And Everyone is OK

I know I mentioned that we got a new vehicle, and that the minivan that I so loved was for sale but we weren't in any hurry to get rid of it. Well, the minivan is no more. Josh and I have been having to spend a lot of time at work lately, and Josh's parents have been helping us out by picking up the girls from daycare in the evening. To make life a little easier for them, we gave them the minivan with a set of car seats for the girls.

Last Thursday, Josh's mom was rear-ended in the minivan. And it wasn't a gentle nudge. She was hit so incredibly hard that there were skid marks about 100 feet behind her from the truck that was failing to pay attention. Hit so hard that she hit the car in front of her. Hit so hard that the broken glass from the back window was inside her clothes. The minivan was totaled. The girls, well they were also in the car. And everyone came out all in one piece. Josh's mom came out the worst with some bruising from the armrest, but the girls must have had an angel on their side.

I never would have expected that car seats, no matter how well they are put in, would hold up so well. Bea had some minor bruises on her neck from her harness straps, but otherwise came out fine. I think that she also went into shock after it happened because, from what I was told, it took her about a half an hour before she uttered words. And Olivia, well she is just of fragile sound and mind, and I was told that she started screaming on the impact and wouldn't let up for quite a while.

When we got to his parents house that evening, they were walking around, and Bea kept telling us what happened and Olivia was using her words quite well, too. A few days later, they are fine. And Josh's mom is doing better.

And I have never realized until now that my greatest fear is losing one of my children. I am so glad that everyone is safe. And at the same time, I'd like to have a word with the driver of that truck, and it certainly wouldn't be a nice one. And also, is work really that important? Family is so much more...This year Thanksgiving will mean more than it ever has.

Halloween and Weddings

It's been a whirlwind of a week around here.

Halloween.

None of the original choices I picked out panned out this time around. Bea ended up with two costumes - a pony and a princess. I had a hard time finding a pony costume, even online. We settled for the donkey from Shrek, and heck, she didn't know it was a donkey. So, we told her she was a pony as well as people giving her canding that exclaimed, "what a cute DONKEY!...OH, PONY!" Luckily, I have photos of her in both costumes.

O's costume was a different story. She wanted to be a kitty cat. The closest I could come to that was a pink cheetah-like outfit. She wouldn't wear the hat for more than ten seconds. I gave her a brown nose and whiskers to make her look more cat-like.

Pictures, round one - the night before Halloween at my mother-in-law's school party:



Pictures, round two - halloween night:





The day after halloween, we headed out to Colorado for my brother's wedding. The girls did great on the plane, both ways. They danced all night at the wedding. It was a really great time. Their schedules were completely out of whack, but it was well worth all the time spent with family. Here are some pics, and many more to come in a future post:



Quite possibly the best picture ever of our dancing queen in action:


It's good to be home (lovin' the Olivia fro):