and goodbye November...

This happy-looking girl
is sick and has been up coughing and hacking 
multiple times every night 
(except one) 
for the last seven days.


I've logged a lot of hours sleeping 
(or not sleeping)
with her in her twin bed this week.
ughhhhhhhh.

She stayed home from school today 
and was d-e-m-a-n-d-i-n-g all day long.
I was hoping there would be a nap somewhere in her demands,
but no.
Instead there was painting.

After we picked up the boys from school
we headed to the park for a minute.
I was on a mission to find twigs for a project.


It was *freezing* out there.
We came home and needed hot chocolate.

I made popcorn to go with the hot chocolate and
learned the valuable lesson of not using the popcorn sensor button on our microwave.
Gary came home and said, "Do I smell popcorn?"
I said, "No, you smell burnt popcorn."
Gross.


But even the sick little girl
and crappy sleep
and burnt popcorn
don't put a damper on a pretty Christmas tree.

There really is nothing better than a room lit only by Christmas tree light.
Add the Michael Buble Christmas station on Pandora and 
all is right with the world.

happy

Thanksgiving + husband home for 4 days
+ kids with no school all week and
mommy getting to sleep in = happy me.

The only sad moment was yesterday when the last of the leftover twice-baked potatoes was gone.

We did absolutely *no* Black Friday shopping
{unless you count that coffee table we bought at a consignment store}
and went to see Tangled instead.
{It's adorable.  And reportedly Disney's last fairytale.  Boo.}


The tree is going up today 
(yay!)
and Avery, my mom, and I are headed to one of my most favorite Christmas traditions ever.
This will be our third year.
(here was our first ... and our second.)


Christmas is coming and I couldn't be happier about it.
Unless I had my gifts all purchased and wrapped.  Then I'd be a little bit happier.

And maybe if my children could all actually look at the camera at the same time
without being goofy
so I could get a Christmas card picture
that would be nice, too.


Happy (almost) Cyber Monday!

Open. For a Minute.

So...I've put a few things in the etsy shop.
I have missed creating, so I thought I'd start again.
There's not much there, and who knows how long I'll stay open, but it's open for now.


It is *freezing* here right now.
I'm bundled up in a cardigan and boots
the heater is on
and we have a fire going.
Lucy is passed out on the floor and loving it.

{I'm loving it, too.}

We're in the thick of Thanksgiving prep.
Today I made fudge
and tomorrow's it's cranberry compote and sweet potato casserole.
My mom is making the twice baked potatoes - my favorite.
She's making a lot more than that, but I just need to know the 
twice baked potatoes will be there.


And to add to the fun of cooking tomorrow,
I plan on popping Elf into the dvd player.
I'm in the mood.

The writer.

 I'm convinced that Riley is going to be a writer when he grows up.
{He says he wants to be a movie-maker like his dad...maybe he'll end up as a screenwriter.}
 
He writes a lot.
Like...volumes.
{And he does this on his own...just for fun.}
He's about three books into a series about a guy that owns a salsa factory. 
It's hilarious.


He has a very silly wit
and loves to make people laugh.


And he'll insert humor into his homework whenever he can.

Just in case you couldn't read the ingredients on his milk carton...

Goofy kid.

Stuck at home Saturday

Today was freezing, rainy, and full of thunder and lightning.
Gary had to work and I had to take our car into the dealer 
so we were car-less and stuck at home.

The boys begged me to let them play their DS
or my iPhone
but I was determined they were going to spend the afternoon 
actually p-l-a-y-i-n-g.

There were a lot of boredom claims,
but they eventually made a fort.
And played Monopoly 
{for 10 minutes}
and bickered
and made pumpkin bread while I made chicken noodle soup.

Finally, at 5:30 I gave in and the four of us cuddled up and watched
Night at the Museum.

