Introductions

Meet the

newest member

of our family,

Bear.

He's named after

the guy on

Man vs. Wild, Bear Grylls

(Austin came up with it).

He's a beagle/bulldog mix

and has the sweetest disposition.

And as you can see,

around here,

he certainly doesn't

lack for

attention.

Whatever you do, though,

don't say, "What a cute dog!"

London will correct you,

"He's not a dog, he's a bear!"

Christmas spirit

We had the opportunity

to see some

awesome sights

on our Thanksgiving vacation

last week.

What better place

is there

to see and

experience

the wonder

of the

Christmas

season?

We may not have snow yet,

but it's never too soon

to start getting into

the spirit of things.

Domesticated

Jordan watched me doing a little bit

of mending and button-sewing

one day, and asked if I would

teach her how to sew.

She wanted to make

a blanket out of

some spare fabric.

So, we cut out

some pieces
and I showed her
how to stitch

two of them together.

She got right to work.


When she was done, this
is what her stitching
looked like.
Not bad for a
5-year-old,
wouldn't you say?
I was so proud of her.
She kept at it
until all four pieces
were sewn together.

Ta-da!

I can't wait to see
what her next creation will be.

Sydney's day

Yesterday was such

a special day.

We spent it just hanging out

and having fun together.

That evening,

it was so awesome

to see

Sydney doing this

great thing

surrounded by her family

and good friends

who love her.

We are so proud of her

and her decision.

And we have to tell you

about London's reaction

because, as usual,

she had to add her

element of humor.

After it was over, she said,

"Now we can go swimming!"

We ended the evening

by having dinner together

at a nice restaurant,

where Sydney was able to have

her favorite appetizer,

calamari ("squid rings", she calls it)

and some kind friends

bought her dessert.

What a memorable day.

These are some

beautiful gifts she received

from family and friends.

Dancers

This week

the parents

of all the dancers

were invited

to come and see

what their daughters

had been learning

so far this year

in dance class.


Jordan

has been learning

some new steps

in both

ballet and tap.

(And to tie her shoes!)



Sydney is taking

2 different classes.

In one, she learns

a combination of

ballet, tap and jazz.

The other one is

preparation

for the

ballet production


of Sleeping Beauty,

which will be

next January.

We can't wait

to see the
final
performance.

Lucky

One night

after the kids were in bed

and everything was settled down

Doug and I sat down to relax

in the family room

like we usually do

and I looked at him

and thought about

what a good man I married.

He loves our family

and takes good care of us.

He would give all he had

to help someone in need.

He's a friend to everyone.

A good provider

and great companion.

How did I get so lucky?

Hidden potential

You might look at this and say,

That looks like an hour's worth

of back-breaking work.

Good thing I had extra help.

It only took a few minutes.

We were on a mission.

Now, for the moment of truth...

Perfect!

And SO worth the effort.

Conversations with London #2

This morning we were rushing

to get the oldest 3 kids to school.

London was hungry,

and I told her we'd get her some cereal

when we got back.

She seemed fine with this.

After we dropped off the girls,

then we took Austin to his school.

As soon as he got out of the car,

London says, "OK, Mom, now we can

go get my cereal!"

I said, happily,

"OK, London, we'll go get your cereal."

and she says,

"Mom, be nice with the cereal, OK?"

Um, OK.

Later, she's having some cereal.

It's Froot Loops Smoothie,

where some of the Froot Loops

are yogurt-covered.

Of course, she only likes the ones

with yogurt on them.

So when she runs out of those,

she asks for more cereal.

I pour her more, but only

about 2 with yogurt

fall into her bowl.

She eats those 2, then says,

"Actually, Mom, I need some

more cereal."

OK, have you ever heard

a barely-2-year-old

use the word

actually

correctly in a sentence??

Pencil and paper

Part of the magic

of being a parent

is watching your child

discover his gifts.

When Austin begins drawing,

it's always amazing to see

what emerges.

He loves fantasy and adventure.

This was today's creation.

"Figuring out our gifts in life

is part of our journey

to becoming

enlightened human beings."

-- Allison DuBois

What brain cells?

Austin and Sydney
have been learning
to play the piano for
the past 1 or 2 years.
They've been taking
lessons from a
friend and have been doing
such a great job.

Twice a year they have a piano
recital, where they and the other
students get to perform a few
songs for their families and friends,
to showcase what they've been
learning. Austin and Sydney
had a few songs they were working
on and were excited to
perform for us.



Yesterday was the big day. 5:00 pm.

Mom (that's me) forgot completely about this

event until about 5:20, when the piano

teacher called to see if we were coming.

We were all in our pajamas, enjoying a

football game, oblivious to the fact we

were missing the big recital.

Good one, Mom.

Tradition

Getting pizza

on Saturday night

has become a regular occurrence

for our family.

Not that we're complaining.

We actually carefully plan it that way.

Of course, root beer
is a must to go with pizza.
It just never tastes as good
without it.

Then we put on a good

family flick

and eat downstairs.

Gotta have that Crazy bread
(so we all have garlic breath).

Even Elmo gets his own

t.v. tray.

Soon we'll own stock with

Little Caesar's,

but it sure is a

fun way

to end the week.

Jordan

Affectionate.

Our "Class clown".

Would give up anything for you.

Great sense of humor.

A Peacemaker.

Loves to have fun.

Wrestling with family:

one of her favorite pastimes.

A great help with her little sister.
Will be a super mom someday.

Is silly so much of the time.

"Syd, will you help me get my backpack on?

Is always drawing family pictures,
leaving us love notes,

and giving out hugs and kisses.

We're so thankful for our Jordan,

she's a sweetheart.

October fun

For Sydney's birthday,

we had a pumpkin-carving party.

I put the kids to work doing the fun stuff

(cleaning out the junk inside).

Then I got to work with a knife.
Since I was the only adult home,
it took forever!
1 1/2 hours and one sore arm later,
Voila! How'd we do?

Then we have the costumes, which

the kids are pretty proud of.

Each one is such a reflection of

the kid wearing it.

And, of course, this was the year
London discovered what Trick-or-Treating
is all about.
She didn't say "Trick-or-Treat" until she had
gotten her candy and was leaving, but I guess that
will come soon enough.

Now if we can just figure out

how to keep from sending our dentist

on a nice Hawaiian vacation!