Friday Favorites Times Two

Since I missed posting last Friday while we were on vacation, this will be a doozy.

1. On Monday the 19th I took the two younger kids to watch Ginger in her 6th grade Greek play. She was one of the narrators and I was so proud of how loudly and clearly she spoke, with inflection! Anyway, she wasn't a typical, mumbling pre-teen and I was happy to see her do so well. 

2. We took off very early on Wednesday morning to head to Arizona for Thanksgiving. I was just so excited to be getting out for a road trip to somewhere. I'm really glad that things worked out last minute so that we were able to go. I think the little mini McDonald's arches sticking out of the top of the mirror in the first picture is hilarious. 

3. The trip was great and we had a fantastic time seeing members of both of our families. I already posted about it here, but I forgot to include my phone photos so you get them now. Yay, right?

The next few things also happened as a part of our Thanksgiving trip, but they deserve their own numbers...

4. Bud lost his top right front tooth on Thanksgiving day! The kid normally refuses to wiggle his loose teeth, but when I saw how incredibly loose the tooth was I challenged him to wiggle it every time we were driving somewhere in the car. Phoenix is a huge city, folks, so it worked! He looks so dang cute, and I know the other top front one is soon to follow. (Just in time to sing the song for Christmas!)

5. We split up the drive back home from our vacation, so it allowed Rophone and me to get together Saturday morning with a good friend of ours who lives down there. It was so great to see her.

It also allowed us to see Big drinking hot cocoa and checking up on the game scores. That kid just needs to be an adult.

6. I love how the more leisurely drive home allowed us to take things at a slightly less intense pace. I think when you're already miserable about having to return home, increasing the misery with a long drive just makes things worse. Gee, I wonder who wasn't getting enough sleep while bunking with cousins? :)

7. Even though returning from vacation is always a bit of a downer, there is comfort in the routine of home that I enjoy.

8. I love this time of year.

9. Rophone and I went to see Pen in her school dance concert tonight. It deserves its own post, so I'll do that tomorrow. I'm just so excited to be able to include Pen in a blog post! She's been like my absentee child now that she's a teen. 

10. After Pen's concert, Rophone and I went on a date. Hallelujah. 

I guess the list wasn't so long after all. I'm sure I forgot some stuff, though. I can barely remember what happened this morning, let alone what happened last week. But, it'll do.

Twenty-One Months!

Yup. Edith is 21 months old. Time to dye her hair lavender and get her a walker. Seriously, the things she says and does are starting to feel so much older. Maybe it's because she's says things like "I mean it!" and "Just a minute." that make it seem like she's older than her age. I took this picture at the beginning of this month, and it's amazing how much older she looks to me now just one month later.

Edith is such a joy to have around. She is in a great mood more often than not and still loves to give hugs and tell people she loves them. In fact, when she got up from her nap today she gave everyone a hug and told them she loved them (See?). She just manages to make everyone feel happy. Thank goodness she's around. 

With 5 kids in the house, it's not a rare occurrence for clothing items to be left lying around. It suits Edith and her love of putting on other people's clothing just perfectly.

Edith especially loves it when she finds a stack of Big's clean laundry waiting to be put away. She will wear his underwear over her pants for the whole day. Quite happily. And cutely, if you ask me.

I'm a little sad about the fact that Edith still tries to avoid having her picture taken.

Although, she doesn't seem to mind if she thinks she's taking a picture of me.

Edith has lost a lot of her flexibility (she can't do splits all 3 ways anymore), but is still pretty darn limber. 

Running errands makes Edith so happy. Especially when it involves little treats and getting to wear her pretty green 'weater'. She tells us how much she loves us constantly while we are out and runs along the sidewalk with a high-stepping, tippy-toe, kind of run. It makes being out so much fun. Here we are on two different days, same favorite 'weater'. (Edith has definite opinions on what she likes to wear. A big NO on jeans, although I've recently gotten her to wear some denim jeggings.)

Being out sure is fun, but thank goodness Edith manages to find things to occupy her when we're at home, too. 

I can't believe how big you're getting, Edith, but I love to watch it happen. Happy 21 month! We love you!

The Two-Family Thanksgiving

I know I'm a little behind on writing this Thanksgiving post and that I missed doing Friday Favorites last week, but we ended up taking an impromptu trip to Arizona for Thanksgiving and I didn't haul my computer along. I'm aware that I've been back for a few days so probably should have the post done by now, but what I came back with from our trip has really slowed me down. An illness, you ask? Why, no.

We went to Arizona to be with Rophone's family for the holiday, but it just so happens that half of my family was gathered there, too. We managed to split our time rather nicely between the two groups. So, what I came back with was ALMOST 700 PHOTOS that I snapped over the 3 days we were there. That's where my trouble began. It didn't take me too long to delete the blurry and really ugly of the shots, but I'm still stuck with a ginormous number of photos. What to do? WHAT TO DOOOO? I'm pretty sure even the most avid of my readers doesn't want to read a Thanksgiving picture novel.

Sigh.

I'm indecisive at my best, so welcome to my worst. Enjoy!

We had such a fabulous time, although keeping the kids well-fed was a bit more of a challenge. This is what a Big low-blood-sugar-moment looks like:

The difference in the light between these two photos of Edith should tell you how long she was climbing the ladder and going down the slide at Rophone's sister's house. To say she did it hundreds of times would not be an understatement. 

But, it made her happy.

Pen and Ginger loved being able to spend the night with their girl cousins instead of having to stay at the hotel with the rest of us. I'm pretty sure they reveled in their freedom. And being able to have extra bonding time with cousins is always great.

Bud was so happy to play ultimate frisbee in the park with the guys.

Oops. A low-blood-sugar-and-I'm-tired-from-going-down-the-slide-a-gazillion-times meltdown...

That must be why we headed back to do the slide fifty more times before we returned to the hotel for the night. Okay, that was Rophone's family. Ready for mine? Hitch your pants up...

The next morning my sister, Art, snapped a photo of our family for my mom to use in her Christmas letter. It's just an added bonus that I can use it, too. By the time we got things organized, Edith had planted herself in her cousin's car and wouldn't get out in a peaceable fashion. So, Rophone just picked the car up, Edith and all, and hauled it to the front of the house for the photo.

You know what? I love it. I'm glad that Edith wouldn't get out of the car because the car adds so much visual appeal to the shot. And I love that Big is wearing athletic shorts (not my favorite) and holding a basketball because they are so him. I love that we're wearing bright colors that pop just because that's what we do, not because we're trying to look good in a photo. I love that Ginger isn't wearing shoes. I just love the picture because we're not trying too hard by being matchy-matchy or too pose-y. We're just being us and that's perfect.

I had my sister take one of me and Rophone, too. It was pretty tough to keep his hands from wandering (What can I say? He thinks I'm hot!), but I really like it. Thanks, Art!

We just hung out the rest of that morning with my family and I took a few pictures (of course I'm using the term loosely). The boys thought it would be cool to borrow some suits and wade around in the unheated pool. Cool being the operative word.

Although, once you're fully submerged, there's a chance that 'cool' isn't a strong enough word for it.

The rest of us sure did enjoy the show, though, and the recovery was swift, thank goodness.

The look on Edith's face in this next shot cracks me up:

We had a fantastic time with both sides. Enough so that we can't wait to do it again! Thanks families!