A Happy Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving this year. Typically I stress out about hosting. Thankfully this year was different.  I started praying for a peaceful heart several days in advance. I prayed over my menu. I prayed over my housekeeping plan. I hired my kids at $5 an hour to help with little projects that were out of the ordinary,  like vacuuming the stairs, washing cabinets,  and dusting baseboards. It ended up that I only needed one man hour.  I had a great plan, and started the Monday before Thanksgiving,  each day after lessons. By Thursday, only a few things had to be done.  And the day went pretty well, too!

First Snow

The exciting first snow has arrived, bringing an increased holiday spirit, just a tad early.  With my Christmas loving husband, we hung lights above our cabinets in the kitchen, got out his grandma's ceramic tree, listened to Christmas CDs, and watched 3 Christmas movies this past weekend!  We even found Christmas cookie icecream. Today we are baking gingerbread to take to my grandma, recently relocated nearby to fight her cancer battle closer to family. I usually like to celebrate one holiday at a time, but this early winter wonderland is crying out for celebrating!

Another Glorious Week

Hello friends.  Another week is behind us.  This time we celebrated my youngest's 13th birthday.  I am not going to linger trying to figure out how he is already 13 years old.  Time is going crazy fast.

Monday was back to school and work for all five of us.  It is always hard to send my oldest off to school, but he really loves it, so I am adjusting.  That afternoon he needed me to pick him up because he was bringing a guitar to school that he could not take home on the bus very easily.  He also wanted me to take him to Target to get a new CD.

Nothing much went on Tuesday except for school and laundry.  By Wednesday, we decided to take the day off from school to celebrate our birthday boy.

We could not have a full birthday celebration with church that night, but we did manage to spoil him pretty rotten.  Grace and I blindfolded him and took him to lunch at his favorite restaurant, Panda Express.  Then we got him a DQ ice cream cake for after church.  In the afternoon, I let them rent a movie, Muppets Most Wanted.

Our week otherwise was pretty uneventful.  Ryan also took the PSAT on Wednesday.  He and I went to dinner on Thursday before his karate class on Thursday.  Friday we stayed home and enjoyed a nice quiet Halloween.  The weather turned out to be the most frightful part of the day.  It was a snowy, rainy, windy night.  Jeff set up my bike trainer, and we are all making good use of it.

Happy November!

Two Great Weeks

I didn't realize how much we'd enjoy having these last two weeks off. Having Ryan home has been wonderful, too. I miss him so much when he is at school. And then to top it off, Jeff was on vacation this week.

Last week, we got to do a variety of things. I visited with my paternal grandmother, who is moving back to the area. We still had our weekly evening activities, which kept us busy, too. We rode our bikes every day. We got ready for our camping trip. We celebrated my birthday.  Grace went on a special trip with grandparents to see family in North Carolina.  The boys and I enjoyed some bonding time at the guitar store.

This week, we spent a few days at our favorite state park,  Indiana Dunes. Being able to go during the week is always special,  as the park is less crowded. We also spent a whole day with family who live in the area. We have never camped in such cold temperatures,  but we survived.

We are so blessed to have had a wonderful fall break. I'm totally loving this "balanced calendar" of the local public school.

Growing by Leaps and Bounds

Comparing our feet! Mine are women's 12. 

I got a bit of a shock yesterday.  The night before at AWANA, Trevor came home and said his toe was really hurting again.  Immediately if was soaked in Epsom salt, hoping and praying it would not get infected again.  But then it occurred to me that he actually might need new shoes, as his old ones were a year old.  I had asked him a couple months ago about his shoes.  He said they were fine.  But, he has been doing a lot of growing lately, so I knew it was time to do something.  And no wonder his toe was sore!  He played kick ball with shoes that were 2 sizes too small.  He needed a men's size 14!!

Now, I am in shock.  I do not know anyone with that size of foot.  And he is not yet 13.  Not to mention that recently I had to buy him 36 inseam pants.  All his clothes in fact are too small.  I am praying his winter coat is OK.  Boots?  Ha!  Who can afford those?  He is 6 feet tall with size 14 shoes.  I am in shock.  I am in shock.

Happy Fall

Last week, Jeff and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.  We spent the weekend at a beautiful park. We rented a cabin with indoor plumbing!  It also had heat. We were living in luxury for sure. And, the kids were having a great road trip of their own with grandparents. 

This week begins our 2 week fall break with Jeff off all next week. It's sure to go quickly. 

Busy is the Word

Right now, it seems we are most busy away from home. We call life"aerobic" at the moment. We came home from camping two weeks ago, and haven't slowed down. This weekend, we had a jazz band concert, a 6 hour round trip to celebrate a birthday, and small group after church today. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend.

After the Jazz performance. 

Visiting Grandma.

Quick look at the beach. 

Three mile hike.  

Jazz concert. 

Earned his purple belt! 

Beautiful sunset on the way home one evening.