iheartfaces: scenic b&w

Thankful Thursday

It's Thanksgiving morning and my heart is filled with gratitude. I am thankful for...



1. finding out you can cook an 8 1/2 pound turkey breast in the crock pot!



2. finding the bottom of my laundry hamper yesterday!



3. having the opportunity to help with Ruby's preschool Thanksgiving feast (and for the front carrier that allowed Dave to stay happy through the whole thing)!



4. traditions... such as the annual reading of Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving!



5. Jason not having to work on Friday, as he has for the past 4 years!

6. finding out that an old favorite recipe, Peanut Butter Pancake, can be successfully adapted for my IC so that I can eat them again-- yum!

7. discovering that Ruby is just as in love with the Macy's parade as I am. That's my girl:)

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night:)

iheartfaces: Paper

This week's photo challenge over at iheartfaces is paper. I love this photo of Ruby and Jason reading together on "Put Yourself in a Book Day" last year. She looks SO excited and he looks great wearing her nose! Ah, what daddies will do for their little girls...

Head on over to iheartfaces to see all the awesome paper pictures!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

1. Jason and David giving me 8 1/2 hours straight of sleep on Monday night. I can't remember the last time that happened!

2. my crock pots. They have been getting quite a workout lately and it's made life so much easier.

3. delegation. My grandmother has been deligating a lot of the work that needs to be done at her old house and it has taken a lot of burden off of me.

4. awesome preschool teachers. Ruby has wonderful teachers this year who love her like she is their own and really get her excited about learning. I could not ask for anything more!

5. wrestling. Eli is doing wrestling for the first time this season and it is doing so much for his self-confidence and his closeness to his dad.

6. the cute things kiddos say. For example, today Ruby told me the state bird was the "carnival".

i heart faces: Silhouette

I can not explain how excited I was when I saw this week's contest at iheartfaces. I immediately thought of this favorite photo. It was taken at a place called Conner Prairie at my husband's company picnic. My children enjoyed the petting barn the most, especially Ruby. I turned to find her, and spotted her across the barn showing her dress to this goat. I quickly grabbed the camera and was, at first, disappointed with the results; I had envisioned a clearer shot of Ruby's face. I quickly realized, though, that not being able to see all the details of her face allow you to "see" more of her conversation with the goat.

Head on over to iheartfaces to see more of this week's silhouettes!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

1. how much Eli is loving wrestling and how much Jason is liking going to practice with him.

2. the decrease in David's screaming in the car in the last week or two.

3. my meeting with our church's family counselor this week to help me deal with my PPD and devise a plan to make our house run smoother.

4. the $10 shopping pass (with no minimum purchase!) I got in the mail from Kohl's yesterday. I can't wait to spend it!

5. the iheartfaces photo contests that provide me with a kind of creative outlet I've been longing for for quite some time.

6. a repaired kitchen window.

7. 72 degree days in Indiana in November.

8. big, toothless grins:)

In this month of thanksgiving, what are you thankful for?

WW: I will spit a cricket, but I WON'T touch pumpkin guts!

iheartfaces: Orange

I have read many people on iheartfaces say to submit the first photo that comes to mind when you hear the challenge. When I heard "orange", this favorite photo is all I could think of.

This was taken at my parents' campsite about a year ago. It is a photo of my mom with her (then) only three grandchildren. I love the Indiana fall colors and peaceful water. My kiddos (the two blondies) appear to be calmly taking in the beauty of nature-- definately a rare treasure!

Head on over to iheartfaces to see more orange inspiration.

Thankful Thursday

My intention when I started my blog was to do a "thankful Thursday" every week. Unfortunatly, life got in the way.. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about the past, only the future. So, new goal: to have a Thankful Thursday every week in November. Surely, I can manage that, right?

Without further ado, I am thankful for:

1. The beautiful, quiet walk David and I had last night.

2. My in-laws, who have been so incredibly helpful-- especially last night.

3. Being able to go about 6 weeks w/o using heat or air conditioning in the house (seriously, I think that's a minor miracle in Indiana!).

4. My pre-David jeans fitting. Do they fit as well as they did pre-David?, no, but I have not had to go jean shopping since I had him, and for that I am VERY thankful!

5. The school bus. This is the first year I've let Eli ride the bus and it has made life (especially with an infant who hates the car) SO much easier!

I think that's all I have time for this morning. As we prepare for Thanksgiving 2010, what are you thankful for?

Halloween Weekend

Third times a charm... After trying to go to ZooBoo on two other weekends, we finally made it this weekend! This whole zoo trip began with a conversation with Ruby on the way to preschool about a month ago. We were discussing monkeys: What letter does monkey start with? What sound does a monkey make? All of the sudden, Ruby says, "Mama, monkeys are for pretend, right?" Uh-oh, time to go see some monkeys!

Eli and Ruby both loved the dolphin show and sitting in the "splash zone". After the show (and meeting up with Daddy), we went on a search for the monkeys. And guess what? NO monkeys! Their habitat is being remodeled so they are on loan to another zoo! Fortunately, we were later able to pass off baboons as monkeys. On top of the regular animal stuff, the zoo had special activities going on for "Zoo Boo".

We couldn't leave the zoo without seeing Mommy's favorite animal-- the elephants!

Just as we were about to leave, a very nice man offered to take a photo of our entire family

Saturday afternoon we went to Kids Commons, our local children's museum, for a free day. Of course the first thing Eli and Ruby wanted to see was the giant toliet!

Kids Commons even has a great little area where David could get out of the front carrier and play. His favorite part was looking at himself in the mirror. Although, who can blame him, he is getting SO cute!

What really amazed me, though, was how much Eli wanted to play with Legos while we were there. You'd think he'd get enough of those at home! As we were leaving we passed by this beautiful graffiti. I've been wanting to take the kids' photos in front of it for quite some time. I am loving this photo of Eli.

On Saturday evening we went "trick or treating" at Grammie and Grandddaddy's.

On Sunday we carved pumpkins (finally). I loved how Eli drew out his plan on a piece of paper before exicuting it on his pumpkin. He is more and more like his dad every day (and I mean that in a good way!).

After dinner it was time for trick or treating with CandyLand, a monkey, and Iron Man. I had to laugh when one of the neighbors asked me if I made Ruby's costume (I can not even sew on a button well). Ruby really had the hang of this trick or treating thing this year. My favorite part was that as they were leaving each house she would hug her big brother and say, "I love you Eli". Of course, he hated it!

Between the cool breeze and the movement of the stroller, our little monkey quickly went to sleep.

When we made it back to our house, the first thing Ruby did was to line all of her candy up in a straight line and start counting it. Sometimes it's difficult to see your own OCD traits in your children!

After trick or treating in our neighborhood, we went to see Great Grandma Alice. I attempted to get a close up of all three kiddos at her apartment, but, as you can see, David did NOT wake up from his power nap very well!

We made it back home for the night about 8:00. We were greeted home by these carob spider web cupcakes that I had made earlier in the day-- yum!

Halloween is always a fun time with kids, but I also love Halloween for another reason... Jason and I had our first date on Halloween 17 years ago (doesn't that just make me sound old!). He proposed to me on Halloween 13 years ago. Wow!