November 28

I came home from church drunk on the Christmas spirit and put Cory to work...I don't think he minded that scrooge disappeared for awhile.

November 27

This picture has to remain hidden until after Christmas..................

November 26

My babies love their cousins. This is the first time they had the opportunity to "hold" her, but now that Clay and Rebekah are moving to the area, hopefully they will lots more opportunities to hold their youngest cousin.

November 25

This sweet little turkey was made my cousin Nick's daughters, Lexie and Kenna. Seeing the girls walk in to Thanksgiving at Grandpa's house with these made me want to cry all the while putting a big smile on my face. Every Thanksgiving Grandma Dalene would make the candy turkeys. One for each place setting at the table. When Grandma Passed away in 2007, we were faced with our first Thanksgiving without Grandma's turkeys, but instead two out of the three aunts produced their own batch, not knowing that the other was bring turkeys. As time goes by, some of those wonderful memories of past holidays get further into the distance, but is beyond touching to see them revitalized and remembered years later, especially by the sweet children who are the last of the kiddos to have a memory of the original Grandma turkeys.

November 24

Home alone. Feeling better, but not so great that I want to spend the day away from my bathroom, just in case. We never used the fireplace in our last house. It is too much of a hazard with the little kids around. Having the house to myself today, on a crisp fall day, I couldn't resist the fire.

November 23

Today's picture was supposed to be at Leila's Feast day at pre-school, but unfortunately the two of us were attacked by an evil stomach bug during the night, and we spent feast day at home, watching TV and recovering. The highlight of the day was Thea's new shoes.

November 22

My husband is not only the best husband a girl could ever ask for, he is an awesome Daddy. Leila's shirt, and the girls' faces says it all...

November 21

There was one time a few years ago that I didn't bother to buy a special Christmas outfit for Leila. I just figured it wasn't necessary for her to have something new just for Christmas, when there are already so many other expenses to worry about. I remember feeling really guilty, and my mom ended up giving her one of her presents early so she could wear a new outfit to church that day. I learned my lesson, there are some things that I just need to do, even though I don't need to do them. One of those things, is new Christmas outfits for my kids, and here is Leila giving you a preview of her 2010 Christmas gear!

November 20

Killing time by making cookies...someone was REALLY excited to have a cookie. I was happy to have a sweet little helper in the kitchen. Baking with Leila is one of my favorite things to do on the weekend.

November 19

Putting the finishing touches on Turkey Tom before school this morning! Our family turkey was meant to be displayed at the Love-A-Lot feast. And it probably was, but November 23rd will tell you that we weren't there to verify.

November 18

I hate to brag. Really. But my Mac and Cheese is the best. I start with a recipe from the Anderson family cookbook, a recipe that originated with Great Grandma Anderson. I don't remember a lot of things about Grandma Anderson, but I do remember some. I don't remember eating her mac and cheese, but every time I make mine, I think of her. One of the things that I love most about cooking, is the connection I get by associating recipes with the people that made them first. Grandma Anderson may not have topped her dish with Italian style breadcrumbs, but for me, the connection is there anyway.

November 17

When I looked over the pictures I had to load to my 365 blog I was really annoyed at myself for not taking more than one picture this day. This picture is blurry and dark, but as you can see from the foot sticking out of the giant box the ottoman came out of, you can see that even two days later, this purchase was a hit, even if you can get boxes for free.

November 16

Bath night!

November 15

I worked from home today in order to be available to accept a delivery. We bought a storage ottoman online, and as soon as the girls got home from school they had to check it over pretty closely. I think they approved of the purchase. I am excited to have a coffee table that won't hurt shins and does hide toys!

November 14

Lots of kids have a Lovey, and my kids are no exception. I remember when Leila was little we always wondered when and if she would gain an attachment for one of her toys, but everything seemed to be pretty expendable to her. I remembered from when the twins were babies that there were definitely drawbacks to this scenario. Little Clayton was attached to his pacifier, but nothing like little Cassie and her blankie, which she temporarily named Mike after a favorite uncle. I would be willing to bet that Cassie still has that blanket, or at least the scraps of it that have survived the last 24 years.

Leila eventually did turn to a blanket as her special lovey, and Thea followed right in La-La's footsteps when she also claimed a fluffy pink blankets as her own "Nigh-night."
Here are my girls on a Lazy Sunday morning sporting their special friends.

November 13

The much anticipated baby shower. Leila tried her best to be the center of attention, but the competition was fierce with all of the grandkids together in one place.

November 12

SQUEE!!! BABY!!!! Mabel is in the house!

November 11

Upon returning home I was greeted with a lot of work to do to prepare for house guests and a baby shower for the weekend. Thankfully I have wonderful sisters. Cassie had to work, but Andrea, Dani and I spent the evening baking together and chatting. Love them.

November 10

Home sweet home! Cory, being the rebel that he is, had his phone on during take off and landing so that he could take some video of the experience to show Leila. Leila is a little sponge these days, and she was very interested in hearing about flying. Judging from the picture you would think Thea was really interested too!

