Happy Thanksgiving!

So these pictures aren't particularly Thanksgivingy, but they are the cutest ones from the big day. Just imagine a big turkey somewhere in the background. We had such a great Thanksgiving...I thought I'd never be hungry again. The day started with Scott getting muddy at the Turkey-Bowl and me joining the girls for a pre-emptive workout at the gym. Once we met up back home we got every one gussied up, made our side dishes and headed over to the Compound for the lunch feast with Grandma and Grandpa Cruze. Eldon and Mandy, Rachel and Terry and Austin were all there, too. We ate and ate and had dessert and the kids played all over the place. We watched some football on tv and had a good time visiting with everyone. Next we went straight to Grammy and Grandpa Barber's house for the dinner feast, with the Langfords and Sextons. Amazingly, we had left enough room for more and more eating and desserts. The kids had a talent show (Ben and Josh: a Sponge Bob and Patrick routine, Emma: piano, Lydia: saying "no"), then we put them all to bed and played some games and talked.

Side note: you'll notice the animals being lovingly held by the three big kids. These are their new Webkinz. All three have been talking about these things and wishing for them for months and months now. Wednesday night (before T-giving) we were on an outing to the mall. The kids had all brought their money with them hoping we'd be able to find some and sure enough, there they were. A kiosk had exactly the right animal for each of them that they'd been hoping for. Emma: husky dog, or "wolf" as she prefers to call it named Lucy. Ben: lion named Lion then later changed to Aslund (sp?). Josh: hippo named Blue. Those kids have not been so happy about something for a long time. All Wed. evening they were hugging their animals and smiling non-stop. They have barely put them down. It's been fun.

A few more projects...

Here are two bibs I recently made and two Darth Vader ornaments. The ornaments I saw here on Etsy awhile ago and thought they'd be perfect for some little boys in my life, so I've made a few of those (very easy, but more time-consuming than I thought). The bibs, I imagined all on my own. I really like the sort of sun-burst pattern on the first one and I've been planning to work that in to a lot of things. The piggy-bibby has a way-too-wide neck, so I guess it's for a really fat baby (I keep making slight changes to the bibs' shape and eventually it will be perfect...eventually). I'd been wanting to try terrycloth for the back of a bib for a long time and finally did. I'm sold. I love how cozy it is.

Free Rice

How cool is this? Improve your vocabulary while fighting world hunger. For every word you get correct they donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. 3,059,177,080 grains donated since its launch in early October. Check it out.

Have you ever been this tired?

(With apologies to Katie for the title.)

This was Lydia in the midst of an afternoon snack one day when she hadn't quite had her usual proper mid-day nap. She stayed this way for about half an hour then woke up and was cheerful as could be for the rest of the day.

Ben's Birthday Party

I have a bad habit. I'm full of good intentions that don't always (almost never) make it to fruition. My intention was to have a nice, well-planned, themed birthday party for Ben (who turned 6 at the end of October) with all of his buddies from school and church and his cousins sometime very close to his actual birthday. Because I'm a cool mom. His birthday came and went amind a flurry of last soccer games of the season, end of season soccer parties and major house cleaning/minor renovations. I felt less and less cool as I kept giving probable dates that we would have his party and those dates kept not working out. And I still didn't have an actual plan. Finally, one Thursday we decided enough was enough and we would just throw one together. So phone calls were made (no time for actual cute invitations) to let a few guests know we'd be having his party at a nearby park that Saturday. All in all though, it turned out to be a pretty fun party. It was great weather, the kids loved playing on the playground, and I had last minute inspiration to make it a letterboxing party (thank you, Design Mom). I had made each kid their own little notebook (patterned after this one) with their name on it. After some time just playing around we ate cupcakes, made our own stamps out of craft foam and hunted down the letterbox to trade stamps with it.

Next year...next year! His party is going to be really cool...you'll see.

Craft for a Cause

I ran across this blog today: Craft For China. This is just the neatest thing. Go check it out to find out the what, why, who etc. This girl just had a great idea for raising money to donate to Chinese orphanages. Very cool. Why are you still reading this? Go check it out already.

Halloween

Ah, the sugar rush is just starting to die down. Here are the kids at the church Trunk-or-Treat from Tuesday night. (Thomas, Bunny, Vampire, Soccer Player)
They had face-painting there, too. They were all pretty bummed that I washed them off before bed that night.

Of course we went out Wednesday night around our neighborhood as well. Those kids have endurance. They could have kept going all night no matter how heavy their plastic pumpkins got! After we finally came home they made quick work of sorting and trading their candy. For a few days afterwards they kept wanting to sort/trade some more. That's my favorite part of the whole holiday I think...I'm glad they're into it too.

Tagged

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I've been tagged by Alice. I think many of my blogging associates have already played this game, but I will tag them here nonetheless and they can feel free to decline the tag if they've already done it. So Callie, Cally, Ryan, Mandy, Katie, Alyssa, and Jenny....TAG!



"Here are the rules which must be posted on your blog if you are tagged.1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs."



My Seven Facts:



1. I like to try to give a really strong, firm handshake to make up for my small size and quiet voice when I meet people. My goal is to seem dominant.


2. I have an uncanny ability to remember very unimportant long-ago events in excruiating detail. For example, the time when I was 7 or 8 and David was talking on the phone to Lisa as she was working on a diorama for school and was putting some moss in it she had gathered from outside. I talked to David for a minute too and he had me write a sign that said, "Only Weirdos Collect Moss" and put it on her door. Can you believe neither one of them remembers that? And yet I am constantly forgetting more relevant, present-day stuff...like when I've signed up to bring the snacks for nursery.


3. I can curl my tongue into a three-leaf clover shape.


4. I love playing games. It's probably my favorite thing to do with friends or family members. I like really strategic cerebral games and also ones that just make everyone laugh really hard.


5. My favorite way to listen to really good music is in the car. I like to turn it up, sing along and cruise around. When Brad and I were both in high school and rode around together a lot, we were rocking out constantly. We never talked, we always just cranked up the tunes. Any song where two people sang different lines, we would sing the different parts without discussion. Before having kids, Scott and I would sing together all the time too. And we still do, just not as much. I don't feel inclined to jam behind the wheel quite so often anymore, these days I would rather talk to Scott or the kids (and I don't want to hurt the wee ones' ears). But now and then we still crank it up...if Scott and I are alone on a date, or even with all the kids. They're cool kids, they like most of the good music that we do. They like to rock. I guess the point is, I don't need loud music every time I'm in the car (like in my youth)...but to really enjoy the best music, there's nothing like it.

6. I'm allergic to pretty much everything. When I was younger I went to an allergist and I tested positive for 90+ allergens...every single thing I was tested for. Even cockroaches. I got allergy shots for several years and it made a huge difference. Ah-choo.

7. I still look forward to getting older. I wonder when this will reverse.

Ugh, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be. If I think of anything that makes me seem really cool I'll add it on later.