Thankful Hearts, 20 Weeks

Wednesday Julia and Austin were off from school. It was the big day of preparation for me. LOL I cooked up the two sugar pumpkins from Austin's field trip, and Lauren's squash/pumpkin from the patch, made a pumpkin pie and apple pie, and chopped veggies and an apple for the stuffing, fried the bacon, etc. Austin and Lauren were RAMBUNCTIOUS!! Lauren went outside for awhile, but it had rained the day before, and everything was wet. Really they both needed to run around *out there* (meaning *not* in the house!), but they didn't. I told them they needed to be quiet so I could think! LOL After lunch I decided to eat one of the little tarts I'd made with extra pumpkin pie filling that wouldn't fit in my crust. I sprayed whipped cream on it and everything. I ate it, and it seemed to taste a little salty and kind of bland. It really wasn't too bad, just tasted less like pumpkin pie and more like something you'd eat for dinner. When the other kids went to bed for naps I had Julia eat the other little tart, and she said it tasted kind of salty too. It dawned on me then, when it was finally quiet (as the two hooligans were in bed!!) that I'd forgotten to add sugar to the blender when I made the pumpkin filling! Oh my. I told those kids I needed to think... ;) They were just so excited for Thanksgiving, I guess they couldn't calm down.

Thankfully I had an extra can of milk, and plenty of pumpkin, so I quickly made a new crust and quickly blended the new filling together. That pie ended up being delicious. :D Brian's mom arrived about 4 pm. We went to the Thanksgiving service at church after supper. Here's Princess in the morning:


Oh, Lauren....what are you getting into? Just looking at the DVDs, she informed me.

Caroline was 20 weeks on Thanksgiving.

Who needs turkey? I've got this yummy yummy fist!

They all love the baby!!

Thankful for these four

Brian's mom and me with our turkey

Brian got to do the carving

All the kids made a lot of turkey decorations which I hung on the walls and set on the table and counter. The spiders never got taken down after Halloween. They came down tonight. We don't need spiders hanging above the Advent candles. Julia set the table with our china.

Julia said she was thankful for her family. Lauren said she was thankful for God and Jesus. I can't remember what Austin said, but I am thinking he said he was thankful for God and Jesus too. Always a good answer. ;) Lauren had asked me days ago if she could have a chicken leg on Thanksgiving. I told her she probably could, have a chicken leg from the turkey, that is. :D And she did not forget about that chicken leg! Brian took most of the meat off, and she pretty well cleaned off the rest of what was there!

Thanksgiving night: They watched Miracle on 34th Street.

I don't think Caroline liked the broccoli salad I had on Thanksgiving, as she was really fussy at bedtime that night! I've noticed before that it bothers her when I eat broccoli or cauliflower. I went back and forth, trying to decide whether or not I should go out shopping early Friday morning. I finally decided just to go, and ended up taking Caroline with me. I woke up at 4 am, threw on some clothes and shoes. She woke up on her own, so I nursed her, bundled us both up, and off we went at 4:30.

I thought with all the talk of the economy being so bad that there wouldn't be too many crowds. Well. I thought wrong. Either the economy's ok, and people were spending lots of money, or the economy's bad, and they were trying to spend the least they could. I don't know. But the WalMart parking lot was full! Thankfully I found a cart someone had left in the parking lot, because I had to walk and walk and walk to the end of the line just to get into the store!! The line started at the WalMart doors, went past Payless Shoes, past a jewelry store, past a cigarette store, past The Home Depot garden center, past The Home Depot store, snaking around into The Home Depot parking lot. Yikes!! We waited in line for 50 minutes, just to get in the store at 5:45. My sweet baby just slept most of the time, cozy and warm in her carrier. She was smiling at me and the ladies around us before nodding off. It was an absolute ZOO in the store. Oh. My. Goodness. Never again! LOL But then, I should never say never. ;) I did find what I came for, eventually, though it was not where I thought it would be by the crafts, but by the cosmetics. I wouldn't have known that, except I saw one in another girl's cart and she told me where they were.

