Happy Thanksgiving!

. . .from us to you. . . we are thankful for all our friends and family that check in on us here.
Thanks for being a part of us.

for this little girl. . .

I am thankful.

She's the cutest thing to me, how could I not be grateful for this little face everyday? I love that she can always make me smile. . . and even when she makes me growl I still couldn't imagine life any other way. Here's some random pictures of our big girl. . .

She's such a busy body, which we totally foresaw as a baby, that getting a good picture of her anymore is tricky. This mobility thing definitely has a downside. ;)

Bought a winter coat. Have totally no use for it here. At least she'll be warm for the couple weeks we're on vacation this winter. She'd make a dang cute Eskimo.

Little People Nativity came in mail yesterday. Miley was thrilled. I showed her all the pieces and explained what they were. Her favorite? The dog. She kisses it and hugs it. That's what she is cuddling in the picture. Don't get me wrong, she kissed and hugged baby Jesus too, but compared to a dog, babies just don't compete.

The little stinker is climbing on things now. She's so proud that she can get on the couch all by herself. Here she is showing off that she has it all to herself. . . since she kicked the dogs off, or the fled for their lives. There is no sanctuary anymore puppies, sorry. She also has a catalog in her hand. When I get a new catalog I go and look through it on the couch. Miley knows where the catalogs are kept, so she goes and gets one to sit on the couch too. She does it all the time now. ... This is me rolling my eyes.

Speaking of mimics, here she is dusting her playroom. She also knows where I keep the dust cloths and when I get one out to dust, so does she. I guess I can put her to work now that she's a big girl and she can help pull her own weight.

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

one-sided conversations frequently held

Here are a few things we say all too often to Miley. . .

Miley you can't bring your books in the bathtub with you.

The dogs are not your pillows, nor do they want you to pick them up.

If you insist on kissing Nilla please do it with your mouth closed.

Why does this look edible to you?

Thank you, but we don't need to throw everything in the garbage.

Yes that is garbage, go put it back.

I'm sorry, but you have to put clothes on.

Watch where you're going. . . the ________ (insert furniture item here) didn't hurt you on purpose.

Rocks are not food.

Leave it closed please.

Mommy is not a place for you to wipe your bogeys.

The dogs don't want to play right now.

Please get out of the bathroom, you don't need to sit on the potty again.

I'm sorry but no one is on the computer to talk to you right now.

Yes, that is my eye (or was my eye).

Go tell your Daddy that you are poopy.

a quick story or two

November is National Adoption Month, so of course there was a party thrown by the FSA to celebrate. It was a luau. Miley and I went. The lei Miley received from the nice lady was pink/purple. I got an orange one. She immediately removed her own and took mine, and then proceeded to collect any orange one she saw. . . stealing them if she had to. That's my girl. Not the stealing part, the liking the orange ones part. ;) She would take them and put them on and walk around the room. It was cute.
(Sorry for bailing so quick, Jared and Gillie, a meltdown was imminent!)

At the park one day while playing, someone else with a couple of dogs showed up. Mid-size dogs I'd say. I don't recall the breed, but they were definitely bigger than ours. As soon as Nilla saw them coming toward us she ran in front of Miley and stood on guard. Mocha, of course, tucked her tail and came to me to pick up. So brave. The dogs were nice and friendly, so there wasn't any westside story reenactment.
It's been interesting to see how the dogs have reacted to Miley. In the beginning when Miley was smaller than Mocha, Mocha watched over her. Nilla was bugged by the crying intrusion and started to lose significant weight from the stress of it. Now that Miley is bigger, Nilla is her protector, and a rather plump one at that as well. . . while Mocha has an ulcer from living with a toddler. I guess everyone can't be happy at the same time. Maybe once she's 5 it will all even out.

Ok, three stories. . .
Dave had to go in for a half day of work on Saturday, which meant he left during Miley's nap. When she woke up and couldn't find him anywhere she melted. She was crying and talking and using her hands animatedly trying to tell me that Daddy was lost and she was so sad. I couldn't calm her down so I called Dave at work and had her talk to him on the phone. That did the trick. She talked to him, told him her sad story and then was all better to go and play. She can be a bit of a Daddy's girl at times.
(In the picture she is not feeling well and only wanted to cuddle with her Dad, though she did have the strength and cuteness in her to wave at me when I took the pic)

grateful for blank space

Thin, I feel thin these days. Not in the physical sense, because I just made chocolate chip cookies the other day. . . but in the more 'I've been too busy for too long' kind of way.

In art and well any good design it's always a good idea to have a place for the eye to rest when viewing it. Whether it be a color, shape, nothingness, margins, whatever. . . someplace for your eye to go to absorb it all without feeling overwhelmed.

That's what I look for in my life. I look ahead for a day when it isn't cramped with 'to do's', they don't even have to be big 'to do's'. . . if something is there it is discounted as my blank space. I need to know that they exist for me somewhere in the near future, to get me through.

Well that was the case anyway. The way my sanity used to be managed. The last couple of months have not allowed me that much, so now I am trying to be grateful for any portion of time that I can claim as being free from stuff.

I started reading again just this week. That has been a lengthy sabbatical. I had to stop because I didn't have time to do it. Dave got me a book without my asking. I think he needs me to have more blank space too. I'm going to fit blank space back into our life, or Dave is going to enforce it, either way I'm a big fan. I had to cut out yoga, because I'm also a big fan of sleep and getting up any earlier is a hard sell for me. I'm hoping I'll be able to fit that back in as well. . . . but. . . mmmmm sleep.

Until then though, I'm grateful for the couple of minutes I have today to blog, and get absorbed in everyone else's blogs.

