First Blood

No, I'm not talking about the Sly Stallone movie.

Today, while Kyra was at Grandma's house, she leaned against their coffee table, which is actually an old, refinished trunk that's just at her height, and tried to reach for something that was on the other side--like she's doing in the picture below.



This time, however, we weren't watching her as closely as my sister did :( She lost her balance, and down she went.

Her face collided with the edge of the table, and as you can imagine, there was the requisite 30 seconds of silence, followed by a loud cry. Then more silence as she gathered her wailing voice, and then this tremendous crying jag. As this is not the first time she's gotten a Boo-Boo, I picked her up, snuggled her, and tried to reassure her it was okay, like always.

Then my mom noticed the BLOOD on her chin. Da Da Da DUH!!! By the way, we've been very lucky & gone 11 months without any blood appearances, other than the occasional scratch from too-long fingernails, but today that streak was broken. So, Grandma got the washcloth with ice cube, and I tried to see where the blood was coming from. There were no obvious signs, like a split lip, or bump on her chin, and there wasn't any way she was gonna let us look in her mouth.

We finally decided she'd probably just bit the inside of her lip, and will live to see another day! It's still hard to see them get hurt, though. But this is yet another part of parenting, and as David said, "When you walk, you're gonna fall sometimes. It's part of learning to walk and part of life". How true!!

Giving T.H.A.N.K.S.

I would like to share some of the things I am very thankful for, at this Thanksgiving season, so without further delay:

T: Time Together

David had Thursday off, and took Friday as well. This gave him a 4 day vacation, which has been sooooo nice. Kyra loves spending time with her Daddy, and it's nice to have the extra help around the house! In addition, my family came from all over the Northwest, and we had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house. The picture below was taken right before dinner.




H: Hunger was absent (at least for a couple hours! Then we got Second Dinner!)

My mother is a fantastic cook! But even she knows it's not possible to do it all, so we all pitch in and bring something. This year my contribution to the event was to bring the Pies. Over the years, I have honed my culinary skills, and if I do say so myself, I make a pretty mean pie--The secret is a good crust, using VINEGAR, I know it sounds awful, but it makes all the difference in the world, and I've been kind enough to include my never-fail crust recipe here. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandmas-Secret-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx

Anyway, Mom's request was for 2 pumpkin pies, as everyone likes pumpkin (except for me, I'm an apple pie girl). When David heard I was in charge of the pies, he said, "You know we need an apple & a pecan pie as well."

My Wednesday morning was spent making 4 pies, and though they weren't pretty, it was nothing a good amount of whipped or ice cream couldn't fix. Unfortunately, my pecan pie ended up having some major issues. I think I should have been worried when the recipe said to cook at 325 for only 25 minutes. Most pies cook at at least 425 for the first bit, and then 350 for the remaining time. Also, I got to the end of the directions, and it still hadn't told me to add the last bit of liquid....So rather than not add it, because the instructions didn't tell me to, I thought it must have been an oversight, and I added the remaining 1/4 cup. Alas, this poor pie never firmed up. We tried cooking it again, which only succeeded in burning the pecans on top, and the middle is still soupy. Oh well, it will be great as an ice cream topper :) But the apple pie was great, and of course, you can't go wrong with the pumpkin pies if you use the recipe on the can.

A: Aunts & Uncles

My parents' house was filled with Aunts & Uncles this Thanksgiving. And what was really weird is that for the first time it hit me: My aunts & uncles have become the Great Aunts & Uncles and my sister & I, along with our husbands, are the aunts & uncles. Although everyone took on these roles eight years ago, with the birth of my niece, and again, 11 months ago, with Kyra, it was this time with everyone being together, in one place, that got me thinking. Maybe it's because I never really knew my Great Aunts & Uncles, but aren't Great Aunts & Uncles supposed to be really old?? Maybe it's just me that's getting old! EEK!

N: New "Traditions"

In years past, after Thanksgiving dinner, my family is like a lot of other families. We'd watch movies, or play board games, or try to drag ourselves out of the famous turkey coma. But this year a new "tradition" presented itself, one which I hope will not stand the test of time. It all started when my uncle brought out his laptop to show us pictures of their trip to Mexico & his new hotrod. This prompted my sister to pull out her laptop, and of course I had to grab my mom's, in order not to be left out. I kid you not, the family room looked like "dueling laptops", and the lights seemed a little dimmer....Of course, it was quite amusing when my sister tried to log on to my parents' wireless connection, and ended up with the neighbor's wireless connection by accident!! So, although I wouldn't say I was thankful for this "tradition", at least we were spending time together (see "T" above)

K: Kyra (of course!)

This was Kyra's first Thanksgiving, and there are so many reasons to be thankful for her. She's beautiful, healthy, growing like crazy, amazingly smart, and so sweet. We've waited many, many long years for her to join our family, and our lives would not be the same without her. Thank you God for our beautiful blessing!!!




S: Security

I can't say enough about how thankful I am to live in a country like the USA, where we are free to worship our God, live in a warm, dry house and raise our child the way we choose. Many families can not say this. I'm extremely grateful for all that God has blessed us with. Let's make sure we thank Him every day, and not just once a year.

Disco is NOT dead, Disco is LIFE!

I thought that might get your attention :) That quote is from one of David & I's (well, mostly David's) favorite movies, "Mystery Men", which is a spoof on Superheroes, and quite funny.

Anyway, Tony, the character who says it, gets very upset when the main villain, Casanova Frankenstein, who's been in prison for the last several years, tells him it must be hard for him that Disco is dead, since it was his whole life.

Although Hollywood is poking fun at the 70's and all things Disco, there's a lot of truth in how big a part music plays in our lives, and who we are. In fact, I just got finished reading a great article in the December issue of Parents magazine about the importance of introducing children to music. They say there's no documented proof that music will make your child smarter--so much for the Baby Einstein/Classical music theory!, but they will definitely be happier.

Speaking of music, anyone that knows us, knows we are a musical family. David played the tuba in high school, and I've played the piano since before I could walk. My parents actually have a picture of me reaching up to the keyboard, and I must not have been more than 9 or 10 months old.

And now our 11 month old daughter, Kyra, has joined the ranks of music lovers. She has a floor gym that plays music if you jiggle the overhead supports, and wouldn't you know it, when it stops, she goes over and shakes it to start it playing again. AND, if it's not a song she likes, she'll shake it until it plays one she does! Already a discriminating consumer at 11 months :) She also loves to dance, and like her mommy, has discovered the piano. So, I just had to take this picture of her reaching for the keys, like I did, so many years ago.

David also took a video of a "duet" she & I did, but youtube isn't cooperating, so oh well. Enough for now.

My first post

So here I am, posting on my very own blog.....Thank you Jenni Clayville, for encouraging me to finally join the blogging world :)

Ironically, I've been toying with the idea of blogging in the past, but several things were holding me back:

1. I've never been much of one to journal, except when I had to for a school assignment or at retreats.
2. Can I be funny & insightful, or will I end up just another boring post-er?
3. Can I follow all of Jay McKenney's Blog rules? :)

Anyway, I thought I would give it a shot. And I can always post lots of pictures, which is Jay's rule #4....

Speaking of, here are some pictures of my little family from this past summer & Kyra's first Pumpkin Patch adventure. Enjoy!