Thanksgiving

Happy week-after Thanksgiving! Our weekend was lovely, filled with family, food, and a visiting puppy named Tinkerbelle. The food? A 24 lb turkey my friends. My sister and her husband raised it, and by golly... it was delicious! It was, in fact, larger than Miss Colette. And the puppy? The girls were obsessed. It was probably the highlight of their holiday... well, Anni says it was the turkey, so maybe all of the of above.

Amy's Birth Blessing Party

Last year, I attended a beautiful birth blessing for a friend. As soon as I found out my sweet friend Amy was pregnant with her second darling, I hoped she would let me host a birth blessing to celebrate little Molly's life. Obviously, she said yes! We had a whole lot of brunchy food (this casserole was a big hit), and a few other things for the blessing.



There was a list for the "labor call", and candles to take home and light to remind them to pray while Amy labored.

I also had a frame ready for a photo of sweet baby girl, with the matte out to sign.

During the actual prayer part of the party, each woman filled out one of these cards and then read them aloud. Amy tucked them into a simple 4x6 album so she could keep them to read.

As each person read their prayers for Amy and her baby, they held one of the beads, and then slipped it onto a piece of stretchy string to form a bracelet for her to wear and remember that she had a whole community praying for her.

All the lovely ladies! It was such fun to get to host a group of such sweet, loving women.

In fact... sweet baby girl was born just last Wednesday, and our prayers traveled with them! My girls loved having a candle lit and praying for one of their favorite people... and having that reminder to pray for them gave me something to do rather than being anxious. If you want more information on throwing your own Birth Blessing Party, Lisa over at Catholic Missionary Family has everything you need.

365 Photos in 365 Days: Week 45

Snow. Blueberries. Tickle fights. More snow. Cuddles with grandma. Then cuddles with Daddy after grandma had left annnnd finally, date night with the hubby. The last week in a nutshell.

365 Photos in 365 Days: Week 44

As you've probably noticed, I've missed a few weeks. And in the midst of those few weeks, I missed a few days of photos, so then I got all panicky as I tried to figure out how I'd post those weeks. Whelp, life happens, so we're just moving on to this past week for now. I think we've finally gotten our groove back after all the traveling... just in time for the holidays... in which we'll probably get things all snarled up again. Such is life. I like it anyway.

These two sitting next to each other on a chair has been rare as of late. There has been an awful lot of, "She has that/is doing that/has Mom's attention and therefore I want that/to do that/to have ALL of Mom's attention to myself." I keep reminding myself that my siblings are some of my very best friends now, especially my sisters... and we fought terribly.

 

 This is one of those tricks of illusion. As I took this picture of her little feet all balanced and ready to help me cook, she was throwing a fit (I don't remember what it was about, but there was much wailing). So. Cute feet. Shattered preconceptions. You're welcome. 

 

We met some friends for a very quick end-of-the-day photoshoot of a friend's very full-term baby belly. While we waited for them, the girls and I stayed warm by running up and down the (rather lovely) paths.

We pulled out a much-loved but recently forgotten "only at Nonna and Papa's" toy, and Colette got to spend our visit quite happily discovering "the castle".

As I sit shivering just thinking about the snow and negative temps outside, it's hard to believe how warm it was just this past weekend!

 

Annnnnd, I had a birthday. It was lovely, like really, really lovely. My husband took the day off, and I was spoiled absolutely rotten. What a sweet life I live! 

Then came the snow. Usually our first snow comes much earlier in October, so we've been ready and waiting for this. Well, as long as ready means not having a coat or gloves for the littlest, or snow pants for anyone, or boots, or, well, I wasn't actually ready so much as expectant. We have since bought snow pants for the eldest, borrowed a coat for the little one, and the rest will have to come as money and searching permits. Right now, no one is spending time out in it, as fun as it looks, because it really is too cold to play in. The end of the week is supposed to be warmer; though, so there's hope!

365 Photos in 365 Days: Week 41