Happy Thanksgiving 2008

We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year. The weather was cool but nice enough for some of us to take a long nature walk through the woods. The kids had a blast. We spend the entire day at Grandma M and Grandpa A's house. Aunt Lorretta and Uncle Bern drove up from the south to spend the holiday with us. It was so nice to see them and catch up. We all really enjoyed their company.
Grandma M made an awesome meal as she usually does. We all took turns toasting what we are most thankful for, and the kids enjoyed the special day too.
Lorretta and I actually did a little shopping on Thanksgiving nice and I got such great deals. It was fun because Lorretta helped me with a few craft things and she did an awesome job.
We played lots of cards and talked lots about GG Del and how much we miss her. I know she was there with us in spirit. We had lots of laughs and a few tears, especially when the neighbor showed up with GG Del's favorite Sour Cream Raisin Pie. Such a sweet gesture on her behalf.
Thank you God for my wonderful family, especially for my three beautiful children and my husband who loves me to the core. Thank you for such great health and such a beautiful and peaceful day. So many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday - Waiting Patiently

My Name is Horny.

Today as we were getting ready to go to dance, I reminded the kids to go get their "Friends" they wanted to take along with them. Every week they can bring stuffed animals along with them to dance. You can imagine my surprise when K came back into the kitchen and he said "Mom, I am going to bring Horny with me today". As I turned around to see if I understood him right, K was holding his moose and see mom this is my friend Horny.
You can imagine the laughter this brought to all the parents and the dance coach as we arrived at dance and K announced loudly that he brought his friend "Horny" with him. One of the parents told me that I needed to write that one down. I guess I just did!

Jack In A Box

The following made me smile. I love the anticipation that they have before the box opens. This video clip was taken at Sue's house. She said that she heard a lot of laughing after lunch and this is what she found when she went to investigate. So funny. Enjoy.

It's In Their Blood

This past week we have been blessed to have Grandpa R and Grandma C here for a visit. This is so nice for all of us because having two extra sets of hands around the house is so helpful. Grandma C does all the cooking and she did most of the laundry when she was here. What a relief to have that extra help especially this week since I have come down with the crude of a cold.
Grandma C brought the kids a new game. It is Leapfrog Alphabet, Number, and Shapes Go Fish. These kids love this game and have played it a lot these past few days. This makes me smile because I am sure that GG Del is watching them from Heaven with a big grin on her face. She lived to play cards and honestly she played cards up until her last conscious moment here on earth. She would always say "What do people do if they don't play cards!" Anyway, it touches my heart to know that these kids are getting into card playing just like all of us in this family. After all "It's in their blood"!
Big thanks to Grandma C and Grandpa R for coming to visit and helping us out. The kids sure enjoyed it and so did Jon and I.

Wordless Wednesday - First Snowman of the Season

Dance No More

I am not sure if I posted about KJ being in dance but he has been in ballet and tap dance with his sisters since September. Both Jon and I hesitated to put him in dance but he insisted that he wanted to dance so we signed him up.
Since that time K has really developed a love for sports, football, hockey, soccer, and his biggest love is baseball. He is so into sports that he requests to watch Sports Center when he wakes up in the morning. He knows exactly what teams he cheers for and just yesterday when his daddy put on a shirt for a team he does not cheer for he tapped Jon in the stomach and said, "I don't cheer for that team daddy!"
So a few weeks ago when K announced that he wanted to play hockey, Jon looked into it. There is a program through our local ice rink that has a hockey fast track. Kids can start when they don't even know how to skate. Jon called and there was an opening so this morning, Uncle T and I took K over for his first lesson. Jon had taken him to the used sports store and outfitted him with a helmet, shin guards and elbow pads and all of it cost $37. Thank goodness for the used sports store. Uncle T got K all suited up and I took him over and had him signed in. All the kids were stepping onto the ice and moving right along. I told the woman that I was not sure K could even stand on the ice so she helped him on and put him holding onto the side of the rink. He had a smile on his face the whole time. I think he was a little nervous at first but he really came a long way in his first 1 hour lesson. Uncle T was very proud of him. K is already excited about next week. Now if I could just get him to quit wearing his hockey helmet and shin guards around the house that would be good. He is also sleeping with a hockey puck every night. This is the puck that his daddy gave him and K is afraid if he does not sleep with it he will lose it.