Then when the thunder started we turned off all the lights
and the kids saw their first-ever flash of lightning.
{Lightning is pretty rare here.  I miss Texas lightning storms.}

And the following video has nothing to do with this post.
We were at the park on Monday,
and Avery was stuck at the top of the hill.
Colin told me he had a plan to help her down:

It worked.
:)

the power of a simple gift

Today I went to Avery's preschool Thanksgiving party
Colin's teacher conference
{he is *rocking* 1st grade}
and his drum lessons.
I had intended to cook dinner
but was exhausted and we brought Subway home instead.

{I'm feeling a little blank right now.
It's either because Gary is working 12 hour days and I'm virtually a single parent
or because I just finished watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Not sure which.}

After dinner the kids were looking through one of the dozens of catalogs we got in the mail this week
and making notes for Christmas.

Then I remembered what I had seen on another blog about Samaritan's Purse.
It's an organization dedicated to filling shoeboxes with toys and goods for
children around the world who
will otherwise receive nothing.


So we switched gears and went from making our Christmas lists
to making lists for others.
Have you heard of Operation Christmas Child?
You can fill a box, too.
Watch this video to see what they do,
and what you can do.

sunny November day

When you wake up in the morning
on a day smack dab in the middle of November 
and the sunlight is pouring through your {dirty} kitchen window

and the sky is completely cloudless
and the thermometer on your patio reads 76 degrees at 11:30 in the morning

you have to abandon those four loads of laundry you were going to fold 
and strap on her bike helmet 

and ride the block and a half to the park.

You need to watch her run through the park
and ride her bike
and play
until her cheeks are red
like all three year olds should.

And when your boys finish their day at school
you know you need to load up with snacks
and head back to the park and do it all again.

And when your kids are almost asleep before their heads hit the pillow
and you fall asleep on the couch at 9pm with all the windows open 
you know that sunny November days are hard to beat.

*****************************

And...congrats to Susanne 
(who has some very yummy-looking recipes on her blog)
for winning the print.


Email me your address and I'll get it out to you stat. :)
foreverfoldinglaundry (at) hotmail (dot) com

Weekend pieces

Today is almost exactly the middle of November, 
and it was sunny and 76 degrees and gorgeous.
The best fall day ever.

I spent the night last night in Napa with girlfriends
celebrating a friend's 40th birthday.

We laughed a lot.
It was perfect timing - I needed a getaway.


But the time I was home during the weekend was also good.

 

We ended the weekend with a piano recital and post-performance hamburgers and fries.


And now we're in the home-stretch to Thanksgiving.
There is much to be thankful for.

Retail therapy...yes, please. {and a giveaway}

It was a rough couple of days with the kids.
Rough like, "I'm going to voluntarily commit myself to a mental institution"
kind of rough.


There has been a LOT of bickering going on over here.
After I called Gary 
{who was working late} 
{again}
{I hate big deadlines}
last night at 7:45 telling him about the boys' constant fighting,
I think he recognized the near psychosis in my voice
and took pity on me.


He came home at 1:30 today.


I love him.


He took the kids to piano and drum lessons and to Subway for dinner.
I went shopping.  Alone.  Ahhhhhh.


And to further lift my mood I bought this:

Isn't retail therapy grand?
I've loved this print for awhile and think it's an excellent reminder.


And I bought this one for you:

 

{i bought them at studio mela}

Also a great reminder.

I hope I'm not tempted to keep it for myself.

{Just kidding.}  

{No I'm not.}

If you want it to be yours, 

just leave a comment.

I'll pick a winner Monday morning.

And, for the record, the kids were much better today.

{I love them, too.}

2.5 hours

I have two and a half hours, two days a week, alone in the house.
It goes by *so* quickly.


This morning when I came home from taking Avery to preschool
I ate breakfast
cleaned the kitchen
unloaded the dishwasher
loaded the washing machine
and put some laundry away.


When that was finished I had an hour left.
I probably should have vacuumed or dusted or mopped.


But instead I made my second cup of coffee
(half-caff this time)
and put on Christmas music.

