Hmm...where were we? I was posting everyday, and then November came along and I vanished into the dark and rainy November night. Some might call that fair-weather blogging, except that I don't blog that consistently even in fair weather. So. My blogging habits are mysterious.
Well, I was sick for awhile. Laryngitis followed, naturally, because when I get sick I don't manage to get the rest that I need, and of course I keep teaching and then before I know it, my voice has up and abandoned me. I kept teaching though because I'm woefully behind in the syllabus, and cancelling classes wouldn't help that out.
I've also been busy doing my freelance picture card work, and for the first time in a few years I've gotten something of a holiday rush. In other words, my clients are sending out holiday letters and they want a photo card to go with it. This is good news for me, but not good news for getting to bed at a reasonable hour.
And then MyPublisher (whom I generally use for all my photo album publishing needs) had a fantastic deal on photo books (alas, the deal expired last Tuesday, so now I'll need to wait to order more books) so I was scrambling to put the finishing touches on Addie's Alphabet/Color/Number books so I could order them. They haven't arrived yet, but probably next week sometime.
A peek at some of the pages:
Here's a link to the entire alphabet book. (You should click just to see the cover of this one. Such a serious face from a normally smiley baby!)
And here's the link to the whole colors and numbers book.
I do love photo books. They make me so happy. I only wish I was better at getting them done in a timely manner (I have yet to even start putting 2011 together).
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We have a big week coming up for Jason's side of the family: his brother and sis-in-law and their daughter are coming out here for a whole week. We are VERY excited because we've never met baby Anastasia, who was born last December. And the girls haven't seen Uncle Nathan and Aunt Carolyn since we vacationed with them at DisneyWorld more than two years ago. They live in Rhode Island, and so it's hard to get together.
But they're coming!
And they'll be here for Thanksgiving!
Since this is their first Portland visit as parents, then we are doing lots of kid-friendly things: OMSI, Zoo Lights (opens for members only the night before Thanksgiving), Spaghetti Factory (love loud restaurants that serve food kids will eat) and plenty of time wandering the Family Farm (although they are staying with Jason's parents since our house isn't quite as accommodating for lengthy overnight visits). Good times.
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I meant to post something yesterday for Veteran's Day, but time ran away from me. Nevertheless, I still wanted to post a picture that my mom sent along to me.
She's been working on identifying all my grandpa's medals that he received while he was in the Army, and it's been no small task. She got it all put together, and made up this chart, which she laminated and gave to us.
Each of these medals tells a story, and someday I'm determined to write that story. The story of a soldier who travelled the world and served in two wars. The story of soldier who loved his wife and four kids, and went on to become an amazing grandpa and great-grandpa. That's a story I want to tell from the bottom of my very grateful heart.
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Have a lovely weekend!
