Thanksgiving in Poulsbo & Port Townsend

With all the prep that goes into it, Thanksgiving day has come and gone so quickly. I can hardly believe it but back to work we will be in just a short day and a half. We had a wonderful time with friends and family. I wanted to share some of our pics with you. I pray all your holidays were as wonderful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The holidays are upon us. Wow! I can hardly believe it. Just one more day of madness before Thanksgiving and my to do list is growing by the second. Between making up veggie trays (I think I might have to buy premade ones to eliminate stress) and the antipasta plate and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pies there is so much to do.

A few new things though this year which will be fun but different. My parents are out of town so we won't be seeing them over the Thanksgiving holiday which bums me out a little. I know they will have a great time on their little vaca to see family though so I am happy they are getting to go. We are going to be going over to my sisters for an untraditional Thanksgiving dinner (sounds delicious though so no worries) and then heading over to Robb's brothers' house to have dinner with all of Robb's family. That in itself should be quite the adventure.

At Robb's brother's house there are supposed to be 31 people. Wow! 31? That is just so many people. Robb very much wanted to bring pumpkin pies and we thought the best way to accomodate the number of people, and for ease of serving, was to make individual pies. So we are making individual pumpkin cups with struesal topping. I make these by putting the pie dough into large muffin tins and the filling them and topping them just like I would a normal pie. The baking time is slightly less but they taste delicious and are a sinch to serve.

I have to admit that when it comes to talking about food is when I get a little bummed about my parents being away. There are a lot of Thanksgiving day recipes that I won't get that I love because we aren't having it at our place or my parents' place this year. That said, it should be a lot of fun to travel to new places and try new things. It gives others the opportunity to have the holidays at their respective houses as well. And there is nothing stopping us from having it at our place next year (costumes included). :)

And so I embarq upon the Thanksgiving tradition of getting everything ready in time. Pies baked, cranberry sauce made, veggetables bought. It should be a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it with my girls and husband. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and may you enjoy your time with your family as much as I will enjoy mine.

Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent

They haven't happened as much as we would have liked. Time always seems to get away on us. That said . . . we finally got out into the woods again. This time we decided to head up to the Spruce Railroad Trail. We haven't been up to this trail since I was in high school and we were very excited to take our girls up there.

From the begining of the hike for the 3 hours that followed the girls were sure to remind us on a regular basis that it was very cold out and they would be much better off if we carried them. We assured them they would survive and proceeded down the trail. It was very cold and the snow level was down.

It was great to get out in nature. The girls were great to watch as they ran down the trail and chased after Robb as he tried to get blood flowing to keep warm. I definitely encourage anyone who enjoys the outdoors to go out to this trail. And, if you have little ones that need to burn some energy, this works great at tiring out little ones. Olyvia and Ellie passed out on the ride home and slept through until the next morning.

First Photos

I finally figured out how to get the pictures from my camera onto my computer and thought I would throw a couple up here so you can see how I am doing so far. Still figuring things out and lots of practice is definitely necessary but I am having a blast figuring it out.

My Girls Best Bud!

Do you remember that one friend. The first friend you ever remember? For my girls that friend will be Logan. They have all known each other since birth. I think Olyvia wasn't even one yet when Logan was in Kelly's belly. They don't see each other as much as they used to, but whenever they do they fall right into their pattern. They are just like family.

I am glad my girls have Logan and that Logan has my girls.

This picture was taken at Sunday School. On Sundays when we get to church they immediately flock to each other - it is wonderful.

Ellie at School

One of the things I love to do is go and volunteer at the girls' schools whenever I can. I can't do it as much as I would like, but when I do I love to see all that they are doing and how much they are growing.

Here are some pictures from my most recent visit to Ellie's class.

The end of the shirt.

One of the things Robb does that drives me a little crazy is he doesn't get rid of his shirts when they get holes in them. Some of them he does, but not all.

Last night we're standing next to the sink and I notice a hole in the arm of his shirt. Keep in mind that the shirt he had on was not a one of a kind shirt he bought at a concert he went to one time and now has some sort of emotional connection with. No. It was a work shirt, one of seven others exactly like it. And when I say exactly I mean it. Same color, same style. The only difference being that this one had a hole in the arm.

I knew that the only way he would get rid of this shirt is if the shirt was beyond repair. So I stuck my finger in the little hole on his shirt and I pulled. I was thinking that would do it. Yay, no more shirt with a hole. I was wrong.

Instead of getting rid of the shirt he just started laughing, took it off and proceeded to remove the arms from the shirt making himself an even more attractive garment. He then put the shirt back on and proceeded to make one of the arms of his shirt into a hat.

Lovely, isn't it?

After we took some pictures of this beauty, he got even more creative and did this:

"Look hun," he said "a vest." Oh my goodness - really?

The girls thought this whole thing was great, helping as much as they could. However, when he was walking around the house sporting his new vest, Olyvia said it perfectly when she said "Dad, now you just look silly."

The scary thing is . . . I am sure that the vest is in his drawer.

