wait until your mother comes.

there are so many fun things to do at Grammy's house.

D loves inventing new things with these tubulation things. 

i believe this is a sprinkler head type thing 

that would allow Grammy to water her garden with ease.

the headache i got from taking this shot was totally worth it.

K has been singing one of the songs she has learned at CBS

over and

over and

over again. 

her favorite part the song is

"wait until your mother comes, 

wait until your mother comes!"

but she doesn't really sing it. 

instead, she demands you to 
"wait until your mother comes."

she loved adding the loud piano keys at Grammy's house

to her already noisy performances. 

and yes, we are loving K's new outfit,
if you can't tell.

(thanks Great Grammy!)

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506. new toys at Grammy's

507. phone calls with Gramma Pink

508. a morning retreat

509. coming home

510. listening to the rain falling

nearly a vacation.

first of all, i am so honored to be still in the mix!
woo hoo!

round two has now begun.

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so that it can stay in the running!
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a little while ago, B and i got to go on an incredible adventure.
without any children.
i know.
it was nearly a vacation.
seriously. 
i felt like i was on a trip. 
it was that great. 

we found ourselves out on the open sea



with the best skipper in town
(Uncle J)
and his lovely first mate
(Auntie B). 

nothing was going to stop us. 
B was even armed with a motion sickness bracelet.

we were taught all about 
booms, 
the furl, 
the helm,
rigs and
tacking.

and i am still not sure if i could use any of those terms correctly,

but i do know that this is called a winch,

and it is not to be confused with a wench.

let's be honest here, remember when i said it was like being on vacation?

well, that tells you how much work i really did. 

a rare shot of just B and me.
and don't we look so relaxed?
we were.


just like Beth Moore prays to see God's creation, 
Auntie B prayed that we would see dolphins.
and guess what?

we sure did!

it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. 

seriously.

they were just cruising right next to our boat!

these three guys hung around for a long while.

it didn't lessen how incredible it was. 

not one bit. 

B even tried to have one touch his foot. 
it came within a couple of inches. 

Auntie B, me and a little friend on the right.

and then there were tons. 

this was my first time sailing.
and i now love sailing.

my handsome beau. 

the sail!

our skipper in action.

being the skipper is serious business. 
i was really nervous to be at the helm.
(see, am i using that term correctly?)
not sure. 

Auntie B took great care of us.

one of my new favorite photos of him.
he never likes to have his photo taken. 
i'm so glad that the children don't feel the same way. 

the setting sun.

our view coming back into the harbor.

we had such a lovely time.
such a lovely time.

B and i also got to experience the green flash at sunset.
remarkable. 


501. dolphins
502. dear friends
503. pretend vacations
504. wind
505. witnessing the sunset

top heavy.

i hope that you all stuffed yourselves silly with turkey yesterday!
we sure did.
my mother-in-law is an incredible cook and 
we thoroughly enjoyed eating every single thing that she made from scratch.

don't worry, i helped.

i provided the homemade rolls

(first time ever making them) 

and three children.

see? i brought essential elements to the feast.

and here's my update on the number of gifts that i have wrapped: 0
so yeah, i'm making great progress.
not really, but hopefully i will (start and) complete all of the wrapping
by the end of next week, which is when we have our first Christmas celebration.
i know. 
it's way early to celebrate Christmas 
we usually have around eight celebrations because we have a lot of family.
and no, you're not confused, we don't celebrate hanukkah. 
it's more like a month-long Christmas.



and here is K, all bundled up to play outside a few evenings ago. 
she was nice and cozy but unfortunately 
was a bit too top-heavy and fell over fifteen seconds 
after she headed out the door and immediately came back inside. 
i can't imagine how all of you moms feel when this happens for 
those who actually get snowy weather.

