November

November is coming, it is only several days away. November is no longer one of my favorite months of the year. Yes, it is the start of the Holiday Season, but for me it is a month of loss.

Two years ago this November I lost two people that I have known all my life, and a dear friend that I only got to know for a short time.

In the middle of November it all started, my Aunt Mary Bennett lost her battle with Ovarian Cancer. 5 days later my friend Miranda lost her fight with Leukemia. Four days later my Grandpa Jack passed away in his sleep.

I know in my heart that I should celebrate and remember these beautiful people for who they were and what they had done in my life, but sometimes that is a hard thing to do. I am going to try to blog about them during the month of November and I am going to do my best to remember them this month and try not to let it get me down. So, if you see me and I am not quite myself during this next month this is why.

Miranda, Aunt Mary and Grandpa you are loved and missed very much!

Adventures in Potty Training

Fun title, huh? Well this is the the little adventure that Ellyn and I are on right now (among other things).

Day one- we did pretty good, just a little dribble in the panties in the evening.
Day two- we did very good! We ventured to the zoo in our panties (and fully clothed).
Day three- we are doing good so far. It is mid day and we are still clean and dry! We even ventured out on a play date to McDonald's, shopping, and then tot he bank- out all morning and not one accident!

I am so proud of my little one. I am glad to see the Pull-Ups go to only bedtime use. She still wakes up some mornings wet, but mostly she wakes up dry, which means she can hold her pee longer than her mom! And I am okay with that!

So, I am getting ready to say good bye to the baby years and really getting on the excited for the big girl years to come.

Anyone have a baby I can borrow? 

Fall Zoo Days

I love going to the Zoo when it is cooler out. All the animals are active and much more fun to watch! This week the zoo is getting ready for the annual Zoo Boo! So, they are decorating and getting ready for the weekend.

This morning the White Tiger was all about saying "Hello!"

Rubbing.

Licking.

She even jumped on the glass, of course I was not fast enough to get it on the camera! She startled Amiah!

We even got the treat of seeing one of the baby Red Pandas! There were triplets born this summer.

The three girls sitting on a bench and then on the turtle (this is always a favorite picture spot!).

Farmer's Market

I love going to the Farmer's Market for several reasons. First, the produce and the Farmers that sell it are neat people to talk to; second, our friend Jim Silk has a booth that he sells his homemade hot sauce from (I hear that it is fabulous, but my tummy can't handle it); third, you never know what you are going to hear someone talking about. Today was one of those days.

I opened the back of the van to get the girls out and I hear this guy talking on the phone. I hear him talking about this guy named Alex, Alex Peek! He was telling this person on the other end that Alex was a great musician and very talented, he can even play the ukelelee! And of course he is also married to this wonderful lady named Lindsay, who is equally talented! This made me smile very big, to hear that someone else thinks that these people that I know are such talented and wonderful people! THEY ARE!!!!! 

I don't get to see these friends much and I miss them dearly! Lindsay and Alex- I love you. Keep doing what ever you are doing because you are touching lives!

Movie Monday

Today is of course Monday. Ellyn has decided that today will be movie day. So far we have watched Hercules and we are in the middle of The Lion King. I kind of like watching movies, it is a nice change to watching pre-school programing all the time. So bring on the movies!!!!!

Have a great Monday!

RAIN

"Uh oh, its raining."- Ellyn, 3

It has been a long, long time since we have seen rain. So, it is a welcomed thing at least here. I love thunderstorms, more so at night but I will take it any way I can get it! My back yard is a dust bowl, now it will be a mud pit!

When we lived in a house with a sliding glass door, Virginia, Rebekah and I would sit with all the lights off and watch as storms came in. These were my favorite times with them. Now we live in a house with no big sliding door, so we have to watch through the windows, only thing is these windows are on the East side of the house, so we miss the clouds coming in. I love watching the storms at night because the kids can see that there is nothing that can really hurt them, and the light show is always beautiful!

My other favorite part of rain is the fresh smell it leaves behind, like everything has just been washed.

So, thank you Mother Nature and God for this rain that we very much needed!

There is only one thing about the Fall rains that I dislike, they tend to knock all the pretty leaves off the trees.

Half Way Through

I usually don't pay too much attention to the days of the week as a stay at home mom, but to day I am rejoicing that we are halfway done. The weeks have gotten really busy since the beginning of the month. I made some changes and have gotten involved with a lot of stuff!

Last week I attended my first real PTO meeting. I am glad that I did. The principal from Jefferson was there to talk about the school- Virginia will be going there next year. I think that she will do good there. I also helped with my first PTO fundraiser distribution, and I got to meet some of the parents and kids.

This week has been busy too, Monday night is my Growth Group night, 1 1/2 hours of no kids just a group of other moms and me. We are studying Proverbs 31, How to be a Woman of Noble Character. We talked about one of my favorite topics this week....FOOD!

"She is like the merchant ship, bringing food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard." Proverbs 31:14-16. We only really discussed verse 14 but I think that they all go together! Some of this makes me laugh and giggle to myself. I suppose that I do bring food from "afar" as i drive to the store to get what I need. One of my goals for next summer is to have a garden so that I won't have to go "afar" to get food. I surely do not get up while it is still dark, unless I have too, which now that the sun is rising later I am up before the sun. I do provide for my family, I use my earnings from babysitting to get the food we need, although I do not have any servant girls (or are they Virginia and Rebekah?) that I have to feed. But, wouldn't that be nice!?

Last night was our first Girl Scout Meeting! It was great, lots of people in my house! I love to have people in my house! I just wish that I could keep it picked up and cleaned up enough to just do it all the time. With all the little people I have here all the time it is really hard! I am hoping that once we get the basement in order it won't be so hard.

So, I am thankful for today as there is nothing going on tonight other than an Football game that I will miss. I think it will be the last game of the season for the Dickinson Bears (although I  hope that it is not) as they lost to the team they are playing tonight last week.

I will continue to learn how to be a Woman of Noble Character while relaxing after a busy start to the week. I will be deciding what to make for lunch and dinner!

Checking In

I am so sorry that I haven't blogged in a while! My friend Kris and I were talking about it the other night at our first Growth Group of the Semester. I was talking about how I only try to post things that will not hurt others, and she said, "that must be why you haven't posted a blog in a while. Nothing good to say!"
Fortunately this is not true. I do have good things to talk about I have just been busy!
Here is the short list as I am getting ready to go have lunch for the first time at school with Virginia!
I have taken on the task of Girl Scout Leader for our school, joined the PTO, joining the Parent Advisory Council, doing homework every afternoon with Virginia and Rebekah (Virginia just takes too long doing it), and numerous other things that just come with life!
I have lunch packed and ready to go. Tomorrow is lunch with Rebekah. Virginia is in the 4th grade, Rebekah is in 3rd,  and I have never gone to have lunch with them, I think that I have been missing something very important. When  you are a stay at home mom and watch others children, it is a sacrifice you have to make. I only hope that the girls will understand that, and I think that they do. So, I am off for a great lunch with my oldest daughter today and then the middle one tomorrow. I am going to take pictures!