Hanging in our living room

It's our thankful list.





At some point grace took over the job of scribe.

Thankful

Everytime we go on a roadtrip I promise myself we won't be taking another one until we get a motorhome. Nothing super fancy. Just something with a toilet. And couches. Something like this. Is that really too much to ask?!

It might be cheaper to buy my children bigger bladders and give them Dramamine.

Anyway. Complaining. That's not very Thanksgiving-y. And I do have so much to be thankful for.

Like these lovely, lovely people.

{I'm pretty sure Lilian [my brother's wonderful wife] is squishing my head.}

And, of course, mashed potatoes.

And for this cheesecake.

 

And this adorable little boy. Who has had a bloated tummy since Thursday. We will say nothing about my tummy. NOTHING.

And for Emily for this adorable outfit. And for Elliot for getting the smile.

And for Claire's friend. 

(She would be thrilled to live with Grandma. She would jump up and down in elation watching me drive away.)

And you.

The end.

Photo Help

A little over a year ago, Brad bought me a Nikon D60. I was in love with it. But I was also deep in the miserable throes of a full time job, so I almost never played with it.

But now I'm done working, home with my kids, and finally starting to play with it.

And since my photography skills need all the help they can get, I've also been playing with Photoshop Elements 3. (It's all I've got.)

Anyway. Here's my problem. I don't know when to stop. I feel like my edits are either too much or too little. And sometimes I feel like a photo needs something. But I have no idea what.

Case in point:

Too much?

Too little?

How do you edit your photos? How do you know when you're done?

Karlee the Genius.

I have a little sister. She's the youngest. She's 14. She's been at my house now for less than a day.

This afternoon she generously offered to take care of my children while I caught up on some much needed work. So, I sat down on the computer. And soon--and I mean very soon--it became terribly. horribly. quiet. I was sure they had all died somehow in a bizarre, soundless freak accident.

I searched frantically, finally finding them in my bedroom.

My darling, brilliant sister had charmed my children (and herself) to SLEEP.

Midday sleep hasn't happened at my house for over a year.

I'm keeping her.

That's right Mom. You ain't getting her back.

Let's do this everyday.

Let's all give three cheers for my best friend Brad who scored this little countertop beauty for me yesterday:

Perhaps you have seen our full-size portable floating around in the pictures of our house. (That is, pictures. floating around on the blog. Not the dishwasher. floating in our house.) I paid homage to it here.

Sadly, it died a mysterious and inconvenient death during our two year absence. Broken heart, probably. Or fried motherboard.

Either way, this makes the second dishwasher I've received for my birthday. It makes for a very happy birthday, let me tell you.

You know what else makes for a happy birthday? Kids. And friends. And Facebook. Definitely Facebook. Because there's nothing like birthday wishes from dozens of dear old friends to make you feel tops.

Fantastic Day.

It started with some playtime...

And we kept playing.

At Chili's (one of the only places in town)...

And at a friend's house. This is me and Brad. We are playing a complicated, intricate game which was purchased for this very occasion. We are desperate enough to advance in the game that I don't even notice someone snapping this picture of my offensive belly.

We did not even win.

They did. (They are carefully plotting.)

And we came home to a room full of sleepy girls.

I mean, sleepING girls. Including our excellent babysitter.

The end.

Oh, I have pictures.

Well, of one incident anyway.

 

Oh, yeah. Get it all in there.

I thought we were getting past this.

Grace and Claire were busy this weekend. On Saturday they climbed in our little pantry, sat on a shelf, and ate powdered sugar out of its canister with a spoon. My pantry (still) looks like an exploded sugar bag.

That day they also opened the leftover Halloween icing and squirted it into their mouths. Onto the bathroom counters. And mirrors. And on their clothes. Our Halloween icing is black.

Incidentally, these sugar cravings may have something to do with my previous post.

And today, for good measure, they destroyed my preschool room. They opened the craft closet, climbed to the highest shelf, grabbed paint, paper, and paintbrushes and set up their painting studio. Right there on the carpeted floor. Then, as if that wasn't enough, they used markers to color the mirrored closet doors and my supply of bouncy balls.

For real.

They are too old for this.

Especially since Grace also cleaned that whole mess up all by herself. Happily.

Truck for Sale

Brad is selling his truck.

These girls took it upon themselves to help him out:

grace says she can't wait for the "customers to see it all shiny."

First Dentist Appointment

This is my daughter Grace.

She is 5.

She is getting her first....




ROOT CANAL.

Yes, I feel like the worst mother alive. Thanks for asking.

From the Phone

I have the best pictures on my phone. I catch funny things with it. And sometimes, the kids take hilarious videos.

Lately, Claire has been guilty of horrendous fits. Really really awful ones. I'm sure it can be attributed to neglectful parenting somehow.



And although it might look otherwise, this is not a picture of claire engaged in fervent prayer.



And, well, who knows what this is.



Or why.



I love camera phones.

Costumes and other things.

Halloween is an annoying holiday.

1. Finding costumes is a hassle.  
2. There ends up being a lot of extra candy in the house. Which I end up eating. And finishing. Two days after Halloween. This is a serious deterrent to my efforts to pack away the maternity clothes.
3. It is not that fun. Really. Think about it people. We gear up all month for a holiday where the climax is walking for hours just to gather a bag full of Smartees and Tootsie Rolls. My kids can even see through that. They prefer to stay home and answer the door, eating candy out of our bowl.

But. I have decided that Halloween is important. I mean, it's a pretty amazing display of trust to knock on a stranger's door and expect untainted candy. And that makes Halloween a valuable American holiday.

Also, our town officially declared Saturday, October 30th Halloween day. Too many people in the city felt uncomfortable trick-or-treating on Sunday. Say what you will about ugly run-down Carlsbad New Mexico, but that is pretty stinking cool.