Flashback Friday

Abby's first trip to SeaWorld.

November, 2005



{Abby Claps During the Blue Horizons Dolphin Show}

Day of Thanks--No. Four

Abigail: "I'm thankful for sleeping with you."

Brooke: "I'm thankful for my bed. For being able to lay in it, after a few hours in my makeshift bed on the bathroom floor, and for being able to spend the day in it.  Wow. This is sick beyond my wildest nightmares."

Lauren: "I'm thankful about Abby.  I love her."

Day of Thanks--No. Three

Our Day of Thanks journal got away from me tonight.  I was so busy getting ready for hosting Book Club tonight, I forgot to gather my lovelies for our daily collection of thanks. So tonight I'm going to do something a little different; I'm going to say something I'm thankful for for each of the girls.

Brooke: "Today I'm especially thankful for Geoff.  We're in a good place, in every aspect of our lives.  We've worked hard to get to where we are.  I hope we instill that in our girls. We make a great team!"

Abigail.... I'm thankful for her turn of behavior.  She's established herself in a place of comfort now--school, gymnastics.  I like this happy Abby.

Lauren.... I'm thankful this little girl is true to herself.  Her outfit was off the wall today; she didn't care.  I pointed it out to her, she snickered.  She's a pistol.  I love her to pieces.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Thank God the person at the door when Abby answered it naked was Rachel.  The look on her face said it all.  Poor girl.  I'm sure she couldn't wait to come inside and see what all the excitement was about.

2. If Geoff wants to successfully conquer the evening bath and bedtime routine he has to be one step of maturity above the children.  Farting, then laughing about it isn't helping, dear husband.

3. I hate talking on the phone. That's part of the reason I don't call anyone.  The other: sometimes I just don't want to know.

4. I'm a lot like my mom, for better or worse.  But as I get older I get a lot more like my dad.  He's a great guy, I won't fight it.

5. If I had to pick a favorite brother-in-law, I couldn't.  They're both fun in their own way.  Though I have to say I think Kevin appreciates me more.  Honestly, they both think I'm weird.  They're the pot, I'm the kettle.  Black, black, black.

6. It bugs the poop out of me that people cannot use your/you're and their/there/they're properly. Let's add it's and its to the list, too.  Might as well throw in then and than.  Ughhh.  Don't even go there with the y'all infraction.

7. Today one of the preschool teachers said, "wiener" in an adult conversation. I laughed like one of the kids.  You just don't expect to hear that word out of some people.

8. This afternoon when Abby got off the bus she grabbed my hand and walked me home.  She told me she was sad at school because she just wanted to be with me.  I'm sure she wasn't hanging her head all day, but what a sweet thing to say.  She touches my heart.

9. Lauren defies logic.  The kid is one-of-a-kind.  She's either sweet as pie or sour grapes.  Either way, she knows how to get to me.

10. Lauren's struggle with language from time to time always cracks us up. The other day she referred to our neighbor, Amar, as Cigar.  Let's just hope she doesn't smoke him!

Day of Thanks--No. Two

Abigail: "Thankful for my, my little bracelet of my house. Actually I'm not thankful for anything.  Because I'm thankful of my lunch from eating it, because I'm hungry.... What's this paper for?"  Obviously she has other things in mind.

Lauren: "Ummmm, just lay down and read.  And Daddy reads."  Obviously she has been warned not to repeat last night's story time of naughty.

Brooke: "I'm thankful for the letter G, the discussion of germs, and the uniquely decorated box of facial tissues Lauren came home from preschool with.  She's been asking us all night if we want one.  What service."

Beggars' Night

I'm late, I know.  Normal me would have had this up right after trick-or-treating, but due to technical difficulties and one busy Halloweekend, I've left you hanging until November.

When in Fairborn, shop at Foy's, so Foy's it was for this year's Halloween costumes.  Lauren was confident Woody was for her, and Abby couldn't be more thrilled to be a princess.

We suited up for trick-or-treating on Beggars' Night--it's an Ohio thing--Saturday night, the perfect night for such an event.  I have to say, strange as it is not to trick-or-treat on Halloween, they know how to get freaky and crazy in Ohio!  The Minnesotans in us didn't have the hearts to tell the girls that Saturday wasn't actually Halloween; we don't want to scar them.  But this year it may not have mattered.  They were into it completely, the princess and the Woody.

{Posed with Poise}

{Trick-or-Treat}

{Taking Down the Sconnies' Packer}

Day of Thanks--No. One

It is now tradition.  Thank You Thursdays will be put on hold in November, in lieu of our Day of Thanks Journal.  What started last year as a challenge turned into a great way of teaching the girls to look for gratitude in their day-to-day life.

I'm upping the tally this year, from fifteen to twenty-five.  So here goes, Day No. One....

Abigail: "I'm thankful that I got my bracelet back. (Bouncing!) I love my bracelet. I can't even stop leaving my bracelet alone! (Still bouncing!) I can't stop loving that bracelet." (Galloping out of the room.)

Lauren: "Connor wasn't even at school today. How about nothing? I'm thankful for nothing. Mommy, I'm thankful for you.  And I'm thankful for Buddha."

Brooke: "I'm thankful for my girls (as Abby suggested) but I'm also thankful for my missing lip balm.  In searching for it, I discovered Abby's long lost bracelet nestled in the bottom of my purse. She must have taken it off at gymnastics and I put it in there for safe-keeping. It was so safe I completely forgot about it, even turning the entire house upside down in search of it. What a great way to start our collection of thanks.  I'm so thankful I found the beloved bracelet!"