Speaking of which, I totally agree with you Anne on your 'a little attention is appreciated' themed post. I would have commented, but I won your last contest and didn't want to hog all the rewards. ;) And I will do better on commenting on everyone's blogs. It's like getting real stuff in the mail, and not just the usual crap. Always a pleasant surprise.

I had a couple of ideas to get people to start commenting here. . . Dave nixed anything that had to do with me making anything for anyone, or giving away anything. . . sorry, he thinks I'm too busy as it is. . . and it really wasn't that successful the last couple times I tried it anyway. The only other idea I have for encouraging all the BLURKERS out of their mute holes is to threaten them. . . I still may use that one.

However, it's November and I'm supposed to focus on being grateful no matter if it's deserved or not. ;)

Ok, so I didn't actually get on here to complain. . . well maybe a little. I really am grateful for our sometimes crazy life.

I'm grateful that teething does not last forever. I am grateful for doctors/vets and medicine that help my little family. I am grateful for a husband that still buys me (in his words, scary) craft supplies despite the fact that I ask him all too regularly 'does this look infected to you'. My poor hands. I am grateful for a husband who will stop the car to go and grab some fall leaves for me just because they are red. . . I love red.

I am grateful for our beautiful weather. . . and the sun's uncanny ability to brighten my spirits. I am grateful that despite my best efforts no plant suffered irreparable damage this season. Miracle. I am grateful for Autumn, my favorite time of year, for the change in the color palette. I can't get enough of it.

I am grateful for a friend who will take our family picture next week. It is so nice to have that off my own plate this year. Seriously, thank you!

I am grateful to celebrate another anniversary with my perfect match next week. Nine years, that number seems bigger than it feels to me. I'm even a little grateful to hear some Christmas music on TV and radio all too soon this year. That usually would have bugged me. I'm all of a sudden becoming an optimist or some such nonsense.

I am grateful for our bank and their ability to deal with credit card fraud in a timely manner. Ugh. I really wish I could have taken that train ride in London, that would have been nice. I hope they enjoyed it on our dime though. See, I'm seething with gratitude here, but forget the previous optimist comment.

I am grateful to hear 'thank you', even if it isn't to me. I just love hearing people say thank you. I am grateful for a little girl that needs a hug right now. . . so that's where this bit of blank space will end for now.

It's a lucky day! For him it's hardly ever TGIF.

so tall, so strong. . .

Miley had her 15 month doctor visit last week. She is now 32" tall and 25lbs. That keeps her in the same percentile that she's always been in. . . 95th for height and 75th for weight. She keeps growing! Miley loves being up high. She likes to ride on D's shoulders and reach for stuff. She's practicing for being soooo tall one day. I read that by the age of 20 months a kid will reach half their height. We'll see if that's true.

Little Miss M is getting two top molars and a bottom incisor at the moment. Fun times here. . . and she got three shots. . . . ugh.

The second pic is proof for Kari that M can still be held Lion King style. She's not that heavy. . . or Dave is really strong? But I can do it too. Hmmm? Maybe you should start working out a little Kari. ;)

Sorry Lucas, no videos yet. It's a lot of work to get the videos ready for the blog. . . and I am swamped. I'll try to get Dave to work on that for ya.

Sittin' around

That's what she does.

Yeah right.
I run for the camera as soon as she sits still. . . in hopes that she will be caught in a photo without blur. These moments of stillness are fleeting and sometimes in the weirdest places. I guess when you need a rest it doesn't matter where you are. . just plop down. I need more cameras placed around the house so I can get everything on film. Dear Santa. . . .

This is Halloween

Yeah, now the song is stuck in my head too. It doesn't help that it comes up on my iTunes playlist constantly either.

So here's my Halloween undone. . . except for the outside stuff all shoved in the garage. My counter and living room look really sad now, while my table is overwhelmed with crap. I have to go buy some more bins to store it in. This happens to me every year. I think the disembodied Santa head will look lovely sitting on a shelf in the garage! Reminds me of one of my scarier Halloween costume ideas that got nixed. ;)

As I was piling all of this stuff up the other day I started thinking about what to do next year. . . so I'm asking you now. . . What do you think we should we be for Halloween next year? I have an idea, but we'll see if anything can top it. Please don't suggest anything that requires me to wear a dress again. I don't know what I was thinking this year. I hate dresses.

trick or treat

So only a couple people recognized our costumes. . . and I'm going to consider that a success. I'm not so sure it was worth all the effort in creating all the small details, but I couldn't help but do those things anyway.

We were Lock, Shock, and Barrel, from Nightmare Before Christmas. The trick-or-treaters from Hallweentown that are charged with kidnapping Santa. I made Santa to go in our trunk (because our walking bathtub is in the shop) all tied up and pitiful looking. I brought the bug in the cage too, but left all the other props I made from the movie at home.

Miley was a crab that day. . . but thankfully really enjoyed the trunk-or-treat! She loved running around the parking lot with all the kids. The only trunk she wanted treats from though was our own. We gave out spooky bouncy balls and she wanted them all. She wasn't afraid of any of the characters, but did give a few pause to check out their makeup.

I didn't take pictures at the trunk-or-treat because I was either too busy chasing around our little skeleton or passing out treats to the masses. Miley was the only little skeleton I saw, except for a little yorkie in a costume, who Miley wanted to take home with us.

The best compliment we received was from a kid who was too scared to come up to our door to trick-or-treat. . . so he sent his mom. Awesome!

Out of all of my holiday projects (that I started) there is only one left on my table incomplete. Another success considering. And yes, sisters you were right I shouldn't have cut Dave's hair so close to Halloween. . . He was totally wrong, it doesn't grow that fast.

Now it's time for one of my favorite holiday traditions. . . taking down all the stuff! Yay!