...and it isn't over yet!

Thanksgiving, that is. In our house, Thanksgiving lasted quite a while which was a pleasure for me. At school, Mikayla had her first "program" and her very first solo speaking line. Mom, Will, the kids and I went to see her perform as a pilgrim with her kindergarten class. It was pretty cute to hear all of those little voices but the proudest moment was when Mikayla said her speaking part. "I'll have turkey roasted" was the best line in the play. I didn't know if we'd be able to hear it since her voice, in front of other people, gets so soft but I could definitely hear it where I was sitting. Way to go Mikayla!! Here she is with her best friends in the class, RJ, Julia, and Brady. Afterward, all Tyler wanted to do was splash in the puddles and stand in the rain.

For Thanksgiving, since it was postponed due to Ethan's flu and Tyler's pink eye, we headed off to Dim Sum. By that time, Tyler was already on medication and didn't show signs of pink eye, if you're wondering. You're probably thinking, "oh, she's one of those moms that likes to infect others with her child's maladies." You'd be wrong...it was more out of sheer desperation to celebrate Thanksgiving somehow that day. Lynnea is loving to stand on her own so we clap for her a lot which makes her really happy...see?

And then we stopped by our favorite boba tea place for some cool, refreshing smoothies. I got an almond "snow" or smoothie and we headed home.

Along the way, the kids started a game of "smell your feet." I don't think this needs any more words, to be honest. Gross...but it was quite hilarious to them, I might add.

On Saturday morning, we went to Mollie's 3rd birthday party, a friend of Tyler's. We had so much fun at the park, with friends, and Lynnea practiced her standing again on the picnic tables. She's taken a few steps on her own so it's only a matter of time before she starts walking. Watch out!

Saturday night was our long-awaited family Thanksgiving. All of the kiddos were healthy and we gathered together at my parent's house to pig out and relax. The kids got an after-dinner treat of Popsicles while the adults indulged in Cara's out-of-this-world pumpkin cheesecake thingy. It was delish! I love spending time with my family and we don't get to do it often (all of us, that is) so it was quite fun.

The turkey carver. I saw you sneaking some after-dinner bites dad....shame on you for not sharing. =)

This morning was a family advent wreath "outing?" (for lack of a better word) at our church. Families gathered together to eat free food (how much better does it get?) and make advent wreaths. The kids had fun putting the candles and pine leaves into the Styrofoam. Lynnea liked it too. Tyler, however, would rather eat Cheetos after a while and observe the work rather than do the work. You can see his chunky hand holding the delectable goodie in this picture.

Daddy even got in on the action. Way to show your crafting skills, babe!

Tonight, the kids and I made a Christmas chain with 25 chain links signifying the 25 days until Christmas. Each day we wrote something we had to do that day such as bake something, sing Christmas songs, or decorate so the next 25 days I'll share what we've done to celebrate the season on that day. We'll see how many postings actually happen the day of the event.

Thankful

I know this is 2 days late but my Thanksgiving is today. We're all done being sick (for now) and are going to have the traditional family dinner at my parent's house later today. I love Thanksgiving. It's always so laid back, full of family, tradition, and good food.

Today, here are 10 things I'm thankful for.

1. God, of course. Without him, I would have lost hope long ago.
2. My family and friends (yes, all of you). Without your love throughout my life, I wouldn't be the person I am today.
3. My husband. Thanks for being persistent. You are my true soul mate.
4. My kids. Thank you for making me a better person, and to God for trusting me with you.

Now on to the less obvious:
5. Warm drinks, a good book, and a warm blanket, all together
6. The smell of Pumpkin Spice candles
7. The crisp smell and feel of fresh fall air (crunching leaves underfoot makes it even better)
8. A good conversation with a friend
9. Finding the perfect thing while shopping-and it's on a great sale!
10. Going out to dinner

There are so many things I'm thankful for but these are just the ones that popped into my head. I hope your Thanksgivings were full of blessings and family (or friends that feel like family).
May God bless you this Holiday Season!!

My son...

Funny, sensitive, loving, affectionate. These words describe my middle child, my only son. He just turned 3 on October 14th and I wanted to remind everyone why I love him so much (who wouldn't love all those cheeks??) He is one special little boy. Here is Tyler's slideshow. Beware, it's 71 pictures and you'll have to hear the song a little more than once. I just couldn't take out any of them. The song is Call My Name by Third Day (one of my favorite songs).