I am so excited--I bought my birthday (Brian was the one to say I got gypped this year, as we were busy with the new baby. I don't know though, it's hard to top a new baby for a present. ;) ) and Christmas present, a Cricut Expressions Die Cut machine. I've held out buying one, as I didn't want to buy cartridges to make different fonts. But now there is software you can buy that lets you cut letters using any True Type font on your computer! And it was a really good price this weekend! The machine came with two cartridges, PLUS, on the Cricut site you can get two free cartridges if you buy a machine by Dec. 15! I think it will be a fun toy! And I also think it will be useful for the kids for school projects. It took two hours to just do WalMart, so Baby and I headed home after just the one store, and got there just in time to see Brian off to work. :) As I'd only had 1 1/2 hours of sleep Thursday night (Caroline being fussy...), I took a nap when the little kids did this afternoon.

We've been eating yummy Thanksgiving leftovers, but no more broccoli salad for me. I sent the kids all outside today, as it was such a nice day. They built a tee pee with beanpoles in the garden. And found a worm and made a home for him in the bug cage. And Austin dug in the dirt and played trucks. Brian's mom headed out for a few hours this afternoon to do a little Christmas shopping while the kids (not Julia) and I slept. After work Brian went in the attic and got the Christmas decorations down. I put the Fall decorations away. We'll probably decorate more this weekend. Tonight Julia was telling Lauren stories, and as she spoke she drew a quick illustration on the MagnaDoodle. She told the Christmas story, along with a couple she just made up on the fly. Of course Lauren loves the attention! :)

Drive-In Movie Night, Candy Cane Legs

Friday night was the Sparks Drive-In Movie Night. It is a "big" Sparkie event, and the kids get so excited for it! Julia was only able to go last year, out of her 3 years in Sparks, as other things were happening the first two years. All the kids are supposed to bring a box, which is their car, to sit in to watch the movie. Most decorate their cars, but you don't have to. And of course, some kids (and parents!) go all out and super-decorate. One car, you can kind of see it in the corner behind Austin, was made into a boat. The same dad made his daughter an airplane last year! Brian picked up a box at a furniture store and he and Austin painted it blue. Austin decorated the wheels and chose #10 to paint on it.


The kids play Sparkie games for awhile, then settle in their cars to watch a movie. Last year was a Christmas story movie, and this year it was one directed by Kurt Warner, and I think Brian said his daughter was in it, but neither he nor Austin could remember the title. Of course they are "Christian" movies, being shown at church and all. ;) Brian is a Sparks listener, and he stayed to pass out popcorn and lemonade to the kids. Austin sat with two buddies from school, Logan and Cooper, who also go to Awana. Logan I know goes to our church, but I'm not sure about Cooper. They wore their vests. We all forgot Austin's. Oops.


It was actually pretty chilly this morning, 65 in the house when we woke up. We've only turned the heat on maybe 3 times this fall. This week is supposed to be more typical, cooler, thankfully!! It's one thing to have 80 degree + in the summer, but in November?! Crazy. Anyway, Austin has another cold and was coughing a lot, so he, Caroline and I stayed home this morning while Brian took the older girls to church. We told them they had candy-cane legs. LOL They both love prancing around in their boots! Julia still likes to match Lauren, and I really am not sure how much this is going to last, although she shows no sign yet of not wanting to dress alike. I'd gotten L and C matching shirts, and Julia asked where hers was! You can see in the pics we need to work on sitting ladylike. ;)


Julia has a cold too, but isn't coughing like Austin. Caroline is a little stuffed up, and it seems Lauren might have a touch of one; either that or she's at the tail-end of one. I can't keep track around here.... We might get some rain this week. Tomorrow I need to go grocery shopping for Thanksgiving--got to buy the turkey! Yesterday Austin had a birthday party in the morning for his friend Justin, who just turned 4, but he loves Austin! He's the one who calls Austin his big brother. He gave Austin a hug and kiss good-bye when Brian came to pick him up. :) It was a bike party, and other than Justin's older sister and brother, Austin was the oldest kid there. He didn't mind at all though. He had a great time riding his bike with the kids and just being at the party.

