Thankful

I didn't have my camera much this year. But we still had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent Thursday in Mt. Pleasant with Richards family and Friday at my Dads with my family. Fortunately, my sister Heather took a few pictures that I could steal off her blog and put onto mine. Thanks, Heath. I just love these pictures because you can see what an awesome job my Dad did of putting together Thanksgiving and making it special for all of us. I truly don't think my Mom could have even done it any better. Not only did he host and do the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy and his famous artichoke dip, (with help in the kitchen from Heather), he bought activity books and colored pencils for the kids, set up a special "activity table" for them and gave us all a very special, tender letter and gift. Oh, he also put together "The Box" that my Mom always used to give each family on Thanksgiving. There are 24 little bags in the box, one to open each day of December and he did it all! He has been so amazing and this year I am most thankful for him.

Dad and Heather busy at work in the kitchen.

Look how cute he is with his recipe book and his Diet Coke.

The kids enjoying their books at the activity table.

My sister-in-law Michelle made these beautiful ornaments for each of us. So wonderful, and the center and most special ornament on our tree.

Jon and Dad trimming the tree and doing a beautiful job!

Gimme gimme, Shimmy shimmy!

Hmmmm, nature or nuture? Love this cute little video! She loves to shimmy!!

BTW- the dog is leaving on Friday! And not a moment too soon. Kate ate a piece of poo this morning and the dog pulled my table runner off my dresser, spilling all my jewelry, picture frames, candles, etc.

What should I do?

Remember in my last post how I mentioned a dog? Yes, a dog. Her name is Izzy and she has been living with us for about a month now. She belongs(ed) to Traci, my new sister-in-law. Their condo doesn't allow dogs, or it costs some crazy fee to have them and so they offered her to us. It kind of started out as we would watch her while they were on their honeymoon, but if we liked her we could keep her sorta thing. And here's the thing. We probably should have never agreed to it in the first place. I am a dog liker, not a dog lover. Richard is great with any animal and the kids just love her. After the first few days I actually got a few hives on my neck and Richard told the kids that if I was allergic we wouldn't be able to keep her. "No fair!" they said. "C'mon guys, if you had to choose between me and the dog, what would it be?" I said. After a long pause, they said, "ugh...that's a hard one!" We were planning on getting a dog next summer, a dog of our own choosing. But now, even though Jake and Traci would be happy to find a new home for her, I just don't know what to do. My kids love her. She sleeps with them every night. Kate even says her name and it is the cutest thing ever. But I am the one who is home all day and listens to her bark at every freaking person that passes my house. She barks at every piano student and then has to sniff them for 5 minutes and often camps out at their feet during lessons. Even as I am writing this I am pausing to go tell her to SHUT UP! because Kate is asleep for crying out loud! Kate gets into her food and water (and spills it all over the kitchen floor) multiple times a day. Izzy has even pooped in the toy room so many times that I've lost count. I found dirty diapers stashed under my bed that the dog had pulled out of the garbage! So....what do I do? I need advice! The kids really do love her, but I am not really on the bandwagon. Do I get rid of her and have my kids all mad at me for it, or do we keep her and I just deal with it?

Don't judge me

Some days are just crazy. Some days just never slow down, and there is hardly a minute to stop and think. The other day was like that. I was babysitting my niece and nephew for the weekend, two other friends were over (8 children), I was trying to teach piano (9 children), the dog was barking (more on that later), Kate was trying to play the piano and have me hold her at the same time, the kids were running up and down the stairs, and I didn't know what else to do. Something had to give, and so I put Kate in her high chair and gave her a handful of chocolate chips. (They were quick and handy and I knew she would like them!) It kept her quiet for the remainder of the lesson, but this is how she looked when she was done. I had to give her a bath (obviously), but it was well worth it. See....chocolate saves the day again!

Date night

Thanks to our great friends for the fun date night on Saturday! Want to know what we did? Go here. http://mjbeardenblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/refinement.html

Tender moment

I went to the cemetary this week for the first time since the funeral. I didn't realize that the temporary grave marker has a picture of my Mom on it. When I set Kate down on the ground she immediately loved Grandma. She hugged it, stroked her face, smiled, kissed it. I cried and cried. My sweet little baby. My sweet Mom. I hope Kate never forgets the love she feels for her Grandma.

Boo to you!

Hope everyone had a fun and happy Halloween! It was a perfect night for trick-or-treating! We went to our ward trunk-or-treat and then up to my Dads for more fun! He was awesome and made chili and witch's brew (apple juice with dry ice)- it felt just like Halloween always feels at the Hague home! We all had fun getting dressed up!

Gypsy, Esmerelda and the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasi Moto. Richard loved his costume because it was easy and his back hurt anyway- he played the part well.

My cute little tribe...who decided to do their own make-up.
This was as long as our little Princess Tiger Lily kept her headdress on.
Frank and Chief Dan.
Landon was a great Frankenstein, thanks to a tip from Family Fun. His head thing is a milk jug...so fun and creative!
Chief Dan
Princess Pocahontas

We had fun carving pumpkins!