Enjoy!

A Full Saturday

Birthdays were the event of the weekend. Our kids were lucky enough to be invited to 2 parties so Will and I split up to enjoy the festivities. Mikayla went to Keira's party. Sorry, Kristine, I wanted to put a picture of Keira in here but I took a total of 4 pictures and the only one of Keira had red eye. Anyway, she had a wonderful time with her friends and won several pretty cool prizes. Here she is with Rebekah, eating yummy Chuck E Cheese pizza.

Of course, we have to pose with Chuck himself. I don't think Chuck was too extroverted. When all the kids lined up to take a picture with (it) they just sat down on the side...and so did he. There really was no "one-on-one" action. Sorry, Emily, I would have taken one of Bekah with the rat but it didn't work out...

Lynnea enjoyed her first bite of pizza and loved it. She loves biting things and the perfect point of the pizza was the best bite ever! She also likes fries, if you're wondering. Don't worry, she gets her veggies in there too.

In another town far, far away (not really, but I just wanted to say that), was Abigail's 3rd birthday party. Robin planned it to take place in a beautiful park with ducks, a lake and a great lawn to run on. Will informed me that it was fun and Tyler had a great time. He loved the personalized place mat Robin made for him with a picture of him and Abigail and he also loved feeding and chasing the ducks.

Here's the beautiful birthday girl!

And another shot of Tyler feeding...I mean, chasing the poor ducks.

In other happenings, I wanted to show a few pictures of our random activities around the Lee house. Mikayla found some old Easter egg "shells" and proceeded to play "hide the Easter eggs" with Tyler. Lynnea thought that was pretty fun too, especially when a piece of chocolate slid out of its hard shell and sat, enticingly, on the floor. We had to try to keep it out of reach.
This next picture is a picture of Mikayla's princesses going on a vacation. I had to take this shot because it brought up so many good memories. The truck is mine from when I was a little girl. It came complete with plastic horses and jumping fences and Cara and I used to cram this little furball thing into the driver seat so that it had a driver. We used the truck in combination with our doll houses. It was a favorite, definitely. Well, now it has a new owner. Technically it belongs to my son but Mikayla decided it would make the perfect vehicle to take all of her beautiful princesses on a loong vacation. Their dresses fit in the trailer perfectly and they packed the rest of their belongings in the truck bed. I couldn't help but have fond memories as I watched the new generation play with something from the past.

We should all be so creative...

Rainforests of Fun

This is a tad late but I wanted to include some pictures anyway. The kids and I met up with Ben, Lisa, and Cheryl at Downtown Disney for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe this last week. At first, the kids were ecstatic about eating in the jungle...then the 9 foot snake was spotted hanging from the roof of the "souvenir" area. All of a sudden, Tyler didn't think it was such a good idea to be eating with animals. Fortunately, they seated us in a hidden corner away from all of the moving beasts (ok, there were 2 swinging monkeys nearby but they didn't get riled up at the lightning blasts so we were doing well). We feasted on quesadillas, salads and steak and then went for a walk around the rip off stores of Downtown Disney. (sorry, had to add my 2 cents). Here is Tyler's face when I asked him to smile with cousin Cheryl. I think he was waiting for one of the random thunderstorms to start.

Mikayla just hung on to Lisa. The kids decided to climb the giant lego...oh, wait, Lisa did too! You wouldn't catch me trying to climb one of those things. I think once I turned 30, all "risk-taking" flew out the window. Lisa almost made it all the way up until it got too slippery. Go Lis!

Lynnea enjoyed the comforts of her stroller most of the time. Ben, bless his heart, pushed her around for a little while so that I could engage in some adult conversation with my cousins. After a while, Lynnea started wondering who the fun pusher was and turned around to see Ben! I think she knew that it couldn't possibly have been me.

Here we are, ready to say goodbye. I have to brag here. You see, I arrived at the 3 hour free parking lot at 17:54 (5:54). At downtown Disney, you have 3 free hours before you have to pay an exorbitant amount of like, $8 for every 15 minutes (ok, I'm exaggerating a little) but you've got to make sure you get out of there in 3 hours. So, we're all talking, slowly strapping the kids in, saying our goodbyes and I suddenly realize that it must be getting close to "ticket time." Once I got in the car, I looked at the clock. It was 8:52. Can you believe, when I pulled up to the ticket man, the clock in front of the arm said 8:54?????? I don't think I could have gotten any closer. Whew!! Just had to share my luck.

