Favorite time of the year

The kids helped with the Thanksgiving banner and the name cards--I always loved name cards!

Kash just wanted his picture taken and Ben never turns down a chance to be in a picture.

I love the fall and I love Thanksgiving and I love Christmastime. I like Christmas, but I mostly like the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone really seems to be a bit kinder to one another. And we are all thinking about our families and what would make the perfect gift. For me, it reminds me of all the reasons I love those I love so much. I love to give gifts and really think about what might make someone happy. I will be honest and say I have missed the mark on a number of occasions, but I still love the feelings this time of year. I have such great memories from my childhood revolving around the holidays. Thanksgiving at my Grandma & Grandpa's and being amazed by the amount of mashed potatoes my cousin, Rex, could eat. Then the next day we would have a second Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma Eva's. She had a very small house and all the adults would have to move every piece of furniture out of her front room so we could all eat together. After dinner, there was always a good card game going on and the smell of cranberry pudding steaming in the background. I like cranberry pudding, I don't love it. But I can't have Thanksgiving without it--just doesn't seem right. There is just something so perfectly wonderful about being with your family. I know that is why I get the most homesick at Thanksgiving. I did okay this year, we had the sister missionaries over and Chris, who came to work with Brian from Cuba. We had a great dinner and my first attempt at a pumpkin pie turned out pretty good. I used to make fruit cake every year with my great aunt. I had the recipe out the other day and found taped to the back a pumpkin pie recipe and decided to try it--it was really very good--a great find! That made me miss Tilda and Grandma Eva and my Grandma and Grandpa and everything about my childhood that when I look back makes me feel like I had a fairy tale sometimes. I know I had a wild imagination, but I really did have a great childhood. I just remember feeling loved and so happy. I have great parents. I had great grandparents. I have super aunts and uncles. And I have so many wonderful cousins I liked playing with (most of the time) :)!

I knew I would be busy getting things ready on Wednesday, so I had projects for the kids to work on while I cooked. They helped with all the decorations and some of the treats. I was so glad when Jake said the family prayer that night that he was thankful for the all the fun they had getting ready for Thanksgiving. I only hope I can provide for our kids the quality of memories I am blessed with. Memories are truly priceless.

I was especially excited about this Thanksgiving because my cousin, Matt, and his family stopped here on Friday night and stayed until this morning. It was so nice to have them here. Matt reminds me so much of my Uncle Kent and I really love my Uncle Kent. Matt is quite a bit younger than me, so it was just nice to get to know his family a bit better. It was just a perfect way to end this Thanksgiving weekend. I was busy and got to have a bit of my family here--I have loved every minute. And now I get to be excited about the next month and all the fun we will have doing everything Christmas! Kash and I have already listened to Christmas music once! Brian always makes fun of me because I can't wait to get the music out--I LOVE Christmas music!!

Sigh...

So this week the kids have Thanksgiving Luncheons at school that parents are invited to attend. Last week we were talking about the luncheons and I asked Jake if he wanted me to come. He had to think for a minute (I am hoping the whole 5 seconds he isn't too "tween" to not want me there), and then said that sure I could come, sigh! So then we were talking to Sally and Ben about their luncheon and how we would work that out. Ben wanted Brian to come to his, no great surprise, Ben openly admitted when he was 5 that he loved Brian more than me. So that worked out great, I was going with Sally and Brian would go with Ben. Later that night, Ben asked me why I hadn't been to the school to have lunch with him when I had already been there to have lunch with Sally. I reminded him that for the last 2 years he adamantly told me he didn't want me to have lunch with him--way too embarrassing! Although I did once anyway! He said, "oh, yeah, well, I want you to come have lunch with me now." Sigh... I have always been alright with the relationship Ben has with his Dad, he has been that way since he was 6 months old. But oh, how I loved hearing him tell me that! Of course he still wants Brian to come to the luncheon with him, but I have been officially invited to eat with him some other time! Again, sigh...

Sally has been telling me for the last two days that she can't wait for Thursday because I get to eat lunch with her, sigh...

Tuesday I went to lunch with Jake. He was happy to show everyone his baby sister and introduce Kash to everyone. We sat with his best friend and his mom and had a nice lunch. When we got done eating, Jake said he was ready to go so he would have some recess still. I got up to leave and he gave me a HUG!!! Sigh... Right then I realized how much that meant to me, that he would still give me a hug in front of all his friends. I decided I wasn't ever going to let any of my kids not do that. I thought I was prepared for them to not want to, but I am not and never will be. So if I embarrass them, so be it, at least they will always know I love them.