19 Weeks

I'm starting to get mixed up on the number of weeks Caroline is! Brian and I both had to wonder this week, is it 19 or 20? LOL Anyway, Thursday she was at 19. Lauren renamed her doll "Baby Caroline". So now we have two Baby Carolines in the house. When I put Lauren to bed for her nap that day, she said, "Now I want to tell the people Baby Caroline 'good night'." She always wants to give Caroline a hug at naptime, but this day she had to specify which one. ;) Her own Baby Caroline was already in bed with her. :D Here is Lauren and her baby visiting the people baby.


Yikes! Check out Alexandra's hair (below)! That doll never gets her hair combed. I'm not so sure it can be done anymore....


Lauren covered Caroline with the blanket--that is Lauren's special blanky.


Some tummy time. Looks like a faceplant.

But, she is getting stronger! Just had to muster up her strength. :) I love her round little head--so soft and fuzzy, and squishy little cheeks! Her hair is thinning a LOT. I find patches of it in her crib, little bits of baby hair just laying on the sheet.

You Know the Song...

You know the song, Deep and Wide? The other day, Lauren came in from playing and was singing:
Rose and bush, rose and bush
There's a fountain flowing rose and bush
Rose and bush, rose and bush
There's a fountain flowing rose and bush!

Then:
Rose and HMMmmm, rose and HMMmmm
There's a fountain flowing rose and HMMmmm
Rose and Hmmmm, rose and hmmmmm
There's a fountain flowing rose bush and HMMMmm! (She got a little mixed up on the last line.)

A few nights ago, Brian was going over Lauren's "extra" Under the Apple Tree section for Cubbies. They had to talk about signs of the changing seasons. He was suggesting things like the pumpkins and scarecrow on our porch, leaves changing colors, etc. Lauren was listening, and also deep in thought. Suddenly, she said, so excitedly, "I know! I know! Buffalo!" Brian paused. I was LOL in the kitchen. Buffalo. Buffalo?! How in the world did she come up with buffalo? And as a sign of the seasons changing?

Cute little baby smile

She is extremely interested in the cats!

Julia will often ask to take Caroline for a little walk.

Some cute ones from yesterday:

Oh my goodness. Check out those cheeks! And that chin!

I had fun with my breakfast group friends yesterday, though only two of them could come. The other two had other things going on. I made a hashbrown/ham/cheese/egg casserole, lemon poppy-seed scones with lemon curd, and a fruit salad.

Mid-Week Holidays

I enjoy having the kids off from school, and Brian home from work. Really, I do. I just do not like how these middle-of-the-week holidays throw off my routine for the rest of the week! It never fails. Having Veterans Day off on Tuesday made the next day, Wednesday, seem like a Monday with all its catch-up work from the weekend. Yet there are the regular Wednesday things to do, like errands, which leaves the house a disaster and the laundry pile sit for several more days! I suppose if we stayed home and did housework this wouldn't be an issue... LOL But we did not. ;) I know I'm not alone in this thinking, as several friends have said the same thing!

That said, we did have a fun holiday. We did talk a little about why they had Veterans Day off, so that was good. Julia actually had a worksheet/coloring paper about it for homework. Anyway. Brian's mom drove up to see us, arriving Sunday afternoon. Monday night we all went out to dinner at Tahoe Joe's to celebrate her birthday (it's the 12th). We enjoyed delicious steaks and prime rib and baked potatoes and green beans. MMMmmm! They gave Brian's mom a huge, complimentary slice of chocolate cake to recognize her birthday. It was huge, looked like about 1/6 of a tall layer cake. She was generous and shared with us all. Yum!

We generally have all three kids share two kids meals at restaurants. They eat such a little bit, that it doesn't make sense to get three meals. Most of the time we take leftovers home from the two meals! The problem with this is that when drinks are included, the kids just get two "sweet" (meaning soda or juice or lemonade) drinks, and of course they all want one. Austin doesn't like "fuzzy" (fizzy...LOL) drinks, so he always gets lemonade. Well, every so often, milk. The girls don't like milk. Sometimes Lauren will drink a little. Julia usually gets a Diet Coke. Which leaves Lauren with getting water (she does get to share their drinks--they usually don't drink them all either!).

