Taking sisterly love to the next level

This letter from Brianna to Courtney is nothing short of amazing!

Bennett's single-minded Gratitude Journal entry

In case it's too blurry to decipher....
It says Jesus 

over and over again

2016 Family Christmas Card!

 I spent a couple hours at my friend Paula's home today, who generously donates her graphic design skills to those in need :)
Now to figure out where in the world I put that address list I used last year... 

Real men braid their daughter's hair

This represents a lot of progress for him...

Mustang driving

Fantastically warm 
Fall day 
calls for a cruise 
in the pink convertible 

Working out with the niece!

8 rounds of tabata with this rockstar teen :-)
Seriously, she's awesome.
 Hard worker, honest, doesn't whine...
I'm praying my girls become nice teenagers like she is!

Envelope stuffing party to #LIGHTtheWORLD

We helped mom fill 250 envelopes addresses to every member of our ward, filled with invitations to our Christmas worship services, our Christmas Devotional music night, and #LIGHTtheWORLD !

Merry Christmas BeanieBoos

I want to always remember my 8 year old who totted around her favorite stuffed animals (one of which she worked REALLY hard to earn the money for & buy off Amazon herself) in Santa hats as we decorated the house for Christmas.  She was so sweet to them..."Sofie, Dottie, look at all the Christmas decorations! Aren't they beautiful!"

HOHOHO

Other grown men do this with their kids, right? Just him? Fine.

bANANAGRAMS

I lovelovelove sitting around playing games with my family!!

Don't let toddlers play with your phone

It's really awkward when you get a call from 911 asking if you have an emergency because they just received a hang-up call from you....


Thanks Charity.

Turkey trotters!

I'm so glad we found a race to do on the Northside Thanksgiving morning! 

Best way to start the holiday.  And the event was for a great cause too - supporting a family that lost their Dad, and helping the school PTA.

19:40 5k for me, 1st girl, but not super competitive. A great workout though because the hills were crazy! I'm hoping next year mom can join us....her bronchitis is bad, and cold air makes it worse. Though it really wasn't that cold! Perfect November day! 

Chillin with my homegirl

I MADE TURKEYS!!!

I did it!!! It was sooooo much work, and I was really nervous about it.... but we made it! Thawing, brining, seasoning, roasting, basting.... oye. Such a process. 
The dead birds looked and tasted perfect!
And yes...it's so so so gross to know they're just dead birds sitting there.  Can't think about it. 
But I won't be sad if I don't eat turkey again for another year.

Scenes from the Thanksgiving

Getting ready to light it up!

Multicolored paper lanterns arrived!!! 

Thanksgiving Lantern Festival 2016 is going to be beautiful!  

A Christmas post LATE or EARLY?!

While going thru old emails (in my never ending quest to get my inbox down to zero...or at least below 50), I found these gems Dad took on his camera and texted to my email last year.
So cute!
This was at their Christmas preschool program 2015.
Oh I adore them.
I couldn't just let these photos NOT make the blog (like so many, many others, sadly), so here they are. Right on time for THIS Christmas.

And below - a photo from the Dec 2015 Jingle Bell 5K for Arthritis. Our family had a fantastic time doing this together. Or at least that's what I remember. It seems like a long time ago....like, oh, 12 months or so.

Now excuse me while I go look for photos from Easter 2012 I never blogged....

Savana is here!!

Charity and Savana are the next round of cousin BFFs around here! 

They're just getting to an age where they realize that :)

I'm so excited for the Thanksgiving family festivities happening over the next few days!! 

LET THE PARTY BEGIN!

Am I doing something wrong or is she just 3....

We are waiting while Brianna gets her teeth taken care of. 

I put her shoes back on her 3 times. 

I've tried to distract her with everything under the sun. 

But nothing is as entertaining as trying to wipe the ground. Because that's so sanitary..

4 heads are better than....

Nothing like watching a video on Daddy's phone to get them to bond....

Charity's first sister sleepover

We are hoping to make this a regular thing :)

So sweet and cute.... but it took them forever to fall asleep. Then Charity still ended up waking at 3am and coming into our room. 

Oh well, it's a start!

First snowman of the season

The white lump in the photo behind his cute little head... that's their first snowman! They worked hard on him before it was time to go to school.  The snow was melted away by the afternoon, except for their snowman. How magical. 

