Thankful for Thanksgiving

It was a lovely holiday this year. We were blessed to have family come. Darin's parents and little sisters, with brother-in-law Taylor. My parents, and two little sisters came too.

Rachel arrived first on Tuesday night. In time to help me with a few last minute craft projects and baking!

We managed to throw in a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot on Thursday morning. It was 19 degrees! But wonderfully fun.

Doing a little sightseeing with the family. This was taken at the Broadmoor.

Henry was baptized!

I hope he'll always remember how lucky he was to have so much family there with him.

Did you do this after Thanksgiving? Look through the adds to see what store you should be at at 6am? We did. And in fact, Darin and I started our shopping at midnight! A little date up to the outlets that opened at midnight. It was crazy. We probably won't ever do it again, but it was something to behold. That's for sure...

Anyway, it was a fabulous time. I am personally so grateful to everyone who made the effort to share it with us. Despite the freezing winter temps, I felt all warm and cozy with so many people around. Thanks everyone for coming and making it what it was. We love you all.

Special helpers, are hardly any help at all....

I just had to post this. Not that I'm feeling sorry for myself or anything, but EVERY night when I go to cook dinner, Jane and Ruby instantly hear me working and come rushing in. They each grab a chair to "help". They always position themselves in a most un-helpful place. I have to work and move all around them. All the while they inevitably have a separate agenda. And ALWAYS eat more of their dinner while it's being prepped than they do at the table.

Last night I was getting so frustrated I was nearly in tears. I was so close to screaming at them, moving their chairs and sticking them in time-out, or something. But then I counted to 10 and tried to calm down. I thought, if I can't change it, then why don't I document it. Try to see it in a different way. I can't say that it made it any easier to cook, but at least it gave me a distraction from my frustration. I mean, someday (in like one million years), they will be gone, and I will smile a whimsical smile (in my silent kitchen) and think back to the day when my girls would come running the moment they heard me in the kitchen. Back when they still believed they were my best-friend. So I'm trying to be grateful for my special helpers.

Like I said, they can't miss a moment of kitchen action. After dinner was over, I quietly started a pot of hot chocolate for dessert. And sure enough like little puppies, they came running, grabbed their chairs to "help".

Jane sniffing the cocoa.

What To Do?!

This is George.


He just can't seem to help himself. Despite the new rule and the new camera, I go to download MY photos, and this is what I find...You would think he would be smart enough not to snap the shot that would be so self-incriminating. But what can I do with a face like that?

We Went to the Zoo, and some other stuff...

Darin was in Idaho this weekend with the LDS Cadet Choir. Official duties and all. So we had to find a way to pass the time without him. Would you believe that on November 10th in Colorado it was a beautiful 72 degrees?! We had talked about going to the movies, but with that kind of weather, I just couldn't resist finding an outdoor activity. And while I am not a huge zoo fan, there are two good things about our zoo here in "the Springs".

1. The Giraffes. They walk right up to the edge of their "cage" and kids can feed them. It's right when you walk into the zoo. No wondering around forever to get to the thing that you actually want to see. First thing, right off the bat, the kids are feeding the giraffe and having fun. I have to admit that for a non-animal person I still get excited about how close the giraffe get to us.

Can you see that I'm not the only person in the family who's a bit of a non-animal type. Look at Henry's body position as George is feeding the giraffe.

The boys insisted that we photograph this bird. They loved his hair.

Ruby's request was to see the elephants.

Which brings me to the second good thing about our zoo. 2. It's location. It is sort of carved into the side of one of our mountains. Your visit to the zoo is a mountain hike up, and then you climb back down on your way out. I think it's genius. And the whole time you get sweeping views of Colorado Springs as you climb up and up. It was a beautiful day.

George and a black bear. (Just so you know, it took quite a bit of negotiating with George to limit the number of pictures of him with an animal, or just an animal.)

And then Sunday rolled around. We actually made it to Sacrament meeting on time. And then we even managed to make Swedish meatballs again, giving Henry a reason to use his new apron. Thankfully, the cadets had a 7pm curfew on Monday, so Darin returned home just in time for dinner on Monday night! A good time had by all.