November 9

Though our trip wasn't a long one, we spent our evenings out making the most of it. Both by exploring the shops and restaurants, and also by exploring the countryside. Leave it to a couple of small town Iowans to visit a new city and drive for miles to get a view of the countryside.

November 8

I love an opportunity to explore new places, and this was my first experience with the southwest.

November 7

I don't have a lot of experience flying. Aside from a trip in the Cat Scale plane, and my honeymoon, I had not flown. Cory and I managed to get permission from work to attend the same PMI seminar event, so on Sunday morning we dropped our girls off with Grandma Lori and Grandpa Carey and we flew out of Moline to Scottsdale, AZ.

November 6

Leila's first kid birthday party, at the Iowa Children's Museum with lots of her friends from school.

November 5

The favorite hiding spot in the house got lots of attention when our good friends the Weber's stopped by. Leila and Bryce managed to fit in there, but it was snug. When Matt and Cindy stopped by our house way back in the winter of 2005 to tell us that they were going to have a baby, we were very surprised. They had always been our couple friends, from the time that Cory and I were a couple. When we started dating, I was sharing an apartment with Cindy, and practically Matt too. We were all very close, and thankfully, many years and five kids later, we are still close. Judging by the close quarters of our respective first born children, the kids are close too.

November 4

One of my favorite things about the new house...the beautiful window in my front door.

November 3

This was one of those days. One of those days that I go back and forth thinking that either:
a. I wish I didn't work, and I could be with my girls during their happier daytime hours instead of only getting a few hours of tired cranky babies at the end of the day, and
b. Thank God I don't have to spend all day with cranky tired babies and instead have the opportunity to work quietly by myself.

Thea was crying and whining while she wandered around the house, only to throw herself down on the front rug and cozy up under her blanket. I had intended to get a picture of her miserable little face and use November 3rd as a day to complain. When I came up behind her she perked up and gave me a sweet smile. Even on bad days, I get a lot of bright spots.

November 2

A couple of months I posted on my regular blog about my propensity to decide to make sweeping changes to my lifestyle, and then brush it all aside when I fail to meet my high expectations. Well, at that time I had decided to focus on my weight, and my nail biting. Thus far, the weight issue is as big of a failure as ever, but I am happy to report success on the nail biting. As a matter of fact, I have had to do a major nail clipping because they were too long. Here they are, just a day or so after one of those major clippings. Sweet success.

November 1

I used to be really interested in politics, as recently as the last election I was excited about the debates, interested in points of view, and passionate about my own stance on a lot of issues. At this stage in the game, I am totally worn out of politics, and the ads are driving me crazy. I hate that we live in a country where so much of the advertising that we see is playing on our fears. Blah, I don't think I am going to even bother voting tomorrow.

October 31

The kids (and Aunt Cassie! :)) all posed for a picture before we took off around the block. We had another great day with family, and topped it off with a trick or treating adventure...great weekend!

October 30

Stealing another Cassie picture today...For October 30th you really couldn't ask for better weather. We had a nice little family tailgate party before half of our crew headed to Kinnick for the game. I really appreciated getting to tailgate, but not having to drag my family and all of our stuff across town to do it...Leila enjoying running and playing in our new yard. Beautiful day, beautiful girl!

October 29

So begins the Halloween weekend. We came home from school today with the start of Leila's candy stash, and they both wanted a treat. Friday night, I can use a treat too though, so I get that. When Leila was a baby it much easier to avoid giving her junk food, because there wasn't a preschooler with a sweet tooth around.

October 28

I am not really into landscaping. At our old house I had a flower garden, and I did get excited in the spring to see the first flowers pop up, but I am over the work of a garden. Not to mention the bee attraction factor. When we bought this house we had an allowance for landscaping and we knew we would have a certain number of shrubs and a tree for the front yard. My only requirement was that the tree be a flowering crab. When Grandma passed away in 2007 we all felt the need to do *something* so we built a little benched area in the Tabor park for Grandma, and in the center we planted a flowering crab tree. I wanted a flowering crab for my yard, to remind me of that tree in Tabor, and to remind me of my Grandma Dalene. This tree isn't exactly the same thing...it does have berries that I am sure I will get tired of having shed in my yard, but I am still happy to have it as a reminder of my family on the other side of the state, and of the effort we all put in to find a special way to say goodbye.

October 27

When I was a little girl, I remember seeing lots of doodled on pieces of paper around our home. My mom could make the very best flowers and bumblebees...honestly, everything she made was the very best, except the lasagna.
I give my Grandma Dalene a lot of credit for teaching for me to do things, but my momma is the one with a special talent for creating. Everything she makes turns out so much better than I could do myself. Maybe I have a bit of bias, since she is my Mom, and if that is the case, maybe one day my kids will think I am the craft-master extraordaire who can whip out a beautiful birthday cake or an awesome and unique Halloween costume in no time flat, but I have a feeling that we will be looking to Grandma Lori's skills for a very long time! Thanks Mom for the beautiful Halloween costumes for the girls, You are the Womanzi!