In honor of Thanksgiving...

I'm thankful for my family - Austin, Makayla, Clara, and Holden

I'm thankful for all the rest of my family that give me support and love.

I'm thankful that despite all the ear infections and colds, we're all healthy.

I'm thankful my husband has a steady job.

I'm thankful for the experience we've had living here in Lehi, in this tiny apartment, and I'm definitely thankful that we are getting a house that we can call our own!

I'm thankful I live in a country where I'm free.

I'm thankful that even though it's miserably dreary and cold and the landscape is barren, there's the promise of spring.

I'm thankful that I'm tired because it means I have a lot of fun things to keep me busy.

I'm thankful for my parents who put up with all the things I did that my kids are now doing to me.

I'm thankful for wonderful friends that support me and give me a reason to keep this blog (since my family only reads it when I tell them to).

I'm thankful for laughter, especially the tears from your eyes, stomach hurts, peeing in your pants, snorting kind of laughter.

I'm thankful for Botox, so I no longer have to listen to Clara grind her teeth.

And I'm thankful I have a God to be thankful to!

**Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear what you are thankful for!

Finger Painting

What more fun is there in childhood than finger painting? Treyson and Makayla are finger painting and having a great time at it. They are mixing colors and started out so good to get the color they wanted, but now it is just a big picture of all the colors mixed together. I suggested they clean up their hands once the paint was all gone, and they both said "no" at the same time. There is just something about playing with the gooey stuff between your fingers and making a mess that you won't get in trouble for that is appealing. They are banging the bottles of paint against their papers to get every last drop of paint out of them. I would add pics, because they are so dang cute, but my camera is lost amongst the sea of boxes in my house. Hopefully I will find it soon :)

Botox

No, I am not that vain. It is actually for Clara. We got Botox in her jaw muscles yesterday, just to loosen them a little. Today she is not grinding her teeth, and it is wonderful! We've been trying to find a way to make her stop for quite some time now, and nobody has suggested anything for us, in fact they usually laugh because it is our problem and not hers (although I do worry about her teeth). Well, last week, we were at her rehab clinic for a follow up - not with our dr, but with a PA, and she asked if anyone had ever suggested Botox for her grinding. I was definitely intrigued by the possibility of not having to hear that sound, so she got us in right away, and it is relatively quiet in our home this morning (shouts praises here)!

Holden is 9 months

Holden had his 9 month check at the dr. this week. He is a whoppin 20lbs, 2oz. It's no wonder I'm getting some muscles in my arms. He has started playing peek-a-boo, soo big, and patty cake this week. He is such a cutie. He is trying to crawl on his hands and knees, but he gets on his hands and toes and then falls to his stomach. He is quite fast at the army crawling. His newest trick is to get up on his feet. It has to be up to something that is only about waist high, but he is loving being upright. It won't be long until he is cruising! We are still waiting for some words to come, he was saying mama, but he stopped that. The dr. thinks it is because of his double ear infection that has stopped his vocabulary, so now that he is on antibiotics, hopefully that will start up again. This kid is amazing with the things he is doing and so happy too!

Go Team

This one is for Grandpa Tom and Aunt Barb & Uncle Bill. We had him dressed in these outfits on back to back days, so we had to show them off!

Makayla and her friend Treyson had a good time playing tea party the other day before school. They had cookies and water. Makayla was explaining that when you drink tea, you do the "cheers" and made me take a picture of it. They were really cute about it!

New house

Such bittersweet news - we have found a house and are moving. I'm very sad to leave our neighbors and friends, but I am even more excited to have a house of our very own! They are set to finish the house by the end of the month if not sooner, so that gives me enough time to pack and get ready to move. To see more pictures go to here. To see the floorplan, click here

Halloween

My kids had a great Halloween. I got to go to 2 Halloween parades, it was nice that they were scheduled 1hr 15 min apart, so I could make both of them. Clara looked absolutely bored at her parade, and couldn't wait to get it over with.
She was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood - and a very cute one at that. Holden was a Dragon - very adorable, and Makayla was, of course, a princess. Makayla's friend, Treyson, was also a Dragon, and they made a cute pair. Makayla had fun trick-or-treating, but she didn't want to walk much, so it was a short night for that. We were home by 7:00 and she got to hand out candy the rest of the night. That was just as good to her, and the best part is that we didn't get too much candy, so not that much around the house for me to eat :)
Every Wednesday, before school, Makayla's friend, Treyson, comes over to play, and on Fridays, she plays at their house. About a week and a half ago, we decided to do some Easy Bakin'. Treyson and Makayla had a blast rolling, cutting out, and decorating their cookies. They were so excited that they had to take some to their bus driver, Larry, and their teacher, Mrs. Burke!