I could've got a better pic if I was willing to go out to it. But...it's cold. And I'm a wimp lately!

First snowfall of the year!!

....and she's just a little bit excited ;)

I reallyreally love my 8yr old and yellow napkins

She set the table without being asked. She made pumpkin muffins and displayed them all cute on a tray. She begged to use our special yellow napkins, which I initially said no to because we save them for parties. 

Then I remembered some advice someone gave me.... never save the good stuff for a future event. 

Every day with my family is worth celebrating. 

So tonight....yellow napkins!

PieFace family game night

All I have to do to be Mother of the Year in their eyes is.... pull out this game.   #easywin
ps... see how there are 2 wall/door openings behind them? When we moved here, there was just the first one. The second was a solid wall. Getting rid of it last year remains one of the best things I've ever done. And it makes me want to knock down more walls. My dream home involves one HUGE open floor plan. Someday....

My magic green elixir heals all ills

Mom has a terrrrible cold.

Inconveniently, at the same time dad is recovering from knee replacement surgery.

So I went up Sunday morning to concoct a healing potion. Large quantities of organic parsley, cilantro from my own garden, an entire lemon, tumeric, zinc, echinacia, as well as stevia to sweeten it also from my garden.

Vitamixed up with mineral water.
It worked.

She drank it and is doing much better today.
However...my drink aggravated dad's heartburn apparently.
Oh well, can't win them all.

New crayons!

Microwaved the broken little pieces into a moon shaped big crayon! I love how excited Brianna gets over our little art projects. She's such a fun, happy girl. 

Flossing Lily

I actually kindof enjoy flossing children like this.
Maybe I missed my calling in life... hygienist?
No, probably not.
Because unless it's my own child, or a niece, it's super gross.

We loved having Lily for a sleepover. Meredith was working and mom/dad are sick/recovering, so we are next in line to host her! The girls just adore their time together. Cousin BFFs...so sweet. 

kindergarten creations

When Courtney says, "ta-DA! look what I made! Take a picture!"
I oblige and take the picture.
And compliment her amazing creation.
Even though I have ZERO clue as to what exactly it IS.

Courtney's bestie

Cute little Milana! They just love each other, it's so adorable

Veterans Day 11K

Woke up way too early on a Saturday to go do this run at Riverfront Park. Well, not TOO early...but most races start at 8 or 9. This one was 7. That's early. And cold. But not that bad. So I'm just whining. And winning! Another one in the books. Not that it's anything impressive...there aren't a lot of women out there actually trying to race these things. Most just do it for fitness, or to support the cause. But I do it because... I'm OCD competitive? I don't know.  But I sure love getting a great workout!

This is my lovely friend Layla. We got a pic together last year, so had to do it again!

How to get a group of kids to eat tons of vegetables...

Competitive Veggie Eating!!

Birthday baby!

We had a lovely time celebrating her birth!! I wasn't planning to throw a party. At ALL. Too time consuming, and she's too young to appreciate it. But pressure from her siblings, Brian .... and I caved. Plus, Sammy - her birthday sharing aunt - treated her to an Edible Arrangement bouquet. So we had to throw a party. Ended up inviting our neighbors the Burleys too! It was quite the extravaganza. And Charity was a very gracious hostess, surprisingly!   

Her face. Goodness. I'm so grateful for this little monkey. I just adore her to pieces. I'm especially grateful that I get so much quality time with her. Yes, she still sleeps with me almost every night! And nurses to sleep! There's no rush or reason to wean her away. I'll never ever look back and regret not spending more time with her and enjoying the baby/toddler sweetness. I've soaked up every second.  And now.... she's a... preschooler?!! Really?! Ok, my sweet little Charity, let's see what your 4th year of life brings!

SugarRush 10K

My friend Dayna and I at the post-race festivities....which included a diabetes buffet. 

Ugh. 

But it was all for a good cause - INWBaby! 

And I won and got a cool beanie. 

Definitely need to bring the family next hear- super cute kids activities, and a goooooorgeous Fall day downtown/Riverfront!   

post-church soup bowls

They don't get super excited about having soup for dinner...unless it's served in a bread bowl! Which is basically just a large roll hallowed out a bit. It's the little things!

Big sister reading time

Offering her ten cents per book was the best thing I ever did. She spent over an hour - again - reading book after book with them. Looooove iiiit