Thanksgiving Quick 5

There is no rest for the weary.  So, at the insistance of my father and brother-in-law, you get a Quick 5 on this Black Friday.

1.  Alaina is starting to love to play games.  I think she learns them at Cubbies.  Her first favorite is "I Spy."  It's so cute to hear her say "I spy with my little eye sompfing...red!"  Except she doesn't quite have the concept that you should spy something before you say it.  Sometimes, after several failed guesses, I'll give up and then she'll take a moment to locate something of the color that I didn't say.  Or she'll name something that is up in her room when we are in fact in the car at the moment. 

2.  Her second go-to game is "Pretend Flip the Cards."  She always suggests this one when I tell her I'm tired of playing I Spy.  To play, you simply pretend that you are playing a matching game.  Unfortunately it is very easy to cheat when you are playing a pretend game of matching.  Where's the accountability?  I can't very well argue when she gets seven or eight matches in a row. 

3.  It has been so fun to watch all the cousins playing together.  Last year, except for Alaina, they were all just lumps.  This year they are starting to play together, even though most of their play involves taking toys from one another.  They'll get it.

An unsolicited, completely candid kiss for cousin Naomi

 4.  For their ornaments this year, my sisters and I painted ceramic letters for all the kids.  It was fun, and Alaina got to paint too.  The girl loves her crafts.  I should buckle down and let her do crafts more often.

5.  My mom's friend came over on Thanksgiving day to take pictures of our family.  The key to a good family picture at this phase of life is to not expect anything from the kids.  So we didn't.  And I think we got some great pictures.

The whole crew

The Kimble Crew

 Let the enjoying of the Christmas season begin!
 

Quick...Something

Lately I've been busier than a one-eyed cat watching two mouse holes.  I'm directing/acting in the Christmas play at church, trying to start up a MOPS group (our first meeting is in 52 days!), preparing for a new job, and getting ready for the Marsh family Christmas that will take place on Thanksgiving this year.  As in, next week.  So I'm not sure if I can come up with a quick 5, but I can give you a quick something (so Dad and Nick have nothing to complain about.)

1.  Did I mention my new job?  Starting in January, I am going to be the nursery director at Valley View Christian Church.  Yes, that's the church we go to.  It's an extremely part time job, (I know 20 hours a week is part time...what do you call 10 hours a week?) and it's something that is stay-at-home mom friendly.  Most of the job takes place on Sunday mornings, and the rest can be done at home.  Or if I have to go in, I can bring the girls, because churches are the greatest places to work when you want to drag your mini-muffins along.  I'm excited about it.  This job came along at the perfect time for our family.  God must have been involved or something.

2.  I thought I'd show you a bit of Alaina's latest art:

I love it when Alaina draws a picture of her family.  I'll explain this one to you.  The person on the far left is Mommy.  The thing dangling above Mommy's head is Batman.  Joya is next.  Then Alaina.  (Notice she gave herself eyebrows.)  On the far right is Daddy.  And hanging upside down above Alaina is her brother Alan.  

Alaina told me as she was coloring this that it was a rainbow.  I think it looks like a human heart.  And it didn't escape my notice that she used the colors of orange and blue.  Which tells me that in Alaina's heart she is a Broncos fan.  Good girl.

3.  The other day, I dressed Joya is this outfit:

 Alaina thought that Joya looked so pretty, and that she wanted to "be pretty like Joya."  So she picked out this outfit:

4.  I don't have much else.  I think Joya's rash on her face is finally going away.  It's a little hard to tell sometimes.  But she's been off dairy for almost exactly a week, so that really must have been the problem.  I think I'm going to give it one more week just to be sure, and then I'll slowly introduce cheese and stuff to see what she can tolerate.

That's it.  My brain is fried.

Quick 5

Most of my Quick 5s are Alaina-heavy.  It's because she's 3 and completely interacting with the world.  Nothing against Joya; Joya is cute and sweet but still pretty much just does the normal baby things.  However, this week Joya gets a chance to shine.

1.  For the past month, Joya has had a rash on her face.  Mostly under her eyes.  It's a little unsightly, and looks worse on some days than it does on others.  I finally got her into see the PA yesterday.  She recommended a pretty expensive lotion (which the pharmacist assistant raved about) and prescribed a steroid cream that I'm supposed to use sparingly.  However, the biggest thing she mentioned was that it might be a milk allergy.  I'm so bummed about that, but it's worth a try.  Soy and rice milk is more expensive, but I'm trying to tell myself that it's not as expensive as formula (right?)  If switching the milk doesn't clear up the rash, then we'll try this crazy cream, but the milk thing might be the way to go.  She doesn't really have any other symptoms, like wheezing or vomiting, but it's worth a shot to see.  I've been putting off her one-year baby pictures until the rash clears up, so hopefully we'll see results soon.

