Thanksgiving

What a wonderful Thanksgiving this has been! First, Dad got to come visit. Then, we spent a quiet Thanksgiving at home. And then, Saturday.

Saturday was a great day. The kids' little cousin got to spend the night on Friday evening, and they got to spend the day Saturday running around together. Then, lunch on Saturday became our big family Thanksgiving celebration! All of my husband's family came for lunch. We made brisket, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, and stuffing. Everyone else brought sides and dessert. The meal was fantastic, and it was so fun to share our new home with the family!

After the meal, we cleared off the dining room table and played Apples to Apples. (This is a fabulous game that you simply must try! Easy enough for young kids, but hysterical when played with sisters-in-law!) Later, we moved the game to my father-in-law's house to "supervise" the kids.

All the grandkids went down to PaPa's house to decorate his tree and hang up their ornament wreaths. This has become a yearly tradition, and the kids have so much fun. The wreaths are a tradition that my mother-in-law began with her children: each year, a new ornament is added to each child's wreath. My father-in-law has continued the tradition with his grandkids, adding new ornaments to their wreaths every year. And they get to pick the ornaments (fun). The funniest part is that PaPa always leaves the tree decorated in whatever way the kids make it. Here is this year's effort:

In the evening, just as everything was settling down and everyone was departing for their own homes, my daughter's friends began arriving for a sleepover. (I know, what was I thinking, right?) My son fled to PaPa's house for the night, smart boy. The girls had a great time! This is the first sleepover my daughter has ever hosted -- we'd never had the space before! She had a great time, and her friends had a great time, and I had a great time too! Imagine my surprise at being asked to participate in a game of Apples to Apples with the girls! :) My poor husband hid in our bedroom the whole night.

All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving. A memorable holiday, to say the least!

Prepping for Christmas? Try reading some of the great Christmas books by Richard Paul Evans!

The Relatives Came

My dad and his wife spent the weekend at our house! They arrived on Friday evening, and left this morning just after breakfast.

It was a great weekend! We ate together, laughed together, walked together, played games together, and just generally enjoyed each other's company.

We bought a new game, Disney Apples to Apples, which we played several times throughout the weekend. It was a great way to spend time together and laugh and laugh and laugh. We discovered that "bugs" are "icky" but not as bad as "dirty dishes"! And that Snow White is beautiful, but not as beautiful as Sleeping Beauty! :)

I had to leave Saturday afternoon to take my library certification exam, so my husband and the kids were left to entertain the company. They decided to load up on the Gator and explore the pasture and surrounding countryside. I'm glad the weather was warm enough for this expedition! It was also warm enough all weekend for us to walk every evening!

I am so blessed to have a husband who is a good cook -- and who doesn't mind cooking for a "large" crowd. We ate well! Saturday evening, we had a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a feast of ham, scalloped pototoes, corn, and pumpkin pie. Mmm-mmm! Sunday evening, we had an Oklahoma dinner of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and pumpkin roll!

On Sunday morning, I pursuaded Dad to sing with me in church. That was probably my highlight of the weekend! It was a great moment, one I will not soon forget. I'm so glad he agreed!

So, the house will be empty when we come home after school today. Although it will be nice to have a quiet house, I think it will seem empty without them. But I think we successfully encouraged them to stop over on their way home after Thanksgiving!

My Father is Coming!

There's a little chant repeating in my head: "My father is coming, my father is coming!"

I'm so excited! My father is coming for a long weekend. He and his wife will be here in just a few hours. I am having trouble containing myself.

We cleaned the house yesterday in anticipation of their visit. The kids were great help, even helping clean the bathroom!

We also baked cookies, and shopped for groceries (including an early Thanksgiving of sorts with ham as the main dish).

Now all that's left is the waiting. Hope I can make it until 6:00 tonight!

My father is coming!!

Here are the kiddos raking leaves! They had a great time getting ready for Grandpa's visit!!








A great book about holidays and what it means to be a family: Family Dinner by Jane Cutler.

Dance Your Heart Out

My daughter loves taking dance. Her favorite is tap, but she really loves all styles. Last night was her annual Halloween Dance Party/Recital at dance class.

She had to miss her very first 6th grade basketball game to make it to dance. She chose dance (no surprise). She always has such a great time with all the girls at dance class, even though most of them attend a different school and participate in different events than she does.

Her favorite part of the evening was taking pictures with her dance teachers. These two ladies are so special, and such an important part of my daughter's life. So blessed to have such great Christian dance teachers as mentors for my daughter!

