Today is laundry day, and I think the dirty clothes pile is twice as big as it was last week. I do the laundry at the same time every week… are winter clothes just that much bulkier? It seriously looks like four extra people moved into our house and dirtied up a whole bunch of clothes this past week!

Wes is taking some vacation time this week. It’s good to have him around the house, even if we’re not doing anything out of the ordinary. He made breakfast for the girls, which he usually does on the weekends, and they were thrilled. Emma has been doing well without her pacifier and hasn’t (so far) substituted her fingers/thumbs for it. I think we can, without any fear or anxiety, throw the beloved pacifier away now. (We’ve been keeping it in a safe place, just in case.) Yay!

I’ve had some great birthday surprises this weekend. Wes’s parents and grandmother came into town on Friday for a visit and blessed me with some new running shoes (which were desperately needed) and this…

Yes! A Kitchen-Aid stand mixer! Wes’s grandmother also gifted me with some of the accessories…

Wow! I guess this means I can say good-bye to my ten dollar hand mixer, huh? Thank y’all again! Last night, a friend from church blessed me with some incredible gift cards (thank you, Lisa!) that I can’t spend on anyone but myself, which will be a real treat. I’m amazed by the generosity of family and friends! Thank you!

My mystery date did indeed arrive on Saturday, and it was… my sister! She had driven up from Dallas early that morning to take me out for a pedicure, lunch, and shopping. I had such a great afternoon, visiting and relaxing. I didn’t guess what was going on until Wes told me to pack flip-flops… which kind of made me suspect a pedicure. I still didn’t have any idea who was doing the surprising, though, until Kerry showed up on our front porch. What a great surprise! I felt very pampered, which is always nice.

Speaking of pampered, Ana and Emma were the recipients of what amounted to an entire winter wardrobe, courtesy of their Nana and a family/friends’ discount she was able to use at Old Navy. They wore some of their new, warm, winter dresses and tights on Sunday and looked so cute that I had to get a picture…

Yeah, they look tired. They were tired. But they energized right up after just a few minutes.

Well, I better get started on that mountain of laundry. Hope you have a GREAT Thanksgiving holiday!