Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Kansas this year. The main bummer, though, was that we were all looking forward to seeing the Grahams in from Texas. Unfortunately, a bit of illness held them back. Maybe next time. We spent lunch with the Robinsons at Barbara & Stu's house. Everyone from Patrick's family was basically there other than Jeff & Charlene. Our niece Sarah & her family weren't able to be here, but they're living in Virginia now and she is due to have her baby girl in just a few short weeks. For dinner, we gathered at our house with Grandma Donna, Grandpa Jerry, and the Lee family. It was a nice gathering. Plenty of good food and even better company all day. The kids had a great time, too; just missed their TX cousins!

It was really nice that Grandma & Grandpa were able to stay at our house on Thursday night. The kids were very excited they got to see them more. Leah & Jacob helped me clean the bathrooms last week prior to their arrival and tonight, she had a cute conclusion to the weekend. At bedtime, she was cleaning and cleaning in the boys' bathroom. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm cleaning the bathrooms so that Grandma Donna and Grandpa Jerry will be able to come back and stay here." Very sweet.

Happy Belated Halloween!

So these are pretty late, but my time seems to escape me quickly in the evenings...better late than never. We had: Leyton & Nathaniel as Star Wars Clone Troopers, Jacob as Commander Cody (another clone trooper), Leah as the beautiful Princess Leia, and Anne as a somewhat unhappy for pictures Ewok/lion. Fun was had by all.

Anne's Personality

Well, Anne has shown us a taste of what her personality is like for quite some time now, but lately she's kicked it up a notch. She is priceless. She understands so much of what we say, that truly, you can carry on a conversation with her. She DEFINITELY can identify what she wants. Easy to tell when she brings you a cup or gets one and holds it up by the fridge water dispenser that she can't reach. Or, she'll point to the "candy cabinet" in hopes for goodies (or a calcium bear vitamin, for that matter, in it's cabinet). Lots of yes/no answers when you ask her questions. This morning, before he left, Patrick said, "Well, I guess I better..." and before he said go, she was waving to him. She's a hoot. My other favorite thing is that she does this adorable shoulder shrug with a happy little shrieky sound and you can usually get her to do it on demand and with a huge grin.

I did cut her hair last week, just to even it out and such. I'll post a picture of that soon. She was too busy to stop and actually pose, so I had to catch her on the go. We sure enjoy seeing her grow and change! These 16 months have been fast!

Beautiful work

Here are a couple school papers Leyton & Nathaniel brought home recently. Leyton has planned the Thanksgiving celebration, and Nathaniel tells about what he's enjoying these days (the cut-off word is "bike"). Great work, boys! They are doing great at school and really enjoying it. I miss them when they are there, but see they are happy children and I always love the daily updates when I pick them up.

Trunk or Treat!...plus my thoughts.

We had a great time at trunk or treat at school. We got to try out the clone trooper costumes and a pretty cute little Princess Leia. Anne went as herself for tonight and really enjoyed the candy! It was so wonderful for all of us to walk around together and enjoy each other's company and saying hi to friends. What a great time. The kids had a lot of fun and got a hefty supply of pre-Halloween candy.


And then there's Jacob. You know, he's a happy little guy with some traits that I just love. He knows what he wants, and anymore, if he's offered something he doesn't want or doesn't like, he's just fine - he doesn't usually want something else, or complain that he missed out, he's just fine. This is very frequently the case with candy or desserts - he has his few favorites, and beyond that, he'll just say, "No thanks." Such was the case tonight - he would trick or treat, but then if he saw a kind of candy that he didn't like, he'd just walk away. We figured we should have him just accept graciously and we could work out the details later. Just thought we'd avoid the big walk away & not accepting. He didn't mean anything by it, he simply wasn't interested. He was then ready to just give away the stuff he didn't like. I encouraged him to at least try & trade his brothers or something (they all got plenty - didn't figure they all needed donations). And furthermore, due to his selective nature, he didn't have nearly as much candy as everyone else. And did he mind? Not one bit. He is such a happy and content guy.


And then the other thing I'll remember from tonight. At first, Nathaniel was a bit bashful about getting started with the trick or treating. Well, one of the first cars was giving out huge pixy sticks and long rope licorice. Nathaniel didn't get up to get one by his choice. By the end of the evening, he was ready to go back by there. We did, but they were all out. He actually didn't complain. Leyton then asked why he needed one, "Did he not get one earlier?" I told Leyton he didn't. Then Leyton said, "I'll share some of mine." Thanks, sweetheart!


So as I walked around, I noticed so many families we know and saw many kids enjoying the night. And afterwards, on the way home, and when we read stories and got ready for bed, I took a step back to relish the day. Patrick & I often discuss how our life is always dynamic, that we really don't have a status quo. I was laying by the kids and I thought, you know, maybe it's changing and maybe we're busy, but I also know that I wouldn't trade it for anything. This is my life and I want to appreciate and enjoy it with all of its busy-ness. I thought about it a bit, too, after the school event - I know things will continue to change, but I don't want that to happen too quickly - I loved that we were all there together, that the kids wanted to stay together and we could all do this as a family activity. Someday, I know, they'll want to go with their friends and I know that's to be expected, but I'm definitely not in a hurry. They're just too much fun.

It was one of those days...

...when I put the kids to bed after a wonderfully busy day, and I took a few minutes to just watch them sleep so peacefully. It literally brought tears to my eyes just to be there to appreciate the moment and wonder how I became this amazingly blessed to have these precious people in my life. Each one of them is so special in their own ways and each of them represents an irreplaceable part of our family.

Leyton, Nathaniel, Jacob, Leah, and Anne...Mom loves you more than you know. Sleep well my little angels.

Birthday Pictures

Finally a few from Leah's big day.