Thanksgiving 2011

This year we spent Thanksgiving with my family. It’s been a few years since we spent the holiday with them so it was definitely past due. We arrived a little early so we could help my sister finish up the yummy preparations. The kids were able to get a head start on destroying everything playing together. I love when the cousins get together. The laughter and giggles definitely outweigh the referring. It’s amazing how much they fight and knit pick already. Guess you would expect no less since there are 7 children age 5 and under. It’s always a mad house! And this Thanksgiving was no exception.

The food was delicious and the company even better. We had such a wonderful time. The kids played so hard that they were asleep even before we hit the interstate. I really do love my family- crazy as each and every one of us are.

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Thanksgiving 2010

A little extra special Thanksgiving this year as it was Zachary’s first Thanksgiving celebration. I am so very blessed with my life. It isn’t perfect by any means but it’s mine and I cherish it.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
— Melody Beattie

I have a wonderful family. Two beautiful children who are my life, my miracles. My husband. A nice house. My health. Friends. Food.

There are so many things that I have to be thankful for. God has truly blessed me. I need to practice gratitude on a daily basis, not just one day a year.  Gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life. My cup runneth over.

Turkey is yummy!

Gobble, Gobble

Let me start off by saying “I cannot sew”. I do not own a sewing machine and can only hand sew enough to cover my butt. Literally. I would love to learn some day and do great things. Ok, maybe not so great but cool things at least. Some day.

I saw this really cute idea on The Crafty Crow but it was for a reverse applique. A what applique?? And it used a sewing machine??? I thought that there surely had to be an easier way and investigated. I was right. Michael’s is great because I was able to find the applique paper and the material there. I didn’t have the red material or was too lazy to find it but I think it turned out pretty well.

Now let’s see if she will actually wear it!

Thanksgiving weekend

We were so busy but not- if that makes any sense!

We started out on Wednesday. Emily spent the day with her Grandma and Grandpa. I got my hair cut and ran a million errands. We all met for pizza at The Incredible Pizza Company. It was okay. We weren’t really impressed with the pizza or it’s selection. The deserts were good though. Emily loved the games for her age. She actually enjoyed watching Stephen and I ride the go karts as well. We did have a good time though and had one tired toddler on our hands when we got home.

Thursday. Thanksgiving Day!! We watched part of the Macy’s parade before heading out to visit my family. Emily LOVED the parade. We dvr’d it so she could watch it later. She didn’t mind because she was going to see all of her cousins!!!! It was a really good time. We laughed, we talked, we ate. We ate some more. Emily played and played. And didn’t nap. It was a long day. But a good one. I loved seeing all of the cousins together. I am glad that Emily has some playmates!

Saturday was our annual “help grandma and papa decorate” evening. She helped with a few ornaments before her toddler attention span got the best of her and Aunt Nina got there. Why put up ornaments when you can play with Nina? It was nice to get to spend time with everyone.

Sunday we went to church and then worked on decorating our Christmas tree. I think Emily was a bit “decorated” out by this point. But she did well. She hung a few ornaments before she started bossing Daddy around, telling him to hang things “High. Up there.”

It was a short four days. But a good four days. We weren’t on the go the entire time and spent time relaxing, as a family. Emily is still catching up on a lack of sleep. She took naps all days except Thursday but never made it to bed at her normal time until last night. Can we say “crabby toddler”?

I hope you all had a wonderful, family filled holiday weekend with lots of laughter, smiles and bargains!

Playing at Incredible Pizza

Finally getting Papa time

Hanging with her favorite Chloe!!!!

Shouldn’t have waited until the end of the night for a photo- no cooperation!

Us!

Working on Grandma and Papa’s tree

Hanging up Cookie Monster

 

I took a million pictures on Thanksgiving. I didn’t want to bore you. They are uploaded into the Picasa album (link on right).

Thankful heart

Appreciative. Grateful. Satisfied. Blessing. Mahalo. Grace.

Thanksgiving. During this time of year we reflect. We open up our minds, our souls and our hearts and think about God’s blessings. We look back at the past year and really think about what we have been given. We have faced tragedy and struggles. Not everything in the past year is happy. Unfortunately, in our lives, we have to face adversity. It’s how we live. The bad parts do not define us. They make us stronger.

This Thanksgiving, try to reflect on the blessings that you have been given. Try not to focus on the bad stuff that has happened. Try to remember those around you that are less fortunate.

God is good. I know that my life is not perfect but I have been bestowed so many blessings for which I am truly grateful. I thought I would list a few to get me in the *thankful* spirit.

• Stephen has a job and is able to provide for our family. We are able to live a modest life and I am blessed to be able to stay home with Emily.
• I am thankful for my family. My family is TOGETHER this year. I have a wonderful husband and daughter. All of my siblings will be celebrating Thanksgiving together. What more could I ask for.
• I am thankful for Stephen’s family. They are such a huge support to Stephen, Emily and I. They have always treated me as I am one of the family.
• I am thankful that we have a roof over our head and don’t have to worry about where our next meal is coming from.
• I am thankful for my friends. You all have lifted me up when I was down and given me support when I needed it. Thank you.

I know there is much more that I am thankful for. But that’s a start.

Happy Thanksgiving to you! I hope your travels are safe, the food is good and the company is even better! Eat, drink and laugh. Be thankful. Remember those who are less fortunate.

Blessings.

Thanksgiving season

The time to reflect on your life. A time to think about all of the blessings that has been bestowed on you and be thankful. Thankful for God, family, jobs, friends and more. Thanksgiving is a time that we spend with family; eating, laughing, crying, eating some more. It is a time to put aside all the things that are amiss in our lives and think about all the good things that we have going for us.

Now that Emily has entered our lives, Thanksgiving is even more special. I want Emily to grow up thankful for all that she has and what’s a better time to start than now? We have been getting books from the library, talking about it (as much as you can do with a just-two year old) and doing art projects.

Over the next several days and weeks, watch for fun posts about how we are celebrating, teaching and learning. I have a few for you today!

So far we have only gotten a couple books at the library about Thanksgiving. We are on the lookout for more. Do you have any suggestions?

Two that we have read so far are: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Thank you, Thanksgiving. Charlie Brown is a pretty long book and Emily sits through the ENTIRE thing. She absolutely loves it! It has Snoopy, Linus and his *babby* and Charlie Brown. What more could you want? She wants to read that one every night before bed. I think I will be glad when it gets returned on Wednesday.

So, give me your suggestions! What books should we get?