Thursday, December 31, 2009

Tree Hunting....a little late

Things have been so busy around here this month. I have taken over 1000 pictures this month (no exaggeration) and have yet to record the memories. It may take a few posts, but I'll do my best!!
A yearly tradition for us is going to the tree lot, finding a live tree, and then going out to get dessert. This was Atalie's first and Charis's 3rd trip. Though we chose our tree quickly, we played in the lot a little. Charis had a blast running around the trees and being chased by Paw Paw. Atalie, as usual, just took it all in. Charis loves running around the lot, weaving in and out of the trees. Atalie was just happy to be with family. We finally decided on a small tree, much smaller than previous years. It ended up being perfect for Charis to help decorate.


After loading the trees up on Paw Paw and Bean's car, we headed off to Applebee's. I was not happy to find that my favorite splurge, The Apple Chimi-Cheesecake, had been discontinued. Atalie had a great time at the table, tasted her first lemon, and made a huge mess on the floor. Charis devoured her ice cream. Are you surprised to hear that she had a hard time winding down for the evening?





YUM!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Forgot these...

Here's a few pics I forgot for Thanksgiving...
Keex and Atalie snuggling...
The girls and Bean and Paw Paw dancing...


Paw Paw reading a self-edited version of Cinderella...



Atalie listens intently. :)

And stories told by Uncle Jason.





Thursday, December 3, 2009

It's been a while...

since I've updated. Lots has been going on!


Some things don't change. Yes, this is normal around our house.


The recent Nor'easter took out half of 2 of the trees in our front yard. Bradford Pears are not the sturdiest of trees. I rode down the street after the storm passed and a neighbor had one of those scarecrow-on-a-stick yard decorations still standing. But, no, not our tree. Maybe I should have staked a scarecrow to our trees.


Brian strapped Atalie to his back and proceeded to rake up the remaining mess in our yard.
Snow White helped. Well, sang and twirled in circles. Close enough.

Since then Atalie has been sick and managed to get a black eye at church. Pitiful, huh?

Of course that goofy picture was the one that showed her black eye the best. :)
Next came Thanksgiving. Brian worked this Thanksgiving, so the girls and I went to my parents' house and spent the day with them.


The next day Charis helped clean in anticipation of Thanksgiving #2.
Brian was home for this one and we invited both of our families over. I cooked my first turkey, which went amazingly well! I forgot to take a before picture, but here's the carcass. Just what you wanted to see, right? I have since been informed that, yes, that is a little weird.

Charis played her version of football in the front yard with Brian and her cousins. She busted her lip, but she was having so much fun that she didn't even care.


Then Sunday we had Thanksgiving #3 with Brian's entire family (grandparents, cousins, uncles, etc etc) in North Carolina. The girls slept on the way there and woke up just as we arrived. The firefighters posed for a picture (or 20, since I was taking them). They have a great yard and field, so Charis played with her cousins outside and got nice and muddy. Atalie chowed down on sweet potatoes, rolls, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. It was a hit! Then Carie graciously rocked her so she could catch a quick snooze.


This week it's been leftovers (my favorite!). I made a yummy apple pie using leftover cranberry sauce. YUM! And Charis made Brian a turkey sandwich. Well, mayonnaise sandwich with some turkey. :)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A Day to Remember

On one of the pretty fall days we had this month we decided to go for a treasure hunt. Well, treasures to Charis. She loves looking for leaves, sticks, rocks, pine cones, acorns...pretty much anything she can find outside. Near our house is a patch of woods and a small (and when I say small, I mean small) hill. So we packed up our basket and stroller, bundled up, and headed off.
This is Charis's first find. A stick. She was desperately trying to break it. I loved watching her...it reminded me of how small she is. It was such a struggle to break this twig, but she really delighted in the struggle. I glanced at her a moment later, and she told me she was watching the leaves fall. Well, "I yooking at tall yeebs tall down," translated as "I'm enjoying the visual splendor of the autumn foliage as it tumbles aimlessly through the breeze." Her daddy loves leaves, forests, land, and all things wild and secluded; she reminds me so much of him sometimes.
Lost in her sweet little thoughts...
It wasn't posed, promise. She was in her own little world, soaking up every bit of fresh air before I tortured her by making her go home and eat lunch. :)
And Atalie watched her sister tumble down the "hill" and roll in the leaves. Then Charis decided to try to teach Atalie how to roll around.
I think Charis was feeding Atalie a leaf...mmm....
I think this day will be etched in my memory for a long time.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Too much pie...

