giving thanks

We are well on our way to a wonderful, stress free, reflective, family-filled, goody-filled, joyous, thankful, Jesus-centered, enjoying-the-moment Christmas season. Thanksgiving was perfect. Filled with thanks-giving, family, games, delicious food, and family. Mealtime is not the perfect time to pull out the camera but I wanted to get a few quick snaps to document our time together.

I try to be intentional and thankful in everyday things. So I think my entries here at alittler&r are quite clear on what tops my thanks-giving list. These 5 faces and the family they represent hold important places on that list.

legos

Aren't they amazing?! You have to answer yes! They came up with these creations last night and we snapped a couple quick pics before school this morning. Thanks for the flax seed suggestions. I can't believe none of my St Mark scrapping buddies had anything to say, though. Isn't that one of our convo topics?? Emily? Kristine? :)

"He is the main character. He's very main." Reilly - Friday night, while watching Polar Express at AHildy's sleepover.

rANdOM

I still love Hallmark. I stopped in this morning and added too many things to the wish list in head. AHildy (a.k.a. Aunt Hilary for those of you new around here) took R&R (a.k.a. Reagan & Reilly, the twins, my girls) to the Fancy Nancy party at Borders bookstore on Saturday. I don't know if they had more fun at the party or dressing up knowing that they were actually going to leave the house like that. I went grocery-ing today. I actually sort of love it. It is shopping after all. I love the thrill of getting the best deal and using my beloved COUPONS. Let's see...I was 15 dollars under budget and saved $6.85 in coupons. That's a little more than half of what I usually save. I can hardly bear to buy toothpaste without my 50cent coupon...which doubles to $1 savings. I bought Nutella for the first time and couldn't wait to sneak a taste. It's delicious...Nutella where have you been all my life? I've been meaning to ask since I came home with Flax Seed meal from my last trip to the bulk market. Now what do I do with it? I actually sprinkled some on top of my casserole on Monday. Matt asked me what exactly it does for you. I couldn't give him a good answer. So you'll have to help me out. My girls have extremely senstive eyes. Especially Reagan (not sure why Reilly is the one having trouble in this pic). Did you know I am colorblind? Where is the best place to purchase a new prelit Christmas tree. I've been looking around and I'm not too impressed with the ones I'm seeing. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and spending time with family. What can I bring, Amber?

storytime

Addy and I have had such a fun time together at Storytime this Fall. We've sort of settled into a nice little routine. After hanging up her coat, she looks forward to greeting Ms. Mooley (the cow puppet) with a soft pat or handshake each week. As well, as lining up and finding our places on the carpet. Our storytime songs "We're all together, again" and "Mr Sun". Taking a turn to put something up on the flannel board. Doing the craft. Turning in our names tags. And finally marching out and saying good-bye.

We've been going to Storytime since Reagan and Reilly were 1. It's fun for me to get to do it again with Addy. Before taking her to daycare yesterday, we stopped for a walk in the park. Where we walked through the crunchy leaves and Addy gathered some of her favorites. She wanted to bring her whole bouquet with us in the van, I convinced her to leave some of the crunchy ones at the park. And later wished I hadn't. While driving away she said, "I miss those crunchy leaves."

I wish you could hear her sweet, small voice singing Mr Sun while she makes a circle with her arms. It melts me and makes me so proud. She's sometimes a bit shy without her favorite sidekicks (Pres and Reese), so it's BIG for her, I think. Another plug for Storytime, R&R are fabulous readers today. We learned at conferences that most 1st graders read at a 5 at this point in the year. And R&R are at 26 and 22!! They both received glowing reports at conferences. Daddy and I couldn't be more proud!

mr sun

Oh, Mr. Sun, sun. Mr. Golden Sun. Please shine down on me.

As I was in the kitchen yesterday, beginning to get dinner together I could not stop noticing the beautiful GOLDEN sun shining through my GOLDEN maple leaves into my kitchen. I had to grab the girls and my camera (and forget to add 1/4 cup of butter to my strudel crumbles) for a little fun in the crunchy leaves.

I quickly got the cinnamon studel coffee cake (thank you Gooseberry Patch) into the oven and ran outside. This setting sun is quick these days!

When we got back inside, I saw that there was a stick of butter...cut in half...still on the counter. And I thought...that is strange. Turns out, I mixed the brown sugar and cinnamon, threw it on top of the coffee cake and forgot the butter. So what did I do? I melted the butter and dribbled it on top of my partially baked coffee cake. Umm...don't do that.

I like to think of myself as a decent cook. But my brain is so scattered in the kitchen these days. Could have something to do with these fall cuties, and the fun I knew they'd have in the leaves. And that yummy golden light.

Oh, Mr Sun.
Sun.
Mr. Golden Sun.
Please shine down on me.
Oh, Mr Sun.
Sun
Mr. Golden Sun.
Hiding behind the trees,
these little children are asking you,
please come out so we can play with you.
Oh, Mr. Sun.
Sun.
Mr. Golden Sun.
Please shine down on me.

Thank you, Raffi. :)

trick or treat

Say hello to Alice in Wonderland and her Cheshire Cat and the cutest green (girl) dragon that you ever did see. The girls had Fall Break from school last week, so we took a quick trip up to Nana and Papa's. They love visiting Nana & Papa's house. Probably has something to do with the extra hugs. Snacks. Staying up late. Visiting Great Gma D Rose and cousins. And riding bikes.

wanna see something funny?

Wanna see something funny? I realize that this will only seem funny if you've seen him recently.
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And by "him" I mean....Olly, of course!

He's just had his very first hair cut. The girls and I were giggling like school girls when they brought him out. And I admit, I did a double take...wondering if they were bringing the right dog to us. I wish I had a before picture. But, I'm not sure that I'd be brave enough to post it here. Think Big Foot.

Do you remember our brillant puzzle girl? Well, she's loving her Lego's these days. Love.ing. I love to see the creations she's working on. Love that mind of hers.

This one has a thing for the kitchen. This is her recipe for "Mix." Can you decipher the rest? Note the colon. The other day she, on her own accord, plopped a big dollup of peanut butter in the middle of a plate and carefully arranged Saltine Mini's in a circle around it. Claiming, "Look what I made Mom. Just like if you used chicken or eggs." She was proud and so was I. :)