They critique my cooking, tell me I am unfair, ask why I don't do this or that, don't appreciate all the laundry I do, but they do little things every day that make all I do so worth it. I love these little people and just have to savor the "moments" instead of getting hung up on all the "if onlys".

Tribute to AC/DC

Okay, so Jake promises me that this the last thing he wants on the blog for a while. He has been practicing these songs for the past few days and wanted everyone to hear his music--we have been listening for DAYS! Actually, I really haven't minded at all--it has been great to see him so excited about something. He is dressed like Angus Young--same as he was for Halloween. This clip is a bit long, but hope you all enjoy!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

That is what my little girls are made of. Definitely more spice than nice on some days, but oh, so sweet. The other day Sally asked me if I could please put a little note in with her lunch. I asked her if she meant a note telling her how much I loved her and she smiled and shook her head yes. I had tried this with both my boys, the little love notes, only to have them come home and politely tell me I had to stop because it was embarrassing. I was so excited to have Sally ask me to write her a little love note, but felt a bit badly that I hadn't done it before--of course girls are different! So I was so glad today that I had remembered her little love note when she asked if I had put one in her lunch bag.

I remember when we found out we were having a little girl and I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I was so comfortable with my 2 little boys with all their dirt, bugs, and balls. But the night before I went to the hospital to have Sally, I was doing some last minute laundry and the lint from the dryer came out pink. I was all the sudden so thrilled to have this little girl. She has not been a disappointment once! She is ALL girl and such a delight. She was exactly what our family needed. So when we found out we got to have one last little girl, I was excited from the beginning. Ruby is just as sweet with just enough spice...my little girls are wonderful!

Jake the Rock Star

Jake has been saving his money for a while now. After his birthday, he finally had enough to buy an electric guitar--he is THRILLED! It arrived yesterday and he has been playing it since. Of course, Jake is an expert and doesn't think he needs lessons because he can already play. Brian and I are hoping he will want to do more than play the intro of 4 songs soon. But he is having a great time either way and is on his way to his dream of being a rock star.

Birthdays and 1/2 birthdays

Today is the beginning of birthday week for our family. It starts with me--I am 36 today. Ruby is 6 months old today. Tomorrow Jake will be 11, and Tuesday Sally will be 6. And then on Wednesday Kathi, Brian's mom, will be....no I won't post that! But we do have lots of birthdays this week. It really is crazy but so much fun. This summer we had a big sleepover at my mom & dad's with all the cousin and then had an outdoor breakfast the next morning. Kate had an awesome waffle maker that I have been wanting since. It is the kind like when you get a continental breakfast at a hotel and it flips, you know what I am talking about. Anyway, I wanted one. Me and kitchen gadgets--just my thing. Anyway, Brian got one for me and surprised me with waffles this morning. And he even bought me REAL maple syrup--so yummy! I got to take a 2 hour nap--unheard of--very wonderful! And Brian made dinner--it was a fabulous birthday! Anyway, I thought I would post a little video of Ruby--she laughs so cute! Jake was hiding behind a pillow and then he would pop up and scare her, but she loved it. Watch though, every time Jake disappeared again, she tried to sit up and figure out where he had gone--she is such a peach! I just read though this post, a bit random. Oh, well. It's my birthday--I can be random if I want!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. I missed Cuba (once again), trick-or-treating isn't the same here. But the kids had fun "trunk-or-treating" at the church. The best part was having Kathi & Rick here for a few days. We love Nana and it was great for the kids to get to know Rick a little better. He is a huge tease and poor Kash didn't know how often he was being teased, but he sure loved Rick and followed him everywhere for the few days he was here.

Just before Nana and Rick took off for their long road trip. They are headed to Buffalo to get an antique couch of Kathi's great, great grandfathers--pretty cool! I so wanted to hop in and head to Cuba for a few days!

Our annual "Dinner in a Pumpkin" that we do every Halloween.

Jake was Angus Young (sp?) from ACDC, Sally a cheerleader, Kash a blue monster, Ben a mad scientist, and Ruby just the cute little "punkin" she is already!

The boys pumpkin...

Sally & I did a cat--second year in a row--I think she likes this one!