Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We missed being with our family, but had a nice and mellow time together with our own little clan. This past week has felt like a never-ending Saturday. Perfection! I have so very much to be thankful for.

Madelyn's Big Show

Mmmm

I don't like gingerbread cookies. At least, I didn't until we were given a plate of them by a seriously sweet woman in our ward. They were chewy and yummy and awesome! I got the recipe so the girls and I could give them a try. Mmmm. Even I didn't mess them up! I've never shared a recipe in my life, but this one is definitely worth passing along. (Click on the image above if you need to enlarge it.) Also, I recently discovered this pan and HIGHLY recommend it. Each year I get so frustrated making sugar cookies with my kids because they get ruined when we try to get them from the counter to the pan. Never again! It is going to be a totally fun holiday season at our house. I can just feel it.

4 Months

Every month I tell myself I won't make a huge deal over Ally getting older. After all, it's only one month. But every time the 24th rolls around again, it hits me. I only have this tiny window of time to cherish her as my little baby. Knowing she is most likely our last doesn't make it any easier. Oh, but the JOY this girl has given us over the past 4 months! I love you, my Ally.

Fun Food

I'm not a good cook. So... the few things I do make, I try to make fun. My kids go crazy over my peanut butterfly and jelly sandwiches. When I'm feeling especially ambitious, I also slice pickles to look like grass and cut green grapes in half and line them up to make caterpillars. Sometimes I serve their butterflies with "ants on a log"- celery with peanut butter and raisins. (My mom used to give us that as a snack when I was a kid and I remember loving it!) Another simple thing they go nuts over is my octopus hot dogs. I make the ketchup look like waves on their plates and add some goldfish crackers. Sometimes I cut their cheese into stars to make starfish or I put a toothpick into a pickle to make a ship with a triangle of cheese on the other end for the sail. (The "octodog" looks pretty cute on top of a bowl of mac and cheese too.) When the girls are feeling daring, I slice their hot dogs into "worms." They love to pretend to be disgusted. Sometimes just changing the name of a food they are hesitant to try or serving it in a creative way makes all the difference.

Being The Youngest

I was helping Ry and Maddie clean their room a few days ago. I had to run downstairs for something so I left Ally on Madelyn's bed boxed in by pillows. I was only gone for two or three minutes, but when I came back I found Ally in a doll stroller wearing a doll's hat and a green necklace. They tried to put a tiny purple tutu on her head as well, but I guess it didn't fit. Poor Allyson. It's not easy being the youngest.

Leaf it to Maddie!

We had some warm fall weather last week so we took the girls for a little walk around our neighborhood to check out the leaves. We were all having so much fun goofing around together, playing in the leaves, and taking pictures. I crouched down to get a photo of Madelyn running towards me and all of a sudden, she halted, turned, dropped her pants, and "watered" the grass in someone's lawn. I am not that easily embarrassed, but I have to say... we haven't walked down that street since.

Star of the Week

I'm a little behind in my blogging. I should have posted this two weeks ago! Oh well. Better late than never. :)
Ryen was Star of the Week at school. To most kindergarteners that is a big deal, but to Ryen it was an ENORMOUS deal! She has been waiting for this since the first day of school. When she found out the Friday before that it was going to be HER week, she acted like she had won the lottery! She is so funny. I did everything I could to make it special for her. She brought in lots of pictures and shared her favorite things with the class. She showed them her teddy bear, Hobbes, who was given to Ry at placement by her birth-aunt. (She loves that bear, Adria!) She also brought in some of her favorite books and the infamous Yellow Blanket. I got giant chocolate chip cookies for her class since that is Ryen's favorite (along with chocolate ice cream). She was a celebrity and loved every single minute of it. I asked Ryen if she wanted to share her adoption with her class and she didn't hesitate for even a moment. Her words were touching and simple. I am so proud of her. She was a star for one week at school, but she'll always be my star!

Sonny saw snow!

He called from work to tell me. You know what that means...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Mother-in-love

Ryen's birth-grandmother sent us this quilt for Ally. Can you believe that?!? My jaw dropped when I opened the box... which was also filled with gifts for Ry and Maddie. That woman is amazing! She is truly one of the most thoughtful people I know. I am the luckiest person alive to have an incredible mother, mother-in-law, and mother-in-love. Thank you Lona!
We love you so much.

Reminder

I may not seem like the type, but believe it or not, I am a news junkie. I listen to talk radio and watch the news every day. I check google news every time I get online. Though I usually consider my desire to be informed regarding current events a positive attribute, lately I have begun to reconsider. Why? Because there never seems to be any good news. Angry mobs defacing LDS temples, burning scriptures on church doorsteps, carrying signs that say "Mormon Scum." These are just a few of the things I read about this afternoon. To top it off, my girls are all sick and it has been raining and dreary outside all day. Ugh. This evening I was ready to cash in my life savings for a one way ticket to Tahiti when I happened upon this story accompanied by the above photograph. It was a perfectly timed reminder to look at the big picture. "Good news Megan... God knows what He is doing." Of course I already knew that, but it's nice to be reminded.

And the photo book goes to...

Congratulations Leanne!!!
Miss Ryen Olivia picked YOUR name out of the jar!
Thanks to everyone who participated! :)

This is officially my 500th post.
From a girl who can't fill up an actual journal to save her life, this is quite a feat! When Ryen was a baby, I created a website so that her biological family could stay updated about the goings on at the House of Hastings. When blogging started to catch on, I gave it a try and loved how much easier it was than maintaining a website. I chucked my first blog on typepad and created this one- which has since turned into our family journal. But, unlike any other journal I have tried to keep, this one actually gets written in! That is in large part due to the comments and encouragement left by you, my loyal readers. ...Both of you. :) To show my appreciation, I am giving away a classic Shutterfly photo book. Yaaay! Just comment on this post and I will throw your name in the hat. And, as an added bonus for my true blue commenting comrades, I will also throw in the names of everyone who commented on the post before this- so you lucky ducks could be entered twice. Thanks for reading and happy blogging!

A Hastings Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!
What a busy week it has been! I volunteered at both Maddie and Ryen's schools and had so much fun spending time with them in their classes. On Halloween night, we went to our ward party where we danced, ate chili/PBJ's, and went trunk-or-treating. The girls had SO much fun! After we came home, they each picked out 3 pieces of candy and put the rest in a jar for the Great Pumpkin. Ryen devised an elaborate plan to get a picture of him this year, but we convinced her that it may be unwise. In the morning, they were elated to discover the treasures left by the Great Pumpkin and I was elated to discover they still had healthy teeth! Win/win. :) Hope your Halloween was a great one!