Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, Blog Readers, you can once again thank my sister for the gentle reminder that the old family blog hasn't been updated since October.  I have a whole week's worth of Christmas Vacation Adventures to share with you, but my OCD won't let me post those without first backing up to Thanksgiving just to keep things in order. ;)

We had a very nice Thanksgiving at home this year.  Dave had a busy season of funerals and a lot going on at church, so a day with just our family and nothing but good food and rest on the agenda was something we embraced.  

Ella helped make the pumpkin cheesecake.

Dave once again smoked our turkey on the Traeger and it was fantastic!

I love this little family of mine.  Though we sit down to eat around this table every single night, Thanksgiving is a special time to celebrate God's goodness together.  This is what I said I was thankful for this year: "A while ago I heard a musician on KLOVE say, 'God does not intend for us to sacrifice our family on the altar of ministry.'  I'm so thankful that no matter how insane his schedule gets, or how heavy his stress load is, Dave continually prioritizes me and the girls.  He reads aloud, he grades homework, he helps me wash dishes every night, he stays home and takes care of us when we are sick, he gets our turkey beautifully smoked while also preparing to lead a church service.  This Thanksgiving, I thank my God that we have such an awesome pastor...AND husband/dad."

Ivy discovered the joy of turkey!

And, while I have read this favorite book multiple times, as has Ella, Dave and Delia have never read Wonder by RJ Palacio, so they spent the season reading it together.  When they finished over the long weekend, we all went to see the movie together, which was great...but not as good as the book. ;)

Okay...one Pre-Heather-Visit post down, a few more to go and we'll get to the exciting stuff!

Halloween, Kyle, and Wisdom Teeth

The 3 things in this title sum up the major life events of the VM Family the past 3 weeks.  

 Even though I keep checking in with the kids to see if they feel too old for our church's little Harvest Party, they continue to assure me they are not!  They started planning their costumes in September!  Fun for each girl this year was Delia having her friend Kate along for the party, and Ella walking away with another "Best Costume" prize in her age group!

Since our youth pastor likes to hold the Harvest Party on a weekend, for the second time now we've actually been home on the night of the 31st and could do a little trick-or-treating.  I must admit that when it comes to this Halloween tradition, I can take it or leave it.  But, as I was strolling around in the dark with my excited girls, crunching leaves under my feet, bundled in a puffy, warm vest and surrounded by swarms of other kids in costumes, it did strike me as a perfectly lovely fall moment.  And coming home, putting the kids to bed after a long school day, and diving into that candy bowl with a book and a puppy by your side is pretty fantastic too! :)

 I had fun putting this little collage together of the girls' costumes through the years.  I do love their creativity and passion for dressing up!  I think the stoplight and Stanley Cup are still my favorites.  Which ones are yours?

The next weekend we had Kyle visiting!  Once again, clients brought him to the Bay Area and he was able to make a weekend with us out of his travels.  We learned that when Kyle visits a new place, some of the first things he like to check out are 1. the book stores, 2. the churches, and 3. the coffee shops.  Since the weekend he visited was totally rainy, we made plans to show Kyle some these favorite things in a new-to-us area: Stanford University.  It was the perfect, gorgeous, fall day.  We spent an hour browsing this wonderful old bookshop.  We strolled all around the university and visited the golden-mosaiced church in Stanford's Quad, and we stopped for some coffee.

This weekend has not had costumes, candy, or family visitors...it's been consumed with much-needed oral surgery and its ensuing recovery for me.  I put off getting my wisdom teeth out for way too long and finally had to endure this procedure this week.  It has actually gone really well.  The discomfort, swelling, pain, and fatigue are not unexpected and I have nothing to complain about.  My family, Dave especially, has taken the best care of me!  I'm so thankful to have such a tender, nurturing husband, who was so sweet and helpful when I was at my most weak and disoriented.  The precious pileup of loved ones pictured below has also embraced a long weekend of rest with me--  indulging me in multiple meals of soup and a monster Lord of the Rings movie marathon!

Fall Smorgasbord

I'm sorry, there is no good way to categorize this random string of photos and events, except that they all happened in the fall.  So here is our October: percussionists, broken fingers, days off, chores, ordinations, straight A's and all!

 As a 5th grader, Delia has the opportunity to join the band this year.  She was excited to sign up in the percussion section, since dance class has given her a pretty good sense of rhythm.  Our band director makes all his percussionists learn to read music by playing the xylophone before they can start "banging on things".  Learning music is hard, and Delia has already asked to quit, but we're obviously making her stick it out for at least the year.

