Overheard:

Sara, to Ben: Don't let 'em see you cry, Boys! Don't let 'em see you cry!

Thanksgiving Feast!

After our little jog, we were ready to eat! We went home and got all showered and pretty, so I could take advantage of the daylight to take our Christmas picture. . .you have to wait for that, I like to surprise you :)
We headed over the hills and through the woods to grandma's house. The kids literally attacked the hors d'oeurves. Unlike adults, they apparently don't appreciate starvation mode prior to a meal, no matter how fantastic said meal is going to be. Fortunately, grandmas know that kind of thing. They also know that the rest of us enjoy a little bubbly first, just to keep things festive. So we starved and sipped and waited. The turkey made it's appearance just on time! I cannot believe it, but somehow, I do not have a photo of the table. I was all set up to take it, but maybe the timer went off on one of the trays of rolls in the oven??? (I should mention here, due to the festivious nature of baking day, I somehow ended up double doubling my recipe and ended up with 96 rolls. Half of which are still rising in my fridge today. . . .good thing we love 'em.)
Dinner was perfect, and naptime quickly followed. With lots of football on the side. And the Kimmells showed up for pie! (They had earlier in the day saved the pies, as they were the only neighbors we knew who were home and happened to have whipping cream on hand. Cool Whip would not do those beautiful pies justice and the real cream managed to keep a safe spot in my fridge. . . 20 minutes farther than anyone dreamed of driving that day.)

It occured to us that the girls were old enough to wash the silver, and they loved that idea :)
What a fun relaxing day, and such a blessing to come home again and be the daughter for a day. Thanks mom and dad for another fabulous feast and for taking such good care of us!

First Annual Freeze Your Buns Fun Run

So Signe facebooked about a possible 5k Turkey Trot today, and I was intrigued, but knew full-well that come Thanksgiving morning I wasn't likely to hop right out of bed, anxious to run outside in the cold. So I was waffling. Then K said she was in and got me all excited about it. K and I have never run any kind of race together before. I don't think we've even run together around the block before. The reason for this is, K is a marathon runner, and I have yet to run a full 5K in a race before. But, I've actually been running a lot lately, and K's been busy, so we thought we'd give it a go.
Yesterday, we found out it was 4.5 miles, not the 3.1 I was on-board for. I've never run that far before. But it was either that, or the kiddie run, the one mile-er. (I called up Joe at the last minute and had him load up the kids for that one. It's possible Ben was the most excited about it. . .but they were all ready to roll! Will came in 3rd in his age group, and Kayte was 9th! So fun!)
The weather was perfect, the course was beautiful, and we managed to run the whole thing! We stepped across the finish line together and came in first in our age group! (In the spirit of full disclosure, there were no males in that age group. :)
The Ryans did an awesome job of hosting. We had hot chocolate and cider, a bonfire, and prizes! I'm really hoping to do it again next year!

This may be the last time I'm able to keep up with her. . .

Finishers! Woo hoo!

Today …

... the Casebolt family is thankful for her:

We are thankful she emerges from the mounds of laundry victorious, braves Winco and Walmart (even when the students are in town), tidies up the house, makes us lunches (most of the time!), works her tail off at the gym, takes us to and from all our activities, and keeps this little family going. And this is all done purely fueled by Diet Coke!

This Thanksgiving we are most thankful for you Paula!

The first family reading of Leepike Ridge.

It's getting exciting!!!

Ahh. . .vacation!

I am loving vacation! And the kids are so glad to be home! Monday, the snow was still sticking around, and the boys set to work building a snowman. Ben went out without a coat or mittens, so he was back inside in 5 minutes flat. He decided the best place to watch Will was from the cozy side of the living room window.

Ta da! He really did this himself. I had to help lift the balls of snow on top of each other but that was it!
(And may I mention, there is an unproportionate amount of yellow snow in my yard. Seriously. I look at the neighbors' yard, and it is all snowy white, but mine? Eww. There should be a city ordinance against that kind of thing.)

How do you like this scene? Little kindergarten reader! So cool.
The kids were pairing up into two all day. And it was never the same two! I'll tell ya, there is a definite advantage to even numbers. I always suspected it (middle of 3) and now I know it's true. I just love having all this downtime!

Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving Day comes early around here! We have the benefit of a Thanksgiving meal times two every year. Which I love. It always goes so fast, but when you have two, it feels like you really get to savor it over days, you know?

Good food.

Lotsa cousins.

And, my blurry Norman Rockwell pic. You get the idea.
Thanks Ann & Dave! We are so grateful for you and the whole family. What a good day!

Annual Casebolt Family Christmas Shopping Trip

(read: date night)

Joe and I headed to Spokane Friday afternoon for our Christmas kick-off date. (And you know it was for Christmas cause Joe let me play Christmas tunes :) We stayed at the Davenport, which was lovely, mostly for it's location. We were within walking distance of everywhere we wanted to go that night. And it was snowing the perfect kind of snow all night. We hit PF Changs for happy hour (coconut lemon sour, huge hit!) and Williams & Sonoma for cider. And we finally made it to the Wild Sage, which we'd heard rave reviews about. It was 6:30 and we didn't have a reservation, so we ended up eating at the bar. Better to eat fantastic food on a barstool, then so-so food in a booth, I say. And it was. Fantastic, I mean. Really. The best restaurant we've been at since West of Paris closed its doors.
My absolutely favorite Christmas trip yet. (And yes, we did get a little shopping done :)

The play!

Well, Kayte did it and she did awesome! I was really nervous for her, and she was visibly nervous right before her part. But then she came out all confident and played beautifully! The crowd even gave her her own round of applause at the end of the play (which starts the waterworks just thinking about it.)

So. proud.

See that face. . .she is finally starting to get embarrassed when I get out my camera. Ahh. . .I've been waiting for that.

The whole crew.


Oh yes. I forgot to mention she had to be a boy for the play. That was nearly a deal-breaker, but she pulled through (and looked great :).

Thursday

On Thursday, I was thankful for 8 little kiddies who slept through the night. . .K went to Portland and left her kids with us for a night. . .I remember the last time we had them, the sleeping part (the important part) didn't go that well. But this time I had a well-orchestrated sleeping arrangement that seemed to do the trick! I was doing my best to stay on top of my game, so that we would survive the morning rush and still get Kayte and Ava to school at 8 so they could dress for their play. That meant school clothes laid out, lunches made (oh yes I did!), and breakfast at the ready. 7:38 am on Friday, I couldn't believe it! We were good to go.
It is getting a little easier. . .although I'm gonna be mighty grateful when all of K's kids finally make it out of diapers. I'm just sayin'.

Where do I start?

Today, I am thankful for this little cutie. She's just a little sunshine that brightens my day. . .I got to spend a little extra time with her today, just her and I. Last month, I brought her in for her 9 year old checkup (the first one in 5 years, I should add), and the doctor heard a little heart murmur. Which, of course, was a bit of a shock! We'd never heard anything like that on Kayte. But at the same time, we'd been down that road once with Ben, so we weren't too concerned that it would be serious. . .he grew out of his by the time he was 3. Anyway, we were to wait a month and then bring her back in, to make sure that it wasn't something teeny that was just aggravated by external circumstance. Well, today the doctor heard just the tiniest little whisper, which gives us hope that it isn't worth investigating any further. For now. Kayte was visibly relieved. It is the littlest things that can remind you that your child is a gift. A gift just lent to you for a little while, by the grace of God.
Later that afternoon, I got to watch her practice for her assembly play up on stage. She got the part of a missionary, who used violin music to spread the gospel. So yes, she gets to play her violin, and sing, up on stage, all.by.herself. And she did ah-Mazing! She was very very very nervous about taking this part on, but equally excited about the challenge. The first time she did it a week ago, it did not go well. Her violin was out of tune, and she kept forgetting where she was. When I picked her up from school that day, she was devastated. Fortunately, she had a lesson with Katie that afternoon, who got her all straightened out. Now, a week later, I can barely tell she's nervous. And she hit every note. I was so proud of her! She worked really hard on it, it will be a huge accomplishment for her.
I can't wait till Friday!

A rare Saturday night at home. . .

And I mean it. This was a quiet weekend for us, which is practically unheard of! We just played around all day on Saturday, and even took a family trip to Costco. That night we had time for a reading of Pinkalicious and a game of Yahtzee!
By the way, Yahtzee is a great game for kids this age. . .if you are in the market for that kind of thing...

