Insta-Friday // 11.18.2011 Version

The snapshots of our week:

A Sunday afternoon trip to the used bookstore. : )



Some pre-Christmas treat prep. Now to keep them hidden until it's time to use them!



Inspired by Ali Edwards' Project Life post for this week, I did a little breakfast documentation yesterday. Regardless of the fact that some mornings I am a short order cook, I love these little memories of what the kids (and I) are eating right now.

Mama and the boy: baked apple oatmeal. Yummmmmm. Considering making this once a week all. winter. long. That good.



The girls: grits, cereal, english muffin, frozen waffles.



A little Christmas browsing... (clarifying that I'm not looking for me here ... I would KILL myself in these shoes).  : )



The girl is learning chess and trying to teach me. I'm learning a lot slower than she is ...



Reading lesson ... slow and steady, this one is. Over half way through the book and things are starting to click.



Happy Friday! We don't have Bible study this morning so we are going to a birthday party for a little friend and then I'm hoping to get a head start on some housework to make tomorrow a more relaxing day. We'll see how that all plays out. : )

Insta-Saturday // 11.12.2011

In retrospect, another busy week. Good, but busy. We've had enough going on that I managed to somehow "forget" about laundry for most of the week so today is serious payback on that front. For some reason, people want clean clothes to wear!

Anyway, in review:

Monday and Wednesday morning consisted of some way-early dental work for Miss B, including sleepy drugs and a little laughing gas. She was a trooper even if she did look awfully teeny-tiny on that big table there.



Andrew Peterson? The author of one of my favorite series, The Wingfeather Saga? Performing an Advent concert in a few weeks? Oh, we are so there.



On Tuesday, a sweet woman from church came and stayed with the kids so I could celebrate a close friend's birthday. The kids had a great time with Miss Betsy and practically shoved me out the door, and I? Lunch! At a fancy(ish) restaurant! On a school day! With grown-ups! Celebrating my friend! It was a  wonderful treat.



We also had some very normal chicken soup lunches, too. : )



We joke that because B now has what we call her super teeth (two nice little silver crowns in her mouth), she was able to learn how to ride a two wheeler this week. I'm not ready for my baby girl to be as mobile as the other girls. Am also working on how to stop time this weekend to counteract this.



Re: stopping time, see photo below. Always, always, always on the move. When he's not asleep. Always.



T discovered this Italian Grider sub at a local shop one day on his lunch hour and recreated it one night at home for me. Delicious. And I didn't make it. Makes it even better.



Where I was on 11/11/11 at 11:11. : ) And yes, I told my small group at Bible study that I set my timer on my phone to go off and would be taking a picture at 11:11 no matter what we were doing. : )



Mama's pick for family movie night last night. Even though the girls won't let me sing along, it was a sweet way to end the week with Mary, popcorn and a fire in our fireplace. Such blessings.



Happy Saturday!

Insta-Saturday

Since October was consumed with the 31 days project, I feel the need for a short catch-up photo post. This isn't the whole month by any means, but a few fun shots over the last week plus a few days.



We really enjoyed watching the World Series this year ... having watched their cousin play baseball several times now, the girls actually got the rules of the game (for the most part). Last Friday's normal family pizza and movie night was set aside in favor of a baseball themed night. We put the boy to bed a little early, had hot dogs (with chili for the adults) and cracker jack, and the girls stayed up late to see the end of game seven.

With November comes gratitude projects. 

Bagging up the extra candy that will be used in baking projects. Bye-bye, Reese's peanut butter cups and m&m's.

  

Two winners in the new-to-us recipe category this week. Crockpot corn and potato chowder and mini cranberry meatloafs. Yum. FYI: the original recipe on the chowder completely filled my six quart crockpot - it makes a ton! Next time I make it, we will have company or I will halve it; I did halve the meatloaf recipe and it was the perfect size for us.



I am turning in to my parents. I want to stop the car whenever we are out and take pictures of the leaves. They are breathtaking this year.



Field trip this week to a pottery studio with N1 and two friends. My creative girl LOVED this activity. Loved, loved, loved it.



Already starting to think about my December Daily / Journal Your Christmas album for this year. I decided to take the stress out of even thinking about an album, saved my pennies, and bought one from EliseJoy this year.



Have also put together a little holiday reading list for the oldest.



And doing a little window shopping for Christmas. Bacon candy canes anyone? : )

Happy Saturday.

Insta-Saturday

A few pictures to sort of sum up this week of crazy. To recap, it started here.

Several nights of sleeping (or not) downstairs so we didn't wake everyone else with crazy fussing.



A care package arrived from my Dad via Amazon that has helped get me through the week.



There has been a LOT of coffee. (My girls love to drink out of these Disney coffee mugs that I used to collect. I am kicking myself that I got rid of most of them before they were born).



Starting to feel a bit better ... it was now Thursday and we were FINALLY starting to perk up a bit.



We even got a little school done this week.



Can you find the sleeping baby in there under the puppy?



On Thursday, we needed to make a run for some fresh produce ... we were cleaned out at home ... and we all needed out of the house. Because Mama is wild and crazy, we had lunch at Sam's.



While there, I ran into my holiday nemesis peanut brittle. It did not come home with me, thankfully.



And then, we were back at the dr's office for another check of the boy. (At this point, we had visited our wonderful pediatrician's office five times in as many days). The boy, while markedly improved on his croup and stridor, has a double ear infection and pinkeye. Apparently it is very normal for that to follow croup. So glad we are normal. : )



The boy's bucket o' drugs and my notes for when he took which medicine. One three times a day, one once a day, one twice a day, plus the Motrin and whatever else as well as keep track of what his fever was. And eventually keeping track of B and N1's fever because they succumbed to the germ, although for them it has only turned into bad colds.



And that, my friends, has been our week.

 

InstaFriday

A few pictures from the week by way of my phone.

This book was written about me. Wow.



(One of) the ways to my husband's heart ... good BBQ sauce.  : )



New colored dry erase markers for B make "her school" fun.



Let's learn about linking verbs!



Um, yes. I did let one of the girls pick these out when we bought groceries this week. They (the real brand, these are the Aldi version) were my favorite as a kid, and while I have so far managed to resist eating a whole bowl of them, I have snuck a few out of her bowl. I still like them.



What N1 has been reading this week when there has been a lull in school. She told a friend of mine that she is a nerd. : )



I love living in the south. And neighbors that share produce.



My husband, the sale whisperer. This time, to my benefit ... a new-to-us chair for our bedroom for me to doze read in while the girls have rest time in the afternoon. I love it him. : )



Again, in the effort to keep B busy while we do school we are trying a few new things this week so that our little hurricane of activity stays busy both with us and when we need her to find something else to do. Today, I remembered the Starfall website and both she and N2 have had a turn on it today.



Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ... we have a wedding tomorrow and I have a five-year-old that is   beside herself excited at attending her first wedding. (It's technically a no-kid wedding, but she got a special dispensation from the groom as she is a special friend of his). : ) Her excitement is pretty adorable.

Linking up at Life ... Rearranged for InstaFriday this week!