What Are You Thankful For?

Tree of Utah (Metaphor) by Karl Momen

As we drove 12 hours in the car yesterday I had time to think of some things I am thankful for. Here is a partial list in no particular order.

-Two boys that travel really well in the car

-A young niece who was squished between two car seats and entertained the boys for 12 hours

-A husband who enjoys road trips

-A husband who enjoys driving

-A mom who was taking sweetrolls out of the oven just as we arrived at midnight

-A mom who let us eat her delicious sweetrolls as a midnight snack

-A dad who heard the pitter patter of little feet and didn't tell them to be quiet so he could sleep

-A mom and dad who are happy to babysit the kids

-Family togetherness

-Trader Joes

Girl's Night Out

Every month or so I go to the Big City with a group of girlfriends. We usually get some dinner, go shopping, and then we get dessert. I had never tasted a Napoleon until my friend introduced them to me a few months ago. My life has never been the same! The French name for a Napoleon dessert is Mille Feuille, meaning "a thousand sheets" which acurately describes this layered crispy pastry lined with a contrasting butter cream filling and topped with yummy icing. Oh how delicious!

The one at Gourmandise is the best I've tasted so far

Yes, I ate the whole thing

Doughnut or Donut?

Today while the car was getting an oil change I walked with Boy #2 to the yummy doughnut shop. He loves to watch the doughnuts being proofed, flipped, and glazed. Of course he also loves to eat them and so do I.

Here Goes the Sun

Well today it happened. The wall closest to our house went up on the house our friends are building next door. It will take a little while to get used to my new view, but I'm sure after a while it will feel like it's always been there. One thing that I was not prepared for was the absolute loss of sun in my living room. In the winter I love to sit on the floor in the sunshine coming through the windows. I'm glad I did that the last two days, because it will be difficult to do again. I guess a positive thing is people won't see the awful streaks on my windows anymore.

Working on the wall

Going...
Going...
Gone

Nutella and a Two Year Old

Today I fixed a waffle for Boy #2 and gave him a plastic knife and fork. I started to put the Nutella on his waffle but he insisted he wanted to do it himself. He is usually pretty good at stuff like that so I said okay and started to load the dishwasher. A few minutes later I looked over at him. This is what I saw. It was straight to the bathtub for him!

He is licking his lips so he doesn't waste any Nutella

Thank You Veterans

Today there are flags on all the lawns in our neighborhood, so Boy #1 asked what the flags were for. I explained that today is Veterans Day which is a day to honor all the men and women who have served our country. Boy #1 then said that was what his Grandpa Frank did and that meant that Grandpa Frank was a veteran. He was very excited to tell his friends that his Grandpa was a WWII veteran. So here is a picture of the boys with Grandpa Frank, their very own WWII veteran.

Worst Haircut Ever

I decided to try a new place for the boys to get their haircuts. It was close to our house and on Wednesdays they only charge $5. I'm glad I didn't pay more because they got an awful haircut. As I was watching Boy #2 get his haircut the hairstylist was chopping Boy #1's bangs and then when I looked back to Boy #2 the other stylist had chopped his bangs! Oh my, what a disaster. Their haircuts were choppy and uneven. The good news is that they won't need haircuts until Springtime!

They are still cute even with bad haircuts

Yes We Can

My husband has been very excited about this election and so we had an election night party tonight. There were 18 adults and 13 kids here to eat yummy food and watch the events unfold on the television. I hadn't thought that the concession speech could happen so soon, but it did and so our party wrapped up sooner than I thought it would. I was impressed with both McCain and Obama's speeches, but what was Michelle Obama wearing?! It looked like she had a red apron over her black dress and it looked fuzzy. Not a good look for the next First Lady. But back to the election...the historical significance of this election is still sinking in for me. The campaign lasted so long that I can't believe it is now over. I am looking forward to the next four years.

The adults watched the television screen

The kids watched the computer screen

I tried a new chili recipe

Daylight Savings

The setting back of the clocks used to be my favorite day of the year because I would get to sleep for another hour. That was before I had kids. Now my kids just get up at their regular time, which is now an hour earlier, and there is no extra sleep for me. Which makes me wonder, why do we still have daylight savings? It seems that life would be a whole lot easier if our time always stayed the same, plus I wouldn't wonder if we were an hour ahead of Arizona or on the same time. Too confusing. As soon as the boys have adjusted to the new time it will be time to spring forward.

Hallowmas?

Yesterday as we were trick or treating Boy #1 asked what Halloween represented. Since I had a vague answer for him about All Saints' Day I decided to look it up. If you are interested in the origins of Halloween you can look here. I found it pretty interesting and it even explained why we often bob for apples at Halloween parties.

Anyway, we had a fun night and the boys didn't get too much candy. It helps that we only went down our street and then drove to a few relatives' houses and had yummy doughnuts.

A cowboy and his dog

Ready for trick or treating with friends

The little doggy was always catching up with the others