Oh, and I love it that Kayte has her fingers crossed in this pic. I don't know where she picked up this little habit, but I think it's super-cute!

Oh yes, and Sara and I won! Yep, no surprise there :)

Christmas PJs!

Yes, time is going so fast already! Things are ramping up on the calendar, so we squeezed out a date to celebrate Mom's Christmas PJs. Every year, for like, 7 years, Mom has bought the kids' matching pjs for Christmas. . .that becomes quite a feat for 11 kids, ranging from 9 to 15 months. But she did it, and the kids loved them!

Ben loved this penguin. He is so excited he gets to "sleep with it every night!"

The annual "couch" pic. Mom got a bigger couch since last year, just in time!

Watching the pilgrim stories, as told by the Peanuts characters. If you haven't seen this yet, you must! It is an historically accurate account of the Mayflower pilgrimage, and it is a pretty amazing story. . .

Hors d'ouerves!

Thanks, Mom & Dad. It is one of my favorite traditions :)

Hook me up.

Today, I am thankful for Nitrous Oxide. Let's just say I was giddy about it. I had two fillings this morning, and I'd barely entered the room before they had me all hooked up. I have a long relationship with this particular drug. I remember one time feeling like I was literally levitated and floating up to the ceiling. But once, and maybe it's just a coincidence, but I got the giggles so bad. It's hard to laugh when you've got two sets of hands in your mouth, along with rolls of cotton, a mirror, suction, and a drill. But I managed. I think they turned it down a touch after that episode.

Let me just say, for those of you who are unfortunate enough to have never experienced such a high, this drug is highly under-utilized. I've spoken to my dentist about this on several occasions, including the time I was 8 months pregnant and gearing up to give birth. I would've paid a lot of money to be sucking down that stuff during transition. And it's needle-free! Other useful places: the therapists, the ER, the funeral parlor, the DMV, Friday afternoon at 4 o'clock.

As I laid there, I tried desperately to care about something. Anything. But to no avail. I was simply and completely care-free.

Which may explain why I let me sister get this shot of me:

Hee hee.

Totally worth it.

Yes, please!

The other day at Winco, I came across this little gem. Cinnamon chips. It sounded like such a fantastic idea! I love cinnamon. . .it's one of my favorite cravings. I brought it home, ripped it open. . .and I have to say, it tasted a little bit like I'd just dumped a little cinnamon on my tongue. Which wasn't exactly what I was looking for. But I was determined to find something for it. I tried the recipe on the back of the package for Oatmeal Cinnamon cookies, and resisted the urge to add any chocolate. . .they were Ah-Mazing!
Best part is, my kids don't love 'em, so pretty much they are all for me! I told K about them, so she went hunting for them and couldn't find them anywhere. . .hoping they didn't give up on them just yet!

Ben.

This is Ben's best attempt at a push-up. The kids were doing push-ups to earn a treat from the halloween jar.

So.cute.
This kid makes my day every. day. So today, I'm thankful for him.
I love it that he still snuggles with me, and lets me kiss his owies better. He is extremely obedient, for some reason. If I tell him to go clean his room, he heads downstairs, cleans right up, and then comes back to let me know. It always catches me off-guard a little but I sure love it! We have a little routine in our day, and I love taking him out on errands dressed in a backwards inside-out t-shirt, his Bob the Builder snow boots (that double nicely for cowboy boots), and a cowboy hat pulled all the way down to his eyelashes. People literally rubber-neck watching him stomp around everywhere we go. He just makes me smile all day long.
I'm a lucky girl.

Flashback

I was over reminiscing on K's blog just now. . .I do that sometimes. . .I came across this little gem on Jack. Sara and Jack are 3 years older now, but they still enjoy impressing each other like that.

Ducks in a row.

Today, I am actually thankful for a showing. Usually a showing earthquakes my whole day. Today, I was ready. And at the end of the day, my house is still clean (thanks in big part to Pizza Hut), my laundry is done, and, because I was bound and determined to get it done before the snow falls (possibly tomorrow), my car is actually clean! And I mean vacuumed! I think the tipping point here was when my father-in-law needed a ride and every backpack and coat we own fell out on top of him. . .with some fries and a couple of McQueen replicas to boot. Turning the corner you could actually hear little Thomas the Train fly from one end of the car to the next, then back again on the next turn. Humbling, no?

