A Lot

Much time has passed since I did an actual post about our goings on.  In a nutshell, we had an interesting Thanksgiving because all three kids got Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease (it's not very serious, but very contagious).  Christmas was lovely for all of us with lots of celebrating and firsts. 

The biggest and saddest news for us now is that G-Force will be leaving us.  He is being returned to his mother. It's something that many involved in the case are mixed about, but under the law, that's what has to be done.  We are grateful to have had him with us for over 7 months.  If my Lenten Prayer Buddy reads this, would you please pray for him and his mom? We would appreciate a prayer as well.  This is something I hope to write more about later when the emotions are not so raw.

Happy Birthday, John!!

Today is my dear husband's birthday!! He is a wonderful husband to me and a loving father to the three children in our home.  Sometimes I'm gobsmacked as to how I got so lucky to have such a wonderful person as a husband and best friend. 

We're so grateful for his life and hard work!  The kids said they would like to have party hats and wanted to eat birthday cake on the way to childcare.  Looks like we'll have a snowy evening when we celebrate tonight!

PJ Bliss

Here is my darling girl at Mere Mere and Pere Pere's house on Christmas night.  She loved her new pjs.

New Year

We had a quiet New Year's Eve at home and the next day picked our Patron Saints for the year:

John:  St. John of Parma
Jenny: St. Cecilia
Cherub-St. John of Damascus
Thumbelina-St. Bernadine of Siena
G-Force-St. Patrick

We look forward to a bright year and wish you all a very happy 2012.

Pruning

Because I have not posted anything this month and because I probably will not do much blogging this month, I'm grateful to have come across this blog post today which rings so true for me. 

Mary, make my heart like yours---capable of loving.

Quote of the Day

This morning, I was teasing Cherub before we left for work/childcare and said that he looked like a ragamuffin.  In fact, he looked nothing like a ragamuffin--more like a fashionable hiker in a hoodie and vest.  And with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, he looked like the toddler version of this guy:

So when we got to school, he said, "Mommy, you know what I look like? A regular muffin!"  And then hopped out of the mini-van, "White Lightning."

Defeated

This year I was ousted as Pumpkin Champ. :(  My first mistake was letting John see my technique for guessing the weight of the pumpkin. My strategy was to have Cherub and Thumbelina sit like pumpkins and then pick them up which they thoroughly enjoyed.  The second mistake was not going with my gut instinct guess of 37.5 pounds, Cherub's weight.  John guessed 36.5 and I guessed 33.   The pumpkin weighs 38 pounds.

The victor was overjoyed as you can see from the photos.  I will rally again!!!!!
We've been making pumpkin spiced lattes using this recipe and saving lots of money from it.