It was fun seeing you Ben and Lisa. Thanks for taking time out to be with us.

A Gift?

Children are a gift of God, I'm sure. It says so in the Bible and I believe it 100%. I also believe that, through the gift of children, God works on our "gifts." Patience is one of those gifts. I'm almost convinced that there are days in our lives that God gives our children the job of improving our character, of testing us in ways we can never imagine just to help us work on those areas of our lives that could use a little tweaking. Such a day has come today.

It doesn't help matters that my husband is out of town, in Las Vegas no less, spending kid-free time eating, sleeping, and just plain enjoying days without being asked one question 1000 times, wiping snot from a child's face, or packing 3 children into the car to go to the grocery store for one forgotten item.

With this mentality, I start my day. (I love you, babe, but even you admit you've got it easy these next few days). Here are some of the things that my children have thought up, I'm convinced, to just make sure that I get a little "training."

Tyler: wake up at 5:50, just because you can. Cry until mommy comes and gets you. Oh, she's bringing you to her bed because it's so early. Pretend to sleep but make sure to snort and snarfle loudly while making sucking sounds on your thumb so that there's no chance she'll be able to get back to sleep again. Don't worry about the fact that she went to bed at midnight because she was afraid of every little noise...just carry on. Maybe if you do it long enough, the baby will wake up and then you can watch tv...OH, IT WORKED!!
She'll let you watch tv while you're eating. Say you want Strawberry yogurt and then, right after she opens it, make sure you make a huge deal about the fact that you want the one that Mikayla has even though mommy has no more. Keep whining, keep whining. Oh, don't stop yet! Keep whining and complaining even while mommy is taking a shower-in fact, walk to the shower and continue to complain about the injustice. Make her well aware of the unfairness of it all. Hang out there and just keep telling her you want what Mikayla has...that's it...oh, keep doing it. Look, she's getting impatient. Leave now. Wait! Mommy's out of the shower, here she comes. Show her that you all of a sudden like your yogurt, especially with cereal on top. Smile with that sweet smile while you finish it and bring it to her empty. See, she's happy!

Mikayla: Wake up and come and cuddle. Oh, mommy's bringing yogurt over to us. Purposefully almost sit on Tyler because mommy put your yogurt on the side that Tyler's on. Complain that Tyler won't move so you can sit down. Make it a big deal-add some drama! Make mommy switch the yogurt's because you're incapable. Oh, mommy's taking a shower....she's coming back! Oh No! You accidentally spilled your yogurt all over the floor. Maybe it would have helped if you held it with both hands. Oh well, let mommy pick it up. That's what she's there for. Wait, she's making you do it-OH NO! You spilled yogurt on the socks that you borrowed from your friend from school. Just take them off and put them in your hamper, with the rest of your dirty clothes. Hopefully mommy will remember which ones they are..they're the white ones of course! Oh, wait, mommy said she needs to spray them and keep them separate. Go change into your princess dress since mom keeps saying you need to get changed. That's right, there's school today. Hold on! You haven't even started tattling today (except for tattling on Tyler when he moved Lynnea's seat). You'd better get going on that...

Lynnea: Wake up at 6:00 and have the heaviest diaper mommy's ever felt. Make her change it with a diaper from the diaper bag so she'll have to get up and get it. Drink your bottle with no commotion. Oh, she's sitting you in your seat to have breakfast and take a shower. She's giving you Kix! Yum! Pretend to eat them all but really shove them into your chair, under your bottom. When she picks you up...OH, here she comes!!...there they go-all over the floor! YES!!! Now she has to pick up 20 Kix all over the floor. She's done, drop another one! ALL RIGHT!! It went across the kitchen, now she has to bend over again to pick up that one. That's so much fun! When she puts you down, make sure you open the recipe cabinet and take out all of the books. Now go make a mess of the toys in the living room.

So now you know my morning. The funny thing is, this is pretty standard but today it's just a little more challenging. Thankfully, my patience has stayed intact and I thank God for my daily dose. Having kids is definitely a gift!

