Happy Thanksgiving

This is the day of the year that we take time to be thankful. It seems that this holiday gets less attention each year as we prepare for Christmas earlier and earlier. With floods of catalogs coming into our homes and constant list-making of things we don't have but really need (or want!), gratitude is hard to come about.

I love that we have this day to spend with family and focus on those things for which we are most grateful. Because we have so much and live in an environment of plenty, it's difficult to really focus on those specific things. But this year I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving. I have been blessed with so much more than I deserve. So much more.

We created a thankful tree this year and during our thanksgiving celebration with my mom and both of my sisters and their families, we each wrote what we are most thankful for on a leaf. It was made with an old branch, a bunch of rocks and some paper, but it's beautiful. And just looking at it makes me smile...

There are a variety of blessings on the tree...good friends, family, a good job, and even Elmo. This year it wasn't difficult to think about what I'm most thankful for. After some friends have had the scare of their life with their sweet 10-year old daughter, Aidyn, I am reminded of the blessing of my family's good health. And I am so grateful.

I'm thanking God for that and for so much more, while at the same time I'm reminded that I can't hold on too tightly for I know that these are blessings guaranteed only for this very moment.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." I Chronicles 16:34

Thank you, Lord, for your love poured out for eternity. Remind us daily that our true hope is found in you, from whom all blessings flow. Teach our family to be grateful to you for your goodness. And thank you for the abundance of blessings you have poured out on us. Lord, you are good!

Oh, and just because they are so cute, here are the little turkeys that all the kids created today...
Happy Thanksgiving!

Spreading some holiday cheer

How did I once have time to blog? I must have locked the kids in their rooms because I sure can't seem to find the time right now.

Ben and I had lots of fun elfing ourselves yesterday. After I got several of them from friends, I decided it would be fun for Ben and I to do together. He watched it over and over again and tried to copy the dance. Too funny.

So, if anyone is needing to get into the Holiday Spirit, this is for you...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Election Day!

It's almost over! After today there will be no more political ads, no more phone calls & no more people knocking on my door asking me who I will vote for. Most importantly, after today we'll know who our new president is. While the candidates have done a good job of trying to convince us that they will solve all the world problems, I have constantly been reminded over the last several months of the scripture in Ecclesiastes 1: 8-10,

"All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time."

I hope that everyone was able to make the time to prayerfully vote over these past couple of weeks! It is an important election, but I also love these reminders that I received in the thousands of political e-mails. This e-mail was actually worth reading...

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election:

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praises to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross for you.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost if they turn to Him.

Amen.

The Prom

Last night it was our turn to dress up...Michael and I went to the prom!

Some of our good friends have a Halloween party every year. Last year it was a 70's party and this year it was prom night. I was on the lookout for a big poofy dress, but then my mom brought over my old dresses from high school. I think it was a good excuse for her to get them out of her house. After trying on some lovely red and bright blue sequin dresses, I decided to wear a dress that I wore to homecoming my freshman year. It fit me quite differently this time (surprise, surprise!) but it was still hilarious. With LOTS of makeup, a big beautiful orange corsage, some big cheap jewelry and a crown, I was ready to go.

My mom suprisingly still had some fabric from the dress so she fixed a matching royal blue bow tie and cumberbund for Michael. He slicked his hair over and wore a large crown. Of course, he had a matching orange boutonnier. We were L-O-V-E-L-Y!!
Here's all the ladies...
And all the men...
Prom was a little different this time around, in more ways than one. The most significant was that we woke up this morning to 3 little kiddos. Talk about a reality check?! It was a fun night, though, and it's always good to have a brief escape from reality.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is over! I really enjoy this holiday but it certainly wore me out this year. There is something about a bunch of candy and costumes that bring out so much drama! We experienced several tantrums and lots of whining, but we also had a great day.

Here we were last night carving a pumpkin. This event went by with little drama. Whew!

And today we had our friends Mindy, Meredith and Allie over for a little Halloween "party". The kids had fun eating lunch together, decorating pumpkin cookies and playing outside.
Our littlest pumpkin enjoyed the day too...
Here is Levi and Meredith in their costumes. Could they be any cuter?!

It was a quiet afternoon while all 3 boys took a nap. It took A LOT of persuasion and some tears to get Levi to take one but he finally did. Then it was time to put on the costumes. The boys were Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Slinky Dog from Toy Story. Levi wanted Graham to be slinky dog or Mr. Potato Head and since I knew we had a dog costume I agreed to the slinky dog idea. However, when we got it out the boys were quick to point out that it wasn't slinky dog. While Michael wanted to wrap some duck tape around his stomach to make him look like Slinky, I vetoed the idea because I thought he would look like a dog with duck tape wrapped around him.

Anyway, the boys were excited about their costumes until we had to put them on! Ben hated his holster, hat and boots. And come to think of it, the shirt required some persuasion as well. Basically he only liked his jeans. And Levi had to be convinced that not everyone would be looking at him. After a few tears we were all dressed and ready to head to our neighbor's house for a little get-together.

Here's me and "Slinky"...
And Woody...
Here's Levi (while still not convinced that everyone wouldn't be looking at just him!) with his buddy Spiderman...
Buzz, Woody, Spiderman, Mr. Incredible & a firefighter all engaged in some "rough play". We told them that they could only pretend to fight. The joy of boys!
We had a great time trick-or-treating with some buddies and handing out candy at our house. The boys actually got along pretty well and had a great night.
And I'm pretty sure we'll have some tantrums in the morning when we don't let the boys have skittles & chocolate for breakfast.

Happy Halloween!

Evidence of my fabulous cooking skills

I mentioned in my previous post that life has been a bit crazy around here. Hopefully I can use that as an excuse for Ben's following comment...

Ben and I were watching television when a Chick-fil-a commercial came on. Ben got really excited and said, "Look, Mommy. It's dinner!"

Now I'm feeling horribly guilty so I'm off to make chicken parmesan for dinner. Only 2 of the 5 of us will appreciate it. The other 3 would probably rather have dinner from a bag!

My middle man

I haven't been blogging much lately. I don't know why other than the fact that I haven't had much time to even breathe. I've taken on more projects than is humanly possible, and as a result, sleeping and blogging have had to take a little break. The lack of blogging hasn't had any adverse affects on me or our family, but the lack of sleep, well, I'm afraid it has caused a few problems. The biggest problem is that I'm tired! Go figure.


On to more important things...like my little gymnast. Don't worry, Daddy. I don't think Ben is going to be a gymnast. He just absolutely loves his tiny tots gymnastics class which is more like a giant obstacle course. He had his last class of the session last week so I brought my camera along to capture his enthusiasm. Seriously, Ben doesn't stop smiling the entire hour. I think Monday evenings are his favorite time of the week. Last week he wouldn't eat dinner because he said, "I have to go to tumbling class!"

And I have absolutely loved that hour that we get to spend together. Just Ben and I. It's so good for both of us. This little guy is pure joy. He's full of life and just being with him puts a smile on my face. I have worried that being the middle child and having to become a big brother at only 15 months would be hard for him, but based on his constant smile and sweet spirit, I think he's just fine.
I signed Ben up for another eight week of classes, and I can't wait. Michael and I will probably fight over who gets to take him each week. Ben, you are an absolute joy. I'm so glad that I get to live life with you. Thanks for making me smile and laugh everyday!