Thanksgiving

We don't travel on Thanksgiving anymore due to Black Friday being a very important shopping time for our Ebay business and so we invited people from our ward, that were alone, to join us. I enjoyed cooking with the girls

and making Grandma's banana pudding

who can beat eating Thanksgiving dinner in the playhouse???

Zhara greeted our guests with a nice drive way drawing....only she drew it after everyone had arrived. Still it's the thought that counts right? 

It was a really good time with good food and good friends....little did we know what was in store for us in the weeks to come.....

November

My sister was opening her 3rd clinic and her husband and David were both out of town for the weekend and so the girls and I went up and helped her "test" out the equipment and organize some things. We enjoyed some girl time.

Charlotte has become obsessed with books. She will sit in your lap and just let you read forever and she is always wanting a "boop boop"

These two sisters warm my heart. Haleigh loves to "paint" on Charlotte and of course Char will do it right back because she has to do everything her sisters do

One day we were at Fry's and Haleigh said that she wanted to sit in the basket and that Charlotte could sit right next to her because "she's my friend mom" and that is how they sat the whole time in the store and surprisingly enough Char was happier than she ever is during shopping

This is what happens when you don't check the laundry basket for possible random crayons being place in there. I just grabbed the clothes and shoved them in the washer and then dried them only to find that I had washed and dried 3 crayons of green blue and orange. Ahh yes that was about 150 dollars worth of clothes. I tried some of the craziest things to get it out but they didn't work. It was a good thing that my kids weren't around when it happened because I was ANGRY only to realize that if it had been Zhara I would have told her that ultimately it is the person who is doing the wash responsibility to check pockets and such to make sure nothing gets washed that shouldn't and so...it was my fault

First day of Thanksgiving break brought teeth cleaning. They said it was fine for Haleigh to sit and watch. I told her not to move or she would have to come back out with me and when I would go check on her she would give me the thumbs up and tell me that "Lys is doing a great job"

The dentist gave the younger girls a look over. Haleigh thought it was the greatest thing ever...Char...not so much

Putting up the tree

Other October Happenings

One day Zhara was walking out of school and she turned to smile at me and I thought where did this young lady come from? Wasn't she just a 1st grader last year?

My dear Haleigh is accident prone like her big sister Zhara and has taken many hits to the face. This ice mask is on her face because she swinging on her belly in a swing and had her arms behind her like a bird. I looked at Ericka and said "she's going to fall flat on her face" and not 2 seconds later she fell flat on her face onto cement with no arms to even break her fall. Thankfully she wasn't hurt badly but I learned yet another powerful lesson of listening to the spirit. But she was up and dancing with the older girls a few moments later...their masks were a little more fun

One of David's dreams was to take the girls to see Lion King so when we found out that it was coming to Phoenix we made sure we saved money to get tickets and it was worth every.single.penny!!! David and I had seen it before but it was a completely different experience to see it through the girls eyes. It kept their attention the whole time.

The girls got their new swim coats to keep them warm while I force them to swim through the winter...and they swim outdoors. And then there is Charlotte, who is becoming quite the funny girl!!!

Time out for Mom!

The first weekend in November David sent me to Texas to spend the weekend with my friend Leslie Roberts and attend Time Out for Women. After an incredibly hard year I was ready for a "time out". As I stood in line to get on the plane I realized that I hadn't flown by myself for over 10 years and I must admit I was a little nervous. I kept checking my pockets making sure I had everything and then during my 2 hour lay over in Denver I just wandered around aimlessly...the best part was going to the bathroom alone HAHA. I arrived in Texas and Leslie's husband got us a room at the hotel the conference was in which was so nice. We got some dinner and were ready to fill our spiritual cups up. After the events for the evening we went and got ourselves some ice cream and settled in to watch a few hours of Storage Wars.

Meanwhile...back at home...David is such a good dad. He took the girls to Pinnacle Peak for dinner. Of course Alyssa was dressed up for her date with Dad, while Haleigh and Zhara wore their ties to be cut off.

He bought them balloon animals

And took them on a train ride. He sent this picture to me while I was away and my heart ached a little. All I had wanted all year was to just go away and take a breath and then when I got what I wanted I realized I didn't really want to be away from them. Funny how life works

It was a weekend that I will forever be thankful for and I am grateful for the friendship I have with this great woman

I flew home on Sunday and had made sure I had everything ready for David to take all the girls to church by himself but he got a taste of true motherhood Saturday night when Haleigh threw up a few times and then was sick all day. Alyssa had her first talk in Primary (which I missed!!!) and so he loaded up the girls and had Zhara sit with them in the car while he went and recorded Alyssa's talk. Oh the things we do for our children. Cocoa was very protective of Haleigh.

I was grateful for some time away that made me grateful to be back home...where I belong

Halloween Activities

Halloween always brings many activities. We had a stake BBQ with a little face painting

Best Dad Ever

And then there is the Fall Festival at school

And then Trunk or Treat at church

Field trip to the pumpkin patch

Haleigh was the cutest thing ever she wanted to pick a pumpkin for Zhara and was convinced that she wanted a green pumpkin. When Zhara got in the car and I told her about how she picked one out for her Zhara almost cried she thought it was so sweet

I thought the mold was a nice "ghostly" touch...and this is why we don't do pumpkins early in AZ because this was only after setting it out one day

And then there was actual Halloween. We made Alyssa wipe off her lipstick that she put on herself...

It was so cute this year with the little ones both being big enough to enjoy it. Haleigh walked the whole time and her bucket got heavy but she refused to let anyone carry it so she just carried it like a purse and then would turn her body to the person handing out candy. This is the first year I have ever dressed up....and I thought a witch costume fit me nicely :)