November 2013

November is so fun! The weather starts to get a little cooler, Fall festivals pop up everywhere, Lia's birthday comes along, then Thanksgiving, and then the excitement of planning for Christmas. 

It never fails though that one of the kids will come down with something. I am so thankful that I have this time with them. When they are sick and not feeling well my empathy kicks into full gear. Extra cuddles, more attentiveness, and letting them get whatever they ask for - tv, certain foods, or even just to have me sit with them. When I was working I always had a feeling of annoyance when they got sick. Annoyed because it kept me from doing my work efficiently. Now I can focus on them. And hopefully that's what they'll remember. 

Here is my little Lia finally feeling better enough to shower and eat some eggs (her request) after a couple of sick days. 

Team pictures for Ava's cheer team. With her best friend. 

Love this little project to help spruce up my laundry room...more like a closet. Feeling thankful for cousin Johnny. He's always willing to help Anthony with projects. And he's so talented. Good thing he lives right down the street. 

Finished!!! New cabinet, rod to dry clothes and shelf on the wall. So much better than that wire shelf that came when the house was built. 

These girls are practicing their poses for our family portrait session. 

Lia is another year older! How is she already FIVE?!?!  

Aside from her party birthday when she turned one, Lia has not had a big birthday celebration with friends.  Now that she's in Pre-K, she has friends in her class to invite. She really wanted a sleepover, but I compromised with a "Pancakes and Pajamas" party.  It was on a Saturday morning and we asked her friends to come in their pajamas.  We had a yummy breakfast feast, make bead/cereal necklaces, decorated pillow cases, and even had time for a pancake toss in the backyard.  I loved the simplicity of this party - and the fact that when it was over, we still had the rest of the day to ourselves.  

Typical Lia with a grumpy face right before her party started. She'll probably win an Oscar some day with all of her drama

Look at this delicious breakfast...I can still taste the pancakes.  

This pancake toss was even more fun than it looks like.

 Decorating pillow cases.

 Let's hear it for Daddy - who had chef duty for the entire party. Cooking for all of these ladies and little girls...what a sport.

Birthday girl in her new "Anna" dress. 

Like I said, we hosted Thanksgiving and I was on my feet from dawn until bedtime. My feet literally ached at the end of the night, but we had a great day with family. Wish we had gotten a big group picture...

Here we are at our first viewing of Frozen!!! (We've seen it so many times we know every word to every song)  This is our new favorite Disney movie. I may have shed a tear when I first saw it. During the song "do you want to build a snowman?" of course.