The little Pilgrim

Today was the Thanksgiving Feast at Preschool. If you think you don't have something to be thankful for, ask a four year old. With one of the craziest weeks of our lives behind us and an even busier weekend ahead, it was nice to stop the packing and cleaning and looking at Lee funny when he suggests something about packing clothes in a trash bag b/c we are out of everything else and enjoy their little prayer. Things to be thankful for? Rainbows, dog licks, a good slide, anything purple, an open window so mommy can watch kids while they play outside. I am sure there are more, but you get the idea.

I got to school in time to lay out my little cupcakes when Mrs Toole ran in the room and said Sophie was on stage. I grabbed the camera, and captured her re-enacting the story of Thanksgiving. Here she is, pretending to build a cabin.

When she saw me in the back of the room, her little face lit up and she whispered quite loudly, "hey mommy! look at me! i made the stage!" I see Broadway lights in 17 years with this one.

So tonight, instead of stressing over dirty grout, we are going to our favorite little Tex Mex place for one last bean burrito and the best salsa around. And tomorrow morning? I am heating green beans for 40 people at a project Thanksgiving mission. Lee is forgo-ing the back pain to hand out frozen turkeys for a few hours. Why stress over having a small commute for a month from a fabulous house while our new house is being painted to a color we like, and suffering a little so buyers who actually bought our house in 8 days can start their lives in the house where we began our family?

Word to the wise, if you call me this weekend and complain about your life, you may get an ear full. Not because ours is so hectic right now, but because it can't be that bad.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A glimpse into our life right now...

Sophie just walked into the living room, lugging a completely overpacked princess bag stuffed with toys, cups, pink cowboy boots, and tiaras. Lee asked her what she was doing. Her reply? Playing mommy. She quickly threw the bag in the corner, heaved a big sigh, and got another bag on her shoulder to repeat the action.

Happy Monday and Happy Packing.

An early wake up call

Lee is out of town, and that usually means our schedules are out of whack. Add packing for a trip a day earlier than expected, cleaning the house so the people who have a contract on it (wwaaahhooo!) can come at 9 am to measure for furniture, handling a dog with a limp, finding ballet shoes, and anything else that comes about and our life is a little hectic.

At bedtime last night we couldn't find Harper's "Big One"- her favorite red paci that is bigger than all the rest. She only gets her pacis at sleeptime, so it is crucial she has her favorite one at bed time. However, big one was nowhere to be found. She reluctantly took her yellow tiger paci and went to bed with no problems, much to my relief. I cleaned and watched election results until I literally had my eyes shut, then vowed to get up early this morning to finish cleaning and packing before we leave this morning for our day.

I heard a little moan at 4:15 saying "oh, my paci, I need big one. Oh, paci". It wasn't really a cry, just a sad little voice. I got up to look one more time for big one, but no luck. I went into the girls room to get Harper before she woke up Sophie, and found THE sweetest thing. Sophie was rubbing Harper's head singing Hush Little Baby. It worked for a few minutes, until Harper saw me in the doorway. I found Yellow Tiger and brought her to my bed, where she grabbed my hand and made me rub her head like Sophie had been doing. This continued until 5:30 when my alarm went off and promptly had Harper sit up in bed and ask for cartoons.

By 10 this morning I am sure we will all be in terrible moods from the lack of sleep, but right now all three of us have been in helpful moods since EARLY today!

Halloween!!!

I am rearing two little girls who are learning the art of a fun Fall.

1- Pick costumes that coordinate and will make people saw "aawwww".

2- When at a festival, be sure to test the kettle corn. It is usually the healthiest item there, and not something you can recreate at home!

3- Cram as MANY parties and festivals in as you can. Host one if you can. It lets you not feel bad when you have to get 5 new cinnamon candles. You get to wear out those costumes, and enjoy the beautiful autumn days.

4- Save the whoppers for mommy. They are her favorite.

5- Fall is a time to enjoy the harvest. Spend time with friends you have! Especially as we look to our SOON move ( another post later), we are trying to see friends as much as possible.