Practice, Practice, Practice

I have my new camera in hand and now the task is to figure out how to use it. A little overwhelming, I must admit. I am, however, ready for the challenge. I am ready to learn how to work it and take some awesome pictures. My first few are a little scary and so I won't share any quite yet. I am hoping to take a ton more this week and will figure out the downloading and get some up on this page for you to see and comment on.

So, here goes . . .

"I just want a hug"

A simple saying like "I just want a hug" can have so much more meaning. I am waiting for dinner to finish cooking and while doing so am watching the girls attempt to beat up on their dad. They both go at him, full steam ahead, at the exact same moment. Olyvia meets with resistence and her sister is there instantly to comfort her and reassure her that they can take him on. And so, without further coddeling of each other they are at it again, full steam ahead right for him.

Robb trying to be the adult in the situation decides this isn't a safe activity to do in the kitchen with dinner cooking and all and so moves to our living room . . . where the wood stove is. Interseting choice as opposed to the bedroom where there are no hot devices.

So they have moved into the living area and I hear Ellie say in her sweetest voice, "I just want a hug" and she goes in for her hug and at the last minute pounces on him. This continues until Robb decides that he has to bring it to a close so he can get a rest. Their laughter however is infectious and it permieates into your being and he can't help but start laughing as well which then becomes his weakness. He is then at their mercy because he too is laughing too hard to gain control. It is as if they prey on this weakness, doing things to just make you laugh harder.

The Struggle of Any Good Mom & Wife

I finished up the book I have been reading last night. It was an amazing book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading something not too heavy but definitely impacting. Made me think a lot about myself and my life and how the things I do can impact others. The book is A Lotus Grows In The Mud by Goldie Hawn. Simply amazing.

Towards the end of the book (pg. 412-413) she has been talking about empty nest and how as parents we are to deal with that. This is not something I have experienced, but I know I will. I have seen my mother go through it and my friends' mothers, each of them dealing with it in their own way. In her book, Goldie says "The most frightening aspect for many people, especially women is the "What happens now?" She goes on to say that "one of the most important questions we are faced with at this time is the nature of our relationship with our partner. Losing our children to their new lives leaves us naked. We only have each other now." This is an interesting concept. I look at some of the people I know and I think about how much of their lives they dedicate to their children; how much they define themselves by their children. They are going to be hit hard with empty nest. Goldie points out that when we do this and then our children leave, "panic can set in" and we might not know how to deal with our relationship. She says that this doesn't have to happen though, that the key is to be aware that this time will come and that our children will (and should) leave our home to go and make their own. As husband and wife we cannot forget each other in the process.

I love my children dearly and I love to be a part of their lives and look forward to continuing to do so. That said, Robb and I need to make sure that we continue to enrich our relationship with special time just the two of us. We cannot give up every part of ourselves and our relationship for our children. If we do, what would we be teaching them. Robb and I used to have "date nights." We would have someone come and watch the girls and we would go for a walk or go work out together or go to a movie or dinner. We would do something just the two of us. We haven't done this lately and I have to say I miss it. I miss just him and me time. Although I love our time as a family, I know that this him and me time is important to making our family work. Not only does it give us each time to show the other why we love them, but it also shows our children that their parents are still in love with each other and still want to be together. This is important for when they get older and enter into a relationship of their own.

I encourage all you mothers out there to dedicate as much time to yourself and your relationship as you devote to your children. Because one day soon they will grow up and move on to their own independent life. If you have already prepared, then the question of "What happens now?" won't be so intimidating.

Question for November

I have decided to do a question each month. Let me know what your thoughts are on the question by commenting to the entry. I am excited to hear what everyone's responses are.

"Are you being the real you, or being the you everyone wants you to be?"

Halloween

Halloween went off without a hitch, if you don't count the wonderfull rainy and wet weather we had. This didn't stop the girls from having a great time in their qwest for the perfect piece of candy.

We headed downtown to wonder the streets looking at all the kids in costumes, and some adults, and collect candy from the different stores. The girls had a great time with their grandma, papa, auntie, uncle and cousin and they didn't mind that we were there either. :)

Here are a few pictures from our trecks. The one mistake I made was letting Ellie wear her princess slippers with her white tights. They met their demise Friday night, never to recover from the blackness that they suffered. I should have taken Robb's warning and put her in tennis shoes. She didn't seem to mind though and just loved to be a princess.


Our little "Curly" (Leilah) dressed as a wonderful little witch. She did a great job and once she figured out the idea behind trick or treating was hard to keep up with.


We finally found a way for Ellie to wear her hat that was more comfortable but it caused a lot of giggles from her and Papa.


Our wonderful Rachel Ray - At first I wasn't sure how to do that costume, but we just ran with it and Olyvia was extremely happy with the outcome so that is all that mattered.


Our little princess. She looks so sweet and innocent in this picture but every time we turned around she was sneaking and eating the candy. It was an ongoing battle the entire evening.


The three girls got to pet this really sweet dog that was downtown trick or treating. We found that little Leilah loves dogs and was running up to every one she saw. This was a constant worry for her parents.


And finally a family shot. Robb and I with the girls - our little Rachel Ray and Princess.