Here's a reading idea: I just finished reading Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina with my daughter. It's a biography about a famous dancer from Oklahoma. My daughter loved it, and the artwork is outstanding!

Creepy Creek Halloween

I am not usually that excited about Halloween. It's not my favorite holiday, and probably will never be. My kids like it, but don't get overly jazzed up about it, either.

Usually.

The girls in my daughter's class are very Halloween-crazed. They love everything spooky, from Monster High (my daughter) to ghost stories 24/7 (the rest of her class). So I should not have been too surprised when I got a call from one of the moms asking for help taking the girls to the local spook-fest, Creepy Creek.

If only she had known how much she was asking of me! I don't like anything scary. I try not to watch tv in October, just because there are so many icky things on. I don't even watch creepy commercials or read books that I think might be frightening. (I blame all of this on a childhood friend who made me watch "Lost Boys" twice when I was a teen. Yep, this is all her fault.)

However, I am a sucker when it comes to my kids. So, reluctantly and with great trepidation, I said okay. We ended up with 13 6th-grade girls, two moms, and a college girl who (thankfully) came along to help us. Once we got to the trail, we were split into three groups. Then, each group departed for the unknown.

Let me be completely honest. I was scared. My throat was sore afterward from screaming. I'm sure everyone in a 5-mile radius could hear me. And I feel sorry for the girls in my group. I kept stopping in the middle of the trail, with the girls pushing me from behind! And jumpy? Why yes, yes I am.

The worst moment happened right at the end of the trail. Our "guide" said we should choose which way to go to get back to the campfire. Well, we didn't know what to do, and ended up running around in circles, going every way except the right way. All the while being chased by "zombies", a guy with a "chainsaw", and a ghost of some kind. Oh, and our guide was chasing us, trying to get us to go the right way. Eeeek! (And, I fell down just as we crossed the creek to safety. Nice.)

Even when the trail was over and we were sitting around the campfire with the entire group, enjoying hot dogs and cocoa, I still caught myself looking over my shoulder for creepy creatures who might be jumping out from the shadows at me. Nothing did, but still...

I did not sleep well that night, but thankfully, I was okay by the next night. (I'm not sure my daughter slept well, either.) However, the girls seemed to have a great time just being together, so it was worth it.

I don't believe that I will willingly volunteer for this again, however. I will just politely say no. (Okay, maybe not.)

What's an interesting Halloween book -- that isn't too creepy? Perhaps Save Halloween by Stephanie Tolan. A unique perspective on Halloween!

Autumn Weather

I love this season! I love fall weather, when the temps start cooling down to livable levels. I love the seasonal rain showers and cloudy mornings. I love the fog just barely lingering when I head out to school in the morning. I love the turning leaves and the leaf piles that spontaneously appear in my yard. I love the way the air smells after a fall shower.

Last week was unbearably warm, even for Oklahoma. It was so nice to wake up to cloudy skies this morning. And then the beautiful rain shower this morning! It's still gently sprinkling outside. I love the high school library's bank of windows that let me watch the rain falling.

Mornings and Joy

Let me tell you, I am NOT a morning person. I especially love autumn mornings, crisp and cool and perfect for snuggling back into the covers with a good book.

But Sunday morning was a different story this week. I woke up, glad to see the sunshine. I thought happy thoughts all morning -- until a friend spoke an unkind word (though I don't think she thought about it). I felt like all the happiness was being sucked right out of me. But another friend, who had happened to be there, said some very profound words to me:

"Don't let anyone steal your joy!"

That helped so much. And, you know, it's true. The way I feel should not be changed by someone else. It's up to me to keep that good attitude or have a sunny day drowned by clouds. I'm determined -- no one is going to steal my joy today!!

Fun, joyful books today -- Toys Go Out and Toy Dance Party by Emily Jenkins

Autumn

It's finally autumn in Oklahoma! It was a long, dreary summer and promises to be a long, cold winter, so I intend to enjoy whatever possibilities autumn may provide... even if there are only a couple of days offered!

I've been working hard on finishing my library degree, and haven't blogged like I intended. In fact, it was working on the degree that made me come back here! I was working on an assignment that called for blogs of interest to librarians (or something like that). And I realized, I could be one of those bloggers!! I miss writing (and reading the works of others), so here is a little tidbit for today!

Best book(s) to read this autumn while curled up in a blanket with that new peppermint hot chocolate from McDonalds = A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray. Which must quickly be followed by the other two books in the series, Rebel Angels and Sweet Far Thing.

Happy autumn!