Thanksgiving weekend

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, good food, New Moon, tether ball, and warmer weather. We traveled a good 12, should be 10, hours to Oklahoma where my sister lives, to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was loads of fun. It has also been nice to reflect on the things I am most grateful for, and I find that each year brings new things to be grateful for.

A few things I am grateful for that are unique to this year are: a husband that eats leftovers (he has always eaten leftovers, but I'm noticeably grateful for it this year), an active toddler, a washer and dryer, a car and its seat warmers, family, old and new friends, Skype, missionaries, temples, neighbors willing to babysit, great books, uninterrupted showers, Aldi's, and public libraries.

Above all, and everyday, I'm grateful for my wonderful husband. I can't live without him. I love everything about him and this love grows greater and stronger each day. I'm so grateful for Henry, that I get to wake up to his chatter, spend my days with him, and sing him to sleep each night. I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and the peace and joy that His gospel brings.

I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving.

On another note, regretfully I don't take many pictures on trips simply because I forget, but I did take a few videos of us traveling.

Henry was a pretty good traveler, and for a few minutes this is what he did.

Reading National Geographic for Kids
He's looking at a picture of a ball ("umball", "gaball", "gumball")


Playing with finger puppets

For the rest of the time he was either talking or singing to himself or watching videos on a mini DVD player. (You can see a pile of toys we had gone through. It takes a lot to entertain a little one for 12 hours!) We reintroduced his Binky to get him to sleep--he doesn't sleep in the car very easily--and although I was very hesitant to give him his Binky it worked like a charm when he needed to sleep and he doesn't even care for it at all anymore. Todd and I listened to a book on tape, The Firm by John Grisham, which made driving time pass quickly, and wow, it was intense.

Again, hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, and we can't wait to see you for Christmas (if you live in Provo)!!

Likes

Henry likes:

Looking at things through a different lens

playing at the library

watching other kids play at the library

riding rockets

blowing kisses at passersby

riding horses

looking tough in his new coat and dog head rest

and reading with dad.

Videos

Videos of Henry, old and new.

This is Henry mimicking the geese that frequently fly over head

and Henry talking on the phone, or a measuring spoon

and Henry playing with a ladybug.

*Don't listen to me talking to him, I sound silly.

Diwali!!

This past week Todd and I went on a date! It was our second "date" in 3 months and very much needed! We went to a celebration for Diwali. Diwali is a holiday celebrated in India, Guyana, and Singapore, and is a five-day celebration, also known as the festival of lights.

We celebrated with the Indian Student Association at the U of I with food, song and dance. One of Todd's classmates was performing in the celebration and so we and many of his classmates came to party.

I have to admit, one of the performances actually made me cry! It was so touching! Most of them, however, were just awesome fun. For all of our friends out there who are Bollywood lovers like us, check out these videos. The performances are so fun because the crowd loves every one, every move, and every facial expression, as you can tell--they are screaming the whole time.

Todd's classmate

Us in our sari and kurta

Play time and friends

Henry's a bit more social these days, now that I'm baby sitting little ones more often. He loves his friends, although he may not seem to love sharing with them.




Whenever his friends leave he waves and cries and blows kisses. He's a tender-hearted one. In addition to his regular friends, he's always in the mood to make new friends: dogs, people waiting at the bus stop, joggers, kids peering out of their windows, etc.



I know this because whenever we pass anyone, and sometimes anything, he waves his little hand and says, "hi" with a big smile. His "hi" is low and kind of slow. I get a kick out of it every time.

This past Saturday we spent the afternoon at a great park. The weather was perfect.

Good Stuff

Just in case you haven't noticed, we have posted and linked Mormon Messages in our side bar. We invite you to watch them. They are inspiring and uplifting. Even if you've watched them before you can watch them again. Actually, I watch them about once a week just because they really lift my spirits and inspire me to be better!

A better way

I have found a better way to grocery shop.

The rule of thumb I used to grocery shop by was: don't shop hungry. That was great for sticking to a list and budget. However, when I am really hungry and I open up the full fridge, like most of us do, I think, "There's nothing in here that I want to eat."

That's because I had only the necessary things, healthy things, or leftovers. Last week I went shopping hungry--unintentionally--and I'm glad I did. Among the "normals" on the list I indulged in bagels and cream cheese, fish sticks and tartar sauce, Craisins, and I feel like a more pleasant person. Now when I'm hungry, and it's not just lunch or dinner time, I can open up the fridge and pull out something I really want. I've tired of carrots, apples and crackers. Yum, a toasted bagel and cream cheese for me, please.

For me, shopping hungry means I'll choose things I really want to eat when I'm hungry, whether I'm at the store or in my home. Looking at the extras that I bought, I admit they're not the healthiest, but they're good enough.

I think this is a better way . . . but not all the time.

We'll see how the budget looks when I'm full.

Halloween

This year the Freestones combined forces and did another family costume.

Unlike last year's costume, the three stooges, this year's was a little more obscure. But it was funny to us. I had great plans for our costume in the beginning, but they didn't work out--stay tuned til next year--and so we made a quick change of mind, inspired by Todd.

Todd was the one and only Bob Wiley. You know, from "What About Bob?"

As a result I was Dr. Leo Marvin. No one recognized me, I mean as Rachel Freestone, and that was the fun part. They didn't quite recognize who I was supposed to be either until they saw the book that Todd or I carried: Baby Steps by Leo Marvin. Then if they had seen the movie and took one look at Todd, they cracked up. He wore his awesome, "Don't Hassle me I'm local" shirt.
Henry was my (Leo's) son and dressed in black. It was pretty fun until someone reminded me that I shouldn't have cross-dressed at a ward party. Oh well.




We had a great time at our ward party at our church on Friday and then on Saturday we celebrated Halloween by doing work for the dead--you can probably guess where we were. It was my first time in St. Louis and the temple was awesome.

Binky-less

Before

We are now the proud parents of a Binky-less baby. His Binky has been an object of concern. Many times I would say, "after this trip, we'll get rid of it" and then he'd get sick so I wouldn't want to take it away--it was his comfort. Since his one year birthday this has been the pattern: travel, he's sick, it's too hard, travel . . . And last week I could not take it anymore.

He had a few falls where his gums bled. I was afraid (even though it probably wasn't the case) that he had fallen so hard he may have loosened his teeth, and when I would give him his Binky I would fear that his teeth would get messed up and his palate would deform more easily because his teeth and gums were loose.

Last Tuesday morning we took his Binky away and have not given it back yet! Not for a nap, not for bed time, not for anything. Surprisingly he hasn't seemed to want it. We've had a few bouts of tears or hysterics (driving back from St. Louis when he was so tired but wouldn't fall asleep), but for the most part he has been great--even in church.

In no way am I condemning parents who have Binky dependent children. I have to say Binkys are very nice and convenient (it would have been when we were driving back from St. Louis). This is actually not the first time we have tried to take it away from him. The first time I "took it away" was only when he was awake; he had his Binky for naps and bedtime. This arrangement, however, only made him more attached to his Binky. Somehow, this time around, he seemed completely fine abandoning it.

At 16 months he is now a Binky-less baby and I feel so FREE!! Whew, what a relief.

After