A White Thanksgiving

We arrived in Minnesota Tuesday afternoon, and the girls were thrilled to see snow falling that evening.  We woke up Wednesday morning to perfect "snowman snow"!  Although it was mostly gone by the time we left MN on Saturday night, we were glad to be up north for a White Thanksgiving.

 On Wednesday, we went to Melissa's to help prepare for the Thanksgiving meal, and the girls loved running around her backyard with Expo.  I also offered to shovel Melissa's super long driveway and then felt it for the rest of the trip.  My sore back was a small price to pay for the calories burned, though.

 BFFs

 While we were busy playing in the snow/baking/meal prepping on Wednesday, the guys visited Charlie's on Prior Lake and a local brewery.  Adam joined Todd and Steve after he got off work at noon.  Glad they got this time together.

 The whole fam on Thanksgiving.  Melissa and Adam did a great job hosting 15 people!  Of course we ended the night with "Christmas Vacation" ... a family tradition.

 On Friday we avoided the stores, but did head to an outdoor Christmas Market in a nearby town.  The girls were excited to see real live reindeer (even though Emma doesn't look the least bit excited here).

 We took a break to warm up and consume a beverage at Excelsior Brewing Co.  The girls enjoyed root beer from the tap and old school games.

 We also took a trolley ride with Santa!  Steve and I not-so-secretly were super excited to check some important holiday to-dos off the list that afternoon.  We ended with drinks and apps at a local pub, and then headed home for movies and another appetizer spread prepared by Grandma and the girls.

 On Saturday morning, my mom, sister, and I did a little Small Business Saturday shopping at a longtime favorite: The General Store.  While we were there, the girls went to the park with Dad and Grandpa.  The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day!

 We all met up for lunch at Lion's Tap.  A little delicious walk down memory lane for me...and why not cap off a week of overindulgence with more overindulgence?!

 Since our flight didn't leave until Saturday night, we had time that afternoon to just lounge around.  We watched some football, and the girls painted pillowcases and sewed purses in Grandma's craft room.  It's a little piece of heaven for them up there!

We had such an awesome visit, and it was hard to say goodbye, but I'm thankful to a special kick-off to our holiday season.  And especially thankful for my family.

Book Talk

As busy as life has been, reading remains my "me time".  I always loves to get in at least a few pages before I close my eyes for the night.

 Falling into Place was a really engaging book that starts with teenage Liz attempting suicide.  As she fights for her life (which she wasn't planning on doing), the story unfolds from the perspectives of various people in her life, many of whom she has plowed through over the years without thinking about her impact.  This was a really great, and timely, young adult novel - good for a quick read.

The Goldfinch, on the other hand, was super long, so be ready to commit.  It's about 13-year-old Theo, who survives an accident that kills his mom and many others.  Having been abandoned by his dad, Theo finds himself living with wealthy friends trying to make sense of what has happened.  The story follows him through years of darkness.  I really loved this book, sad as it was, and as I read I couldn't stop thinking about so many kids I know who deal with tragic and traumatic situations.  Intervention by the right adults is so vital.

"Reading is a way for me to expand my mind, open my eyes, and fill up my heart."

-Oprah

updates

This past weekend, for the first time in a long time, life slowed down for a minute.  It was wonderful.  I went to the gym, finally got the haircut I'd rescheduled a thousand times, Steve ran, the girls hung around in jammies ... we needed it!  On top of that, it's Thanksgiving break.  The last four weeks have included 5th grade camp (for me), Halloween week, election week, and super moon week. To say we've needed a break is a huge understatement.

We're heading to MN tomorrow morning, but I've been itching to get some things down on the blog, so it's bullet points tonight...

• Both girls finished fall soccer a couple weekends ago.  They'll continue to play indoor this winter.  It's so fun to watch them improve and have a good time with their friends in the process.

•  Sara also finished her first volleyball season.  She improved drastically, and it was so exciting to watch it "click" for her.  After a very long morning of multiple back-to-back games, including a real nail-biter, Sara's team took 2nd place in the end-of-season tournament.

• I can't believe the holidays are upon us.  I love Thanksgiving; for me it's always like the calm before the stressful storm of December.  I haven't even thought twice about birthday or Christmas presents yet ... I am in a one-day-at-a-time mode this year, and I'm just being okay with that. 
• School is going so well.  It hasn't been without hiccups and a few significant issues, but I love going to my dream job everyday.  If you had told me in August I'd make it until Thanksgiving, I wouldn't have been so sure ... but here I am!  Sara is doing wonderfully in 2nd grade.  She has something exciting to tell me everyday, but my favorite was the other day when I picked her up and she said, "Mom, my teacher trusts me...".  Her story had to do with helping friends on the computers, but I just loved hearing the first part of that story.  How empowering!  Emma's year is going well, too, and she loves to practice writing her numbers and letters.  When the girls aren't fighting, they are really sweet together.
• We had a fun time at the skating rink with friends today, and then made a stop at Trader Joe's for chocolate Advent calendars (annual must-have).  I have so many other things to update on, but I can't think right now (speaking of aforementioned fighting) and everything I wanted to say has escaped me.  It's probably for the best because I have to go pack anyway!

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

living the uber life

I sure wish I was getting paid for all the driving I've been doing.  I'm not complaining (honest), but for the sake of documenting our lives, I'm going to catalogue this weekend's drive time:

• Friday after work
• pick up girls, drive to Sara's volleyball practice, then drive home
• a little while later, drive Sara to movie theatre to meet a friend (and his mom, don't worry)
• a little while later, drive back to movie theatre to pick up Sara
• Saturday
• wake up early and drive Sara to her volleyball game, then drive home
• a little while later, whole family drives to Emma's soccer game, and then home
• a little while later, whole family drives to Sara's soccer game, and then home
• a little while later, drive Sara to a birthday slumber party
• Sunday 
• get up early and drive to grocery store
• a little while later, drive to pick up Sara from birthday party (45 minutes away)
• *right now* sit for a few minutes
• in a little while, drive Emma to birthday party (take Sara with me)
• leave Emma at birthday party to take Sara to Brownies
• go back to birthday party to get Emma, then go back to Brownies to get Sara
• buy more gas

Halloween Fun

I'm of the mindset that Halloween should always be on a Friday or Saturday.  Definitely not a Monday.  Nevertheless, even though going to bed last night was hard - and waking up this morning was harder - we had a fun Halloween!

 After debating on various designs, we went for classic jack-o-lanterns this year.  Steve and Sara separated the seeds from the goo, and we all enjoyed baked pumpkin seeds.

 On Monday, Sara had book character day at school.  She went as Ramona Quimby.  Emma didn't get to dress up for school, but she did wear her Halloween shirt under her dress and also had a "cheetah face".

 Ready for trick-or-treat!  Emma was Sky from "Paw Patrol" and Sara was a police officer.

 They had to come home and sort through the haul before collapsing.

Now I'm feeling like the holiday season is really upon us ... lots more fun ahead!