10 on 10-November

The 10th day of the month has fallen on Tuesdays more than any other day this year - which means: boring pictures of my laptop in my florescent lit office. Luckily, today I only had to be in the office for 31/2 hours, so I spared you those photos & just skipped photographing those.

Morning with Leta

(after those hours in the office) on my way to pick up Leta at Sean's

Leta not wanting to leave Sean's house (Thanks Katie & Sean for playing with her yesterday!!)

Creative places to put the "Mr. Yuck" sticker the pharmasist gave Leta

Taking 10 minutes to get some bread going & rising while Leta napped

Then, more hours of working (but this time on my couch with ice cream as a motivator)

A current WIP

Making dinnerEating Dinner

Ready for these fall decorations to turn to Christmas ones soon!

Thankful for the Past 3 Days

Catching up :)

Day 08.
A Sabbath. We've been trying really hard to not make plans on Sundays after church. We strive to have our chores done by then, so we can sit back, relax, and watch the afternoon unfold organically.

Day 09.
Good time with a good friend and some great deals found on Christmas presents.



Day 10.

The fact that I have something fun to look forward to every day this week! A movie with my mom tonight, some free time tomorrow while my mom takes Leta for an hour or two, playdates on Thursday, and a weekend full of 2 Birthday parties & a church party. What a great week!

Thankful Day #6 & #7

Day #6

Comfort food & a little TV with the hubby. Yesterday after work I was so tired and starting to feel depressed by the non-stop rain & stormy gales...so I bought eggnog...and lime chips! (not to eat together, mind you!) I sat on the couch with my hubby, eating lime chips & satsumas & then had eggnog-tinged coffee for dessert, while we watched 30 Rock from the night before. For some reason this show is only funny when I watch it with Matt. I think his laughing makes me laugh even harder.

Day #7

A clean house & some couch time with Leta. After the morning was spent deep cleaning the house, Matt started working with a buddy on replacing our electrical panel. Somehow I had failed to realize that the power would need to be off for a stretch of time- and with it, the lights, heat, TV, stove, wireless router and coffee maker. So without light enough to play in the playroom or read books very well, no heat to help us keep warm, and the fact that it was POURING outside, I came up with a plan. I popped a veggie tale movie that mom had recently given Leta into my laptop & we cuddled up on the couch and watched Leta's first real movie (up until now it's been limited to Dora or Sesame Street). I didn't know if she'd sit & watch anything for that long (I think it was about an hour and a half). But maybe the fact that it was freezing everywhere other than on the couch next to me kept her there. And I savored every moment of cuddling next to my not-so-cuddly 2 year old! Maybe sometimes the rain & cold is a blessing :)

Family Service Opp for You!

You may remember that I was inspired by a post the other week regarding serving as a family this holiday season. I also read somewhere recently that 2 years old is not too young to start planting that service seed. So, I've decided that a fun and easy thing to do that Leta could get involved in is to participate in Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child.

Basically, you chose a gender & age range to buy for & then fill a shoebox with small gifts- toys, art supplies, toothbrushes, etc... (there's a list of suggestions on the website). Then there are numerous drop-off places - one of which happens to be in Ballard (again, something one could find on their site).

Leta and I went out shopping the other day & came up with all sort of fun, inexpensive goodies. And I thought, how fun would it be to have a little get-together for anyone else who wants to participate?! Samaritan's Purse sent me some fun materials, including coloring pages for your kids to color & include with the presents. So, here are the details:

Thursday, November 19th at 7pm

at our place

(they're due in by that Saturday so that they'll have time to ship by Christmas)

After you've shopped with your kiddos for the items you're going to send,

bring your stuff & a shoe box if you have one. We'll pack them & wrap them together, while partaking of some goodies, of course.

I'm going to send out invitations with some of the extra materials soon, but if you're interested in participating, leave a comment so that I can be sure to get you one. What a fun way to start off the holiday season!

30 Days of Thankfulness #5: that Christmas is coming! I had my first eggnog latte of the season yesterday & partook of some peppermint flavor in my coffee today. I'm THIS close to busting out the Christmas music, but I'm trying to hold off until the 15th. (we'll see if I make it!)

Thankful Day #4

Today I'm thankful for:

Bible study last night & the amazing girls that make up our group! It's such a wonderful time of learning from each other, gaining wisdom from one another's insights, and being able to share those things that are truly important below the surface of our everyday lives. Thank you ladies, for your faithful prayers, listening, and encouragement!

Church dinner tonight -a night of not having to cook or do dishes, and getting to enjoy the company of our church community.

The first eggnog latte of the season today. As soon as I heard that they were out yesterday, I hatched a plan to take Leta there this morning. And boy, was it worth it!

A restful naptime - I left all the housework that I should be doing & instead, am lying on the couch, blogging, journaling & emailing friends.

Day #3

I'm so thankful for a free morning yesterday. Matt had a use-it-or-lose-it vacation day and volunteered to take Leta for the morning so that I could have some alone time. I couldn't think of the last time I'd had a day to myself when I wasn't having to use that time working- it was beautiful! You'd think that with 2 sets of grandparents in the area I'd take free days all the time (and I'm not complaining -we get date nights and have free childcare for meetings and while I work, which I'm all so thankful for! Plus I only have 1 child, who happens to be pretty easy & fun). But I always feel that when I already ask our parents to babysit when we need them to, I don't want to ask again just so I can have some time to play.

So, yesterday morning I decided to really savor that delicious taste of freedom- having the morning wide open, without schedule, without expectation, without needs to be met. I took my time in the morning, taking a long shower, pampering myself a bit. I spent some time journaling & reading. I got to wander around my favorite store (Marshalls) where I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket. I ran errands that needed to be run, but without having to get Leta in and out of the car each time. And I sat and enjoyed coffee and a treat by myself.

The afternoon brought with it a list of things that needed to get done- grocery shopping, paying the bills, etc... and the return of Leta. And last night we had so much fun as a family, playing with Leta's puppets and cracking up at all she pretends for them to do. All in all- so much to be thankful for in the day!

2 Challenges for November

I often have mixed feelings about the month of November. In October the leaves are just starting to change, it's the month of a special someone's birthday, etc...And then in December, well, I don't think I need to explain to anyone why I love December so much (I'm a Christmas Junky)...but the month of November is kind of stuck in the middle. Most of the beautiful fall leaves have started to fall off the tree, it gets colder & darker, and you're anticipating Christmas, but not allowed to bring decorations out until after Thanksgiving. It's just always been a kind of blah month for me.

So, this November I've been intrigued by 2 different 30-day challenges currently out there in Blogging Land:

The first is one that I tried to participate in last year, but wasn't very consistent in, and that's:

30 Days of Thankfulness over at Andi's "Tales of a Crafty Mama". So, I'm going to try my hardest to post every day one, or a few things, I'm thankful for that day.

The 2nd is something I just stumbled on this weekend. I've never read her blog before, but found this challenge through a link on one I do read regularly, and really loved the idea:

30 Days of Giving Challenge I'm excited about the idea of how my perspective might change- both on giving and generosity & again, on thankfulness, in undergoing this challenge. I won't document this one daily on here, but might occasionally highlight organizations that could use increased giving in our current economy or maybe share a bit about what this experiment teaches me.

Feel free to join in on either of these "challenges." And please forgive me if I fall off the wagon in my trying to post every day (you know how life can get).

Now I'm really excited about the month of November!

And, while I'm here- Day #1 (yesterday)
#1- Thankful for a new picture window in our living room & for a husband who was able to install it all himself! Looking forward to a warmer house this winter.