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in this round of the competition!
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496. turkey

497. my favorite stuffing

498. more homemade fudge

499. sleeping in B's childhood room

500. wild times with the cousins

giving thanks.

happy, happy thanksgiving!

i am thankful to God that i am not in charge of this life.

that He knows how many hairs are on my head.

that He knows my heart.

that He knows all of my days.

that He gives me just what i need.
that i do not know it all.

for my family.

for my friends.

for His comfort.

for His joy.

for life.

for Jesus' death.

for His blessings.

for the trials.

for His comfort.

the growth.

the change.

laughter.

tears.

sorrow.

grief.

for His love.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:15

happy, happy thanksgiving!

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this round ends tomorrow at 6pm!

wonderful + sad.

we went to a party over the weekend that was both 

deliciously wonderful and 

terribly sad.

we had to say goodbye to some 
sweet, sweet friends

and their darling daughter.

(hubby was unfortunately too sick to make it to the party.)


that's the super lame thing about where we live.
people are always moving away. 

the house where the party was held was so completely lovely.

i told B that i would be more than willing to move right in.

if we ever get a place of our own, 

i might have CM come and do it up right. 

because her house felt like such a welcoming home. 

Auntie B gave my arms a rest while she held L.

and mr. J,
(who is the adorably curious son of one of my dear friends, KP)
was fun to watch as he got into everything.
even the pretend fireplace.

we hung out on the guest bedroom bed and chatted the afternoon away,
until our husbands reminded us that the party was supposed to be over at 5pm. 
and that it was well past 5pm.
but like i said, the house was so welcoming, 
it was hard to pull ourselves away.

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491. finishing up my christmas shopping

492. having big goals 
(like desiring to finish all of my wrapping - which i haven't even started - by thanksgiving)

493. that D refers to himself as an "artist"

494. almost seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for B's novel

495. pink roses delivered by the bigs

he cracks me up.

we went to a party for some dear friends over the weekend

(more on that tomorrow)

and D found this mustache sticker. 

i love it when he gets the giggles and can't stop laughing. 

i am so thankful for D who always cracks me up.

i am only now wondering why i didn't put it on L.

maybe i didn't think of it because he already looks like a middle-aged man. 

without the 'stache.

happy life made lovely monday!

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vote for this little blog on the right side of the page!
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486. being protected from the rain storm
487. being able to worship with D at church
488. fun parties with friends
489. babies who fall back to sleep on their own
490. a new (old) art table

the season has begun.

it is official. 
fudge season has begun.
B made his first batch last night. 
and if you haven't had some of his mom's famous fudge, 
you are really missing out. 
if you're in the neighborhood, 
you should swing on by for a glass of cold milk and a couple pieces. 
and yes, you must have milk with the fudge. 
it's completely necessary. 

i don't know if you know this, 

but i'm famous for making the fudge, too. 

so famous that the one time i tried making it, 

i burned the sugar and the house smelled so badly 

that we had to go out to dinner

even though we were planning on eating in. 

yep, that's surely the fame i was hoping for. 

i now am B's assistant. 

he's so good at making it, 

why do i need to try?

that's right, i don't. 

we had a slow start to the morning yesterday.

B took D to school, so there wasn't a big push to get the kids ready to leave the house. 

after i finally got K to agree to get dressed, 

i had to bribe her to let me do her hair. 

she said that she wanted to wear her hair "just like this."

yeah, that wasn't cool with me. 

so i let her listen to any music she wanted if she let me do her hair. 

and this, this is what she looked like afterwards.



don't you just want to eat her up?



i do. 



D just got this book from this sweet girl and has been absolutely enthralled by it. 
while the two littles were sleeping, we snuggled on the couch together
and read until i was just about to fall asleep.
you see, when i stop moving, 
my body thinks it's napping time.



so instead of a nap, we made a  snowflake for each member of the family. 
actually, he picked the designs out, i cut them and he unfolded them. 



and this morning, 
B suggested we teach L more signs.
so while i was getting ready, he showed him a few essential signs:

vcr

triangle and

photosynthesis

yep, those will definitely come in handy on a daily basis. 

definitely.

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481. laughter. hard laughter at the dinner table.

482. the okay from B to start okaying christmas music (unheard of)

483. enjoying both coffee and tea

484. D and me time

485. dark and cozy days