close to home

Events around the world always seem so far away - even events in our own country - until there is a sudden connection that makes it more real and hits more close to home.

The past few days have been filled with attacks in Mumbai, India. I'm sure you have heard all the details on the news each day of the hostages killed and injured. Tonight they say they have shot the last of the gunmen.

Yesterday I found the connection to bring this terrible situation closer. Growing up, I had the privelege of taking piano lessons for 12 years from a wonderful lady in OR. Her name is Celeste Varagona. Evidentally, one of her daughters, Andrea, was over in India on a business trip and was eating dinner in the Taj hotel when the attacks began. She was shot twice, once in the arm and once in the leg, and had to crawl to safety in the kitchen of the hotel. Once there, she was hiding behind a door when other hotel workers saw granades being thrown in the kitchen. They helped carry her out and somehow quickly got her in a cab. As the cab was driving away, the kitchen she had just been hiding in, blew up. She was in critical condition at a hospital in India and evidentally is doing much better tonight, thankfully.

If you think of it, please pray for Andrea while she recovers and for Celeste while she waits for Andrea to be able to return home. I know I often pray for people in situations like this, but somehow I remember to pray more when I know the personal story of someone and have a name to pray for.

Here is a link to the FoxNews phone interview with Celeste:
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3226655&referralPlaylistId=playlist

happy thanksgiving! :)

Well, I have found what I believe is now my favorite recipe for great finger paint! Take approximately 1/4 cup elmer's glue (or other white glue) and add one packet Kool-Aid powder. Stir and voila! Finger paint!! It is cheap to make, the Kool-Aid makes such bright and vibrant colors, dries nice and shiny, and smells great! I did accidentally grab the "cheap brand" lemonade packet and if I had been going for pastel colors, the cheaper store brand would have worked great but I had to add quite a bit of yellow food coloring to make it as bright as the rest.

Making Thanksgiving cards for parents and grandparents.

TaDa! So many turkeys! :)

Today we learned about the clothing that Native American Indians wore. So we of course had to try out a few things - braids in the girls hair, "bead" necklaces, and of course, feathers on our heads!

And of course we had to try out sounding like Indian warriors! :)

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

a long-awaited day

Ever since my oldest saw the first leaf hint at the thought of changing color, she has talked every time we play outside (which is often!) about how she wanted to rake a huge pile of leaves and jump in like we did last year. I told her that when the tree you see a bit of in the first picture below turned mostly yellow, that would mean there would be enough leaves on the ground to make a pile. Well, last weekend I realized the tree had finally turned mostly yellow and there were more than enough leaves on the driveway to make a pile, so Monday was the Big Day! :) Thankfully the weather was beautiful on Monday since the rest of the week has been cloudy and rainy!

Sooo excited and ready to jump in! The baby was excited too but had just woken up from his nap and wasn't quite ready to smile yet.... :)

1...2...3...JUMP!!!

The experience was everything they were hoping it would be!

This is a picture we have taken every year...and this year the baby got to join the girls up in the tree. As you can see, our tree has a face and the girls have named him Melvin. :)

disney on ice: disneyland adventure

Last Friday, we had the special treat of getting to go to a Disney on Ice show in the evening. We went with Lauren and her mom and sister, and sat with their best friends. The kids LOVED the show and were thoroughly into the story as though it were real. It was just so fun to see how excited and involved they got. :) Here are a few of the highlights...

My oldest sat amazed at all the ice skaters - especially when the Disney princesses came out!

My middle child completely believed everything that was happening!

My baby clapped and cheered for everyone.

The plot line of the story was a family of five was going on a vacation to Disneyland. They went on many of the familiar rides - inluding the teacups, the haunted house (mommy's favorite, definitely not the baby's favorite! :), pirates of the carabean, etc.

Then, a bad guy came (don't remember his name...) and kidnapped Mickey and Minnie mouse!

At about this point, there was an intermission. My middle child asked if it was the end and I informed her that the ice skaters had worked so hard that they just needed a short break to rest. A minute later she looked at me and said,"But, Kiki, Mickey and Minnie are NOT resting!" I said, "Oh, they're not? Why not?" To which she replied, "Because! That bad guy took them!"

The family, of course, turned out to be the Incredibles, who then hurried to save the day!




This is Lauren's best friend's little sister, Reese. She was VERY worried about Mickey and Minnie and this was her expression as soon as the Incredibles set them free. :)

Yay! Free again! And just in time for the Disney parade. :)

The Disney castle, all in lights.

Lauren and her best friend, Kelsey...and two princess sno cones. :)

Reese and Lauren's mom, Catrina.

Lauren and two of her favorite babies. She's just like me in so many ways - including almost always having a baby on her hip! :}

My girls with Reegan (Lauren's sister), and Reese. I think it is safe to say that everyone had a blast! :)

happy halloween :)

visit with jonathan

Today the girls were at school and Shannon had the day off so she and Jonathan came over to hang out. Both boys looked very cute and I of course couldn't resist taking just a couple quick pics. I also know that Jonathan's Grandpa reads my blog now :) and especially enjoys getting to see pics of his first grandchild...so, Grandpa, consider the pics of Jonathan especially for you! :)

Watching the dogs. He thought they were pretty amazing.

Petting Scout's tail while watching one of the other dogs.

Looking oh-so-very cute in his fall outfit. :)

Telling me all about the dogs! :)

While he was standing there like this, I had a flash-forward and could see him as a teenager. Dressing all preppy like this with girls texting his cell phone nonstop! :} Looks like he should be in a boy band. Hee hee!

Finally! More of a real smile than a "cheeese" smile! :)

Evidentally this leaf was very interesting. :)

while the cats are away, the kittens (and their nanny!) will play!

While Mommy and Daddy flew out to California for the Breeder's Cup horse race this week, the kids and I (and Lauren, who once again came to help me out!) had a very relaxing week here at home. My kids are much more laid back and obedient when I am the only one at the house during the day. We have had fun just being together and haven't done too many out of the ordinary, exciting things...until today! This evening we went to "Boo at the Zoo." Kids can dress up and you walk along the path at the zoo and pause in your walk at each of the 20 or so candy stations to get a treat put in your bag. It's a very easy way to go trick-or-treating and doesn't take all that long. They even have a dounut at the end for both children and parents! The girls were excited today and couldn't wait to get in their costumes!

We had Ariel, Jasmine, and a baby vampire!

The back of Jasmine's hair...not quite like in the movie...but about as close as we could get it.

A very cute little vampire, if I do say so myself! :)

Cool dude.



On the tram that took us right up to the main entrance of the zoo, where there was no line! The bottom entrance had a very long line.....

Lauren and the baby pose for a quick pic before we head in. Isn't Lauren's fifties outfit cute?? She says this is the last year she's gonna dress up for Boo at the Zoo.....we'll see! ;)

Jonathan came again also, dressed in scrubs just like Mommy wears! He was too cute!!

Sisters. Princesses. Free candy. What more could a girl want out of one evening?? :)

Back at home and ready to say our bedtime prayers after reading our Bible story for the evening.