Can I still be thankful even though I am a week late?

I know that Thanksgiving was a week ago, but I was so busy that I didn't have time to post. Is it alright if I do my thankful post now? I mean I have so much to be thankful for and I would hate for the year to g by without me expressing thankfulness.
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Twelve years ago, a handsome young man came up and introduced himself to me. Two years later, I married him.
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Almost three years ago, a precious little girl was born in China. A year after that, she became my daughter.

I wish that I could think of a word that would adequately express how very thankful I am for these two people:

I cannot imagine a life without either of them. They make me feel whole, complete. They bring me joyfulness, peace. The provide laughter and delight. They are everything that is good. I will be forever thankful that my life includes both of them.
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I also have so many other things for which I am thankful: my family, Tony's family, our health, our home, friends, chocolate.
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In these crazy economic times it is hard not to focus on everything that is going wrong. But when I stand back and examine what is truly important, my life is full. Very full. I couldn't ask for anything more. And I am forever thankful.

Thanksgiving was so crazy busy that I didn't get many pictures of the actual celebration, but here are a few shots of Miss Molly helping to prepare the pumpkin pies:

Step 1: Measure

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Step 2: Stir

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Step 3: Mix

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Step 4: Clean up all the sugar that you spilled on the floor

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Step 5: Look really cute in an apron

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Step 6: Enjoy the fruits of your labours
First time eating pumpkin pie....

I think she likes it!

Give the People What They Really Want...

I'd like to think that you come here for the witty commentary about Molly that I painstakingly write each week; But let's face it, you come here for the pictures. Right? Without further ado, here is some of the scrumptiousness that I am blessed with each and everyday:

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Halloween 2008: The Year of the Monkey Soup

Monkey Soup? What the heck is Monkey Soup? Stay with me. It will all be explained in good time.

Let me begin this post by stating that I hate carving pumpkins. Hate isn't quite strong enough; how about despise, detest, loathe, abhor (yes, I did consult a thesaurus). How we ever ended up with five of the things this year is beyond me. That is a lot of pumpkin slime, my friends; a lot of pumpkin slime. Yuck.
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Anyway, here is a shot of all of the pumpkins before we gutted them (we didn't gut the cute one in the middle):

Molly was overjoyed when I lined up the pumpkins and took their mug shot.
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She was absolutely giddy when I began stabbing at them with a knife. Her giddiness began to wane as soon as she pulled off the first lid:

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Once she stuck her hand inside one of the pumpkins, she was done. Had enough. I don't blame her.


I wish I could have done the same thing, but now I'm the momma. I had to perform my parental duty and eviscerate those poor pumpkins. Lucky for me, Tony came home early and helped me out. We tried our hand at stencil carving this year with mixed results. Two pumpkins ended up with a failed stencil carving on the back and a successful hand carving on the front.
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The infamous Great Pumpkin, who rose from the compost heap, actually made it all the way to Halloween. He is the one carved with the MZ. Here are the results:

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Now the moment you have been waiting for...monkey soup.
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Molly loves monkeys, so this year a monkey costume was in order. We went out monkey hunting in early September, two months before season even opens. They had a great monkey costume at Old Navy, but it was full price and I wasn't going to pay full price. I decided to wait. Afterall, they had an entire rack of monkeys. Surely they would have them on sale before Halloween.
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Later in the same week, I ended up going back in Old Navy for some unrelated item. I decided to check out the monkey costumes once again. Know what I found? Three measly monkeys hanging on the rack! The rest had been sold. I decided to bite the bullet and pay full price. Holy cow, full price!
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Mr. Monkey lived peacefully in my closet until the week of Halloween. On Monday of Halloween week, Molly had a party at Little Gym that required a costume. Great! I pulled the monkey out of my closet and headed to the gym with Molly in tow. Once there, I began to dress her in the costume. She screamed at the top of her lungs, "NO WEAR MONKEY SOUP!" Monkey soup is Mollyspeak for monkey suit.
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Needless to say, we didn't wear the monkey soup to the Little Gym party. Nor did we wear it to another party later in the week. She just wasn't going to put it on. Hmmmmm. Halloween just days away and I have a kid who won't wear her costume. Not good.
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First thing Halloween morning we began Project MFMS: Make Friends with the Monkey Soup.
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It started out by having breakfast with the monkey soup. Molly thought that was great fun. She talked to the monkey, played with the monkey and fed the monkey.

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After breakfast was over I asked Molly if she wanted to put on the monkey soup but I was met with a resounding "NO!"
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Moving on, we took monkey on a tour of the house and even let monkey sleep in Molly's crib. Once again I asked Molly is she wanted to put on the monkey soup and once again she responded with a resounding "NO!"
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Time for the big guns....bribery. I suggested that a sucker may be in order if she tried on the monkey soup. Here are the results:

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I guess the monkey soup wasn't quite as scary when you are sporting a sugar buzz.
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From that point on it was all good. She posed for pictures with the scarecrows and me.......

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.....and also with Grandmom, the bearer of suckers!

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The rest was history. Molly knew that she was going to get candy when we went trick-or-treating so hand in hand with Daddy, off she went:


Of course we had to stop occasionally to take on sustenance. It was going to be a long night, you know:

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We trick-or-treated well into the night. We had to have been out for at least 45 minutes:

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Then it was time to head home and enjoy the "fruits" of our labor.
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Skittles count as fruit, right?

Happy Halloween from Molly and the Monkey Soup!

Picking Perfect Pumpkins

Halloween is fast approaching, which could only mean one thing: It's time to visit the pumpkin patch at one of our local farms.
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Since we took Molly to the same pumpkin patch last year, I thought it would be fun to take a little walk down memory lane. Wow! How she has changed!
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First stop: See how much we measure up.
It appears that I have not grown any taller, but look at Molly!
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2007 Just a little peanut.


2008 Growing like a weed.

Hmmmm...what is up with this picture? I think that it must be an optical illusion. I am the same height in both photographs, but it appears that Molly has grown almost a foot in the past year. In actuality, she's only grown 4 1/2 inches. 2007: 31 inches 2008: 35 1/2 inches.

Next stop on our journey down memory lane: Molly's adventurous spirit.
My, oh my has she changed a lot in this department.


2007 Hated doing anything new.


2008 Ready to explore the universe....by herself (remember the "No, IIIIIIIII do it" post?)

Final stop on Memory Lane Tour: Finger sucking.


2007 Molly is sucking on her fingers.
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2008 Hey wait a minute. Molly is still sucking on her fingers. I guess not everything about our girl has changed!
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Here are some other favorite pictures from the day:


Molly the Kitty with Mommy.


Molly the Little Pumpkin with Daddy.


Molly getting the Princess treatment from her Daddy.


Trying to decide on just the right pumpkin to select.


I think I want this one!
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Hauling our pumpkins out to the truck.
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Here is the most perfect pumpkin in the whole patch! Oh my goodness, she has a way of taking my breath away.
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Molly's favorite part of the day...eating rock candy on the drive home.
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And finally, for all of those wondering about the Great Pumpkin that grew out of our compost heap during the summer. He is still alive and kickin'. He is on a shelf in the basement, perched in between a bottle of fabric softener and a container of antibacterial wipes.

He has a few blemishes (but don't we all), but he just might make it to Halloween. Stay tuned.