OK...I'll do it

My wonderful friend, Aly, called me out to do a "one-liner" word game. Here's my answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? Counter
2. Your significant other? Will
3. Your Hair? Short
4. Your Skin? Dry
5. Your mother? Strong
6. Your favorite thing? Comfort
7. Your dream last night? Blank
8. Your favorite drink? rich
9. Your dream/goal? Accomplishment
10. The room you're in? Dining
11. Your ex? History
12. Your fear? Loss
13.Where do you want to be in 6 years? earth
14.Where were you last night? Mervyn's
15.What you're not? Irresponsible
16.Muffins? Butter
17.One of your wish list items? jewelry
18.Where you grew up? country
19.The last thing you did? phone
20.What are you wearing? sweats
21.Your TV? HUGE
22.Your pets? dead =)
23. Your computer? central
24. Your life? Happy
25. Your mood? satisfied
26. Missing someone? several
27. Your car? stylish??
28. Something you're not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite Store? joann
30. Your summer? summer?
31. Like someone? yep
32. Your favorite color? cranberry
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? overwhelmed
35. Who will respond to this? cara?
36. Who's Answers are you anxious to see? all

Through the Smoke

Southern California, namely Orange County, has been plagued by ravage wildfires these past few days. I'm sure you've heard on the news the devastation that has been done in Brea, Chino Hills and the surrounding areas but it's so much more real when it's in your own backyard.

This morning, in the church service, our pastor mentioned a striking parallel between these troubled times and the smoke and flames of the out of control fire. In these times of economic struggle and a future of potential political and moral failure, the fire was a physical reminder of the "smoke" in our hearts. Thankfully, God is our firefighter (I know, the analogy is stretching it a bit) but he fights for us in every way, to protect us from destruction and lead us into blue skies. We pray for the families whose homes have been taken from them and for those who have been evacuated.

Here is what our house looked like this morning. The air was smoky and ashes covered everything.

This weekend also brought with it my cousin and her husband from Colorado (their new home). They moved from Washington a few weeks ago. Ben and Lisa hung out with us last night and got to experience a household of kids, noise, and good food. Lynnea actually let Ben hold her for a few minutes, too!

On Friday, I went over to my mom's house. She watched the 2 little ones while I got my hair cut. I just had to post a funny picture of Lynnea. When she's on grass or cement, she "crawls" with her feet on the ground. She's literally walking on her hands and feet. It's quite hilarious to watch.

And Tyler helped water Grammie's plants.

I also wanted to do a quick post about the book I just finished reading. For all of those people out there who have been swayed by the media into thinking that President Bush hasn't done his job well, isn't intelligent, and doesn't have the experience to be in the White House, I strongly encourage you to read this book. Especially those of you who are Democrats and actually struggle with why we went to war, the truth on certain matters like the "Patriot Act", "No Child Left Behind" and Bush's comment on nuclear weapons in Iraq. The author actually voted for Al Gore before he researched and wrote this book so he is not a biased writer. His portrayal of George W. Bush is one of admiration, respect, and clarity on how he has lead this nation and he interviews key people in both the Secret Service and lifelong friends of our President.
Just had to plug this book. I have a whole new respect for our President and am very wary of things to come.

Growing Up

I can't believe that my little baby is almost 11 months old. How could this be? I remember the times that all I could do was hold her in my arms as long as she would let me and sleep peacefully almost all day (my first child to do that). As the months have passed, quickly I might add, I see a beautiful, quiet, loving, and determined little lady growing up right in front of my eyes.

My mom came over the other day to watch my youngest 2 while I went to help out in Mikayla's Kindergarten class and, as I watched in amazement, Lynnea started putting one foot in front of the other while my mom held her hands. She hasn't really learned that skill until that moment (so, mom, you're the first to experience it). It made me realize just how far she's come from that small bundle I took home from the hospital.
She's also getting more teeth. Unfortunately, 3 are coming in at once and she's been a little hard to live with the past few days but it's getting better and we're starting to see the fruits of the crabbyness. Once the teeth come in, I feel like the baby stage is over so I'm trying to take as many pictures as possible to make sure I remember her with just baby gums.

This picture was taken with help from my children. She loves it when they come running toward her and act like they're going to attack her. The sounds that emit from her mouth sound like some East African monkey on the warpath but she does enjoy it immensely.

And then there's standing. She is so proud of herself when she gets up on all 2's. Deep in my heart I know it's because she really wants to be able to play with her siblings. She tries to be wherever they are and crawling really doesn't get the job done. At this rate, she'll be walking by her first birthday. I must apologize to all of my friends now, I might not be going out. 3 kids walking all by themselves just makes me want to never go out by myself with them ever again.

