Balla-nina

Sophie and Owen were still a bit under the weather last night, so I went to Cubbies by myself. On my way home, I stopped to return our library DVDs and to pick up a few new ones I thought Sophie might enjoy. I found a kids "Learn Ballet" DVD. Sophie's been all about ballet lately--she likes to pretend to be a "balla-nina," so I thought we'd give it a try.

First, she had to don the appropriate attire.

She followed the directions...position 1, position 2...

Owen did too.

Soon Sophie was asking, "When are they going to dance, Mom?" I tried to explain that they were learning all those positions to get ready to dance, but she quickly grew bored (with me) with the lack of real dancing.

She moved on to another dancing outfit--the twirly dress. It's really all about the twirling, you know.

Later on, she was back to being a "balla-nina." I told her to show me how a ballerina stands. This is what I got...

There was no coaching involved...I just took pictures.

In no time at all, though, she was on to actual dancing. Decidedly non-balla-nina dancing. It looked a little hip-hop, if you ask me.
And while she was in this favorable mood, I suggested she get her picture taken with Owen. She willingly obliged...amazing!

Yes, that's food on Owen's face. I knew it was there.

Sickies

My children have fevers. Not high fevers, but high enough to render them useless. We three have been laying around all morning in sweats, princess dresses or less (as you can see below). Owen's been fighting a fever off and on for about a week. I have attributed it to teething, but now Sophie's got a fever too, so who knows?

Sophie and I were out in the kitchen coloring when I realized that Owen was being rather quiet. I came out to the living room to find this...
Owen had dragged his two favorite blankets out of his crib and into the living room where he made himself a nest and snuggled down on top of it. He spent most of his morning there...well, there, and sleeping on my lap.
Everyone's in good spirits. Just a little slowed down from usual and a lot quieter. I'm hoping they'll wake up from their naps in a healthier condition.

Keeping it Real

I spent this past weekend away at a conference for mothers. Twenty women from my church went together to attend the conference, eat, shop, eat some more, and stay up late gabbing. I think I talked more those two days than I do in an entire month. It was a good time!

The point of the conference was to encourage us as mothers and to send us home revived and equipped to serve our families well. I laughed, I cried (nearly every hour!), and I came home sleep-deprived. I do still feel revived. But I actually got more out of the secondary topics at the conference, which for me addressed friendship.

The main lesson I am bringing home from the conference is "The Ministry of Mediocrity." Let me explain...The speaker asked us all to lift up our pantlegs and then feel the ankle of our neighbor. It wasn't pleasant! Anyway, the point she made was that if you had smooth legs yourself, but your neighbor's were prickly, you could feel good about yourself because you had it more together than someone else. If your legs were prickly, and your neighbor's were prickly too, then you could feel good about yourself because at least someone else couldn't get it all together either.

The point she was making is that it doesn't do anybody any good to try to put on a front of perfectness (because we all know we aren't anyway!!). Being transparent about your shortcomings (or mediocrity) can actually be a ministry to someone else who needs encouragement. Someone who needs to see that they aren't the only one floundering at times. It's about keeping it real.

I'd like to think that I'm fairly honest about my faults and letting it all hang out there, but I'm sure I can do better. So, in an effort to minister to you and to purge my own soul, I'm here to share my own mediocrity with you...

This is what my laundry basket looks like right now. And yes, that is my suitcase from the weekend (unpacked at least!) still needing to be put away.

This is part of my "craft corner." Oh, the horror!! This is a chronic area of difficulty for me.

This is my "Tupperware" drawer. Ugh!

This is my entryway. Four of those pairs of shoes are mine. This is actually a good day.

This is my "mailbin," for lack of a better description. There is a Christmas card holder/ornament in there...from last Christmas. Christmas will be next month, so I might as well leave it in there now!

And, finally, this is the state of my closet currently. I don't even want to talk about it.

Well, I feel better. I hope you do too!

Halloween

With an already-full candy bowl and four other Halloween events already under our belt, we set out to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood before heading to our church's Fall Festival (a.k.a. Halloween alternative).

*Gasp* No mullet wig?! That's right, folks. It was a Halloween miracle!

I think Greg was as excited as the kids were.

Owen doesn't eat candy yet, but he did enjoy the "noisy" candy that people gave him (ie. Mike-n-Ikes and Hot Tamales).

Sophie had such a great time ringing doorbells and saying "trick or treat!"

And of course she enjoyed the getting candy part, too.


We wanted to make an appearance at our church too so that Sophie could see her friends in their costumes. This is the first person we saw when we entered the building, our friend Becca. It's good we acted quickly because after this, Sophie wouldn't let us take any more pictures with her friends. Goodness only knows why.
Sophie and Owen got to play a few games in the "carnival" and do some trick-or-treating down the hallway.

Then we left the crazy mad-house, questioning why we put ourselves through such insanity, and came home to dig through our pile of loot. This time, Owen's favorites were the "crinkly" candy.

Mine were the "anything that's chocolate" kind, but I waited until the kids were asleep to eat them!!

Pumpkin Patch

A few days before Halloween, we went to a pumpkin patch with the W's. It was hard to get the kids to all sit still and face the camera at the same time, so these few fairly cute pictures that we got are the result of snapping as many pictures as we could as quickly as we could (ie. before anyone fell off the table, cried, or pouted).

Hallelujah Festival...a.k.a...Redneck Halloween

Our friends the W's invited us to their church's "Hallelujah Festival" this past Sunday night. It was a fun, family evening of carnival games, hotdogs, costumes and candy. Let me back up a little bit though...

Remember this picture of loveliness???

When Sophie arrived home from Grandma & Grandpa's house, upon entering our living room, she honed in on Greg's mullet wig and exclaimed, "Mom, look! It's Belle hair!!" And she then proceeded to put on Greg's mullet wig and twirl about, tossing the hair over her shoulders. She wanted to sleep in that mullet wig. And when she woke up, she insisted on wearing it to the "Hallelujah Festival." She wanted to go as Belle instead of as Snow White as we'd been planning on. I'm all for picking my battles, and that wasn't a fit I was up for, so here is the result...a redneck princess.

(That's the Beast's magic mirror she's holding, by the way)

She's been wearing the mullet wig ever since. Really. She wore it to her doctor's appointment on Monday. She would have worn it to church today if I'd let her.

Getting her face painted

Lydia & Sophie, two Disney princesses

Getting a tattoo

Owen was a very snuggly skeleton (in a hand-me-down costume)

The Pumpkin Walk game--Sophie won! But she didn't know it until the lady handed her the prize. Sophie was still trying to figure out what number she was standing on.

Owen wanted to "play" all the games too. He settled for digging through the treat buckets to pick out candy that he can't even eat.

We did every game there was to do and came home with tons of candy. Our family had a great time! Thanks for inviting us, W's!!

Drew, Lydia, Owen & Sophie