A few pictures from a Thanksgiving Program

     Isabel (second to the left) with the other girls in her fourth grade class. They are all good friends!

                                                              A little bit silly too!

                                Pilgrim Anna.  She is almost 7 years old and in the first grade. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get any good shots of the girls on stage doing their performances, but I thought it would be fun to share these.

Birthday week in Review

37th Birthday!  Gifts and sweetness from my kids. Lunch and new black leather boots from my husband. Spaghetti and meatball dinner made by my mom.  Dinner and cake with friends.

Thanksgiving program at school that my two girls, Isabel and Anna, participated in.

Visit from a friend from a far away land. Our family really enjoyed reconnecting with him.

Pillow fights with little girls. Gotta be careful...if I hit just a little bit too hard I'd knock the little one on her bum.  Not that she really minds, cuz that girl is tough!
 
Girl swap!  Anna went to her friend Sofia's house.  Sofia's two sisters came over here to play with my oldest girls.  All the girls played for hours together.  Made forts and got in a water blasting fight and such.  The day flew by with such fun!

I'm on a carrot juicing kick.  I'm trying to replace my afternoon cup of coffee and/or nap with carrot juice and/or exercise.  It's working well!  Both the exercising and the carrot juice give me lots of energy.

I made a new friend and had her over the day that my girls had their swap.  Very nice to have a laid back single friend that can handle all the interruptions I encounter in a day as a mom of many.

Made toilet paper roll art! (I'll try to post pictures of the finished project later.  It's not completed yet.)

Long talk with my cousin/sister in law, Renee. 

I received cards in the mailbox and FB birthday messages galore!

Chicken tacos and restaurant style salsa (thanks, Pioneer Woman!) made by me.

And there was more, but not everything needs to be public, right?....I know some of you can relate to this struggle of wanting to be open and honest, yet knowing that not everything should be shared over the internet.

Littlest Girls at the Tyler Rose Garden

Paper Flower

                                                               Church Bulletins

                                                                   Paper flower.

                                                                  Framed flower.

Marble Jar Party

All the kids before we loaded up the van to go pick up Shane from work.  We went from there to Posados for dinner.  As you may notice, we eat the ice cream while we wait to order!  Yum.... chips, salsa and ice cream...all before the meal arrives.  Good thing we don't do this often! 

After our dinner we drove about 40 minutes away to a theater that was showing Cars 2.

I think the kids all liked Cars 2.  Me?  Well, I can't say that I want to see it again anytime soon, but I loved that we all got to have an evening out to celebrate together.  Most of the marbles that they "earn" for their marble jar party are for all the As that they get on their report cards.  For the most part, I forget about the marble jars except for when they bring home tests and report cards.  Occasionally, I remember to have them put marbles in the jar for being kind and helpful or if a child does something positive that was a "stretch" for them. (Hopefully those of you who are reading this know about the Marble Jar concept.)

We had considered leaving Ellie at home with a babysitter so that the evening would be easier on me and Shane but both of us felt bad leaving her out.  She ended up doing really well at the restaurant and she did pretty well at the movie too.  She did get a bit antsy and shuffled between seats a few times, but she wasn't noisy. At one point though Lucy got loud because her foot got stuck in her seat and she panicked because she couldn't get it out.  Poor girl.  The teenagers behind us got worried for her, but didn't seem to get upset by the noise.  (I was a bit upset with *them* afterwards for making out right behind my kids....and had to refrain from going over to them and separating the two! My kids were totally oblivious to what was going on though so that was good!)

On the way home I think we were all pretty sleepy.  I nearly fell asleep sitting up and Shane very kindly reminded me that I could put the seat back into a reclining position to be more comfortable. :) 

Ellie's 2nd Birthday in Pictures

 

 Ellie with all her sisters and her big brother.  So nice that we can all be together.  I realize that someday in the not too far off future we won't all be under the same roof.  (Excuse me while I sob.)

                                                          Me and the birthday girl!

                                                                       So pretty!

                                                                 I love her smile.



Ellie's bday is the same as my mom's.  My mom didn't want any pictures taken of her.  So, here is a picture of her birthday apple pie instead. (Aubrey and I made it.  I think Anna helped for a little while until her favorite PBS show came on...then she ditched us. Very funny considering how badly she wanted to make the pie.)

                      Ellie blowing out her TWO candles.  Isabel made the cake for her this year.

                                                              Ellie with her daddy!

Small Transformation

This was in a bag of clothes that we got second hand. I almost put it in the goodwill bag with some of the other items we didn't need but I realized it could be redeemed.



My only regret with this project is that I didn't have the foresight to remove the little red plastic dealy-boppers and spray paint them like I did with the handle.

Other than that I am pleased with how the transformation turned out.

Wanna see?