This Present Joy

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. J's family came over for lunch and with everyone contributing a bit to the feast, we had just that. One of my favorite parts of our Thanksgiving meal is the cranberry sauce. It's a recipe my grandmother made when I was growing up, and it's absolutely delicious. Not to mention, it makes me think of her when I make it and brings back sweet memories. Another treat for our weekend was Aunt Stephanie coming to town! The girls had a fun time reading with her, playing at the park and going to breakfast. She brought her iPad with her, and Carly fell in love with the iBooks app. Stephanie and Carly sat and read The House at Pooh Corner for a LONG time. I was so close to waking up early on Friday morning for Black Friday sales. I didn't have my heart set on any particular gift item nor was I looking forward to battling crowds. Honestly, I just wanted to experience it. But, I slept in and the experience can wait until next year--or one after t...

For what it's worth, I've written many blog posts in my head since February. I've blogged about Carly's dance recital from May, our trips to Florida and Omaha this summer, swim lessons, the first day of preschool for Carly and Hannah, and multiple in-between moments that represent this stage of life for our family. But, I just haven't gotten them typed from my head to the computer. Two years ago in December, I blogged once a day for 25 days about Things that Bring Joy . It was a fun thing to do but was definitely difficult, at times. So, I'm starting with baby steps. I'm hoping to blog once a week (yikes! I'm going from once every 9 months to once every week. Ha! Ha!) But, I very much want to capture my family's memories in these posts. Last year, I printed a book of my blog for my mom. I used http://www.blurb.com/ for the software, and let me tell you, it was awesome! (fyi, I'm not getting paid by them to wax eloquently about this) Sure, there...

There are those moments you wait for in a child's early days--some with gleeful anticipation and others with more trepidation. This was one of the latter. It's a moment a parent expects. You resign yourself to the fact that it's going to happen at one point--it won't be that big of a deal, really--but it definitely sets the tone of new exploration from that point on. To ward it off, you close doors, you redirect, you monitor more--but it's bound to happen at some point. Really, it's not as bad as it sounds. I knew the noise the minute I heard it. I heard a faint clink-clink and a muted splashing--not a full-out bathtub splash (that would have been impossible--both of my children were not in the bath at the time). I jumped up from my chair and ran into the bathroom, where my youngest daughter was standing attentively at the toilet with her hands dangling over the edge. Her shirt sleeves were soaked and the toilet paper was completely off of the roll, laying in a ...