Trick or Treat

We had such a FUN Halloween! We went trick or treating with Liliana's friend Lily. Lily's aunts and uncles came with us too, so we had quite a crowd going from house to house.





We also made a stop to see our neighbor Betty Lou. She had gift bags for the girls for Halloween with books, candy and home made treats.








We ended the night with dinner and hanging out. Great Halloween!

My neck of the woods this week

This has been a good week. We had some friends stay the night with Liliana so that Chris and I could to go a bed-n- breakfast. Before she came along, we used to have a get away a few times a year. But since becoming parents, this is only our 2nd time to go anywhere for the night. It was so needed and we had a wonderful time together.

We had our family "Walt Disney night" watching the first half of Fantasia. Usually for family movie night we get in our pajamas and climb up in our bed and watch the movie together. I love being as a family and Fantasia was a great show to watch this week- it is basically classical music with animation, which we all enjoyed.



Last night we had 2 of our Chinese friends over for dinner. They cooked at our house and made some of the most delicious Chinese food I have ever eaten. We learned more about Chinese culture and history and it was such a fun time.

Today I have been doing laundry and getting some food ready for our Halloween dinner tomorrow. We are trick or treating with some other families and then having dinner together. I can't wait...

Fiesta Time!

Liliana goes to a Spanish immersion school one morning a week and one of her little friends invited the class to a birthday party. We went as a family yesterday.


I appreciate the Latin American community so much. The party was great. We met at a place called Pump It Up- they have huge inflatables for the kids to bounce and slide on. (They also let the parents join in and we had SO MUCH FUN!!)



Then all the parents and kids went to the party room afterwards for lunch and cake. Most of the kids who attended come from a bi-racial family and so we had a chance to meet several Hispanic parents yesterday. I would say in general this culture has such a gift of hospitality. They made us feel so welcome, fed us a ton and we left with such a warm feeling. It made us feel so good about the school community Liliana is part of and it was nice to have the chance to meet the other families and have fun together.

Now that Liliana is getting older, we are becoming more mindful of her community. I know this is just the beginning of a long journey of teaching Liliana to choose her friends wisely, yet also include people and show love to those who are not like her. So far, our daughter has many great role models and people in her life, so we hope it continues through the years.

Harvest Party

Yesterday we went to our annual Harvest Party. Here in WI they have FUN corn mazes. It is actually harder than you would think and takes at least an hour or more to get through them. We had so much fun finding our way through and dodging each other in "corn wars" from the kernels.



After that we had fun playing at the barn and then had a hay ride and bon fire. Perfect fall fun. I love this time of year and the fun traditions we have.

Uncle AJ's visit

My brother in law came to visit us for a few days. So much fun!

I am the youngest in my family, so it has been fun for me to have a brother and sister in law who are younger than me. AJ lived with us for awhile back in St. Louis, so I am particularly close to him and love him a lot.

I am not the only one.. my daughter is crazy about her Uncle AJ. She wanted to be next to him every waking moment. Uncle AJ is a big guy, but he the most tender person when it comes to kids, especially little girls. He had a princess purse and pony for her at the airport and spoiled her the entire time he was here.



I am so thankful for my family. I know often in laws don't get along, but I consider Chris' family is my family- 100%.

APPLE PICKING

Yesterday was a perfect fall day, so we took the afternoon and went apple picking.

It was the first time that Chris or Liliana have gone apple picking (I guess apple orchards aren't a common trait in TX). I haven't been since elementary school. It was so much fun!



We couldn't have asked for a prettier day and the apples were delicious. I am so amazed at the varieties that one fruit offers. Of course we sampled our way through the orchard and there's such distinct differences.
(SIDE NOTE- I was a little nervous as we sampled because several years ago Chris bit into an apple and his front tooth fell out. He looked like the biggest hill billy. After he had it fixed, the dentist told him he needed to cut apples in slices to eat, so that his cap would not fall out. It is a habit at home to always cut apples, but neither of us thought about it for our trip to the orchard. Fortunately, we left with all teeth in place)





I'm looking forward to some home made apple sauce and apple turn overs. Mmm .. Mmmm...

W-R-L

I've been reflecting on the triad of WORK, REST, and LEISURE.

If you know me well, you know that I am a big advocate for having one day a week that is a day of rest, or a sabbath if you want to use Biblical terms. I started the habit in high school and it has been a part of my life ever since then. I have seen it keep me from burning out, actually increase my productivity and also keeps me from going down the path of being a workaholic. (Which I am aware I could easily fall into given my upbringing and strong work ethic modeled for me as a kid.)

But what I am realizing is that I've just clumped rest and leisure together; in reality they are 2 different things. They certainly can feed off each other, but they are different.

Rest is doing "nothing". Sleeping in, maybe staying in your pajamas until 3 in the afternoon, ordering Chinese take out so you don't have to cook- just being physically and emotionally renewed by having a low energy kind of day.

Leisure is doing "something" -an activity, a family outing to the zoo, trying a new restaurant- getting out to experience life and do something fun.

We need both in varying proportions. I think realizing that they are 2 different things has been insightful and has been helping us live a more balanced life.

So, fellow blog readers... what are your thoughts on W-R-L? How do those 3 things balance in your life?