 The girls ministry I help teach has launched again for the school year and I forgot how much I missed these goofy, amazing, (now) 5th grade gals in my class!

 A parent gave me a generous gift certificate to our town's sweet little home goods store last spring and I finally found something super special there that I wanted to spend it on!

 Ella once again decided to be on the girls' basketball team.  But then, on her SECOND day of practice, she took a tumble and broke her right pinky finger.  Soooo...another night in the ER we spent!  The break was actually a pretty common one and healed in just a few weeks with only a splint and no follow-up even required.  But, the night we spent with the x-ray technicians was the night of a big band and choir concert at school and many tears were shed over the missing of this important event.  Also, the basketball team had to be given up, as did piano and saxophone playing for the month.  It's been another good life lesson in learning to be flexible and not too distraught when our plans don't work out the way we want them too (something Ella and I BOTH have a hard time with)!

 One Friday night we attended a Harvest Party at some friends' house.  There were fun fall foods, good fellowship, pumpkin carving, and this hilarious trio of costumes!

 We had a Monday off school and spent it catching up on our relaxing!  What is better than board games in bathrobes with waffles and hot chocolate?!

 Another Saturday the girls worked hard getting all my dusty windows sparking clean, inside and out.  They did a great job and got this chore done without complaining.  Aren't they awesome?

 We spent a special Sunday celebrating the ordination of our good friend, Patrick.  Our church has been SO blessed by his ministry these past 2 years, and Dave has been blessed by his partnership.  Though nothing really changes in his job, we recognize the significance of our denomination and church affirming his gifts and calling and making him an official reverend.  We had his family, and our beloved chaplain and his wife, Pastor Jack and Sharon, over for a celebratory lunch.

And last...this is what Delia brought home last week-- a straight A report card!  We are so proud!  Her teacher had lots of lovely things to say about her at parent/teacher conferences too!  Though Ella expected her harder year to be reflected in her grades, she also did great and had As in every class but one.  What smart girls I get the privilege of parenting!

Puppy Love

Getting sick of pictures of my kids on the blog?  Not to worry!  We have an adorable new puppy to oooh and aaah over, so all my phone pics are now of her! :)  We've been a family of 5 for a month now, so here's another update on how Ivy is doing.

The above pic is when she made her Facebook Debut! :)  The letter board was a birthday present from Kristen and I LOVE it!  Also, since the taking of this picture, Ivy has learned how to work doggie door and has not had another accident in the house!  She's also much more chill about us leaving her during the school days, because she now has the independence to pass the hours running around and exploring outside!

 She's mellowed out about the guinea pigs too, though she still watches them intently and still under supervision.

 Ivy has also fallen head-over-paws in love with Delia, who gives her the most energy and attention.  They are good play buddies, wearing each other out every night.  I wonder if Ivy senses Delia is the smallest in our family and treats her like a companion, instead of a master, like Dave...

Or a cuddle buddy, like me!  Ivy has learned that I am the one who will provide her belly rubs and snuggles.  She curls up in my lap every day, a feat getting more and more difficult considering she's gained about 10 pounds already!  When I rest, she joins me.  I do like coming home to a quiet house after my day of teaching, but I love that I no longer come home to an empty one!

 Poor girl was spayed this week and spent one whole day not herself at all.  We gave her lots of love and were relieved that she perked up and was actually completely normal the next day already!

And just for the sake of keeping it real, I'll confess that life with a new puppy hasn't been 100% snuggles and tail wags.  Ivy's favorite trick is to take the toilet paper from our little bathroom and run outside with it, TPing my entire back yard!  She's gotten 3 whole rolls now!  The solution is easy enough-- keep the bathroom door shut.  But, it only takes one time to forget and we have quite a mess to clean.   Ivy has also decided that a certain pillow and a book had to die a terrible, million-pieces-everywhere, kind of death.  Frustrating, but the things she's destroyed can still be counted on one hand, so that's good, I guess.


Here are a few videos...

This one is Ivy demonstrating the 3 commands she mastered in her first week with us.

This is Ivy and Delia's favorite game.  It gets us giggling every time!

Fabulous 40th!

I must admit, I don't really care much about my age.  I totally get that it's just a number and because my job literally requires me to be playful and silly every day, I don't feel old at all.  But 40 is a significant milestone, I guess, and man did I get the royal treatment for reaching it this year!  I am just blown away by all my loved ones' generous and thoughtful gestures-- from a classroom full of decorations, to a mailbox full of gifts and cards, to a FB wall and inbox full of sweet greetings, to a lawn full of decorations and 40 balloons!

