Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a happy thanksgiving. We missed being with all of you, but were able to make fun memories here with our little family. I had grand ambitions of getting a beautiful dinner made in the morning, pack it neatly up and get to the hospital with a beautiful thanksgiving feast to eat in the cafeteria with Josh (who is on call today and tomorrow). I suppose it was a little silly to think I could spend all morning in the kitchen without girls needing me every minute. I was able to get the turkey, some rolls, and a sad excuse for a pie done. Oh, well. We had fun visiting dad and will probably get to the rest of the food tomorrow.

Thanksgiving magic

Liezl has been asking about the Thanksgiving wish bone for the last couple of days. I think some one was talking about it at school and it has sparked her interest. Yesterday's conversation with her is the outcome to her new discovery of Thanksgiving magic.
Liezl: I am so excited to get my new dog next week!
Me: Why do you think you are getting a dog next week?
Liezl: I am going to wish for a dog with the wish bone.
Me: What if Quincy wins the wish?
Liezl: I told her to wish for a dog too.

How am I going to soften the blow when the Thanksgiving magic does not come through, not to mention when the more powerful Christmas magic does not deliver?I just wanted to show off this smile. We have not seen too much of it lately, but now that both top teeth have popped out, we are seeing more of this happy face.

My shoebox of dreams

I have been meaning to write this post for a while. It is a shout out to my brother-in-law's new blog. He has made it for all of us who love a good story along with good illustrations. I love going to the library searching for the perfect books to read to my girls that are funny, inspiring, clever, or beautiful. We usually find treasures to enjoy for a week, but sometimes I get disappointed and think, "I could do better than that." This blog invites anyone who has dreamed of being an author or illustrator to become inspired and get creative. He introduces a monthly theme to write or draw along to and then posts all of the submissions for all to see. This month was Aesop fables. My girls and I had so much fun reading through the stories and drawing pictures to go along with our favorite ones. I am sad to say I did not submit our masterpieces in time. My brother-in-law is a very talented artist and understands what makes a good story and will share some of what he has learned on the blog. Some of his monthly themes will come from stories people have written. For example, my sister is an amazing dance teacher and gives some awesome mommy and me classes for pre-schoolers. She will be posting some of her lesson plans and will be asking for some feedback for a book she is writing. You don't have to aspire to publish, it is mostly to inspire creativity. Anyways, check it out. Have fun.

Thanks Judy

I just dropped Josh's mom off at the airport after spending the last couple of days with us. It was so great to have her here and am feeling a little lonely, but I have a renewed desire to be a better mom, wife, and daughter thanks to her great example. Finding things to do in Ohio is a little different than when family came to visit us in DC, but we still had a ton of fun. Judy was here for Liezl's Daisy Scout ceremony to welcome her in the troop. They sang the oldie but goody both Judy and I remembered "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold".
We also had a fun time visiting antique shops. Liezl and Quincy found these hats and tiny perfume bottles for their treasures to buy.

motherhood

Liezl and I were having a conversation today about motherhood. She told me how excited she was to be a mom but said very seriously that she will never yell at her kids. Liezl, I am sorry I yell and I hope that you will be a better mom than I am some day. I remember telling myself that when I became a mom I would wear make-up and earrings every day, not just on Sundays like my mom. It turns out that I don't even get around to that even on Sundays. Motherhood has taught me so much, has kept me humble, and constantly poses obstacles to learn and grow from. I have been working on one lately about trying to make my home one that can compare to the temple in sacredness. I have been going crazy trying to maintain temple-like cleanliness. I have been dreading each day's mundane chores that I did just yesterday. I am now realizing that I am trying to create sacredness artificially. My daily duties are sacred, not the freshly polished floor. I show my love to my family and Heavenly Father not only by telling them, but by showing them with my laundry sorting, diaper changing hands.

Happy Birthday Josh

Josh's birthday was this Saturday and unfortunately he was on call (work all day, through the night, and into the morning). We were still able to have a good weekend and hopefully were able show Josh how much he is loved. Some of the highlights were when we visited him at the hospital with dinner. His girls gave him a Ken barbie doll and he loves it. Tonight we celebrated a bit more by cracking open a transformer pinata. I know life is crazy for you right now, and you have a lot of responsibilities piled on you - but you are doing an amazing job. Thanks. I love you. Happy Birthday.

Halloween

Halloween was a success and boy am I glad it is over. Josh had to work tonight so I took the girls out thinking we would hit a couple of houses and be done, but they were having so much fun, we ended up staying out for an hour. We then spent the rest of the night passing out candy which was just as much fun for the girls. It was great - but I am exhausted and ready to be done with this holiday.
This was the best picture out of the six I took of Liezl. Quincy thought it was so funny to run into the picture. I did not love the make-up idea, but Liezl sure did.
Quincy loved trick or treating. She was so excited and kept running ahead. She got away from me a couple of times because Liezl was super slow chatting with all of the ladies handing out candy.
I put Ava in the front pack even though she is getting to big for it - I figured I could keep better track of the girls if I had two hands for them to hold. She tolerated the festivities and was a good sport through out the night.
This was not even two minutes after we got into the house. Liezl jumped into her jammies and got a front row seat for handing out candy and Quincy had already eaten I don't know how many pieces of candy.
My big helpers.