Wow.

It's about time!! That's all I can say. I mean seriously, did it take Hershey's this long to realize that there were people who would buy their other variety packs to simply pull out every bar that had a nut in it, and disregard the rest?! I am usually so completely disciplined at the grocery store. I can pass by treat upon treat and never look back. But today, I just had to spend my $2.04 if only to send a message to Hershey's saying, thank you!! Way to figure it out at LONG last. So, to my sisters and my mom, hurry out and support Hershey's today too! (EVERY single piece has NUTS in it!!)

TGI Friday!

This is the first morning since the surgery that Jane has woken up and not asked for any pain medicine first thing. She is actually smiling and playing happily. I am grateful this morning for this little blessing. She and Ruby love Strawberry Shortcake, and they have a ongoing game through the day where they call each other by the names of the characters. Over the past few days, Ruby would try so hard to get Jane to be happy. She would walk up to her and say "Hello Angel Cake". And Jane would yell back, "I'm not Angel Cake, I'm Janie!!". In her most grumpy voice. And yesterday afternoon when I asked Ruby if she wanted to check if Jane was awake she said to me, "No mom, she's grumpy bear".

We are so happy to see our Jane back this morning, a.k.a. Ginger Snap. (That's her Strawberry Shortcake name this morning. A small sign that she is on the mend. Hooray!)

p.s. Maybe the key to happiness is being able to sit on the floor in your birthday suit and play...

What's a Scout Again?

Tonight was Henry's first night being a Cub Scout. For those of you who don't know this about us, we're not big scouters. Darin is maybe a Wolf himself. My brothers and dad are all Eagle Scouts (you guys make me proud), but for all the scouting that took place in my family, I have very little memory of any of it. I don't even remember helping on their Eagle projects. Did I? I hope I did. So anyway, we don't devote a whole lot of family discussions to Scouting. But George has been hearing us talk about how Henry would get to be a Cub Scout now that he is 8.

So tonight Henry's friend Ben came and picked him up and took him off to Scouts (whatever that meant). I kept telling George that we would go pick Henry up. It took me about twenty minutes to convince George and the girls to get in the car. They didn't understand what was in it for them (they rarely do). As we were driving out of the driveway and up the street George says to me:

"Mom, how long is Cub Scouts?"

I was all confused because I thought he understood that we were on our way right that minute to pick Henry up, therefore, no need for the question. So I kind of tried to lamely explain the scouting program with my limited understanding. But he got all frustrated.

"No, I mean, when will we see Henry again? I was sort of thinking we should have brought his toothbrush, and I should give him the new toothpaste you bought today. He didn't even get a chance to use it before he left for Cub Scouts."

That was too much for me. I was laughing so hard in the car. I finally told George, Henry would be able to try the new toothpaste tonight, at our house, because you only go to Cub Scouts for one hour once a week.

Can you imagine what they must have thought Cub Scouts was?! But it sort of explains why he was so sad that he wouldn't be a Scout with Henry.

No Pretty Pictures...

...of food this weekend. We've had an ornery patient on our hands with a mind entirely all her own. We showed up at church an hour EARLY, due to forgetting about day-light savings. Then I had to do Sharing time and Darin Singing time, all with Jane in toe. The nursery kicked her out for being too disagreeable and only wanting to play in the sink in the bathroom.



We tried to feature Mexico again this week. We had some delicious food. But the girls turned their noses up at the meal. And Jane excused herself after picking through her food to take off her clothes and build a tower out of paper towels.

The one weekend when we all could have benefited from an extra hour of sleep, and yet here we are trudging along trying to keep a family tradition alive. So, as I said in the beginning, no pretty pictures this week...and that's just the way it goes sometimes in life.

The Hospital and Halloween

Tuesday morning Jane went to get her tonsils out. I don't think we thought it all the way through. Or maybe we were just overly optimistic. I think we all thought we'd be done with the hospital at the very latest early Wednesday (Halloween) morning. But as it turns out, they held us hostage at the hospital until about 2pm on Wednesday.

(This is the bed I was supposed to share with her Monday night. They finally brought in a recliner. Didn't help to change my opinion about how unrestful the hospital ends up being!)

