holiday pics

Here's how we spent our Thanksgiving:

Behold the yummy food!

Verle, Merla, Lori, Lorraine and Hannah were patiently waiting.

The kiddie table: Alex, Amanda, Megan, Sarah and Rachel.

The "grown-up" table with only Gene, Cheryl, Pat, Sirren, Heidi, Merla, Josh & Nicole in the picture.

Emma using the olives as jewelry.

Did you know that if you have too many olives that they pretty much come out the same way they went in?

occasionally i try something new

...like, say, rock climbing...well, wall climbing anyway. And though it's not flattering, here's proof that I made it a quarter the way up the wall. (I blame it on my shoes --Sketchers mules are not proper climbing gear.)

Hanging on for dear life or arm cramp? You decide.

Gene made it more than half the way on the more difficult wall.

My own Mother even gave it a try! Yay Mom!

take off...

...to the great white North. So it's not Canada, but this is our first snow of the season. I LOVE snow! I still need to dead-head my roses, however, it has been snowing constantly since last evening.

The front of our home.

Emma and Sarah enjoying the white stuff.

Emma looking on as Sarah licks snowflakes from her face.

thankful

This past week has been so fun, and (blast!) if it weren't for my PC "camera" you'd have decent pics to look at. As it is, I refuse to post another grainy, dark picture. I'm hoping this will prompt Gene to buy me a digital camera for Christmas, but there's so much more that we need/want --we'll see.

Earlier this week Gene had his birthday and turned 37. However, it was anticlimactic because, for some reason -a few months back, we thought he already was 37 ...going on 38. Go figure! It was fun though, and he got his head phones/radio & BYU tickets to boot. I made him his favorite dinner: hamburger shortcakes (comfort food from his childhood) and a homemade apple pie. The girls made him birthday cards and helped decorate the house cute.

On the homeschooling front Sarah has been learning about maps, and at the group get-together, mid week, she "mapped" our: planet, country, state, town & home. She has also passed off her vowel "i" books and is moving onto her vowel "o" books.

Thursday I took both Sarah and Emma to the dentist. Sarah has one tiny cavity on her very back tooth (those are so hard to reach sometimes -my girls have such small mouths) and will need a filling in 2 weeks. Emma has more serious issues. Let me preface by reminding you that while I was pregnant with her (at about 7 months), I had a high fever/flu for three or four days, and I've heard it said that the fever of a preggy mom can affect the enamel of the unborn baby's teeth. Fast forward to Emma at 5 months old, cutting her two front teeth, one of which looked chipped along the edge in the middle. Ok, now, the dentist says that her enamel is decaying around that "chip", and that if it progresses she may need a CROWN?! At two, maybe three years old! How sad is that?

Anyway, on a much lighter note, that evening I got together with 7 of the homeschooling moms from our group and we all went to the Olive Garden for our first (but not last) "ladies night" out. We played a few "getting acquainted" games and learned all sorts of trivia about each other, planned future HS activities and just chatted. It was so much fun -we were at the restaurant for 3 1/2 hours! Now here's the part of this week that I'm especially thankful for: Gene had mowed the lawn, fed the kids, cleaned the house -yes, it's true, bathed the kids and put them down while I was gone! Nothing beats coming home to a clean house after a fun & yummy dinner date with girlfriends. Nothing...(well, maybe the way I thanked him). :)

Gene said "If momma aint happy, aint nobody happy." I told him that he was finally catching on and on his way of becoming a very. wise. man. Then he showed me this "list" of what he's learned over the years.

I've learned:

1. Yes = No

2. No = No

3. Maybe = No

4. We need = I want..

5. I am sorry = you'll be sorry

6. We need to talk = You're in trouble

7. Sure, go ahead = You better not

8. Do what you want = And you'll pay dearly

9. I am not upset = Of course I am upset, you moron!

10. You're certainly attentive tonight = Is sex all you ever think about?

ways in which i'm like george costanza

I don't know if it's good or bad or indifferent, but as I've been watching Seinfeld lately (big shocker) I've noticed a few similarities between George Costanza and myself.

• My hair is also thinning.
• I'm the over-weight friend of many thinner people.
• I've always privately pretended to be an architect. (When I was 8 years old I drafted the floor plan of my future house --strangely similar to the Brady Bunch's house.)
• I, too, like to sing Macarthur Park.
• Velvet is one of the fabrics that I would like to be draped in some day --that and silk.
• I also get irritated when pretzels make me thirsty.
• I often wonder if I did just the exact opposite of my normal routine how much better my day would be? (Of course that would require the removal of my butt from infront of this computer.)
• Like George, I panic about any change on my body.
• I've gone out in public wearing sweat pants, because I chose comfort over looks.
• I sometimes blame others for items I've misplaced.
• I, too, have a non-sexual crush on Jerry Seinfeld.
• Sometimes I just need to scream out "Serenity now, serenity now!"

the week in pictures 11/1

Alternate title: A week about nothing.

Last week, for the most part, was supposed to be really fun; story time at a library, Dino park, etc. but those plans fell through and we were met with an unexpected plan or two instead. Mid-week we were shopping at a favorite store of mine, walking along rather rushed. One of those "Keep up, Mommy's in a hurry" type of trips when all of a sudden Sarah face-plants on the corner of a metal cross bar at the bottom of a clothes rack. I turn around to see her on the floor crying, so I squat down to give her a hug and to have a better look at her face. A manager came over and helped us to customer service where they gave Sarah an ice pack and a sucker. I had to fill out an incident report stating that, no, it wasn't due to faulty carpeting or a slippery floor on your part, but instead it was due to the wondering mind and the "zig-zag" walking of my daughter. Then, of course, I had to take Sarah into an Instacare to have her eye looked at and checked thoroughly. She got a clean bill of health and didn't need stitches, but there may be a tiny scar left anyway. Poor girl. She handled the doctor's office very well and was very polite.
Friday I attended the baby shower of a dear life-long friend of mine. Rosann. It was very nice, but alas my pocket pc/camera does not take good pictures in low light, so there will not be a picture of that. I'm so excited for Rosann to have her baby though --she's having a girl which means PLAYDATES and her baby and Emma will only be about 20 months apart.