Crazy Love Gamble-Style

Have you ever been so far behind on something you feel like there is NO WAY you will ever accomplish what you need to get done?  Oh my gosh, I just ordered 3, filled to the brim, photos books and got myself COMPLETELY CAUGHT UP with the entire lives of my children thus far.  I am in shock.  Wow.  I wish I could convey the magnitude of this project, it was crazy and quite maddening, now I must vow never to get that far behind on this again!!  Yay!!!! To give you a slight idea how far behind I was, lets just say about 4 months of Norah's life had made it into a book and she is nearly three years old!!  I'm such a slacker!  Ava had about 4 books filled by the time Norah was born.  Now I put WAY more pictures in each though, so they take forever.  Here are a few of the throw-backs, so fun to look through! I feel so accomplished, but now my brain is completely fried...

The Christmas busyness is taking over our days, but I really do love this time of year.  Lauren & I attended a ladies tea at the church on Saturday.  Isn't this little cookie so cute?   It was great!  I love getting a chance to meet & speak with some of the ladies of the church.    Jessica came with us Sunday, I love it when she join us.   It was cute, I had text her in the morning asking her if she was going to come and she responded with "Will woke up this morning saying 'Tee Tee, you going to church with us??'"  So funny!  : ) I can't believe how crazy close to Christmas we are now!  So much to do...I need some elves! 

I love to listen to them playing.  They have these conversations like "Ok Norah, you pretend you're my mom, and then you say..." and whatever the instructions are, Norah follows them.  Ava has taught her how to play on a six year old level.  I'm always a little surprised she can keep up.  Then later you hear Norah saying "Ava, let's pretend like I'm dead..."  Um, ok, what? The other day Ava was pretending to be a dog, as they do.  She insisted that dogs love spinach and kept eating and refilling this plate with it!  Yay!! She needs to teach that one to her sister!! Our non-spinach eating dog.   They are each other's little side kick.  Here is Ava putting on "chopstick" for Norah. More playing.  I think Ava was a lion here.  Snuggling in bed with dad.  Carrying miss Norah around. These girls are just so fun, I hope never to forget all these little moments! 

The other night I went in to check on the girls and this is what I found: Ava later said that she had been reading Norah some books, when she fell asleep.  Ava was really still, as not to wake her.  In the morning they were both so excited that they had slept in the same bed ALL NIGHT!!  It was pretty cute!

 Linda, Kim & Abby host a caroling partly every year, it is really fun.  They serve soup, appetizers and wine, everyone gathers around the piano with their song books and sings the night away.  People are encouraged to call people and sing to them over the phone.  It's a great mix of fun with family and friends, singing and staying warm (caroling usually is freezing!)  There were a lot of people in and out through the evening.  When I walked in I was a little overwhelmed so I set my camera down (and grabbed a glass of wine) and never picked it back up until the party was coming to a close.  Oh well, I like the ones I did get, and I added two from my phone for good measure.   Love these people. Here's Norah putting on her own show.  Auntie Linda!  We all love Kay!  So pretty.  Two of my very favorite people!  Happy kids. Such a fun party! These little p...

 This very well may be the most pictures I've shoved into one post EVER.  But that's ok, they are a little late, so I don't want to drag them out over several days.  So behold, our Thanksgiving long weekend, in no particular order. : )  Love my sister!  Cousin Kay is so great with the kids, it was a pleasure having her join us!  E & T, one of my favorite couples!  Jeff is back, to stay this time!  Yay!  Too much fun with the blankets, they had these adults working!  Aren't they cute?  Reading!  My love.  Sweet face.  Love Abby. So cute & funny.  Aaaaaaah.  Will made us the best turkey yet!  He has since been asked to make all meals that follow...  Auntie Linda, our favorite.  Pinochle, game 326.  A pile of kids.  They all wanted to snuggle with auntie D'Auna. ...