2.  On Saturday we heard a weird sound coming from the corner.  Joya was playing near the chairs, and I didn't think too much of it.  Then Lee looked over and put an end to the sound.  Joya was CHEWING on the chair.  She chewed the paint right off.  I sure hope the paint was non-toxic.  So far she seems okay.  The chair might never recover.

3.  In the teeth related world, Joya also has been known to grind the four teeth that she has.  A few weeks ago, I heard a story on the radio talking about misophonia, which, according to ask.com, is an extreme intolerance to a sound.  It literally means an "extreme dislike" or "hatred" of a sound.  Apparently, grinding of teeth triggers misophonia in me.  I have to struggle to tone down my reaction when I hear her grinding her teeth.  I know she's just a baby and can't understand why I'm freaking out, but that sound really bothers me.

Our friend in college, Brian, used to freak out when he heard someone crack their knuckles or back.  We used to do it just to watch him freak out.  Brian, if you're reading this, I'm so sorry.  I totally get it now.  Just thinking about it has raised my heart rate quite a bit.

4.  Who needs to buy hair product when mac and cheese has equally satisfactory results?

5.  And I haven't forgotten about Alaina.  Here are the cutest things she says right now:



The "fff" sound instead of "th"...as in "Fursday" and "Firsty."  Even when we coach her on the "th" sound, she'll say "Th...th...firsty!"

"Froap" = throat

"Camalope...K...M...L...Camalope"

Happy 11/11/11!  Do any of you do things to celebrate days like this?

Buck-Toothed Beauty

An addendum to last week's quick 5 -

Still not the greatest pic, but the best one I could get, with Daddy's help. 

Now if only she'd let me do something with that hair...

Quick 5

Life goes on.

1.  We are not a Halloween family, and this is the first year that we spent a lot of time talking about it.  Between the way people decorate for Halloween like they do Christmas, and all the stuff in the stores, and all the Halloween-themed shows, Alaina had plenty of questions.  My favorite part, though, came on Halloween night.  We left our porch light off, so as not to encourage trick-or-treaters to stop at our door, but that didn't stop one eager little person.  Around 7:30 we heard a pounding on our door, and then I heard his mom call out "No!  We only go to the ones who have their light on!"  Alaina, however, got a stricken look on her face.  She wanted to peak out our closed blinds, and I told her not to.  Then she told me she was scared.  I asked her what she was scared of, and she said, "The kids!  They're all dressed up and walking around with their buckets of candy!"  It made me laugh, as if kids walking around with buckets of candy was the scary part of the day. 

2.  I'm in the camp that enjoys the fact that Christmas sprouts up on November 1st.  If we're going to celebrate something, let's celebrate the fact that God came to be with us!  And let's celebrate for two full months!  And I love that anytime Alaina sees anything that has to do with Christmas, she shouts, "Merry Christmas, Mommy!"  Merry Christmas, indeed.

3.  I think it is so cute whenever Joya does something that is more little person than baby.  Currently it's the handing over of things.  If she has something she's not supposed to have, or if she's chewing on something she's not supposed to chew, we'll ask her to hand it over.  And she always immediately does.  I like it, because it is one of the first few signs that she understands what we are saying to her. 

4.  Her two, big front teeth also make her seem more like a child than a baby.  We like to call her our Buck-Toothed Beauty.  I'd post a picture, but I can't get a good one.  She's too wiggly for that. 

5.  I have been summoned by the Great State of Colorado for jury duty on Monday.  Someday I think I really would like to sit on a jury.  Just not now.  Best case scenario is that I call the number on Friday evening, and my juror number doesn't come up.  If it does, then Lee will have to stay home from work so I can go.  I don't have a smart phone or iPad or anything cool like that, so I'm afraid that having to report will be terribly boring.  If I do have to report, I doubt I'll be selected for a trial, which means it will all be for naught.  And there is nothing more annoying to me than wasting my time like that.  But this is a momentous occasion anyway, because it's my first time being summoned.

Thanksgiving is only three weeks away!  Let the turkey sales begin!