Siblings

Eleanor wanted to go play with her doll house, but she didn’t want Phaedra to join her. She stood in the doorway to try to block Phaedra, but Phae just thought it was a fun game to lean on the door together. Even when she’s being excluded, Phaedra feels loved.

They remind me of this little duo: Phaedra with her clueless, doting loyalty, and Eleanor with her own selfish plot to get rid of her little sister.

Thanksgiving 2009

"We have odd Thanksgivings at the Matthews'"

That's how I remember what year we celebrate which holiday with which parents. Thanksgiving really isn't that odd with them; it is quite pleasant.

Allow me to set the scene. We had enjoyed the spoils: the appetizers, the great feast, and even some dessert. We had been sitting around, some sleeping in a pleasant, overstuffed coma. The kids played happily together (most of the time). We were all relaxed and content. Then, Grandpa pulled out his computer. After a few minutes, he scolded us by saying, "What? No one has blogged about Thanksgiving yet?" So, to make him happy, I dragged out my camera and documented all I could (what is a blog post without pictures, right?). So here is a little bit about the after-effects of our Thanksgiving even though some people will consider this post two days late.

First off, this little cutie was there.

Grandma read stories to the kids.

Addie snuggled with Grandpa.

After Alex got up from his nap, the kids enjoyed their usual activities of tickling and playing around with their uncle.

I took a few pictures of Alex.

Then, Carter decided he needed to defend Alex and block me from taking pictures of him. He made such a great sacrifice, allowing himself to be photographed instead of his uncle :)

These are the cute little squirrels the kids made to decorate the table. Grandma Matthews always has such fun crafty things for the kids to do.

Addie made herself comfortable wherever she found a good place. On Grandpa's lap . . .

. . . Resting her head on Grandma's feet . . .

. . . swinging on Grandpa's legs.

Stu saw that I had the camera out and realized it was time to leave. (Michael was smart and left long before I had a chance to get it out.)

But I did get one smile from him.

Here's what I'm thankful for this year (along with a few other things). . .

All tuckered out after a long day of celebration. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We missed those who were unable to be there. Hope all of you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, too.

Winter Hats

My aunt made these cute hats for the girls. They both love to wear them, and they're both so adorable in them. Phaedra's is a cupcake with a cherry on top. I need to get a picture of it when we aren't on a walk.

So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Grant had to go out of town for four days on business at the beginning of this month. He came home late on a Saturday night after the girls were already in bed. Grant is always good about picking up something special for his girls when he travels. When the girls got up Sunday morning, they were excited to see that Daddy was home and that he had gifts for them. He always tries to find something that says the name of whatever place he visited. This time, it was Indianapolis, Indiana, so he got us all Colts paraphernalia. Eleanor is always excited to get her present from Daddy. She has never acted disappointed that her present is something to wear instead of some sort of toy. Ever since she was two and he brought her a jacket from Rhode Island with a lobster on it, she has loved the different things he has brought her, and she wears them with pride. Phaedra was equally excited to try on her new jersey. So they donned their new Colts clothes, right over their jammies.

Grant never forgets me in his out of town shopping. This time, he got me a Colts hoodie to go along the same theme as the girls' clothes. I just wasn't as eager to have a picture taken of myself in my jammies. We're just glad he's back home with us. It is so hard to have him gone.

We're Back

We're still alive. The kids are sick, but we're still alive. I couldn't stand to blog on Grant's macbook while I waited for my laptop to arrive. Trying to view pictures was so annoying! I couldn't find any way to just scroll through pictures. I had to open each file individually. So, instead, I just took a vacation. Now, it has been so long since I last posted, I'm going to have to get back into the habit! My new laptop arrived last week. It's smaller than my last one since we no longer use our laptop as our only source of TV/movie viewing. It's much more convenient for quickly moving it off my lap to run after kids. I'm liking it so far. I have to get used to Windows 7. This is what it looks like:

Mine is the red one. Isn't it cute?