Weekend Review

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend in Des Moines with Craig's side of the family. A nice relaxing day with family on Thursday, shopping (without the girls, woo hoo!) and Jolly Holiday Lights on Friday and Disney on Ice on Saturday! Great memories, and as always, good to be home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In celebration of Thanksgiving this week, I thought I would post a poem that my grandmother wrote. I think it's funny. :)

Repeated Revenge

by Mary Helen Anderson
November 19, 1956

I eat Turkey meat every chance I get
'Cause a great big gobbler I once met.

When I went into the lot
Where he was the King, he thought,
He spread his wings and fanned the ground
Gobbled loud and strutted around.

I said, "I'm not scared of you, Ol' Tom,
Nothing scares me but an atom bomb!"
Jeepers, creepers, his charge was quick
Like TNT on a pogo stick!

That ol' wrinkled head with its long, red snout
Could pick my bones, I had no doubt.
I'll never forget that ominous note,
The gobble that comes from a gobbler's throat.

He hit the fence and tore my suit
As I went over without one boot.
I called Grandpa to bring the ax
A turkey so angry should relax.

Relax he did on Thanksgiving table.
I like turkey - even with a label.
Revenge on Tom and his kin repeated
When every Thanksgiving is completed.

And here's the spunky lady, my Grammie

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I wish you special times with your loved ones as you thank God for all the blessings He's given us.

Flashback Friday

" I wash your face to make room for all the kisses of tomorrow."

("Me" by Plumb)

(This picture was taken when Jaclyn was about 5 months old. She was quite a character, even as a young baby! She would watch intently and say, "Ooooh, Ooooh.")

Computer Geek?

Ashlyn absolutely loves playing the computer. I am really amazed because she goes down to the basement by herself and completely logs in and starts playing...at 2 1/2! And, she'll keep playing for a very long time! I'm amazed that she has the motor skills to be able to double click (actually she clicks continuously until it finally clicks on) and then can move the mouse around to play the games.
I also thought I would share a website that my kids found: http://www.starfall.com/ It is all about learning to read and my kids love it!

Art Gallery

Since this blog is my way of scrapbooking, I like to put on here their latest artwork, so some day I can recall the stage they were at. I know I'll look back and miss it. Here are some pictures that Jaclyn drew back in September, and then I love how she's currently writing her name. So grown up!

Our Little Star

It was Jaclyn's turn to be star of the week this week at school. Her whole face lit up when she would talk about it, she was so excited. We got to fill out some papers all about her, and then she presented them to her class and told about her little life. Another highlite was that Mommy and Daddy got to come eat lunch with her on Wednesday, so she thought that was just fantastic. Here are some of her answers to the questions about her favorite things:

Place you would like to visit: South Dakota (I have no idea where this came from.)

Favorite food: Strawberries, Macaroni 'n Cheese

Favorite TV show: Ariel, Tinkerbell

Favorite color: Pink & Orange

Favorite book: The Cat in the Hat

Favorite sport: Baseball

When I grow up I want to be: a mommy

What I like best about me: I am friendly (I had to help her on this one. She didn't quite understand the concept, and her first answer was, "my friends.")

Her teacher, Mrs. Selmeski, came to visit our house on Thursday night, so that was very special. Jaclyn showed her all around the house, showing her all her toys and everything she can do. It was fun for her. We are so happy with her teacher and her school. It is a blessing that we are able to send her there. Here are a few more pictures of Jaclyn and her teacher.

Sisters

They have the whole table, but they prefer to share a seat.

It makes me smile.

Dots Disappointment

With all of the candy we have left over from Halloween, the girls get to pick one piece after dinner each night. Tonight, Jaclyn picked glow-in-the-dark Dots. (Yuck, if you ask me. I can hardly chew those things, they're so sticky!) Anyway, she was quite excited to see them glow and had been waiting to eat them at night for this very reason. So she dumped them all out, conjured up enough courage, and went into the closet by herself to see "the glow". Much to her dismay, she saw nothing. When she came out I said, "Why don't you hold them under the light for a bit and then try again." So, she dutifully held them under the light and said, "they're loading...just like the computer." Once she thought they had had enough load time, she was sure she would see the glow. All 3 of us went into the dark bathroom, only to see...nothing. This went on for several minutes, each time she faithfully held them under the light, only to be disappointed. "I think they need batteries," she said after about the 6th time of trying. So, her special glow in the dark treat ended in disappointment.

Unfortunately, after looking at the box later, I discovered that they're not meant to glow in the dark at all, they're just ghost dots. What fun is that?

Surprise!

After weeks of planning, I finally pulled off Craig's surprise 40th birthday party, and I am so happy to say that he had no idea! It was his sister, Jill's, idea to have him take her car shopping to get him out of the house for the afternoon, and the plan worked like a charm. He was so preoccupied with finding her a car (he LOVES the search process), that he was really not paying attention to much else. So, even in spite of him catching me two times talking to his friends on the phone (these people don't usually call me), he didn't catch on, much to my surprise. I thought for sure he knew! And, to top it all off, Jaclyn knew for two weeks and didn't say a word! I was sooooo impressed! It was a lot of pressure for a 4 year old, but she didn't spill the beans. What a girl.
Jill called me when they were 5 minutes away, so we all hid in the kitchen. I tried to get Jaclyn to come close to the front, so she could jump out and yell, surprise!, but she had it in her head that the kids needed to hide...

So, of course, I thought that hiding spot was very cute and definitely blog worthy, so I had to get a picture. And...while I was taking a picture, in walks Craig. So, the actual yelling surprise part didn't go over so well, 'cause I was too busy catching the "moment" for this blog, that I missed the even bigger MOMENT! Oh well....it was still fun. Here are some more pics to capture the event.

I also made a little slideshow tribute to Craig to show at the party. Hope you like it!

Winter Cuties

Make a Smilebox greeting

Daddy's Girl

We are so happy to have Daddy home more these days. Volleyball is now over, so he is home MUCH earlier...early enough for Ashlyn to cuddle with after her nap. It's only a short break...he'll start coaching basketball soon, but we've made it through the hardest part of the year.

My Latest Project

Well, I wouldn't consider myself a crafty person, in fact I don't get much satisfaction out of doing crafts at all...unless, there's something I love that I decide to copy. I saw these canvases in a Pottery Barn magazine and loved them, but of course, it would've cost over $200 to actually get them in my daughter's room. So, I decided to make them myself, in the middle of the busiest time of the year for me! (I'm not sure what I was thinking...I guess I just got ambitious one Saturday afternoon, coupled with the fact that once I get an idea in my head, I don't like to wait!) So, I poured the hours into it that it required, and they actually don't look that bad!

So, here's the final product in Ashlyn's room, along with a picture of her new bedding (my mom hasn't seen it...isn't it cute?) Oh, I'm glad to have that done!

Ooooh, we're in candy heaven!