Thinking about Thanks

I can hardly believe the holiday season is upon us! As I have been thinking about our upcoming trip to DE for Thanksgiving, and stressing a bit about my role in preparing the meal, and getting excited about the fun shopping day with all the girls on Friday, I have also been thinking today about things I am thankful for. And since this is going to be a crazy week, I'm gonna start writing them now...
-my family, all of them, steve & the kids, mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, my siblings & their spouses, my nieces and nephews, my aunts and uncles, cousins, steve's family...
-the fact that all of the above people are in good health
-safety in travelling - even in short trips to walmart
-our jobs (and the stability of them), which enable us to take those short trips to walmart and spend more than we expected because there is *always* something that we can't pass up for that price!
-food. Did you know that every 7 seconds a child somewhere in the world dies of starvation? I am so thankful for food (maybe too thankful sometimes!) and that my children have full bellies whenever they need.
-Our house - even though a bigger house would be better for our family, I am thankful that we have a house at all, that we are able to pay the mortgage, and that we have heat when we need it (like today)
-Reliable vehicles
-girlfriends - I have gathered quite a group of friends from all over the place! I am so thankful for my childhood friends, like Julie, and my early college friends, like Katie, and my later college friends, like Shari and Joy and Courtney and Heather and Bonnie, and my Canton friends, like Kim, and my Simsbury friends, like Jenn, and my Avon friends, like Sandy, and my work friends, like Kim and Amy (and all the friends I didn't name by name!)
-freedom - to speak what I want, to worship when and where I want, to do pretty much whatever I want!
- Our church - the pastors are wonderful, the children's staff is great - I am very happy with where we have chosen to go to church!
Stay posted - there's more!

For just a few seconds...

...it was snowing! UGH! You know what that means - - winter really is just around the corner; there is no escaping it. I really do not like winter. I don't like snow, I hate to be cold, I despise the mess of jackets and scarves and hats and mittens and boots and snowpants (and that I don't have a mudroom or even a closet to stuff all of it into!), I can't stand the wet, muddy mess all over the floor inside the door, I don't like sledding or skiing...
So, with the onset of winter, I need to think about some of the good parts of the season...
1. Christmas - probably my favorite holiday ever.
2. The snowman I will make with the kids. Yes, even though I hate it, I will pull on my winter gear and get out there and make a snowman or two, because they love it, and I love them.
3. Wearing cute sweaters.
4. ???
5. Uhhhhhhh
6. I need some help here.
7. From my dad, and I agree - "the beautiful views, scenic panoramas" - there is nothing as pretty as fresh fallen snow, before it has been plowed and sanded and walked through - except maybe the beautiful turquoise caribbean ocean and white sand...

Oops, she did it again, and other random stuff...

Toilet Girl strikes again! Apparently, Micah has a hard time remembering to flush the toilet when he pees, and to shut the bathroom door when he leaves. And Lily has a hard time remembering to NOT play in the toilet. This time I got a picture. Gross. But I guarantee you this picture WILL be pulled out and shown to her boyfriends...

In other news, Emmalee received a Tootin' Hills Character Conductor's Club ticket last week! Teachers at her school are always on the lookout for kids who are demonstrating respect, responsibility, integrity, and/or caring. Mr. Morency, a 6th grade teacher, and also one of the staff from the Cinderella summer theatre camp that Emmalee participated in, spotted Emmalee in the hallway and ticketed her! A staff member called me at home to tell me Emmalee had received this ticket, which I think is a nice touch. When I asked what Em had done, she told me that Emmalee is always very kind and friendly to all of the teachers. When the kids are ticketed, their names are put on a big poster in the hallway near the entrance to the school, and they get special recognition from the office and principal.

Last night I took Emmalee and her friend Quinn to see the Simsbury Theatre production of Annie - the musical Emmalee auditioned for over the summer. Wow - what a great job everyone did! I was very impressed, and Emmalee and Quinn loved the show! The playbill listed all of the actors and each one had a little "blurb" written about them. None of the orphans were under 11 years old, so Emmalee didn't feel so bad that she hadn't gotten a part. After the show Quinn came back to our house and spent the night - thankfully, the girls were wiped out from the show and actually went right to sleep!

