November

we believe …

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I realize at the ages of 8 and 6 years old the time our girls believe may be limited before someone or something alerts them to the realization of what may be real during the Christmas season.  Our intent when this does occur is to keep the belief alive with the magic of the season.

We watched the movie Elf recently and my eldest had to read all the credits to see who was Santa, thankfully they listed Santa 🙂  For now, our girls still believe in Santa Claus and our Elf on the shelf, Earl. Their excitement for this season bubbles over and out.

earl 12-2-13

As has become a tradition in our home, the day after Thanksgiving our tree is set up in the family room.  My husband assembles it, I fluff the branches and check the pre-lit lights and our girls decorate.  This is their tree with the many ornaments they have made over the years, those gifted to them and those they have collected at holiday events.

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Today the outside of our home was decorated.  My husband taking advantage of what was to be a rainy day and was not, got out and set our house a blaze with lights, lights and more lights.  So you see the Christmas spirit is shared by all of us in the family.

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We will begin baking soon, the girls have started writing their Dear Santa letters, and of course Earl arrived on Thanksgiving to have a watchful eye on our girls till Christmas.  The girls believe that Earl has magical powers is that transport him back and forth to Santa every night to give an update to the man in red whether they should be on the good or the naughty list.  Each morning they wake up to see where he has sat himself down for that day’s watch.

And on the magical night of Christmas Eve we will gather around the computer to follow The Official Norad Santa Tracker with squeals of delight as we see his travels well before he arrives in California.

I am happy that we believe all of us and that keeps the magic of the season for me!

Day 29 of National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to enjoy the many other bloggers participating.

a hard decision to make

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We are a dog family.  I grew up with dogs and shortly after we were married we added Cody to our little family.  It is hard to believe he is almost 14 years old.  And so it is amidst the holiday weekend we are trying to wrap our hearts around a hard decision that we will need to make.

cody watching the rain 9-21-13

Over the course of months, Cody has had trouble walking with his hind legs losing their strength.  At the same time he has started to have accidents with his bowel movements.  The vet says his muscles are atrophied and that is why he looks so thin and that’s where his strength has gone.  With that he has lost control of this basic function most of the time.  When it was happening once in a while it was easy enough to be like, Oh Cody.  Now it is two times a day and over the last two nights he has had pee accidents.  At the same time, he is bright-eyed, eating and occasionally very playful.  He has our one-year-old Weimaraner Pepper to keep him on his toes!

This past January we lost our Molly to canine cancer and  she was only 8.  It is hard to think we will lose our boy sometime soon in the same year.  As a way to prepare them, we have been keeping our girls aware of how he is feeling from day-to-day.  When Molly got sicker we would share in the morning if it was a good night or a bad night and what the day ahead would be.  We found comfort in the dog poem A Rainbow Bridge and know we will draw comfort again from this poem knowing Molly will be there waiting for Cody.

I look back over the last couple of years and see how our girls have experienced death in our family at such a young age.  First a grandpa then right after a close family friend.  Earlier this year a beloved dog and this fall another grandma. We have tried to help them process their feelings through these times.  Now at 8 and 6 years old they can share with us how they feel and we can talk through these feelings with them.  At these times we all have these feelings and they can see and learn from us too.

It breaks my heart to know we have this decision ahead of us and what it will mean for all of us in our family.

Day 28 of National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to enjoy the many other bloggers participating!

A Happy Thanksgiving to one and all

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thanksgiving-scrapbook-page-by-katiescrapbooklady

We are enjoying our day at home together, just the four of us.  This is the first year it’s just us.  After planning to travel down South and then not being able to go, we didn’t extend any invitations for friends to spend Thanksgiving with us which has been an annual tradition since my husband and I started dating.s We have always spent this holiday among friends, like us who lived far from family.  We would potluck the dinner some years traveling to the snow in Tahoe, or gathering at a friends’ home and eventually we hosted in our home.

This is likely the most relaxed holiday we have spent together in a long time. Last year we had a dog recuperating from major surgery and my mother was visiting.  This year we didn’t need to extra clean the house, we weren’t travelling, and we are having fun playing board games as we take breaks to do the finishing of the meal prep for dinner later.

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I am forever thankful for these girls and my husband and all their funny faces!

This evening our girls will get their first visit from our Elf On the Shelf, Earl which should make for an early rising in the morning tomorrow!

We are thankful for our family and friends near and far and hoping everyone is enjoying this day together in whichever way they chose!

This is my 27th post for National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to read the many other bloggers participating, Enjoy!

A new holiday tradition

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To Do today, bake pecan tartlets, bake cookies, finish dinner prep, but instead we are heading to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom! It all can wait! Happy Wednesday!

We had recently purchased 2015 season passes and we felt with my husband off that this would be a good day to go.

cobra coaster

It was a good decision on our part, hardly any crowds today.  Activated our 2015 season passes and enjoyed the sun and clear skies.  Riding rides one turn after another, bumping into friends, and just plain having fun!

The park was in the middle of seeing up their Holiday decor with the tree lighting on Friday evening.  Our girls were excited to see the decorations and can’t wait to head back for the tree lighting and all.  We are looking forward to the sledding hills that are added this time of year.

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Now after spending the day playing and starting a new family tradition, it’s time for me to get back to the prep for Thanksgiving’s dinner!

This is my day 26 of National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to enjoy the many other bloggers participating.