I ate waaay too much pie last night. But I'd been waiting for last night for weeks now. Of course, in all the talking, eating, and tripping on children, I forgot to pick up my camera. So disappointing. That's okay...there's always next year.
I got plenty of flack (and jokes) about having a pie party. There's was even a very long (and amusing) thread about the pie party on Facebook. The idea was simple: friends, families, thanksgiving, and dessert. I've been wanting to have friends over for a while now. I love party atmospheres so much.
What I really like doing is stepping back and watching the party for a little while. To stand back, listening to the laughing, watching people enjoy each other, meeting new people, and just spending time together. I wish I was better at telling people that I'm thankful for them. Because I am. More than I can express. I'm not so good at that.
I love holiday decorations, the smell of cinnamon and apple cider, and just spending time with friends. I know that a crowded party atmosphere isn't the best time to have deep, meaningful conversations. But I think having people over, opening our home, and teaching my children to be thankful is important. Charis was a bit overwhelmed by all the children (I think we counted 15?) and all the sharing that indefinitely goes with that many kids. There were a few tears, but all-in-all it was great.
We sampled apple pies, keylime, Snickers, chocolate maple pecan, pumpkin cheesecake, coconut, blueberry banana, snickerdoodle, strawberry cheesecake, and chocolate mousse pie. There was a little Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving action and even a little pie thief...one little guy who managed to work his way around all the people and stick his finger in a few pies about 8 or 10 times. :)
Atalie happily played in her exersaucer, rolled all around, and recieved the only battle wound of the night; she rolled right on a crown. Or as one guest described it, the "bear trap." That's a pretty accurate description.
Charis relaxed as the night went on (for those of you that don't know, she's not crazy about large crowds). I did catch her sticking her finger in another child's pie while they read a story as if it was completely normal to stick your finger in someone else's food and eat it without them giving you permission. The little girl graciously said, "It's okay" in that tone of voice that also said, "I deal with this all the time. Don't you know I have 2 sisters? It's no big deal." As soon as the party ended Charis asked for permission to retreat to the solitude of her room to play, alone, for a little while. Did I mention she wanted to be alone?
Brian had an amazing, God-ordained opportunity to pray with our neighbor in the front yard for God's hand of health to be over her granddaughter...in the middle of the party. I love how unexpected God can be. How amazing for God to arrange a chance to connect with a rarely-seen neighbor in the middle of a party. J&A...God used you, too, because you left at the perfect time for Brian to run into our neighbor.
And Major...well, he ended up with a coffee bath on the back porch. He was a little too excited to see his Java-toting visitor.
So after a big clean-up (but not nearly as much as I expected...thanks Megan and Hannah!), next on the agenda is bathing the dog.
Well, after I plan the Cereal Party for January.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Halloween '09



We had so much fun Saturday night. Charis was Sleeping Beauty and Atalie was a Hunny Pot from Winnie-the-Pooh. Friends joined us for pizza and then we headed out. I loved hearing Charis say, "Cheek or Cheek, please" at the houses.

Atalie was a little unsure of the whole costume thing, but took it in stride.



Notice she started the night in heels. Brian thought ahead and carried slippers in his back pocket. We could still see our house and she started limping along, claiming her feet didn't hurt. I mean, c'mon, the heels lit up when she would walk. It was almost worth the pain, I'm sure. Almost.

The girls got a little hot in their costumes. It was such a warm night! I can't remember a Halloween that we didn't freeze.









Charis was allowed to choose a treat from her basket. She chose Candy Corn (gag).

















Love this one!

















Later Wolverine came by for a visit. When Jason gave me a hint about his costume, all I got was, "I had to use a belt sander." What kind of crazy (and useless) clue is that?
Makes sense now.
All in all I think it was a lot of fun for everyone. Well, almost everyone. I don't think those trick-or-treaters liked it when they were told that we didn't have candy here. Um, hello? No front porch light on= no candy. Hasn't that always been the rule????
I still felt a little guilty, though.
But only a little. What happened to all that leftover candy last year? That's right. I ate it. I vowed to not make that mistake again and unfortunately the trick-or-treaters suffered. Sorry guys. Maybe next year.