Catching up

I spent most of October and November wanting to puke, laying on the couch, and sleeping. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, since i really was able to hold down food, get out and take Grace to kindergarten every day, and maintain most functions as a mom. But when i wasn't absolutely needed throughout the day, I usually crashed.

I got feeling lots better right around the beginning of December, which is when life got insanely busy (as i'm sure it did for all of you) so I never got around to updating this sad, neglected blog.  But that's what January is for!  Here's what we were up to....

FALL FESTIVAL/ATTEMPT AT FAMILY PHOTO 2010:

We took the girls to the Littleton Historic Museum, which has a 1860's farm behind it. I foolishly thought we could combine this outing with a quick family photo. Bad idea.  I wish i could say that the biggest problem with family photos in general, and this day, was my kids. It wasn't. It was their father. Reid is the WORST when it comes to family photos! He is grumpy. He is ornery. From the moment I say, "let's take a photo" he is saying, "babe, the girls don't want to do this" in a whiny i-wanna-kill-him kinda voice. It is, to this date, the biggest ongoing battle we have. We can sometimes joke about it. But usually i just want to strangle him. His attitude OBVIOUSLY rubs off on the girls, so they're miserable. I'm trying to bribe them, keep them happy, and keep the steam from coming out of my ears, since i don't really know how to photoshop steam out. And we all look like we're faking being a happy family.

What i learned this day is that attempting such a feat in the middle of what SHOULD have been a fun family day was a BAD idea. It made for 5 grumpy people, all wanting to leave, but not being allowed to until we'd found the perfect pumpkins, played with pioneer toys and had some fun, damnit!

Anyway, here are the best we came up with.  Between the wind and Reid's "Girls, do you want to be done with photos?" i feel pretty lucky you can see most of our faces.

This photo really captured the entire outing--Abby was mostly pleasant, Eliza mostly cried and Grace mostly grumped.  If you'd captured my attitude in a photo, i'd probably have been giving Reid the bird.  HAPPY FALL FESTIVAL! :)

  

HALLOWEEN 2010:

Grace dressed up as Jesse from Toy Story. I somehow managed to make her some chaps, turn a white shirt into a Jesse shirt, and figured out a hat/hair ensemble--which all turned out really cute. (her red-yarn braid isn't showing in this picture, but it was cute!)

Abby dressed up as Little Bo Peep from Toy Story.  Somewhere, at some garage sale, i guess, i got this Little Bo Peep dress.  I never knew how thankful i'd be for it years later, when it saved me from having to make one!

Eliza dressed up as Mrs. Potato Head from Toy Story. Never in my life have i created something so homemade looking. I mean, it had potential, i guess, but WOW did it turn out homely. And you should see it in person. It was a mix of atrocious and adorable.  But c'mon! I was feeling really sick. And she's two. And it went really well with her permanently crazy hair (which deserves its own post).  And for whatever reason, everywhere we went--her costume got the most comments :). 

Some friends put together a little party for all our kids a week or two before Halloween. Eliza got to be Tinkerbell for this gathering....which i probably shoulda just stuck with...

VISITS FROM FAMILY/THANKSGIVING 2010:

Tom and Jana came out in early November for a brief but wonderful visit. Our girls were thrilled to have "baby Gabe" around (he's no longer a baby...but we can't quite drop the "baby" part....)
Jana and I crocheted up a storm--she is amazing and was so helpful in getting me jump-started for my sister's fundraiser. It was so nice to have them here!!

Reid's mom, dad and little sister drove through some nasty weather to join us for Thanksgiving. We loved having them here!
Reid ran a 5K Thanksgiving morning, and came home exhausted and with a sore knee. But that did not prevent him from tackling the turkey. He seriously prepared one of the best turkeys i've ever had.

The girls had fun making the rolls with Grandma.

The dinner was delicious.  The kids gobbled down 20 fingers worth of olives before the meal even began.   Everything was delicious.  And I was so sad not to have the stomach to eat even my first serving....but i made up for it in leftovers :)

After dinner we read some little papers we'd been collecting in a mug--things we were thankful for. We had Grace read the last one, which said "I'm thankful that my mom has a baby in her belly." She looked up and me and gasped, "What?!?!? Why does it say that?" She was completely shocked and so happy, she just kept hugging my belly saying, "my baby, my baby." Abby was happy, too. And Eliza didn't really get it. Reid's parents weren't really paying attention when she read it, so we had to re-read it. The whole "announcement" didn't go down like i had envisioned it. But it was a priceless moment, nonetheless.

Now onto December.....