Craft Fair with Renee

Today I am infinitely thankful for my sister in law, Renee.  We participated in a Christmas craft fair today to sell some of our wares, and we had so much fun.  We didn't sell a whole lot, but we paid for our expenses, got rid of a few of the things we had, and made a bit extra to boot.  I've still got a bunch of hats, so if anyone is looking for some, and you're in the Calgary area, let me know: I'm selling them cheap!

Anyway, back to Renee.  I love her.  She is Jared's oldest sister and one of my best friends.  We have so much fun together crafting, and cooking, and talking while we should be crafting and cooking.  She is always happy for me to drop by and stay all day, and Eli just loves her girls.  She is an incredible seamstress (she made my wedding dress, and both boys' blessing suits) and a wealth of information on such things. In short, I love her and am grateful that we have become such good friends and will always be happy that she is part of my family. 

Friday

Today I am thankful for snow.  I love snow.  Today we had the first real snow fall of the year. It was beautiful.  Eli looked outside and said, "Does that mean it's Christmas?!"  Then he spent a good hour outside playing in it.  Snow makes everything beautiful.  I have even bought myself a nice maternity snow coat, and found a free pair of snowpants I am going to make into maternity pants.  I am ready for the winter, and excited for the snow. 

Sold to the Lady in the Second Row

Today I am thankful for horses.  I sold one of my babies today.  My pony, Zephyr, who was supposed to grow up to be my forever steed, but never really grew UP.  She was miniature, which was quite wonderful for many reasons, but not the life long companion I was looking for.  So, today I finally found her a forever family.  So, I'm down to just one horse.  I think the only other time I've owned just one horse was when I first bought Magic, another one who never really grew UP and had to be sold because of it. 

In any case, I can never express just how much the horses in my life mean to me, and all the relationships I've built because of the horses in my life. When I'm on a horse's back I am happy.  That's it.  It makes me happy.  This morning, as I rode across the field, bareback, 16 weeks pregnant, in the crisp November air, I realized for the umpteenth time just how much I love what I have. 

A Thankful November

Kay, so I'm a few days late, but this month my wonderful friend Sarah challenged me to blog every day about something I am thankful for.  Finding things I am thankful for is easy, there are a lot of things to be thankful for.  Sitting down to blog about it will be the challenge. Who wants to join us???

So, today I am obviously thankful for Sarah!  More than 4 years ago, when I first moved to Michigan, Sarah was the first person I met.  She was nursing her baby in the Mother's room during Sacrament Meeting at church when I went in to nurse Eli, who was only 11 weeks old.  Our babies were born just a day apart: instant connection! I don't remember a whole lot about that conversation, but I do remember that she asked me if I had a pediatrician and what schedule I had Eli on.  Kay, maybe only she and I will think it funny that those two things came up, but trust me, it is funny.  Anyway, she was called as my visiting teacher with Irina Jamieson (who deserves a thankful day all of her own) and soon became a kindred spirit (she'll also totally catch the literary reference of that.) 

Today, almost two years since I left Michigan, Sarah still keeps me sane, checks up on me, and makes me feel loved!  She drives halfway across the country with a six week old baby just to meet up with us.  Eli still declares that his favourite cousins are her Ava and Violet.  I love her so much and will always, always be grateful that we ran into each other nursing our babies all those years ago!

One last Halloween Post

Well, in the end, Eli decided he wanted to be a Power Ranger.  So, in the end I frantically put together the pre-planned costume and we went trick or treating.  Silas switched it up too, since it was cold and he needed something we could fit over his winter snow suit.

 And the aftermath, complaining of headaches and intense need for water, both boys are scavenging for what will be kept and what will be tossed.  

Happy Halloween!

As I write this Halloween post, I might just be listening to my Christmas play list on iTunes.  But look how well I've done!  The Wiebe children have costumes and look adorable.  Silas and Eli are both super heroes.  Silas costume is almost perfect, except the rubber boots that I went out and bought specially for the costume, and spray painted perfectly silver, never did dry, so red boots it is.  Eli's costume, on the other hand, is a work of art.  Despite my best negotiation skills, at the last minute Eli decided that he didn't want to be the Blue Power Ranger, and that he wanted to put together his own costume.  So, just that he did.  A skull shirt, a super hero cape, a batman mask, a different BabyLeg on each appendage, and his costume was complete.  He wouldn't hear of me making suggestions, and just as well, because he looked adorable. We went to a Halloween party/Trunk or Treat at Auntie Renee's church, and it was fun.  Of course, tonight it won't matter what their costumes are, because they will be bundled up in snow gear (that's right, we got our first snow last night!) So, enjoy the costumes in all their glory right now.

Renee made Eli's cape (It's got a giant yellow "E" on it) last year, and last week we threw together Silas's, with a silver "S" on the back. I've got to convince her to do a guest post with a tutorial, because I think every kid needs their very own super hero cape, and they are super easy.

 Jared was the robber, and the boys were the super heroes that stopped him from stealing all the candy.

And there you have it.  A Wiebe family Halloween in all it's glory.  Tonight we will hit a few houses, and tomorrow we will dress up one more time for the 4th Annual Evans Centre Halloween Candy Buy Back at my dad's dental office to get rid of all the candy.  And the next day... Christmas begins!!!

Halloween is Upon Us!

Well, if you remember, I'm not the biggest Halloween fan.  Halloween just gets in my way of celebrating Christmas.  It's a good thing I'm not American, because American Thanksgiving and I would not get along.  Thanksgiving in October, that's what I'm thankful for.  Anyway, we've been trying to get in the ghoulish spirit this year. I've actually thought about costumes before October 30th, and we carved pumpkins with plenty of time for them to get all saggy and such.  I've made two Halloween inspired meals, which I didn't take pictures of, sorry.  Last night we even bundled up in the chilly October evening to go to "Ghoul's Night Out" at Heritage Park.  It was a lot of fun, despite the cold. 

Silas and Rhiannon got head lamps.  I loved it because you could always see where Silas was looking, because it was lit-up!

 

And proof of our pumpkins! Can you guess which on I made and which one Jared made?  

So, here's to Halloween.  Maybe one day I will love it. This year I am learning to enjoy it!