Thankful

I took Sarah, Josh and Zac out on a “Mommy only” date to have hot chocolate.  Caramel Brule, gingerbread and mint chocolate steamers and cocoas.  (Glad for the buy one get one free sale that afternoon!)  A total FAIL.  The kids didn’t like them.  At all.  They prefer an envelope of swiss miss at home with hot water.  Sheesh.

Grandmom and Grandad were in town for Thanksgiving, and they offered to take our 3 eldest for a couple of nights, giving Jeff and me time with just Rachel.  My mom and dad took SJZ to Knott's Berry Farm… and score… it was military gets in FREE day!  My dad went to the Air Force Academy, so he and my mom got in free.  (Photo credit:  Ed Sullivan)

A little quiet time with my journal, tablet (reading blogs), book and to-do lists.  Ahhhh.

The devoted Mr. Garland gets some exercise chopping wood while my dad looks on (with a glass of wine) exercising his jaw.   

Thanksgiving morning Jeff, my dad and I headed to the Oceanside Turkey Trot 5k.  I hope I can run a 5k at 67 years old.

(The kids also did a running club turkey trot but I didn’t get any photos of that… we continue to love running club!)

 

The finish line.

After the exercise is done, let the eating begin!

And continuing our “let’s see if we can break a new appliance nearly every week” exercise, any guesses what appliance stopped working… on Thanksgiving Day?

Oh yes.  Don’t be jealous.  We have mad appliance breaking skills around here.

Thankfully the fridge repairman came and solved our problem a few days later.

We set up the train tracks and decorated the tree that night.

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Grand Prix and Birthday Daddies

We’re reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for school.  Sarah designed and created this pink chocolate as part of her study of the book.

A family that rolls hot dog bun dough together… stays together.

Lunch at IKEA… their swedish meatballs are one of my favs.  And I totally lucked out… Tuesdays kids eat FREE at IKEA.  Who knew?

Our school choir performances were this week… Sarah’s wearing a the b/w striped shirt on the right.

And Josh is the orange-shirted pirate near the middle.

Zac riding his bike around the lake.

Our AWANA Grand Prix was a blast, as always. 

 

We tried a green smoothie this week, for the first time.  Spinach and banana whizzed together with a little milk and ice isn’t as bad as I thought!

And finally, the devoted (and wonderful and amazing) Mr. Garland celebrated his 42nd birthday this week. 

I love this man.  He’s such a good father to these kids.  And my best friend.  I am so lucky.

I’m not blessed with the “pie baker” gifting.  I have the “pie buying” gifting instead.  I know how to buy a mean Julian cherry-apple pie at the grocery store.

Blessings,

Wendi

10 on 10

Thursday, November 10, 2011

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month.

{Document a snapshot of your life & find the beauty among the ordinary things in your day.}

Phil 4:8: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Man we have a cluttered house.  Sadly I don’t recognize it all the time, but these photos sure bring it out.   Lovely.

It was a warm day, so after our school work, we headed to the beach for some lunch and sand play.  And lots of shell collecting.

My washer has been missing her partner in crime…

…but alas the devoted Mr. Garland was hard at work in the garage, with all of his “helpers.”

And YES, Jeff fixed the dryer (motor) so I’m officially now back in business!  Yahoo!

Cupcakes and Termites

Tenting for termites.  We see this all over town… and we got to watch our “across the street” neighbors have it done to their house this week.  It’s actually very cool to watch the process.

A rainy day hike with homeschooling friends.

Photo credit:  Jennifer Hansen

Rachel, drenched after our hike.

Are we the only family who is totally distracted by tvs in pizza parlors?  (Both kids and adults?!)

A special treat:  fancy schmancy gourmet cupcakes (thank you Groupon!).  A party in your mouth.

In the workshop with Daddy… safety first!

These boys love their legos (and their Creationary game)!

Daily afternoon game of kickball with neighbors in the cul-de-sac, using asphalt cracks as bases.

So thankful for the “nasal mist” version of the flu shot…

The devoted Mr. Garland is the tooth brusher in our home…

…and I’m the flossing Mama.  And oh yes, I always wear my headlamp when I floss.  It makes me feel important.

Happy 11-11-11 day today.

Blessings,

Wendi