the same time. I'm ready to get back into mom mode again. So, thank you, Noel and Kari, for inviting me to share your booth with you. Looking forward to next year's bazaar!

Summoned

I just received yet another jury summons today. They must really want me because this is the third time, since I've had kids, that they've sent me that letter. Is there a shortage of eligible women in their late 20's/early 30's (be there soon)? I did my jury duty for the first time back in college. I had to defer it until summer, and then once they had me there, they didn't even want me. Well, one of the lawyers didn't want me. I have been summoned 4 or 5 times and Greg has only been summoned once (they didn't want him on their jury either). Why don't they ask him more often? He actually gets paid to do it. All I'd get is $10 (or maybe it's $15) plus mileage.

So, for the third time, I get to use the mandatory grounds for excuse--breast-feeding a child. Thank you, Aubrey! Someday maybe I'll serve on a jury. I want to be a good citizen, but maybe I can do my duty when I am no longer taking care of three small children.

Finished!

I am all done sewing!!! I've been working like crazy, trying to get all my nursing covers done in time to sell at the Harvest Moon Bazaar where I'm sharing a booth with two other ladies. I have fairly low expectations as to how many I'll actually sell, but I had a number in my head of how many I wanted to have finished, and I finally reached my goal, just in time. Now I can put away the sewing machine that's been sitting on our dining room table for the last two months. (Well, I do need to make Aubrey's stocking, so it'll come out again next week, but at least I'll be working on something different.) It's going to be a crazy three days around here with Grandmas and Greg sharing the load.
If you want to come to the bazaar, it's Nov. 13-15. Come say hi!
--Thursday, 4pm-8pm
--Friday, 10am-8pm
--Saturday, 9am-1pm
I'll be there most of the time, but I'll be in and out, running home to feed Aubrey and say "hi" to the kids at various times. Aubrey's still nursing (making these three days complicated) but takes a bottle if she has to, which is nice. Greg has Sunday to look forward to if things get rough at home. He's going to a Seahawks game. :)

Little Visits

We've had a few short visits with faraway Alaskan family members in the last couple months. Greg's Uncle Marty and Aunt Nikki were here a while ago, and then we got to see his Uncle Jim and Aunt Marla two weeks ago. I didn't think to get my camera out either time. I did, however, remember my camera today when we saw my Aunt Brenda and Uncle Dennis. They had a long airport layover on their way home from a trip, and we were able to squeeze in a little get-together before their flight took off. It was great to see them and hear more, firsthand, about their family, kids, and grandkids. Thanks for stopping in to see us! Wish we could see you more often!

just more Aubrey

watching football with Daddy last weekend

Everyone else was resting this afternoon, but not Miss Short-Napper Aubrey. Notice the blurry hands. She's working on her clapping skills. I have photos of both Kari and Joel playing with this farm when they were little, so I had to make sure I got some of baby #3.

As my dad commented this week, Aubrey seems to enjoy showing off her new teeth. We get a lot of this big cheezy grin.

Still no interest in crawling. Well, actually she is starting to show some desire to reach more things and frustration when she can't. She only ends up in this position when she's been sitting up and reaching for an object just out of range and falls over.

Glad the election is over--isn't everyone?

We had the TV on after dinner yesterday, keeping an eye on the election results as they came in. For many months now, since she first heard it (it's been a long campaign!), Kari's had a facination with our now president-elect's name. I explained that he and John McCain both wanted to be president and told her who I was voting for and that she should give John McCain his fair share of advertising in our house. So, last night she and Joel ran around the house chanting, "John McCain! Barack Obama!"
Barack Obama it is, and while I didn't vote for him, I can respect him as our president, and I can pray for him as he leads our country.

Halloween--lots of photos

October 31st was crammed full of kid fun. We had Kari's field trip in the morning and then trick-or-treating in the afternoon/evening. Greg was able to get off work early to come with us to downtown Gresham where they block off the streets to cars, and the businesses hand out candy. We came home for a quick dinner, and then headed back out again to go visit Uncle Brian and Aunt Emily, then over to Grandpa and Grandma Arnold's house, and then back home to walk around our neighborhood. The kids made quite the haul and loved wearing their costumes.

Cinderella and Princess Aurora were inseparable. I think they held hands the entire time.













Even Tostie had a costume (yes, my dad got her a costume--a dinosaur, I do believe).












Our little lion seemed a little lost, so he held onto a Grandma for a majority of the time.













Our little chick (the pumpkin suit was getting a little snug, and Leah reminded us they had this one from when Maggie was a baby)













We finally found Karyn (just a couple phone calls involved) and got to see her little pumpkin, Philip.

The cousin crew (minus Miles). I think we'll be seeing princesses for the next few years. The boys will add some variety to the photos.

The end of the night--all done!

Amazing!

What did we do before the Internet? Joel got Silly Putty stuck on various clothing items, including his lion costume. I just typed in "remove silly putty clothing" and found an instant solution--hand-sanitizer gel. It works!

*Halloween pictures coming soon*