Thankful

We have so many things to be thankful for. This year we created a thankful tree. I sketched a bit of an outline in pencil and Princess painted the tree. Doesn't it look awesome?! I got fabric leaves from the dollar store. We used sharpie markers to write the things we are thankful for and taped them to the tree.

We were joined by a couple of LK's friends, my sister the Duchess and her friend. It was a pretty small Thanksgiving, but it was lovely. We very much missed having LK's son, his wife and their daughter. They live in Pittsburgh and his wife is very pregnant right now, due in just a couple of weeks, so they couldn't make it. We hope that they can all join us next year.

It was wonderful having LK at home for a long weekend, but he's headed out again soon.

Princess had fun playing. Her play amazes me. She is very good at being an only child and has such fun whether she is playing on her own or with others. It's a beautiful thing.

All on her own, before Thanksgiving, she pulled out some paper and drew the requisite turkey. Are you surprised that it's pink? Nah. Didn't think so.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday!!

Next up . . . the winter tree!

A little update . . .

Things have been quiet around here, mostly because there have been a lot of changes but not a lot happening. The Lizard King received a job offer at the end of October. Within a little over a week, he was on the job. It all happened so fast! We are so grateful for this opportunity!!

When LK and I met, he was a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management Systems) guru, working as a contractor/consultant, converting customers from one software system to another, cleaning up, mapping and converting data. This is something he loves to do and, for a variety of reasons, hasn't had an opportunity to do since we got married. He is so happy to be back at it.

There is only one drawback. He has to travel for work. This is where our Afghanistan experience helps. Compared to that, this is a breeze. The travel is within the United States for starters and the period of time he is gone is significantly shorter than three months . . . by a lot.

Princess and I are handling the shorter periods pretty well. We have moments of missing him, but all in all, we're doing well. We have been staying busy with friends and playdates. We are both grateful for our wonderful community.

LK is on his way home right now and we will be celebrating Thanksgiving together. I'll have photos to share soon.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

First Friday

One of our family traditions is going to First Friday at My Masterpiece Art Studio. We went last month and Princess painted a jack-o-lantern.

We went again this past Friday. The project this time was a bowl to glaze or make out of clay. The Lizard King decided that he wanted to get in on the fun. In typical Lizard King fashion, he made a footed bowl . . . with feet. He is such a silly boy! Check it out.

Princess decided to make another snowman menorah instead of a bowl. This one will go to her Aunt in Florida who lost her menorah during a move. I planned to buy her one, but LK suggested that Princess make one and Princess thought that was a fabulous idea.

We also had to take Princess' original snowman menorah to the clay hospital to be repaired. I had broken the snowman while cleaning all the wax off last year. Here it is all bandaged up while the glue dries.

Here LK is making the feet.

As always, it was a fun time. Until next First Friday . . .

The Pumpkin

Yes, we did really get a pumpkin at the patch. The night before Halloween we gathered to carve it. The Lizard King got behind the camera for a bit. Princess and I dug in to scoop out the guts.

But Princess wasn't quite into the messiness of it all.

But I can only give up the camera for so long . . .

She was all over the design and couldn't wait to cut it out.

But found it to be a lot harder than she had anticipated.

This was the first time that we carved a pumpkin together and Princess was so excited!

After lighting our jack-o-lantern, we took a walk to look for festive Halloween decorations around the neighborhood. I hope everyone had a happy Halloween!