thanksgiving wrap-up

So, I did not stress out.

I did not panic.

I had a great day! Thanksgiving went so well I think maybe I was actually dreaming and it actually hasn't happened yet. Except there is a Christmas tree up now so it must be over.

And, to update all those anxious readers (and I know from all the comments I get that there must be at least one of you), I just ironed 15 shirts!

So, the decorations have rotated - Thanksgiving/fall away and Christmas out. I am totally loving the prelit, 3 part tree I bought last year. 10 minutes and we had a tree with lights up! And our mini-tree will make a nice addition to the kitchen table. It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas....

Anna's birthday is quickly approaching - she'll be 8 this year. She said today, "I can't wait to be 8, I'll get to do so many more things than I could before." Like what?? Clean up your own dirty underwear off the bathroom floor?

I really like her personality, her outgoingness, her excitement for life and her sensitive heart.

Must get back to the iron!

The Table (Veggie-loving Matt serves the meat - and yes, he did eat a little of it):

The Kid's table:

Movie time!

November comes to a close

Ironing stinks. My goal was to iron all 20 shirts - 3 done. And I'm done. It is too hard to iron with little 2 year old fingers trying to touch the ironing board.

Anna has taken to wearing all the same color. Apparently a character in her favorite book series, A to Z Mysteries, likes to wear all the same color of everything. So, last Thursday was pink, then Friday was pink again (we have a lot of pink) and today was black. She actually looks very cute.

Katherine is done with naps, again. I had been enjoying her taking naps again for the last few weeks. But, now they are off. It's going to take me a while to get used to it.

Claire is reading, reading and then reading some more. She likes to read anything she sees and then just loves to read books to us - I hate it when I have to say no, you can't read me anymore books.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!! We're going to have our Argentinian friends and family over - should be a fun day. I swear I am not going to stress out this year. Okay - so I'm totally going to stress out, but perhaps I'll calm down enough to enjoy the food. Ha!

Christmas shopping

We started our shopping this weekend. It sortof feels too early, but the calm stores, lack of crowds and time to think all made it worth it. We had a neighbor girl watch our girls and headed out for some time by ourselves. It was great! We got a lot of shopping done and had fun just being together. Does an hour and a half together count as a date?

Although we aren't able to spend much money this year, we are truly enjoying working to pick out one or two special things for those we love. It is a true pleasure to give and receive gifts when there are few enough to cherish them. A handful of presents is special and memorable, a storage tub full is just excessive. What a joy hard times can be - family is more special, friends are more important and everything seems valuable.

Well, the girls are enjoying a long awaited bubble bath and I'm off to clean bubbles off every surface within splattering range of the tub.

Alone again - Matt left a few days ago and gets home tomorrow. I just don't handle this alone time too well. I actually felt energized by being in a house with another grown up today. I thought the 6 kids also present would wear me out, but they didn't. I just so enjoyed getting to talk and be with a close friend. It boosted me out of a very low place. I think getting a good dose of sun this morning and a great workout also helped. Oh, and a lot of prayer!

Now, the kids are in bed and I think I'll get back to Biggest Loser - did you know that all the episodes are online, in their entirety? And the commercials are only 30 seconds or less? I watched the pilot last night, now I can't wait to watch the next one.

Even New Moon will have to wait.

Trick or Treat