Of course I have to add in a moment with Tyler and Mikayla. They have been playing together rather well the last few days which is a welcome relief, I might add. (Tyler has a habit of pushing the wrong buttons). Anyway, I finally had a few minutes to read my book on the couch while they decided to play "restaurant." Every few seconds, I had to pause in the middle of my reading, order enough food for a small army, and pretend to enjoy the 4 course meal just delivered on wet plates and cups. After a while, I extricated myself off of the couch to check out the "kitchen" and what the chef had up his sleeve. With Tyler, anything is possible.

Due to the previous soap disappearing rather quickly in their bathroom, I had just replaced it with a tantalizing black raspberry vanilla concoction. As I looked at the soap on the counter that had only been there a maximum of 10 minutes, I noticed that half of it was already gone. I had to refrain from the mom lecture of "we don't waste things in this house" and instead chose the lecture on, "you only need this much (indicating a small amount with my 2 fingers) to wash a whole sinkload of dishes so you definitely don't need to use 1/3 of the bottle here." I don't know if it was to help them with their chores in later years or just to feel good about my knowledge of soap use but it clearly had no effect on my toddlers. Needless to say, it all of a sudden became naptime and we washed the plethora of soap off of all the dishes. It was fun while it lasted and it let my kids be creative, which I love.

Making Good Choices

This blog I write today has to do with Making Good Choices. Before I begin on my week long look at these said choices, I must put in a political plug. I am disappointed with the choices that American voters made and which things they placed at the top of the "importance" list. Am I sad that Obama won? Yes, very, especially when it comes to his liberal views on abortion and other sensitive issues. Am I going to carry this sadness around with me? No, my first good choice of the week is to know that God is forever in control and to give it all to Him.

On to the fun stuff-

Good Choice #1: Inviting Cheryl over to entertain the kids. It's always a good choice to have Cheryl over-she's just fun to be with. Cheryl has this cool thing on her computer where you can videotape yourself while you're watching yourself on screen. The kids loved seeing themselves and making strange faces became the highlight of the night. Wait, I think that's Cheryl's normal look... hmmm. ;) Good Choice #2: Lynnea allowing my mom to carry her to the assembly to honor Mikayla. Most of the time, she's arching her back and crying but she finally decided that, in Grammie's arms, it was pretty comfortable.

Good Choice #3: Mikayla won a character award at her school for the character trait of "Making Good Choices," thus the title of today's blog. She and 2 other classmates (from her class) got the award and I couldn't be prouder. She's growing up to be a very classy little lady.

Good Choice #4: Going to Valerie's house to decorate cookies. Thanks, Valerie, for going above and beyond and actually making frosting in different colors. You wow me with your stamina (especially while pregnant). I would have said, "there is white, white, or white and if you have a problem with it, tough." Tyler and I had lots of fun!!

Good Choice #5: Ok, the good choice wasn't getting the pink eye, it was going to the dr. to take care of the pink eye. Yes, Mikayla has been afflicted with her first communicable disease from school, pink eye in both eyes. Oh, and the other good choice was not making a HUGE scene in the pharmacy when I found out that the world's smallest eyedropper bottle cost the same as a week's worth of groceries. I did mention the fact that it was, "ridiculous" but the pharmacist hardly batted an eye and gladly accepted my Visa. Someone needs to work out that health insurance deal... All I'm saying is that this medicine had better be a miracle cure to cost that much and be the same size as 1/3 a tube of lipstick. Can you tell I just can't get over it? OK, I'm done now...

And lastly, Good Choice #6: Finally rebuilding the train tracks on the train table. Tyler's favorite thing is to destroy anything I took longer than 20 minutes building so I haven't been motivated to rebuild the last traintrack setup which met an untimely end. Will ended up going out to coffee with one of his mentors tonight so I thought, "I have the energy to actually play with my kids at the end of the day today...let's go all out, sit on the floor and irritate my sciatic nerve, try not to get frustrated when the pieces don't fit and have a great time." So, with all that said, here is the finished product.

Isn't it grand? I can hear your applause-thank you!! It was rough going at times but I'm pretty proud of it. Hey, I'm a stay-at-home mom. We don't feel like we actually "accomplish" things during our day so this was pretty cool.

It was a week of good choices.