When I rolled in my driveway from school, this was the jaw-dropping surprise I found!  My wonderful and sneaky friends came over to decorate my house in the morning.  I and the girls were just delighted!  I didn't learn until later that it was Jetta and Amy who had gifted me with this fun, and I totally enjoyed the pictures Amy texted of them setting it up...

We enjoyed the 40 balloons until Wednesday and then I brought them to school to hand out to my students, which delighted them too!  So cute to watch all my kids walk out with a shiny Mylar balloon tied to their wrist and a huge smile on their face.  Thank you, Amy.  It was a good birthday, and this surprise was one of my favorite parts of it! :)

Dave and the girls gave me a really exciting gift too... which I'll tell you about later and get sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when our contractor church friend is able to come and do the work on our house.   I can't wait!  For now, Delia is amusing people by telling them, "We got my mom a puppy for her birthday!" :)  These 3 also took me to a restaurant we've been excited to try-- a brewery with delicious food and a fun outdoor atmosphere.  

Even though it was the big 4-0, I did not wake up on the 22nd expecting to feel any different, but I actually did.  I felt MORE loved and MORE appreciative of the amazing people in my life than I even realized.  Thank you, everyone!

Meet Ivy!

One week ago we set out to buy some guinea pig food at the pet store.  As we always do, we stopped to check out the puppies at the Saturday Adoption Event the store was hosting.  This adorable little pit mix caught our eye.  As we admired her and learned more about her from her foster mom, we fell more and more in love.  We were told she was the most docile, obedient, affectionate puppy the woman had ever fostered.  She told us she'd recommend this dog for guide dog training because she was so smart and easy to train.  We held a little family meeting in the store's bird aisle and decided our perfect pup had finally found us!  We signed the papers, added some dog supplies to the guinea pig food we went to buy, and brought her home!  We named her IVY for our Chicago Cubs and the defining feature at Wrigley Field, and also because we thought it was cool to have another dog with a plant name.  

Ivy has been with us for exactly one week now and is doing wonderful in our home!  We knew our lives would change, but she hasn't been as disruptive or destructive as we expected.  She's playful, but not too wild.  She is nearly potty trained and does a good job going outside 90% of the time.  She does not bite us with her sharp puppy teeth, but instead covers us in kisses.  She has managed to mangle 2 flip flops and the rubber bathtub stopper, but no other causalities besides these cheap and easy to replace things!  She is our whole world right now and we are just looooving the joy a puppy brings to our family and are so excited to be dog owners again!

 Here are the things we have learned about Ivy this week: She loves belly rubs! 

 And the sun spot in our living room.

And ALL the attention, which the 4 of us are happy to provide.  The girls make her art and read her bedtime stories.  We play a lot of fetch and tug of war.

 She loves treats and is highly motivate to learn and obey.  She's already learned "Sit", "Stay" and "Down".

And she love, love, loves Dave!  Dave is by far her fave!  She follows him around like, well, a little puppy.  Dave was the most realistic about how much work she'd be during our bird aisle family meeting, and, with us at school all day, he does a good amount of it.  But she has captured his heart and I love seeing them together!

Ivy does not love: the vacuum cleaner, the guinea pigs, or the time of morning when we all leave.  After watching her for a week, we think she may be a pit/pointer mix.  She's funny about the pigs and freezes and "points" at things when she's outside.  And her belly is covered with the pointer's traditional black and white spots.  We look forward to uncovering all the other loves and personalty traits of our newest family member!

Labor Day with the Sequoias

Having actually spent most of Labor Day weekend down with fevers, colds and coughs, when Monday rolled around and we were all starting to feel better, we decided to get up off the couch and stretch our legs at Big Trees State Park.  This is one of our family's favorite hiking outings, so, even though we have not visited in about 3 years, the sights (and pictures I took) felt familiar.

 Thanks to numerous hikes around this state park, we DO know our trees!

 Tree huggers.

 Ella at the end of a long tree tunnel.

 Delia gave me lots of "Muscle Girl" poses on this hike.  

 This is a crevice inside a tree.  Both the girls took turns sliding in here.

 Above and below, playing inside the hollow, fallen tree-- wide enough to fully stand inside!

A sad shot of what's left of the Pioneer Cabin Tree, the one you used to be able to walk through, after a big storm knocked it down this winter.

And after we hiked around our favorite North Grove Loop, we headed down to the river, which was really high and rushing!

Between the grove and the river, we knocked another 2 miles off our "Hike 40 in 40" List.  Just 5 more miles to go before December!