Jane the patient. (With her Strawberry Shortcake doll which her brother George picked out for her, as well as one for Ruby. HE thought it wouldn't be fair if only Jane got one. I let him make that decision, since I was obviously struggling with it.)

Jane waiting to be discharged. She had her IV out and her shoes on, and was READY to go. They kept delaying us telling us we were waiting for our meds from the pharmacy. Darin had brought her some nail polish which kept her busy until they finally let us go!!

The girls got dressed up to open the door. Jane was too tired to go out and trick or treat. And too tired to pose for a picture standing up with her brothers!

So I think this pose sums up how we all felt at the end of the day yesterday. I think Darin and I would have pulled similar poses last night were we not so mature. She got a good night sleep in her own bed last night, and she's being a good sport about getting gross medicine squeezed down her throat. We hope she'll make a speedy recovery.

P.S. The doctor didn't find any foreign object in her nose! Just an enormous adenoid which he thinks may explain the runny nose. We'll be able to tell if it cured her in about two weeks! Let's hope for the best.

One nightgown or two?...

I can't sleep. So I'm temporarily giving up. I'll return to bed later. Many things are on my mind and so I finally decided to just get out of bed and write some of them down. And then maybe, I'll be able to go back to bed.

Jane goes into the hospital 6am Tuesday morning for the tonsil removal surgery. I know that's not that official name. Please excuse me for that. Anyway, I've been advised by other parents who have recently gone through this with their 2 year-old's, to try as best we can to prepare Jane for what we are going to do to her. I have story books on loan from a fellow mom about "My Day at the Hospital", and other such books for kids. We're supposed to read them to her and hope it helps her understand where we are taking her at 6am Tuesday morning. We tried to start tonight.

Me: "Jane, we need to go back to the doctor."

Jane: "No."

Me: "Yes, he needs to look in your mouth again."

Jane: "No."

Darin: "Yes Jane, don't you want to go back to the doctor."

Jane: "No."

I don't know, maybe we'll try the story books tomorrow. We don't have much time left to warn her!

But the real issue keeping me from sleep is the following; I think Jane deserves a new little nightgown to wear to the hospital and during her over night stay. But what about Ruby? I don't have this problem with the boys. If one of them had something to do, it was very clear to me that it was a separate issue pertaining to the one guy (like when George had this surgery, he got a new toy and Henry didn't). But I'm having a harder time with the girls. We get two of everything. But does this specific hospital situation deserve some personal attention for just Jane? And I think Jane should get a new stuff animal to keep her company at the hospital. But what will I do about that once we are back home, and we are fighting over the ONE new stuffed animal? Do you see my problem?

Too bad I don't have more friends with twins to help me sort this all out. Trivial you may think, but keeping me from sleep none the less. Should you have any friends with twins, perhaps you could go counsel with them on my behalf. Share with me their insights should you gather any. If you don't, just share with me your insight.

Okay, maybe I'll try to go back to bed now. Let me know what you think...one nightgown, or two?

Henry turns 8!!

Look at this guy...

On the left is little Henry just before he turned 1 when we were living in Germany. On the right, is Henry today, having a very happy 8th birthday.



Darin grew up with the tradition of a birthday celebration first thing in the morning. This is fun and great, if you love the morning. It just so happens that Henry is more me than Darin in terms of his feelings about the morning. Last night he specifically asked if we not wake him up early on his birthday. He said he would prefer to sleep in and open his presents after Darin came home from work. I think Darin was a little disappointed, but Henry seemed happy.

Of course, George and Darin share the same feelings about the morning. I heard George running upstairs at 6:30am to see if indeed we had wrapped any of Henry's presents. And then I heard him thundering down the stairs to tell Henry to wake up. So much for letting him sleep in!

Henry decided opening two presents without Darin wouldn't be so bad.

Then when Darin came home in the evening, he was more than ready to open everything up. Of course I am sharing the pictures of the presents I was most excited about. His first set of personalized scriptures.

And his very own personalized William-Sonoma apron. These were the things I most wanted to get him. They weren't at the top of his list. But as you can see, he's a good sport.

