Happy Thanksgiving!

The menu:

Turkey
Beef Tamales
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Brocolli Caserole (Delicious by the way!)
Stuffing
Rolls
Gravy
Pumpkin Pie
Brownie/Cookie Swirl Bars
Sparkling Apple Cider

Favorite memory of cooking Thanksgiving:

Bronwen, Ava & Cate (!) helping me wash the turkey & make the basting sauce.

Funniest memory:

Conrad lecturing me on how he would burn his fingers if we didn't let the turkey set out for 30 minutes (I was starving by then, so wanted to speed things up). ;-)

Favorite memory of Thanksgiving dinner:

Cate doing "cheers" with her little wine glass to all of us.

This is heaven on earth. :-)

Belated Halloween Post ;-)

November has been the busiest on record for MichelleDouglasPhotography. This month I had 8?! photo shoots -perfect for holiday shopping! Yippee! All the work made for a lack of time for me to update our blog though, so now that Cate's sleeping, I thought I'd catch up!

Halloween was a bit of a blur this year. I think it was because Ava's birthday was a Halloween-themed costume party, so we kind of felt like we had already celebrated the holiday. The date did not go unnoticed by the girls haha! As soon as they got home from school they started asking Conrad & me when was it going to be time to go trick-or-treating. I made an early dinner & at 530 I started getting everyone ready. Bronwen was a Greek Goddess, Ava was a Darling Angel & Cate was SuperBaby! By 6-o-clock our doorbell started ringing. The plan was for Conrad to take Bronwen & Ava around the neighborhood while Cate & I passed out candy (we really thought she'd like that, & for the record, we did have her in her costume). As soon as Cate saw her sisters getting on their coats & shoes & heading to the door, she started crying. And I mean tear-your-heart-out crying. She ran to the closet & said, "Shoes! Shoes!" My heart brooookkkke. There was no way we could not take her with her sisters.

I told Conrad to give me a minute so I could put on my shoes & jacket & make a sign for the candy (we were going to just leave it by the front door). Then Conrad, my Superman, said, "Don't worry Michelle! I can take all three girls." He then smiled & scooped Cate up in his arms. He is the best dad in the world.

Baby, I love you forever~

Ava is 6!!!

This year Conrad & I decided to do something crazy! We invited 50 people over to our home to celebrate Ava's 6th birthday, Halloween style!

The girls & I went to the Dollar Tree & bought neon Caution tape, spider webs, paper lanterns, plates, witches, skeletons, you name it! Everything to transform our garage into the perfect Halloween den! We even played spooky music!

With so many children, I knew we had to have an agenda to keep the kids entertained. First up was making a treat bag for a backyard candy hunt! The kids had fun finding treats in the grass & plants, & fortunately it was warm outside. The little ones got lollipops. After loading up on candy, it was time to load up on pizza. I have to say, I love Little Caesar's. We were able to feed everyone for only $65. Gotta love that! With tummies full, it was time to play the limbo, listen to scary Halloween stories (though the kids informed us that they weren't scared at all -ha!) & play a unwrap the candy bar game (layer the candy with wrapping paper, pass it around & the person who unwraps the last piece of paper gets the candy). Last but not least, we had a costume contest. Our little neighbors across the street won by far for their elaborate hair & makeup.

On Ava's actual birthday (the day before) we had a wonderful, quiet day. The girls happened to be off of school for a Teacher's Inservice Workshop. We went to the gym, then went to McDonald's (tradition) to get Halloween Happy Meals, then finished buying all the party stuff. We ate hamburgers at Ava's request, followed by chocolate cake.

Some fun things about Ava are:
Her favorite movie is Barbie Charm school.
Her favorite color is still blue.
Her favorite thing to play is dog & owner.
Her favorite season is summer.
Her favorite song is Queen's "Bicycle".
Her favorite stuffed animal is Cookie, the black & white dog.
She loves "D Time" (cuddling with daddy)
She's lost 6 teeth.

She is one of the most beautiful & loving people I have ever met. Her heart is pure gold. Happy birthday sweetheart!

Hooray for Fall!!

Whatever happened to the "I" in "I love you?"

Over the last year I've noticed an increase in the trend of people writing "love you." As I've used this phrase frequently on facebook to many of my friends, it's never bothered me until recently. More and more I've noticed it creeping its way into families, or to the opposite extreme, to casual acquaintances. The last straw was when it was bed time and the girls were saying their goodnights to us, and Conrad told them, "Love you." I wanted to scream out, "The 'I!' Don't forget the I!" (I believe I did say something about it too, lol.)

I know it's just a letter, a small word, but it is the most important part of "I love you." It's what gives those words meaning. To me, when you say that to a person, you're telling them, "Out of the whole world, you are loved by ME." That's what makes it special. I mean, imagine how dumb that Valentine mug would look if it just said, "love you...love you...love you..." haha, you get the idea.

I understand "love you" is a way to casually let somebody know you really care about them, or that they're special to you (What's wrong with writing just that??), or maybe people write it because they're afraid of rejection, but from now on I vow to include the "I."

If I'm bold enough to say it, I need to be brave enough to say it completely.

From Drop Box

Happy birthday to my Superman~

My baby turned 45 this year. I am so proud of Conrad & of all his accomplishments, & I wanted to show it by throwing him a fancy birthday party. I talked to our good friends, Sheena & Tommy, owners of Thai Palms (hands down the best Thai food in town) & made arrangements to have Conrad's party at their restaurant on Saturday, which happened to be Conrad's actual birthday. They printed off cute menus for Conrad (I loved this!!!) & did a fantastic job with the seating. My sisters & our soon to be brother-in-law, Ty, drove up from Portland (which was AWESOME to see them & hug them!!!). The turnout was perfect. We had family, some of Conrad's coworkers & friends. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people, my gratitude is beyond words.

Happy birthday sweetheart. I love you. And, you're hotter than ever! ;-p

A Visit to the Dentist

This picture had me cracking up when I looked at it. I swear, Bronwen & Ava look like they're preparing to blast off into outer space!

Cate also had her dental appointment (her very first one!). I would've taken a photo of her, but I was too busy holding her hands down with her body on my lap, & her head on the dentist's lap as he cleaned her teeth. She pretty much screamed & cried the whole time through her cleaning, which was nothing more than when I use the sonicare on her at home. I think it was more a matter of pride. "How dare anyone put their fingers in my mouth!" Haha!

Conrad went with us, & secretly I was happy he had to hear the crying too ;-p