Sweet Nails!, Fantastic Food!, Awesome Company!

Last night my Mom hosted a first-time Ladies Night Out with my two sister-in-laws and myself. We had a great time. It was so fun to visit and relax while we got our nails done and backs massaged in their fancy chairs.

Then we enjoyed a fantastic meal at Olive Garden. Our waitress was so pleasant and the food so flavorful. I felt like the rat on "Rat Tooting" (as my niece calls it) as I enjoyed the many flavors in the food.

We had such a nice long visit. (Notice the word "long", as in more than one subject discussed) It was so fun to talk without kids running in and out and between our conversation. (Could I agree again with that last statement: It was sooo fun to talk without kids running in and out and in and out and between and around and under and over our conversation.)

Thanks, Mom, for a wonderful treat. I feel so pretty with my dolled up nails. :-)

Forgiveness

At Notesfromthetrenches.com she posted about the fact that this is a good time a year for thankfulness and had in hand with that is forgiving oneself. I loved a number of her items and thought I'd add them on my blog:
This year I forgive myself for:
1) Being only a good enough mother. (I have high expectations)
3) Losing my patience when a deep breath and little bit of understanding would be more appropriate. (Or maybe they could work on aiming more accurately.)
4) Not changing the sheets on my children's beds as often as I should. (Unless quarterly and/or when vomit strikes is the appropriate amount of times.)
6) Eating junk food in the pantry so that I don't have to share it with my children (I am only thinking of their health.)
8) Getting dressed at 4pm so that my husband will not think I was in my pajamas for the entire day (why do I do this? would he even care? or notice?)(on this one I rarely stay in my pjs but some days I don't do my hair or makeup until before he comes home and I can't believe the company that can arrive on those days!)

Our Family

Yesterday we took family pictures! They are taken on our property, which was cool for us.

Darling was a little under the weather so we had trouble getting her to smile. This picture was the closest to a smile we got.

Finished w/ Lord of the Rings

We finished the Trilogy! Last night Dot, EB, TB, and I watched Return of the King. I liked how they finished the ending. It gave closure to the Hobbits. I KNEW Frodo was going to join the Elves. Gandolf does so well. I love how important each Hobbit was to the end of the story. They were essential to the final result.

I passed my Test and found out my Elven and Hobbit name. You may now call me:

Luthien Lossehelin (Elven) or Rosie-Posie Bramble of Willowbottom (Hobbit)

(I don't know how to give the u and e in the Elven name the proper punc. on top)

Today we do family pictures. Yikes. Please pray they go well. We are going to do them outside (yes, I do know the high today is going to be 44) They shouldn't take long. :-) Next time I will aim for earlier in the year.

Dime is singing today in church and I don't get to be there. :-( Darling is still recovering and we felt she should stay home as much as possible. She has the runs from the antibiotic, so I've been giving her a bath 2-3 times a day to keep her bottom from getting sorer than it is.

Still Sleeping!!!

Darling has been trouble sleeping, thus I have been having trouble!! (besides the regular trouble I have falling asleep or going back to sleep) She has her bottom two teeth about to pop through and been sick with a chest cold. Yesterday we went to G&G K's for Thanksgiving and her grandparents gave her the magical touch. SHE SLEPT ALL NIGHT!!!!!!! Well, from 11:00 til 4, nursed, then 4-7, nursed, then 7-9:30, nursed, STILL SLEEPING at 11:45!!! She is going to feel so good when she wakes up.
I felt like a new woman when I woke up. I coulda gone jogging! (Didn't as we are planning family pictures today~which canceled because of cold and snow on ground, replanned for Sun afternoon~and needed to get ready, plus I haven't done it for AGES and didn't want to be sore!)
The kids are all excited because we are starting the process of putting up the Christmas tree today! I like putting it up while on school vacation this weekend and then puttting it down before the new year while on C-mas vacation. Less stressful when we have several days to sort through the stuff.

Nov. This & That

This week I've been working on a test. It is a Lord of the Rings test by EB & TB. :-) Dot wanted to see the Lord of the Rings series and friends of ours had them. Dot arranged for their two daughters to come over and I agreed as long as I got to see them as well. It makes such a difference to watch a movie like that with someone who can explain what is going on.

