BRRRRRR!

We had the pleasure of chipping ice and shoveling snow today. There was an ice and snow storm that passed through Iowa last night. Here are some of the pictures taken today while I spent over two hours chipping away at the ice in the driveway. That hunk of ice Gigi is holding is one of many. Despite all of the hard work, I still like the winter.

Front Tooth

What a dinner converstion we had this week. Greta had a VERY wiggly front tooth. Gigi volunteered to pull it for her during the middle of dinner and to my surprise, Greta agreed. It was like the lid on a pickle jar. Gigi tried but couldn't yank out Greta's tooth. She must have loosened it just enough because when Greta grabbed her tooth and yanked it sprouted wings and flew out of her mouth across the table. We screamed like little girls! Luckily, I had the camera ready for the whole event.

Festival Of Trees

What an event! The girls and I spent the afternoon admiring all the decorations, trees, wreaths, and scenes at Festival of Trees. There were hundreds of talented displays. I was amazed and humbled. My wimpy wreath and front door decorations are shaking in their boots. I am inspired and wrapped in the Christmas spirit. Amazing! I gotta run... there are decorations to be hung at my house.

Holding Back Tears

The girls and I went to Festival of Trees today (there will be more pictures later). We were strolling along in the crowd admiring the many decorated trees when Gigi suddenly stopped and was visibly excited. She pointed to the tree we were standing by and to my surprise, she pointed out an ornament she had made at the YMCA during Military Kids Time Out. I wasn't prepared to see a beautiful tree dedicated to military families that was decorated with ornaments made by the children of soldiers. Then I read the wish from one little girl named Heather which was printed on the bidding sheet. The emotions where so overwhelming, it was several moments before I could speak. Take at look at the pictures and say a prayer for all the soldiers and their families who are going to be missing their families during the holidays.

Party Over Here

We had our first Celebration Cake last Friday. We had a spice cake with carmel simple sugar and browned butter frosting. Does anyone have a special December-ish cake suggestions?

It is hard to believe that a month has passed since Gene deployed. Some days seem like the seconds are barely ticking by and other days just fly by. The girls and I really miss Gene but we are Team Porter and will be just fine. Only 11 more cakes to go!

Spooky

We had a great Halloween this year... way too much candy! The weather was perfect for Trick or Treating. We didn't even need a bunch of layers to stay warm (like last year). Greta was Poppy, our black cat, and Gigi was an Egyptian Princess. We really missed not having Gene with us but the girls and I walked with our neighbors and had a wonderful time. Gene wasn't forgotten... we mailed him all our candy, minus some special pieces that we kept.

Two Thumbs Up!

Woo Hoo!! Greta has earned "Two Thumbs Up" for three days in a row this week. Greta Bug has a BFF at school and they chit-chat in class like they are at Starbucks having a latte. Her teacher and I came up with a reward plan to help encourage Greta to do less talking and more listening. If she gets a thumbs up in the a.m. and p.m. she is rewarded with a Twizzler after school. What would be a better reward than food? Okay, that would be my motivator. Not for Greta, her greatest desire is to wear a skirt and tights to school.

Things to Celebrate

The time has come... Gene is on his way to Iraq. We are overcome with feelings of sadness and also determination. This will be his first deployment where the girls understand time. The other two times he deployed Gigi was two and I was pregnant with Greta. Then the second time he deployed Gigi was three and Greta was a baby. I have to look at the blessings... he has been home for more than two years. That is something that many military families don't get to experience too often. We also have a wonderful collection of friends of neighbors, old and new.

Now it is time to be strong and inventive. There are so many suggestions on how to mark the passage of time, jelly beans in a jar, crossing days off of the calendar, but Gene and I thought... what speaks to our family. CAKE of course. So, on the third Friday of each month we are going to celebrate. Yes, it will be a party with a Countdown Cake. Gigi was so excited she announced that in February we will have to bake a Red Velvet Cake and May is cheesecake. Consider this your invitation!