Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I just love Thanksgiving - I love the craziness of preparing tons of food and "entertaining" loved ones. I love mashed potatoes (with corn in it!), yams, succotash, wild rice, pumpkin bread and cranberry sauce. Yum. I'm eating some leftovers as I type! I love watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles (edited version). And I especially love this time to pause and reflect on how blessed we are and all of the things Heavenly Father has given us. President Hinckley said, "Gratitude is the very essence of worship." I'm so grateful for my family, my home, Quentin's job, this beautiful world, the opportunities we have, the gospel, and my life! I try to seek the "little blessings" in my life each day - by living with awareness and enjoying each moment! Happy Thanksgiving!

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

So...after seeing Rodgers Memorial Theater's "Stone Soup" production a couple of months ago (performed by children), Makenna has been talking about how much she wants to be able to do that - to be up on stage dancing and singing and acting in front of an audience. I know, it sure doesn't sound like Makenna does it? But she has been so excited about it that we checked into musical theater classes at RMT. For Kiera and Makenna to attend the class weekly for 7 months, it would be $550. Ouch. So we decided to wait, and I'm so glad we did. Just a few weeks later we got a flyer from the school that said they would be putting on their first annual play! The girls were so excited and "tried out" on Monday. All the kids learned 2 lines of a song, practiced it over and over, and then each person was asked to sing it solo! I was so proud of the girls - they did great! And they each got cast as a little bird in the play - Kiera as Needy Bird and Makenna as Petty Bird! It was fun to see lots of our friends and neighbors cast in it as well. It will be fun going to weekly rehearsals and finally seeing the final production in February!

Leaves

Yep, 'tis that time of year for lots of pretty, fluttery leaves that crunch beneath your feet as you enjoy walks in the crisp air. 'Tis also that time of year for raking up all those little buggers! Quentin spent nearly two hours last Saturday, mowing and sucking up all the leaves - it looked like our lawn had been vacuumed. But by today, not even a week later, it looked like we hadn't done anything! The girls and I got to work this afternoon and spent over two hours raking and bagging - oh, and throwing and jumping! They were (for once) happy to work! I guess now it can snow!

New Specs!

Kiera got her new glasses today! She was so excited she could hardly stand it. Doesn't she look cute?!

Piano Lessons!

More big changes for Kiera - she started piano lessons! Of all the things my girls can learn, I think piano (music) is at the top of the list. I think it is so important. We checked into lessons over a year ago and found a lady in our ward who is rumored to be excellent. When I asked about starting Kiera, she said she likes to wait until they are at least 7 years old. She also mentioned that she wouldn't have an opening until January 2010. But then she called us a few days ago, said she had a cancellation and could fit Kiera in starting this week! Kiera's first lesson was yesterday and, though the teacher seems pretty strict and rigid, Kiera is excited and anxious to learn!

Winner!

We got a letter about a week ago saying Makenna was selected as a Reflections Contest winner! (see "Reflections Contest" post from October 23). Last night was an official awards ceremony at the school. Makenna was especially excited to receive an awesome trophy with her name on it! She was so excited and proud - and so were we!

Big Change

Quentin and I knew our kids would be doomed. I got glasses when I was in fifth grade, and Quentin was only in first grade when he got his, so we knew that our offspring would most likely have the same issues. Sure enough - after the school nurse tested the student's eyes, we got a note saying she recommend we get Kiera tested by an eye care professional. Yesterday was the day, and Kiera was so excited to find out that she does indeed need glasses. She tried on glasses for about an hour and narrowed her choices down to 5. Actually, she knew which one was her favorite - a gold, wire-rimmed pair with a "cheetah" pattern on the sides. She thought they looked like princess glasses, but Quentin and I thought they looked a little Grandma-ish. We wanted her to pick out ones she loved and we didn't want to sway her, but we were nervous that she would quickly get tired of those glasses. With the help of one of the staff members, Kiera soon changed her mind about the Grandma glasses, but still wasn't convinced about any other pair. Then the lady helping us said she just got in a pair but hadn't put them out. She brought them out, Kiera tried them on, and Kiera instantly fell in love with them - and I have to admit they were the cutest ones she had tried. She said, "I HAVE to have these glasses!" She was so excited and can't wait until she gets them next week!

THE MODERN, COMPUTERIZED EYE TEST

THE MANUAL TEST

SEEING ONE OF THE EYE DOCS

TRYING OUT ONE OF ABOUT 400 PAIRS OF GLASSES . . .

HERE'S THE NEW SPECS - WE'LL WAIT TILL SHE GETS THEM TO SHOW YOU HOW SHE LOOKS WITH THEM ON! (P.S. Sorry for the blurry pic - we didn't take our good camera)

Halloween - Finally

So Halloween finally came. We visited Granny and Nana at Nana's house in the afternoon then got ready to go trick-or-treating. We took the girls around the block and caught up to their good friends Chloe and Sophie. When we reached our house again, I took Kasidee in and Quentin continued with Kiera and Makenna and their friends (and their dad). They were gone for 2 HOURS and came back with their buckets full. Yay. At least they had fun.

(P.S. I'm not sure if you noticed, but in the 3 Halloween postings I've done, Makenna has been wearing a different costume in each. About a month ago, she found a green M&M costume, fell in love with it, and begged for me to buy it. She thought it was cool that it had "M for Makenna" on it. She wore it that whole day and even slept with it for several nights. But when it got closer to Halloween, she decided she wanted to wear Kiera's old ladybug costume. Then for the next event she chose an old princess costume from our dress-up box. Finally on Halloween night she decided to pic the M&M costume! Silly Makenna - she has a mind of her own!)

(P.P.S. Oh, and poor Kasidee suffers from the Third Child Syndrome. While Kiera and Makenna chose new costumes for this year, I figured we have enough leftover costumes from previous years that Kasidee could choose from. Oh well - at least they're new to her!!)