They come over and we hide ourselves in Dot's room to watch them with the door locked (against prying eyes who like to sit outside the door). It has been a blast! I have really enjoyed watching and learning about this famous trilogy. The girls made Dot and I take a test they made about the two movies we have watched so far. It has been fun to study for it and has really helped to solidify what I've seen and learned. I am looking so forward to seeing the last one, Return of the King. See! I even know the name of the third movie - I'm impressed with myself. lol Out of a 50 point test I have 6 I can't answer. I like Treebeard the Ent. The Ents help with a little humor in the 2nd movie.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving at my folks. Mmmm. Good food!! Dot is going over Wed nite to help with the pie baking Thurs morning. She LOVES to bake pie. Lucky for us, we occasionally get the results of her "gotta make some pies" urges. I don't make pie crust anymore, Dot is so much better at it. She'll probably always have the pie baking job for Thanksgiving when she gets older.

Uncle J helped Dot with Physics!!!! She gets it!!!! I was so excited when Uncle J offered to help Dot study. She has been struggling along and hates to call for help. Uncle J seemed so less threatening. Gma W has been asking what Physics is good for (in a good way) and now he needs to help her have a good answer for that question. :-) It seems fitting he should help as he is the reason she is taking it this year, before Biology, etc. He always said he thought Physics should be studied first and so when the opportunity came up for Dot to take the class, she was in. Uncle J's a science and math wizard (that's why I listened to him). We'll see whether our experiment continues on to Drum & Dime. :-)

Darling has been under the weather. We took her in and her cold is upper respiratory. I was so thankful it wasn't worse. Her cough has been getting better but will probably take a bit to be all gone. I'm so glad she hasn't had a ton of nose gunk to give trouble with nursing.
I kissed Dessert good-night last night and realized he had a fever. He still has a mild fever this morning and hopefully it is just a 24 hr. mild bug and won't mess up Thanksgiving plans. He's still sleeping.

Dunk has off Thurs and Fri!! We hope to do family pictures on Fri. Please pray they go well and turn out well. Pictures are so nice to have when DONE. :-)

We had fun at Karokee at our church last week. Dunk and I (kindof) sang to the song by Garth Brooks, "Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House". That should be self explanatory why we like that song. :-) It had been awhile since we heard that song, so that was why I wasn't too bold on singing it. I couldn't get the tune right. Jerry did fantastic. I want to get that Shania Twain song "Man of Mine" or something like that, and learn it for Karokee. My sister-in-law D has that CD and introduced me to that song. Fun! We plan to bring the older kids next time as well. They would love it - we think.

Darling can now stand up in the middle of the living room floor and walk! She is amazing. We are looking foward to seeing the tree lights reflected in her eyes.

Only 7 more days (five in one week, two the next) of school before Christmas vacation for us!! We started early so that we could have a big break at C-mas and we are so looking forward to it. Last year we started early but worked right up to C-mas, because needed to take the time after Darling arrived. It didn't feel as much of a break, as I think it will this year. Can I say that again? ONLY 7 DAYS!!

Darling's Dedication

Yesterday, we dedicated 10 mo. Darling to the Lord. Dot, Drum, Dime, & Deer sang "Your Eyes." They did so well and I was so proud of the kids as a Mom. It is amazing that my children have grown so much into such beautiful people to enjoy. Definitely not perfect, but worth the work to get them to days like this. :-) Both sets of Grandparents were in attendance as well as Uncle J. God Bless You, Darling. We love you so much. The kids were so glad to sing for you on your special day!

The Great Hunt!

The boys have been very excited about their first hunt this year. Last year, Drum broke his clavicle before hunting season, so he had to wait until this year for his first hunt. They are hunting at our place and at Papa K's.

Sunday Dime went to hunt with his Gpa. K. They were out in the stand when Papa noticed Dime taking off his glove slowly and lifting his gun. He wondered what Dime was doing because he couldn't see anything. All of a sudden, Dime shot. Papa asked, "What did you shoot?!" Dime exclaimed, "A deer!"

A pine tree was blocking his view of the deer. It was a 4 point buck. Dime was so excited and proud. Still is!! :-) He has the antlers for his fort, a few deer steaks, and deer sausage coming for the freezer. We were so excited to get the phone call before church that morning! (Keep praying Drum gets a deer.) :-)

Old News. Good News.

I had to post a couple pictures from Drum's adventure with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) a month or so ago. They got to go on a plane that refuels these jets. It was an awesome experience! Drum is the cadet in the middle.

This is Dessert in his Spidy outfit. The older kids gave to him as a surprise gift last month and he has so enjoyed wearing it. He gets embarrased and will stand in a corner if too many people are around. He loves to climb trees, posts, refridgerators, and even the corner of our house!
We were wondering whether this cutie should join the red hat club! :-) She is so fun!


PTL! Deer's flute is fixed and waiting to be picked up...and...we found someone who can get a violin for Dot online!!!! (at an enormously less expensive cost than the music store) We hope to have it by Thanksgiving. Thanks to those who prayed!