Monkey Trap

Sal loves to get into the diaper basket. I was in the other room and heard her crying. This is what I found.  She couldn't figure out how to get her hand back out of the basket.

This was her expression when she saw her rescuer:

And this was when she realized I wasn't there to rescue, but to take a picture instead:

Bath Time

Christmas Dresses and a Cute Sally

105 Degrees

Speaking of great dates . . . Mike surprised me Friday and found an incredible raw foods, vegan restaurant!  In Oklahoma.  Amazing!  (Sometimes I feel like people around here barely know what vegetables are.)  The restaurant is called 105 Degrees, because nothing is cooked above that.  It was mouth-watering delicious!  We were there for over 2 hours, just enjoying the experience.  I seriously was about as close to giddy as I get.  I so rarely have the experience of being able to order ANYTHING I want from the menu.  Loved it!

I got butternut squash ravioli that was so good, I wanted to lick my plate clean.  And one of the best things about it, we had an appetizer (ate it all), a main dish (ate every bite), and a dessert (brought half of it home), and we weren't stuffed.  Just satisfied.

We will definitely be saving our pennies and going back.

Christmas Lights

Tonight we went to see the lights at our city's "Christmas in the Park."  They do a great job!  There were TONS of lights.  We drove through part of it, and then parked and walked for quite a ways.  The older girls loved it, and Sally was a great sport.

(Those dots in the water are ducks.  Freezing!)

M-O-M

The other day, I was working at the computer, and Mariah was coloring at the desk behind me.  She said, "Mom, this one must be for you because it says 'Mom.'"  I turned around, and sure enough, she had written 'MOM' across the top of the paper.  I have not taught her how to spell mom, nor how to write it.  (I know, I'm a stellar mom.)  She also goes around saying what all sorts of words start with.  Today she said to me, "Mom, 'Max' starts with M, but it ends with X.  I haven't taught her that either.  Maybe I should teach her how to read?  Or maybe, if I wait long enough, she'll just figure it out herself . . . .

(I don't know what's up with the scribbles.  She does know how to draw things.)

All I Want for Christmas

Elaine went with her friend, Evan (and his mom), to the library.  Santa was there.  We don't do Santa around here, so Laney's pretty uneducated when it comes to the man in the red suit.  But apparently, she hopped right up on his lap and told him what she wants for Christmas . . . . balls and penguins!

Science Museum

It's been almost a month now, but back in November, we went with a friend and her son to the Science Museum.  There's was tons and tons of cool stuff, and I'd love to go back without kids.  My idea of a great date.  I'm not big into museums in general, but science museums . . . . love them!

This picture was taken just before Mariah's splash reached Laney (and me, and the camera).  Everybody's still smiling. 

Not Birds

I walked into Mariah's room the other day and said, "Wow! Cool birds!" She replied, "They're not birds; they're toucans." Oh.

Deck the Halls - Kind of

We're heading to Utah for Christmas, so we're not getting a tree this year, but I decided I wanted at least a few Christmas decorations up for the 2+ weeks we're here:

Mariah sitting in the "forest."  She helped me open all the trees.

Sally "helping."  She dyed her face blue.  Oops.  Hope it's not toxic.

Elaine was napping during the decorating.  When she woke up, she came in, put her hands on her hips, looked around, and said, "Those Christmas trees are cool."

Olive Wood Jerusalem Nativity, Nativity Pillows, Stockings, and "Cool" Christmas Trees

My mom makes these stockings.  Sally's is waiting for her in Utah.

Nativity from Thailand and the James Christensen Holy Family

Two German Nativities and one from Jerusalem

And I pulled out this cloth Palestinian Nativity for the girls to play with.

Happy Thanksgiving

The girls and I have spent the past week at my sister's in Kansas. Mike has Dental Board Exams tomorrow, so I decided to give him a quiet week to study. It's been both fun and hard. Fun to be with my sister and her family. Hard to be a single mom and do Thanksgiving without Mike.

And to make things just a little harder, all three of my kids are sick. Sal got sick on Wednesday, with a runny nose. The other 2 started sniffling last night. Sal's turned into a full-blown sinus and ear infection yesterday. Poor girl. We've had some miserable nights. Last night, I was up 6 times: twice with Elaine, once with Mariah, and 3 times with Sally.  And Mariah was so miserable today, she didn't get out of bed until dinner time.  I hope tonight is better.

But, here are some fun pictures of the festivities anyway. And, even with sick kids and no husband, I'm thankful for all of the countless blessings in my life.

Elaine with cousin Alice

A snugery and drooley Sally

Pre-sick Mariah

The Spread

The Cooks

Mariah enjoying her meal.

Elaine

People ask me what vegans eat for Thanksgiving.  Here it is!  Delicious!

Apple Pie and Cheesecake

A very sick Sally cheerfully yelling at me to stop taking pictures and feed her.

Six-month Sally Sits

Sally learned to sit on Saturday.  The next day, she learned to go from lying down to sitting on her own.  And she's so so close to crawling.  Come on, Baby!

Trouble

One week shy of 6 months, and she's already doing this:

Today, she took one very steady hand "step" before lunging forward.

New Face

This is Sally's new look.  She does it on purpose to be funny.

Cheap Entertainment . . .

. . . . hours of it!

This girl has my heart . . . .

Sal is such a happy baby!  Even when she's whining, she does it with a smile.  She was totally bugged at me in these next pictures:

"Ok, Mom, I'll humor you."

"Really, Mom?  Do we have to?"

"No, seriously!  Get me off this couch!"

"Ok, just give me the camera."

She has also found her squealing/screaming voice.  She tells big, animated stories, alternating from cooing to screaming and squealing.  Very funny.  I tried to capture it on video, but of course, she wouldn't cooperate.  Here's the video anyway.  Consider yourself warned: it's a tad boring.