But I did it! I'm done, I'm hopeful for some good news on the house front, I scored some awesome deals at the wine sale (my all-time favorite rooster wine for $6, what???), it's 7:59 and the kids are in bed, and that wine is calling my name.

Yep, I think I earned me some downtime :)

Keep it on the downlow.

Today, I'm thankful for my little iTouch with which I could spend hours listening to Pandora-ian Christmas tunes, if I were so inclined. But I'm not saying I am, I just could. You know, like the day after Thanksgiving and so forth.
And if I were to listen, like a day or two earlier than that, I would definitely start with Mannheim Steamroller (Holiday) cause it plays all the great Christmas-y tunes, without actually singing them, so I wouldn't feel so guilty.
That's only if I had something to feel guilty about, of course. Which I'm not saying I do.

Yum!

Today I'm thankful for my husband, who brings home fall when he walks in the door: a batch of Joe's Famous Potato Soup and a roaring fire. Life is good.

Nighttime.

Today, I am thankful that it is now the end of the day. My feet are pulled up all the way to the TV in front of me, and I have a pile of SmartPop on my lap. The kids are (almost) sleeping. I love that time of night, where all my little chicks are home and safe.

It was one of those days where I was literally spinning my wheels. Kind of like a dream where you have to run really fast to get somewhere, but can only move in slow-motion. It's a challenge to one's sanity. But what a million things I have to be thankful for, and the mountains in front of me, they turn out to be molehills. With loads of blessings all piled on top.

Good Food.

Today I am thankful for my church. We go every week and get fed. Not milk mash, or something soupy, but something real and hearty and satisfying. We are surrounded by imperfect people who strive weekly by God's grace, to get there. Perfected by grace.

God's granted me a frightening amount of blessings. To whom much is given, much is required.

Get in the Spirit. . .

Yes, I just wrapped up my first Christmas shopping trip, and what better to get one in the spirit than a Christmas giveaway. Bekah's giving away a beautiful advent calendar, over at her blog and I get an extra chance if I send you that way!

Merry Happy Christmastime! (almost)

Ahh. . . .

Today I am thankful for a day off to play with my sister in Spokane. . .and for the husband who shoulders my day job and then welcomes me home to a spotless house.

Love that guy :)

Coming Home.

Today, I am thankful for a quiet naptime at my mom's house on the first official day of snow for the season. I'm cozied up over a bowl of chicken noodle soup and watching the wind.

It's been a crazy hectic day. After the usual morning bustle, I rushed off for an extra bum-kicking at the gym, back to the house for a deep clean for my showing this afternoon (which always includes loads of laundry for some reason), pick up Sara, feed the kids, finish the house.

I should mention I'm currently on, what I like to call, my "starvation" diet. It's not quite as severe as it sounds, although surviving a day or two without a small dose of sugar or wine, is technically what we americans (and the toddlers among us) like to call starvation. It's a bi-annual ritual, and generally short-lived. I like to go extreme so I can just get it over with and back to my usual cookies and cream.

Anyway, that combined with a busy schedule and ramped up gym visitation has left me weary and sometimes emotional. And, as we learned yesterday, a bit less than lucid.

So today, here I was, 10 minutes before the realtor arrived and 3 dirty bathrooms to go, I'm instead down on all fours trying to scrape a sticker off the laundry room floor, because my evil twin is telling me that someone is gonna walk in my house in now 8 short minutes, love every single bit about it, but leave shaking their heads. "The house was perfect, except for that Bob the Builder sticker stuck to the laundry room floor. Tra-shee!" So I cry a little on the inside, shake off the voices in my head and get the job done.

It's ridiculous, really.

But then I loaded up my kids, along with any bits of laundry or stray toys left in the house, spray a little Febreze as I shut the door, and I'm off! Over the hills and through the woods. I tuck my little kiddies into my mom's big cozy beds with a thousand comforters, light a cider candle, and make myself some soup.

Not such a bad day after all. Now I've got to get me some chocolate!

The "Peter Rabbit" Cast.