Soccer Daze....

This Fall we decided to let Sophie place Soccer. She saw the jerseys and pictures of all the kids at church playing, and she wanted to try it out. Lee volunteered to coach for the church, so we quickly became a soccer family.

It has been a fun two months, but we are secretly glad to NOT have to look for that one pair of soccer socks, or rev her up to play with kids twice her size when we know her little legs can't keep up, or cancel Saturday plans because it interferes with the Snow Leopards (her team... yeah, we didn't come up with that).

She has learned about team work, and following little game plays, and playing even when she is tired. And after our break, we can't wait to play again!

Sophie with her number one fan, Harper. She would yell for Sophie to KICK, and RUN and GO for 45 minutes!

Sophie on the kickoff squad!

Difference in our girls

What does it mean when your girls are night and day?

About an hour ago I said something to Sophie along the lines of "my sweet baby". She quickly corrected me that she was NOT a sweet baby. She was my big girl. I tried to explain that no matter how old she gets I will see that little baby I had in her eyes. That didn't fly with her.

Harper just came up to me with her paci in her mouth. She is two and definitely needs to lose the paci. We came very close about a month ago of not needing a paci at all. She developed a cold and the paci in her mouth helped with her breathing, so it became a MAJOR security blanket for her again. This week I have decided to severely limit that little paci, which has led to major breakdowns, fits, floor hugging, and all around misery for all involved. Just a minute ago she spotted a paci I didn't hide very well. She lit up and begged for it. I asked her if she she sleepy, and she knew if she said no she would not get the prized piece of plastic. I told her she was SUCH a big girl now with her little pull ups that she didn't need a paci all the time. She ripped off the pull up, brought me a diaper, and told me she was a baby again, then followed with a "wah wah" for good measure.

Our life, in a nutshell!

Things have definitely been plugging along on Crestwood Lane the past few weeks. I think most of these things could be their own post, but business is telling me otherwise, so here are the highlights:

We went to the fair last week. LOVE the fair, my girls LOVE the fair, Lee LOVES the fair, so it is a special night for us. We rode rides, watched the circus where one of the acts was a lady who changed clothes fast. Seriously, that was her deal. She of course was Sophie's favorite. Sophie and Lee braved the tall ferris wheel like champs, while Harper and I stuck to the train. Here are a few cute pics from the night...

Not sure if it is because she didn't eat that much or she loves the corn dog that much, but Harper had to hold the stick and giggled every time she bit a piece. Too fun!

Our fair let us buy a bag of carrots and feed the goats and camels. Sophie had a ball doing this, MUCH to my surprise. She wouldn't feed the big ones (and I didn't blame her), but the little ones were sad to see her go!

We also had her annual Pumpkin Patch field trip with her class. This is always a fun time. Below is a picture of Sophie and her little buddy, Bella. I hear about this little girl ALL the time because they sit next to each other. Bella brings sweet tea and jello for lunch, which amazes Sophie. Her mom told me that Sophie has really cool sandwiches (score one for me!) and they held hands and laughed the whole day. It was priceless.

We also threw in Harper and William, her cousin's, second birthday party! My dad decided they needed a ride to go along with our Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. Well, he built it! The kids LOVED it. We are trying to convince him to rent it out for parties.

We are also getting our house ready to sell. For some reason Lee and I have been under the impression that someone will magically just ride by and want our house without us doing any prep work. Unfortunately, we woke from that dream Sunday as we spent 7 hours cleaning cabinets, de cluttering closets, packing, etc. We took one break to run the girls to play with friends after nap and went back to work. Hopefully the maids can come deep clean this week and the sign will go up! It is funny watching the girls see the progress. Of course Harper has no clue what is going on, but Sophie is trying to figure this out. She asked would I pack her cereal for the new house. This morning she came in our room and went into our bathroom and pointed at some very random sign and said she hope it would move with us. It think the closer it gets the questions will get funnier!