Wordless Wednesday - Family Ferris Wheel Fun

Proud Moments

Jon called me at work today to ask me if I really knew what special kids we have. Jon was so proud of the kids today when he picked them up at school. Below is the craft they did at school. It might not seem like a big deal but when Jon told me that all the other kids said things like my truck, my blanket, my cars, etc., my children's responses to this simple question, melted my heart. E's Response

A's Response

K's Response

White Stuff

This morning, I was blessed with waking up on my own at 7:30 AM and then shortly after that, I was joined by E and she snuggled in next to me. I was so nice to cuddle and talk with her this morning. I LOVE doing that with all my kids. Soon after, K joined us and the three of us watched an episode of Calliou. They really enjoy that show. It was about Christmas this morning and they want to know if we can go Caroling this Holiday season. I think that sounds like a great idea, now I just need to find some people who would like to join us. I love to sing.
Anyway, I got up to fetch myself a cup of joe before I dove into our morning routine. As I came out of the bedroom, I thought it seemed unusually bright in our house. As I rounded the corner into the kitchen my mouth dropped as there was WHITE outside. It had been snowing. I was not prepared for that this morning. It was beautiful outside. Aimee came downstairs when she woke up and I told her to look out the window. When she turned around from the window her eyes were as big as silver dollars. She was so excited about the snow. I told her to go tell K and E so she went to find them squealing with delight. I heard her say "K and E it is snowing outside and it is sticking to the ground". Then all three children were squealing with delight. It was so much fun to see them so excited about the snow.
They even build a snowman (that is now melted) and they made snow angels. I wonder how long it will take for this snow novelty to wear off? Hopefully for all of our sake it will take a long time.

Wordless Wednesday - Crafts w/ 4 Yrs Olds

Unexpected Gifts

The weather has been so awesome the past few days around here. It is unseasonably warm and we are loving it! Now if it could stay this way for another six months that would be a dream come true.

~~~~~~~
Sunday we were over at Grandma and Grandpa A's house and we had a fire in their fire pit. It was such a fun afternoon of hanging out and chatting around a camp fire. The best part about it was we could still sleep in comfortable beds that night! The kids really had a great time. The kids loved running around the yard playing football with Uncle T and playing on the neighbors swing set. Since the weather was a surprise and the fire was also a surprise Grandma A did not have s'more makings. Although with all the candy that we have around here I don't think these kids are going without. It was such a nice day on Sunday. I was so relaxed and I really just enjoyed hanging out with the family. The kids finished off their day in the hot tub.







They LOVE to go in the hot tub at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Look at those smiles.

~~~~~~~

Another unexpected gift in a weird sort of a way is that K recovered from his illness of throwing up and diarrhea and his sisters or myself did not get it. Thank God. I hate the stomach flu. YUCK. It was also a gift that we were at Grandma M because she was a huge help with K and his illness.

~~~~~~~

This morning I decided that I wanted to demonstrate to the kids by being a model citizen and getting out to vote. I was a little nervous about going to the polls with three 4 year olds by myself but there was no line and the kids did awesome. It took about 10 minutes and it felt great. Not to mention it was a good lesson for the kids too.

~~~~~~~

This afternoon, we started swimming lessons with the kids again. We were not sure who the new swim teacher would be but once we met her I immediately liked her. She was very sweet with the kids and they seemed to take to her right away too. Plus they are the only three kids in the class and this is always a bonus for us too. After the lesson, the new teacher, Ms. M, told both Jon and I that we had very sweet and polite children and she really enjoyed the lesson today. That kind of feedback always feels great as parents. Plus, I had a date in the hot tub with my husband where we got to catch up on a few things. That is always nice too.

~~~~~~~
The organization that I seem to be getting done around the house feels great. The house looks great too and the kids are starting to help with picking stuff up. I guess I just feel organized and ready for my work week which starts tomorrow. That feels great too.

Anniversary of Sorts

Today marks the ten year anniversary of the day when I was diagnosed with MS. It is hard to believe that ten years has gone by. This is certainly not an anniversary to celebrate. However, since this disease has now stayed at bay for me most of the past ten years I guess I do have something to celebrate. I clearly remember the events of 10 yrs ago. I am not sure that I will ever forget them. It was a very hard time but one that I had Jon and the rest of my family there for support.
My hope going forward is that I am blessed with as much health and support as I have had these past ten years. I will continue to live as healthy of a life as possible with exercise, eating right, sleep, and rest.

Souls Day

Yesterday, it was All Souls Day! We went to an All Saints Day party at our church last night. The kids had a blast.