Anyway, it was a happy day around here. Somehow, many weeks ago, Henry got me to agree that he could skip school on his birthday. He reminded me of that every single day last week. It's almost what he was most excited about. A day off of school, for no other reason than to have fun. He got to play video games and stay in his pj's until about 11. Then we went to the mall to shop with his money from Grandma and Grandpa Z (he found a new game for the Wii). Then we played glow in the dark mini-golf, with Jane and Ruby. I have to admit it was fun. We even went for dessert in the middle of the afternoon. All the while he kept asking me if he would still normally be at school.

So a tribute to my first born son. My very first "raison-d'etre"; Our "first born in the wilderness"; Our own personal guinea pig to test out all of our fantastic theories on parenting. He is so good and so kind and so darn conscientious. I couldn't love him more or be more proud of who he is. This is a special birthday. He will get baptized in a few weeks and all of his grandparents will be there to watch him. Happy birthday Henry. You've given us much joy in these past 8 years. Here's to hundreds more...

P.S. (you know how I feel about that!)...

Ruby and this skirt have been inseparable for going on 36 hours now. Darin put her to bed last night and couldn't convince her to leave the skirt off. So when she woke up this morning with the skirt still on, she was over-joyed. I convinced her to put some clothes on (since the skirt is see-through), but the skirt goes on top of anything that she has had on today. She wore it to the mall, mini-golfing, to take her nap, out to dinner at CPK, and then again, back to bed.

Here are the girls looking all-together pleased. They had already been put to bed, but they heard the rest of us still awake, so Jane sprung Ruby (She gets locked in her room. Don't ask!), and together they came walking down the stairs. Ruby announced that she was all done with her "pacie" and ready to wake-up. When Jane saw the camera she threw her arm around Ruby and said "cheese". Hard to be mad when they look like that, but I was trying to be. (And yes, cousin Lisa, they are sporting different hairdos. I'm trying to grow Jane's bangs out, and keep trimming Ruby's. Just trying to help people tell them apart.)

And now, the longest post ever must sadly come to an end. Good night!

Snow and French food on Sunday.

We woke up to about six inches of snow on Sunday morning. It pretty much snowed all day long. We were glad to see that Jane and Ruby were willing to embrace the snow this season. They wanted to play out there all afternoon long. In their brother's boots and their dad's gloves.

Continuing our tradition, France was the featured country this week. I have to say, Darin out did himself with the music which made us all feel as though we were sitting street-side at a Paris cafe. It was delightful. Quiche lorraine and a "Potage Crecy" (Creamy Carrot Soup) were on the dinner menu. Of course, Crepes Suzette for dessert! Tres manifique!

P.S. This book will seriously help this tradition live on for a few more weeks. Left to our own devices our imaginations may have thought we were out of countries. But not so, say Mark Bittman, check it out.

It's Rachel's Birthday Today!!

It's my little 22-year-old sister Rachel's birthday today. It just so happened that I was feeling nostalgic. So here is a small tribute to my cute little sister.

The day she was born, I think I might have been the most excited person in the family. I was the girl who always had a doll or stuffed animal with me. But the one thing I didn't have was a little sister... until Rachel came along!



Then I got another little sister less than two years later. This picture is so sweet to me. This is how I used to swing Jane and Ruby. People used to see me swinging my girls and ask me where I got the idea. I had forgotten, but I knew it felt familiar. Look at my little sisters swinging, just like my little girls...20 years ago!


Our family has some hiliarious memories of Rachel and Christmas. I will not embarrass her further about that. We'll just let this picture represent some of those fun Christmas mornings.









Why I hope my sister has a wonderful birthday today: She is my blog's biggest fan! She loves California, the beach and people. She hates holding new babies, but she always humors me and holds mine. She taught me that it's fun to slide on someone's back down a hill. She will run a race with me, anytime, anywhere. She will travel anywhere. Nothing is off limits. She is one of the world's greatest sisters. She always has a camera and a phone on the ready. You can reach her nearly 24/7. She loves our family, and loves a "p.s." almost as much as I do. She uses it even conversationally.


Anyway, you deserve to have a happy birthday Rachel. Eat some cake and have fun. I love you.