Thanksgiving and such.....

We celebrated Josh's 32nd birthday before Thanksgiving. I hired a sitter for an entire afternoon and evening in order to sit in camo in the woods and deer hunt with him. I took a nap on the cold, muddy ground and awoke to the sound of a squirrel running and a bird chirping. I'd do it again in a heartbeat! The kids got him a Davis County Mustangs sweatshirt. We were so proud to give him a Mustangs sweatshirt since he is "home"!
It's always a party on daddy's lap!!

We spent this weekend at FunCity in Burlington. It was a ball for the kids...arcade games, go-karts, a water park, cartoons while lounging around on hotel beds. Here you see that Noelle spent most of her time on the phone to her friend "Ella".

The kids were little fish in the water park. Julia and Noelle went down a duck slide 500,000 times!

And Josh climbed to the top of the climbing wall. The 13 year old behind him did not make it.


We have so much to be thankful for! We hope that your Thanksgiving has been joyous and full of gratefulness.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Operation Christmas Child

I highly, highly recommend this project for kids! See the website www.samaritanspurse.org for details. The deadline is Nov. 23rd. Our kids had so much fun loading up boxes for another child! Macy wrote a note for her box that said, "Jesus is the answer to anything!" Julia does not understand why we can't "play at the girls house for a little while" when we take the box. She named for friend "Abby", so Julia's box is going to a girl named "Abby". AND Julia doesn't understand why she can't eat the candy in the box! This has been a great way to start out the Christmas season at our house! They re-packed and organized the stuff in these boxes several times!

I LOVE Whirlybirds!

Whirlybirds is an after school Bible program at Josh's parents church. Caden and Macy Love it! They are so excited when it is Wednesday! Caden got up this morning, put on his Whirlybird gear and said, "Mom, I LOVE Whirlybirds!". Grandpa & Grandma are teachers in the program, so it is a fantastic opportunity for our kids to learn from their grandparents and see them in service. I am so, so grateful for this!!

Macy's School Projects

Macy brought home "the letter bag" this weekend. She is the "Mm" letter expert this week at school. There were a number of projects in the letter bag for her to complete that related to the letter Mm. She glued Macaroni, M&M's, and a Monkey onto this page, and she colored the Mouse Marroon. She is so excited to teach her class about the letter Mm.

This turkey decorating project was assigned to be a FAMILY project, but Macy did not want anyone in the family except Mom to put their paws on her turkey. I think it will win the award for the turkey with the most beads!

Breakfast of a Champion

No School today! I love it when Caden and Macy get an extra day to relax. This is what Caden chose for breakfast, a bowl of oatmeal AND a bowl of cheerios. He is a growing boy. I can't believe how much he eats, I'm pretty sure as much as or more than his mom!

Beth Moore Conference

I traveled to Springfield, IL this weekend with a group of 15 other gals to see Beth Moore live. 8,800 people gathered to worship God and study Gods Word together on Friday night and Saturday morning. It was an absolute amazing time! I made a few new friends, ate yummy food without sharing, sang my heart out and my voice raw, and studied in-depth the life of John the Baptist. WOW! It was a fantasic weekend of restoration and regaining Joy for my work at home. These are just a few of the girls with the group. Two in the back row are my very dear friends, Janai and Molly.

Recess Wound

Caden got kicked in the eye on the jungle gym at recess today. He says he didn't cry and kept on playing. The nurse called to warn me that he may have a black eye by the time he gets home. I had just applied fresh Carmex when I kissed the wound after school. He said, "MOM, do you have lip stuff on? It BURNS!!!" OPPS!

WAKE UP, MACY!!

Macy-a typical little woman already-is hard to roll out of bed in the morning. Julia and Noelle thought they'd help me out this morning at 6:30 AM.

Cousin Time

The girls and I had lunch with my sister, her kids, and my mom one day this week. I caught 13 year old cousin Gretchen and Julia having a little conversation...who knows what they are talking about...clothes, hair, Hannah Montana...you never know with Julia! Gretchen wanted to keep her for the rest of the day!

Josh and I are in a Sunday night couples study. My sister and her kids came to our house to babysit while we were gone this last Sunday. This is a pile of kids and dogs on the haybales. Looks like fun while we were away....I just found this picture on my camera.

Big Sister Reading

Macy is so excited about reading lately. She does a great job! It seems like overnight she is able to read independently. After breakfast this morning, she offered to read Noelle a story. Noelle loved it and so did I! I got the dishes done while my youngest child was being entertained--Hooray!!