Gary is going to think I'm insane when he reads that. :)
He doesn't understand my love of Christmas music.
{My favorites: Vince Guaraldi, Barenaked Ladies, and Dolly Parton.}


And I turned on my sewing machine.
I finished a shirt for Avery and made progress on her quilt.

It felt good.

Soccer and skinny jeans. (But not together.)

Three and a half months of soccer ...
and now we're done.


I'm always a *little* sad when it ends,
but only briefly.
Very briefly.


It's nice to be able to reclaim our weeknights and Saturdays.


Gary has a huge deadline looming and is beginning to have to work Saturdays
(boo)
so he didn't get to come to the boys' games or the TWO pizza parties yesterday.
(Two pizza parties at the same pizza place three hours apart.  We are pizza-ed out.)

Today, the boys were gone a lot of the day at a birthday party.
The house was quiet for three hours.

When we weren't watching Strawberry Shortcake and her friend drink lemonade,
Gary & I were trying to get our garage in order.

He was hanging up shelves,
I was ... supervising.
In my second-ever pair of skinny jeans.

'Skinny jeans' is kind of a misnomer.
It's more like 'I Can Almost Not Fit Them Over My Calves jeans'.
{Pay no attention to the mis-matched socks.}
I'm just not sure about the whole skinny jeans thing.
I'm not convinced they're flattering on me.

I'm still in mourning over the demise of the bootcut.


***************
I'm doing a little work on the ole blog, and am working on labeling the posts into categories.  
If you're looking for something (recipe? craft?) ... check the sidebar!

just a Thursday

When I was in school I loved it when my mom or dad wrote a note and put it in my lunchbox.


I try to do the same for the boys now.
I don't always remember, but I try.
Sometimes I'll just jot a quick note on paper...
sometimes I'll draw a silly picture.


I found these cute notes at the grocery store.
They have different sayings and prompts.
"I'm so proud of you for______"
"Have I told you you're awesome lately?  Here's why________"

Sometimes I forget the paper all together.

Avery did her very first homework assignment today.
She had to decorate a turkey for preschool.

She did everything herself
(except for the legs).


Tonight was another crockpot meal.
I'm at least doing well with *one* of my birthday to-do's.

Roast with potatoes and carrots.
It was so nice to walk in from Colin's drum lesson and smell a roast cooking.
This meal always reminds me of my grandma.  
She made it often and mine is nowhere near as moist as hers.
(But if you cover it with enough A1 sauce all is well.)


And right as we were sitting down to our roast I looked outside and saw the sky.
This picture is 100% unedited, and is *exactly* what the sky looked like.

Beautiful.

I miss my sewing machine.

I've only turned it on once since we moved.
That makes me sad.


Once soccer ends this weekend 
(hooray!)
my goal is to finally finish Avery's quilt.
Finally...after a year and a half.

I hate that it's not done yet.

She doesn't care.

Riley made Gary and I out of Legos and has requested that I display them.
So they're sitting above my kitchen sink right now.
{Is it just me or do I look a little bulky?}

Candy...more candy...and bartering.

Halloween 2010 is in the record books.
The kids dressed up, trick-or-treated,
then raced home to pass out candy.


Riley hid behind our car and jumped out to scare the teenagers,
while Colin was giving out HANDFULS of candy.
(I think he felt like he was passing out hundred dollar bills.)

But he wasn't quite sure what to think of this guy.

(I thought he was hilarious.)


This morning, the sorting and trading began.
There was a serious bartering session going on,
which mostly centered around Jolly Ranchers.

(Colin had them...Riley wanted them.)

And nobody wanted the Almond Joys.
Not big coconut fans over here.


Then today, since the kids had the day off of school,
and since we didn't have *quite* enough candy...
we went to trick-or-treat at Pixar.

And before any of us slips into a fun-size chocolate bar-induced coma,
I'm going to sneak most of the candy off to a dentist's office in town 
that ships the candy to the troops.

{Except for a few Snickers.  Ok, and the Jolly Ranchers.}


And, wow.
Can you believe it's November?