Micah went to a birthday party today - his friend Matthew turned 4 and had a party at a center in West Hartford called My Gym. The kids played on trampolines, a zip line, a ball pit, and all kind of other fun, physical, wear-you-out stuff! Micah has been having bloody noses again over the last couple of days. He got one on the drive home from the party, and didn't tell me. I noticed he had gotten really quiet and thought he had fallen asleep, so I look in the rearview mirror, and he looked like a character from a horror movie! Blood dripping down his face, off his chin, all over his mouth, down the front of his shirt. Nice. I pull over and jump into the backseat with a bunch of napkins - there was blood everywhere. He had been sniffing, and it had gone down his throat and into his mouth, so there was blood all over his teeth and tongue. It was really disgusting.

Someone is crying - gotta go!

Oh No She Didn't...

Okay, so I've mentioned a few times that Lily is a troublemaker, right? Well today really takes the cake...

This morning, Steve and I were in the living room with Emmalee and Micah was in the family room watching tv with Lily (we thought). Suddenly, I heard the toilet lid shut, so I yelled to Micah, asking if he was in the bathroom. You see, we have to keep the bathroom door shut, because Lily loves to go play in there, and a bathroom is really not a good place for a baby to play in...

Emmalee went to check out the bathroom situation and yells "LILY!" I followed quickly behind to remove Lily from the bathroom, and found her standing next to the closed toilet, playing with the flush handle. I went to pick her up and discovered - that she was completely SOAKED from the waist down. Hmmmmmm - what do you think happened? I looked around, and discovered that there was water all around the toilet. Then, I look in the toilet, and there is very little water in the bowl. Why? The only logical answer I can come up with is that Lily had been standing or sitting IN the toilet bowl. Yes, she was that wet - not a dry spot from the waist down, and the diaper was soaked too.

The best part, or rather, most disgusting part of the story? Micah had peed in the toilet, and didn't shut the door when he left, which is how Lily got in there in the first place. The most fortunate part of the story? That she hadn't gone in face first. I've heard stories of kids drowning in toilet bowls. And the lesson we ALL had reminded to us today? KEEP THE BATHROOM DOOR SHUT!!!

I do, however, wish we had a video camera in the bathroom and could see exactly how it all went down...

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun halloween! Emmalee went to school all dressed up in halloween attire. They do not wear their costumes to school in the 2nd grade, but they do have a halloween party. Emmalee wore jack o'lantern tights, a halloween t-shirt, and a cute halloween barrette in her hair.

Micah started his Micro Sports class at the YMCA on Friday morning. He wore a black t-shirt with skeleton bones on it. Lily wore a cute shirt that said "Trick Or Treat" on it. Right after the class, we went to my friend Sandy's house. She was hosting a halloween party for Micah's friends. Sandy's son Nathan is Micah's best buddy - he was born the day before Micah! So Micah and Lily donned costumes and had a blast. Micah was Buzz Lightyear and Lily was a ladybug. Sandy gave the kids pizza and brownies and had a pinata and they all had a wonderful time!

That evening, we went trick or treating. It has been tradition, since Emmalee was not quite 2 years old, that Sandy and I meet up and bring the kids trick or treating together early in the evening. Sandy's daughter Lindsey is Emmalee's age and they are great friends as well! So we met at my aunt Sharon's house with all 5 kids and brought them through the neighborhood. Emmalee was dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Micah was Spiderman, and Lily was a pink poodle. We then parted ways and met Steve at home. Typically, we then all go up the road to our friend's house and walk as a huge group their circle of houses (it's a pretty big circle and takes a couple of hours with all the kids). Unfortunately, this year I had to go into work. So Steve took the 3 kids over and trick or treated with them. They had a great time and got a BUNCH of candy. Which Steve and I have been immensely enjoying!