At Tahoe Joe's, the waiter brought Lauren her water in a Mason jar, just like the grown-ups' drinks. She was so thrilled with this and beamed up at that waiter with a huge smile, like he'd hung the moon. He was her friend for the whole night, and he visited right along with her when she talked to him. As we were leaving the restaurant, I asked Lauren if she wanted to tell the waiter good-bye. Of course, she did, and when she saw him, she ran right up to him and gave him a big hug around his legs. :D It was the cutest thing, and I think he was a little flattered, and maybe a little embarrassed. He told her she could keep the jar her drink came in. She didn't though--we left that there.

Tuesday we went to the Santa Barbara Zoo. Brian's mom came with us and then headed home when we left. We ended up getting a year membership, because it will pay for itself with just one more visit. It would have cost $50 for us to get in the zoo and pay for parking, but we paid $70 for the membership, which includes fee parking. Since we had a membership 2-3 years ago, they had a special running where you could renew your membership for 14 months instead of 12, so better yet!

In the photos: Grandma with Caroline on the 10th. And Brian and the big kids on the train at the zoo. Caroline was asleep in the stroller and stayed with Grandma. The big kids love riding the train. When I was taking this picture Austin and Lauren kept yelling at me to hurry up or the train was going to leave without me!


The zoo changed their playground from when we were last there. Now they have this huge "anthill" as part of the new playground. At first I thought, what a lame play thing, just a hill. LOL But the kids (not just mine!) had SO much fun sliding down that hill! Up they'd climb, and down they'd slide, kids of all ages. They were sliding down on zoo maps and pieces of cardboard. Some families must have been there before, to know to bring cardboard.

Julia by the anteater

Caroline's 4-month appointment was Friday, and she got shots--see her little bandaid? She weighed 13 lbs., 6 oz., in the 50th percentile for weight, and was 25" tall, in the 75th percentile for height. I really was somewhat surprised, as my middle two were both 15 1/2 lbs and longer at 4 months (those chunks!!), and even Julia who was a peanut at 2 months, only 10 lbs., was 14 lbs. 13 oz. at 4 mos.! Here Caroline was such a big big newborn, and now she's the smallest of them all at 4 mos. Crazy. She sleeps 6-8 hours at night, and the doctor said that was good, so we don't have to start solids--she's not "extra" hungry, just petite. I bought her several 3-6 mo. fall/winter outfits as Lauren only had one and Julia just had one dress in that size, for cold weather to hand down to Caroline. We did get a few as gifts. But I right away thought, at least she'll be able to wear those little clothes for awhile! She's nowhere near the 18 lbs. at the top of the 3-6 month range. :)

These two climbed on Brian and must have been squishing him, from his reaction. LOL

Brian had been nicely visiting with Caroline, rubbing his head in her neck and belly and making her laugh. Then he got attacked. ;)

Austin's last soccer game was Saturday--10 games, all over! The boys were so excited to receive their trophies. I kind of wondered why they get trophies when they didn't play in, let alone win, a championship game. LOL But all the kids get them. I don't think they even have play-off games. The Blue Sharks: James, Solomon, Coach Eric, Trey, Alex, Austin.

A couple of the little princess from yesterday afternoon. She was waking up and smiling so sweetly at me! In such good spirits after a big sleep. :)

It has been a busy, busy last two weeks, with the holiday and zoo, Brian's mom coming, soccer, Awana, shopping for our Operation Christmas Child boxes, getting my hair cut and highlighted, Caroline's appointment, Julia with choir, my friends coming for our breakfast group at my house this coming Tuesday, so cleaning the house for that, just everything. Lots of fun [and just everyday] things! I've started, and actually am almost finished, Christmas shopping. I told myself I have to be done by Dec. 10 to have time to wrap everything and pack for our trip to WA for Christmas (leaving the 19th sometime). Otherwise there is no way it will all get done on top of all our regular activities that keep us going! Brian and I have been nominated to serve as deacon/deaconess for the next three years. We accepted the nomination, and really hope that won't be too much for us. But, someone has to serve there, and is there ever a "good" time where you're not so busy. I suppose there is the chance we wouldn't get voted in, though we haven't known that to happen...