New Addition

For several years we have done a Thankfulness Tree in November.  In the past I have drawn the tree trunk and branches on freezer paper and cut out construction paper leaves to put on each day with the things we are thankful for....

This year, courtesy of Grandma Alice, we had a new addition-- this Pottery Barn Tree.  Each leave has a number of the date and a pocket to tuck in a piece of paper where you have written what you are thankful for.  Not only is our new tree much prettier than my drawing, it was SO much less time consuming!!!

I thought I would share some of the things our family was thankful for this November...

• job security
• honesty

• Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, and Theodore (the teady bear!)
• Husky Grams
• the beautiful paint fairy:)
• naps
• painter's tape
• girl time
• indoor plumbing
• Quotes of the Day
• tacos
• Netflix
• free lunch
• IHOP breakfast club
• the right to vote
• a 10 min. orthodontist appointment
• Daddy
• a family that works together
• open gym
• audiobooks
• chicken nuggets
• Rolos
• Sprite
• sleep
• a shower without David screaming
• Jesus loving me

And, as this new season of advent begins, I pray our family will continue to focus on how thankful we are, especially for that little boy born in a manager.

I Heart Faces: Bust a Gut

This week's I Heart Faces challenge is "Bust a Gut".  David has always has problems with becoming over-stimulated very easily.  We discovered that, for him, swinging is a wonderful coping strategy.  I can't tell you how many hours we have put on this swing!  It has always amazed me how a tired, over-stimulated Dave could go into the swing and minutes later I was seeing huge smiles and hearing belly laughs-- priceless!

Head on over to I Heart Faces to see more gut busting good photos!

Bucket List

Long before the movie "Bucket List" came to be, I had a mental list of things that I want to do before I die.  I have never taken the time to right them down, though.  Some of these are ideas that have always been on my list, some are newer.  I also hope this list grows (as I think of new ideas) and shrinks (as I accomplish some of them) and changes (as I grow and change)....

1.  Learn to play tennis
2.  Learn to play the guitar
3.  Run a 5K, mini, marathon or triathlon
4.  Travel out of the US (Niagara Falls doesn't count!)
5.  Write a children's book
6.  Take a photography class
7.  Go skiing in Colorado
8.  See what the big deal is about the Grand Canyon
9.  Go on a mission trip, preferably with a cleft palate team
10. Take an oil painting class
11.  Go to Hawaii
12.  Take a ballroom dancing class
13.  See a play on Broadway
14.  Get a master's degree
15.  Become a professor
16.  Go to a salon so nice, that they decide what kind of hair cut I should have
17.  See the huge redwoods in Northern California
18.  Have a spontaneous adventure
19.  Rent a convertible & go on a road trip
20.  Serve a "spin-off" Thanksgiving dinner (ex. sweet potato fries instead of sweet potato casserole, turkey tetrazzini rather than roast turkey, cranberry Jell-O rather than sauce, ect)
21.  Go to a Jimmy Buffett concert

The Black Eye

My first reaction when I see "CSA Lincoln" on caller id is panic.  Last week was no different.  This time it was the school nurse.  She has just seen Eli and sent him back to class.  He was okay, but she wanted me to know what happened...

Apparently, Eli caught his foot in the suspension bridge on the playground and fell-- face first.  We are assuming that his glasses smashed into his right eye before flying off his face.

When he got off the bus, even though I knew what had happened, and that he had been well taken care of, I was quite shocked by his black eye... which has continued to look worse and worse.  (This morning he asked if there was anything we could do to get rid of it faster.  He is very tired of people asking about it!)

Anyway, two days after the playground incident, I found a really good deal on photo Christmas cards.  The only problem was that I needed to order them immediately.  For the past two years we've done the kind with a photo from each month, which I LOVE, because it's like our entire year on one small piece of paper.  Anyway, I had to take a "December" photo that morning.  So I threw the kids in Christmas jammies and (eventually) got this photo. 

Of course, Jason's first response was, "You really want a photo now, with Eli's black eye?".  I say, it is the perfect way to close out a very difficult year!  The Main family takes a licking and just keeps on ticking!

Cartridges and cartwheels

 

A couple of weeks ago, Jason and Eli took all these cartridges out to Jason's parent's barn for storage.  The plan was for them to also have a bit of "boy time" while they were out there.

(Sidenote: If you live anywhere near me, I would be happy to pick up your used printer cartridges.  Eli turns them in to the Heads Up Foundation.  The foundation helps to support health care organizations that care for children affected by clefts.)

Meanwhile,  I took Ruby and David to Preschool Open Gym at the Gymnastics center.

 

Who knew a one year old could have SO much fun jumping from a giant trampoline into a huge vat of foam cubes?

I think this might be Ruby's "tough" face.  Quite humerous, whatever it is supposed to be!

 

I think this was the only time the two actually played together, most of the time I just spent my time rapidly moving my head back and forth trying to keep my eyes on two children running in vastly different directions at the same time.  All in all, this morning was a rolling good time!

Wordless Wednesday: I found a sucker!

Halloween 2011

Halloween morning started out with a fun photo shoot on the front porch, almost resulting in missing the bus (oops!).

When Ruby got off the bus as 3:30, she announced that her ear hurt.  When Ruby says her ear hurts, you call the doctor, immediately.  So, at 4:00, it was off to the doctor. 

After a carry-out dinner, we put costumes on and walked our neighborhood.

and ate some candy.

Eli decided he really wanted to go visit his Aunt Charrie.  This is what Mr. Mischievous was up to on the way there...

We visited with Aunt Charrie for a couple hours and then picked up Ruby's prescription.  What a wonderful night it turned out to be (ear infection and all)!

Halloween Eve

Ruby the ballerina, David the Pooh, and Eli the pirate.

My Grandma Alice had a big night planned on Halloween.  Her assisted living facility was having a costume party (and I talked her into going as Little Red Riding Hood!).  She still wanted to see my kiddos dressed up and give them too much chocolate, so we went to visit her on Halloween Eve!  This also made our Halloween Evening go quite a bit easier (which, in the end, we really needed, but that is for another post...)

Me, Eli, David, Grandma, & Ruby

David got too hot in his costume, so we took it off and let him run around in his jammies.  I love what Eli did, though, when I asked him to carry Dave's costume.  It looks like the evil pirate skinned himself a Pooh Bear!

It's the Great Pumpkin Cookies Charlie Brown

Some of my favorite childhood memories are cooking with my Grandma Alice.  This year the kids and I made one of her classic holiday treats-- Great Pumpkin Cookies.  It was such fun making them with my family and then delivering the fruits of our labor to Grandma (as well as some other family members in town). 

I know that Halloween is over (tear), but these are great fun even for Thanksgiving!

Great Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup quick oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg or replacement for 1 egg

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon alcohol free vanilla (or regular vanilla extract)

1 cup pumpkin

1 cup carob chips (or chocolate chips, raisons, M&Ms, etc)

assorted icing, candies, etc for decorating

Directions:

Cream butter and gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.  Add egg substitute and vanilla; mix well.  Alternate dry ingredients and pumpkin-- mix well after each addition.  Stir in carob chips.  For each cookie drop 1/4 cup dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet, spread into pumpkin shape using a thin metal spatula (For all perfectionist mommies, like me, remember that NO pumpkin is a perfect pumpkin shape-- it will be okay if your cookies aren't either!).  Add a bit more dough to form a stem.  Bake 20- 25 mins until lightly brown and firm.  Remove from sheets and cool on racks.

After cool, decorate with orange and green icing and candies!