Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful for my girls.

They are each so different, not only because of their ages, but their personalities at this point are not at all the same. But, they love each other so much. Madeleine is like a little mommy to Charlotte, taking the time to read to her or teach her something new. And, Charlotte love her big sis -- I hear all day long "where sissy?" It's easy to tell that Charlotte's world is much better the moment her sissy gets home from school!

Let's Go Drive the Car

One of Charlotte's favorite new things to do is "drive" the car. Every time I open the garage door, she make a bee-line for the car and tries to open the door. And as soon as that door is open she's in there pretending to drive. I've started to let her do this while I load up the car which makes her so happy! However, she has a complete meltdown every time she has to get back in her carseat.

More to Be Thankful For

Today is one of those days that I'm feeling so very blessed. No real reason in particular, just one of those days that's reminded me of how good my life is right now:

Charlotte took a good nap today. The laundry is *almost* caught up. Matt will be home in time for dinner tonight. :) Harrison had a great day at preschool. I had a good chat with a good friend on the phone. There is a light at the end of the Ph.D school tunnel, a very dim light, but for the first time ever, a light. We've spend the day warm & cozy in our home while the rain has poured outside. And the list could go on and on. It's just one of those ordinary days where I'm reminded of how blessed I am.

Trick or Treat 2011

We had a great Halloween this year! The kids have been counting down the days for weeks and were sooo excited when the big day arrived! I actually had to hide Harrison's costume to keep him from wearing it out before Halloween even arrived! :)

Harrison was SpiderMan this year -- but only as a "bad" version of SpiderMan. He did NOT want to be any kind of a "good guy."
Madeleine was a ladybug. We found the wings and then I made her a black and red tutu (which is all bunched up in this pic).

Charlotte wore the ol' Hershey Kiss costume. Each kiddo has worn this costume and it's one of my favorites!

We did a lot of houses this year. We walked across the course behind the house and then trick-or-treated our way home. We were about 4 houses from home and Harrison told me, "Wow, mommy, this is starting to get really fun!" Ha! I'm not sure what he thought those first 20 houses or so, but at least I know he enjoyed the last few. ;)

When we got home, they all broke in to the candy. And, Madeleine and Harrison had a great time handing out our candy to the other trick-or-treaters. The constantly ringing doorbell confused Charlotte, but as long as she was eating candy, she wasn't too bothered!!

We ended the evening with some skyping with Mimi & Grandad. This is the first time for Charlotte to skype with us and she was enthralled by it! She sat happily in my lap in front of the computer and babbled on and on. If anyone else even tried to get close, she shoved them out of the way and pulled the computer closer to her. When it was time to end, Matt had to carry her away kicking and screaming.

We had a great Halloween! But, I'm also thankful it's over and we can start looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas! Yay!

The Thankful Month

Today is November 1st. I've been waiting on this day to get here for so long! I love the months of November and December. November means my favorite holiday -- Thanksgiving. I like that we focus an entire month on being thankful, and it's followed by a month that focuses on giving. Sometimes it's easier to give after remembering all that we've been given, right?

So, in honor of this month of Thanksgiving, I've decided to be thankful for one specific thing each day. Some days I may share them, others I'll keep to myself. I'm working on a fun project with the kids (and a little behind -- hoping to start tomorrow) that will help them to think about all that we've been blessed with this month, too.

So, today, I'm thankful that I'm able to live my dream of being a stay-at-home mommy. It means that I have a husband that not only supports, but encourages this choice. It means that I get to share in so many of my children's experiences. I'm thankful that this fulfills me in a way that I know that nothing else ever could. I wake up each morning excited about the day and I go to bed at night exhausted, knowing that I've given everything I have to taking care of my family.

October Wrap-Up

We've had another fun and busy month around here!

We explored the "new" play area at the mall. It was all the same stuff, but in a storefront that off the beaten path in a corner of the mall, perfect for playing!

We went to our friend, Bennett's birthday party. It was a gorgeous October day and we played outside in the jumphouse and on the playground and worked up an appetite before enjoying some amazing homemade chocolate cupcakes!

Charlotte and Madeleine got in some extra snuggles before Madeleine left for school one morning.

Harrison and I made caramel corn to take on our trip. He tasted the air-popped popcorn and decided that caramel corn is "yucky;" he wouldn't even taste it after it had all the yummy caramel on it!

We made Halloween cookies and decorated them with icing -- then we took them on our trip to LR to share with our families. :)

Harrison being silly one day -- he had all sorts of "stuff" stuck in his undies and rigged them up to hold up a bucket. Not sure what the purpose was, but it made me laugh!

Charlotte found her a new spot to sit and eat in the kitchen. She loooves the lazy-susan and is constantly playing in it.

We painted and carved pumpkins. Madeleine chose a kitty face for her pumpkin which turned out adorable -- definitely doing it again! Harrison chose "angry birds" which turned out....interesting. But, he was happy with it and that's what counts. Matt better start working on his carving stamina because next year he'll probably have to carve 3 pumpkins!

We made cupcakes on Halloween, as if we needed more sweets. Next year, I'm thinking we'll try the "halloween fairy" to help rid us of our sweets.

Harrison made a silly spider had at preschool that he's worn until it just wore out!

That's most of our October fun not including Trick-or-Treating which is a post all of it's own.

Harrison's Halloween Party

Last Thursday they celebrated Halloween at H's preschool. I debated back and forth about whether or not to go -- it would mean Charlotte would not get her nap until verrrry late in the day (after preschool, I had a "quick" meeting at M's school) and I'd be dragging a cranky, tired Charlotte with me on these errands. But, in the end, I just really wanted to be there so Miss Cranky-pants and I tagged along for the party and she actually did very well. Whew!

When we got there, Harrison had just finished getting his tattoo which he was quite proud of! They were getting ready to play some games before loading up on the goodies that the mamas had sent.

The first game was ghost bowling. Such a cute idea!

Then came beanbag spider toss. The first goal was to hit the middle of the spiderweb and then the next time, hit the "frogs" on the web. Another adorable idea! Their preschool director is amazing when it comes to cute ideas!

Finally, they played musical chairs. Harrison is one of the older ones in the class (which is 3-5 year olds) and he totally "got" this game!

He and Jackson tied at the end. :)

Instead of getting out being a bad thing, when you got out you got a silly face.

Finally, it was time for snacks! This is the only picture I got of the snacks, although they had some adorable "spider" snacks! We'll be making those at home ourselves sometime soon. :)

I'm so thankful for Harrison's little school! It was a hard decision since the school isn't exactly close to our house, but he's so so happy there and I know that he's learning a lot and spending those days with his best buds. He's gotten pretty attached to his teachers, too!