Family pictures and Secret Sister

We had our family pictures done about a month ago. I am going to intersperse the photos with my ramblings about my secret sister experience to entice you to keep reading.  There is also a connection between the two, doesn't that make you want to read every word??

This year I participated in the 4th annual secret sister gift exchange for my church. You have to spend a minimum of $15, give 12 gifts with gift 4 requirements.  You must give her an advent calendar, her favorite candy, something with her favorite color, and something with her initial, then come up with 8 more gifts.

You are to use any and every skill you have, shop from home, and be creative.  We each had to fill out a 70 question survey to provide information so the gifts could be personal. This year I think we started preparing back in August.  A lot of the women bring their best work. Hand knitted, hand sewn, hand painted, hand made, hand baked gifts.  It is very overwhelming and takes months to prepare.

I agonized for months over the woman I had, I gave her six handmade gifts and six purchased gifts.

Last night was the big reveal party.  We were instructed to bring all the gifts, individually wrapped, in a big black trash bag so it remained a secret.

Then we each opened one present at a time and showed the group what we received.

This year I was absolutely blown away by the gifts I received.  The girl who had me gave me everything based on my survey.  She also happened to be the wife of the photographer who took my family pictures and my last gift of the night was a canvas print of my family along with a DVD of all the pictures from the photo shoot. I screamed and cried, it was a little embarrassing.  This is the picture she had blown up:

I was very spoiled, the gifts were so thoughtful and wonderful.

Indulge me while I list the gifts she gave me:
1.  Advent calendar filled with reese's cups.
2. Nail stickers, nail polish, and manicure set.
3. Banana bread and homemade jam.
4. Six pack of cream soda (my favorite soda) dressed up as reindeer.
5. Monogrammed stationary set with "Pitcavage" labels.
6.  Subscription to my favorite magazine.
7.  Ice cream sundae kit with homemade chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, sprinkles, cherries, etc.
8. A jar of date ideas with a gift certificate for one night of babysitting.
9.  My favorite candle and room spray from bath and body works.
10. Hand made microwaveable rice heating pad.
11. Binder of tried and true recipes.
12. Canvas print of my family photo with DVD of all the pictures from the photo shoot.

I can't tell you how happy this night made me. It was so worth the months of preparation.  What a lovely way to start the Christmas season, it was even motivation for me to participate again next year.  (Each year I declare that I will never do this again, this year it was peer pressure that made me do it.  Next year I will do it because someone was so thoughtful that I have to pay it forward.)

Distracted

I have been distracted with Thanksgiving, Christmas readiness, and life! I am behind on my blog. I am going to try and catch up.

The most exciting news is we have a bear. In our neighborhood. A BEAR.  I found more tracks this morning in my next door neighbors driveway.  Her driveway is 4 feet away from mine.  According to one of the bear experts here and based on the tracks the bear is a 700lb black bear, another bear expert says the bear is probably only 200-300 lbs.  Pennsylvania is home to the largest species of black bear.  Jim's hunting friend says the bear might have escaped the forest beacuse it is hunting season in these parts.

We are all appropriately scared and are keeping our children inside.  The first tracks were seen last weekend and I hoped that the bear had moved on.  However, I found more tracks this morning.

Sweet children update

This morning Jack was fussy and I rocked him to sleep.  He then slept in my arms for 20 minutes before I put him to bed.  I think I can count on one hand the number of times he has slept in my arms.  Actually, I can't remember anytime he has slept in my arms. Motherhood has wiped my brain clean of memories and erased the capability to retain information.  As far as I am concerned this is the first time it has happened!

Lilly loves to look at books.  She looks at the pictures and then creates her own story.  Yesterday she was reading a Christmas book and said "And Jesus was born on a night of angels."  What a wonderful sentiment that I will always remember.  Okay, I will probably forget by tomorrow, but that is why I write it down!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a day full of traditions that are important to you (not Better Homes and Gardens).

More Gratitude

Nov. 20
1. Sunday. I am grateful for a day of rest.
2. Vacation. I am officially on vacation, even though I am sick. It is still great!
3. Sunday doctor. The doctor is open today so I don't have to take my sick children to the emergency room.

Nov. 21
1. Medicine. I am grateful for acetaminophen and ibuprofen!
2. My children. Did I already say this one? If I did, it's worth repeating. My children are darling, sweet creatures (most of the time).
3. Manners. We had dinner with missionaries and before hand I prepped Lilly with table manners and she did great! She did not shame me. Unlike the time the missionaries came to our house and asked Lilly if she knew what book they were holding (the book of Mormon), she told them she had never seen or heard of the book ever before. Shame was thrust upon our family, and for the record she had seen and heard of the book before.

Nov. 22
1. Cartoons. They keep my children occupied while we all have a sick day.
2. Homemade Mac and Cheese.  One of the few things I can make without a recipe and with success.
3. Family.  I have wonderful family, brothers and sisters, parents, and my own husband and children. I am very lucky to have them.

Nov. 23
1. Movies.  I love movies at Thanksgiving and there are some good ones out for the holiday! I love the muppets.
2. Running.  I have had a cold this week and as a result I have barely been able to run or work out. That makes me extra grateful for the days I can run. I know I said running before, but this is a different reason so it counts.
3. Pictures.  I have thousands of pictures of my children that I love looking at.

Private....again

My blog is private again for various reasons.

If you're still reading despite the inconvenience of logging in, thank you!
(If you stay logged into your gmail account and access my blog in another tab you should not have to sign in.)

Nov. 18
1. Patches.  Lilly had her daisy investiture tonight and she received 10 patches and her daisy pin.  It was fun to see her so excited about patches.
2. Nap time.  Have I said that already?  Nap time is so quiet at my house, not a lonely quiet, a perfect quiet to read or sleep.
3. My babysitter.  My babysitter, Valerie, was available tonight with 45 minutes notice.  Jack has a cold and instead of dragging him to Lilly's Daisy event I was able to put him to sleep before we left.  Valerie is in college, drives her own car, is very responsible, is CPR certified, and loves my children.

Nov. 19
1. Sun.   It's sunny this morning, not always the case in Pennsylvania.
2. Last day of work before vacation.   At 1:00PM today I will be officially on vacation for 10 days. No piano lessons, music classes, or work.  I will still show up for my mom gig, but it will be so nice to have no other obligations for 10 days!!
3. Saturday.  This morning I am working at the community center and I teach my music class, but after that I am going to have fun and I am even going to see a movie!

Getting older

I will be saying "I can't believe my children are (insert age)" for the rest of my life. 

I started saying it when Lilly was a baby and I haven't stopped.

Today Lilly lost her third tooth and I had a parent/teacher conference for report card time.

I can't believe I have a child who is old enough to lose teeth, take the bus to school, actually go to school, read, write, and receive a report card.

I sat through the whole conference dumbfounded that I was the parent in the situation.  The teacher was telling me where my child fell in Aptitude tests and where her reading, writing, and math skills were.  I didn't even know what to do with the information.

I think I slouched for the whole meeting and didn't use real words. Mostly mumbled "mmkay" and "uh-huh."  Luckily the teacher is my friend and this was not a first impression kind of a deal.

She told me wonderful things about Lilly and even said that Jim and I had given her a great foundation. She told me Lilly was above the standards for most of her work.   I didn't say anything.

She hugged me at the end. I think she knew I was having one of those "I can't believe I am a mother of a Kindergartner" type of days.

Nov. 13
1. Cousins. We were able to get together with Jim's side of the family for lunch on Sunday.

This is only a fraction of the cousins, 21 in all, I think.
2. Sleeping in.   My family let me sleep in this morning. That should count for two gratitude points.
3. My car.  My car has over 200,000 miles and has been in the family for over 10 years. It still takes us everywhere we need to go, like family lunches.

Nov. 14
1. Family Home Evening.  I asked Lilly what she thought we could do for Family Home Evening Monday night.  Last week did not go well and I thought if I had her input we might have more success.  This is what she said: "Lets make paper airplanes and decorate them. Play with cars, decorate, and really rock this place out."
2.  Garbage disposal.  Pennsylvanians, in general, do not believe in garbage disposals. They don't use them and they don't install them in homes.  I went 7 months without a garbage disposal three years ago and it was enough to make me grateful for them forever.
3. John.  My brother in law, John, installed my garbage disposal in my current home. Otherwise we would have used paper plates every day, so really the enviornment is grateful to John as well.

Nov. 15
1. Washing machine.  Our washing machine survived the flood. I am so grateful for this machine, because, seriously, I am not washing clothes by hand.
2. Hugs from my children.  This might be my favorite part of motherhood. I usually have to beg for hugs, but when they are given freely it is my greatest joy.
3.  Work and home.  I work three part time jobs, but for the most part I can be with my children during the day.  I teach 17 piano lessons, 4 music classes, and work one shift a week at our community center. It's a hard schedule to keep with little ones, but I am grateful for all the blessings that the schedule gives me.

Nov. 16
1. Health insurance. I am so grateful for health insurance that pays for a good portion of our medical bills.
2. Crafting time.  Lilly and I spent the afternoon making projects with my cricut. The afternoon flew by.
3. Breaks.  I live for breaks, naps, and more breaks. 

Nov. 17
1. A Box.  I gave my kids a box to play with. They both laughed and ignored me.  This morning Jack discovered the joys of a box.



2.  Phones.  Since I was a very young child I have loved talking on the phone. Still do.
3.  Scriptures.  Because I have read stories about Christ, I know that it is better for me to love my enemies then to spend my time hating them. I am pretty sure without scriptures and the gospel, I would be a natural hater.
4. Blender. I know this post is appliance heavy, but I use my appliances a lot. I make a protein shake or smoothie every day with the blender I received as a wedding gift. 8 years later and it's still going strong. (I am pretty superstitious, so I hope that all my appliances don't break after I praised them in this post).