Jesus ~ Being Thankful Day 13

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life  (John 3:16).
Jason came home from school one day very excited,  "You lied mom, Santa is too real.  He came to school today!"
Some people like to let their children believe in Santa Claus.  To them it gives Christmas a magical feeling.  I grew up in a home where there was definitely no question that Santa was not real and my siblings and I were probably those annoying children who ruined it for other children.  (Sorry about that :)).   Now that we have children the discussion usually comes up, 'how are we going to handle Santa Claus?'  I have heard from some that when they found out that Santa wasn't real it was really traumatic for them.  They were crushed that their parents would lie to them.  On the other hand there are those who just grow out of it and are not traumatized in any way.  For myself I just don't think that I could tell my child that Santa is real. I just can't.  But in trying to be honest with my child I have already been accused of lying to him because in the world we live in Santa is everywhere.  Even though we don't pretend that Santa doesn't exist we don't want our Christmas to be focused on a jolly man with a beard and belly dressed in a red suit; it's just not as great as hearing the wonderful story of the birth of a baby.
This time of year is so fun to get together with family, to give gifts and to receive gifts, but I am so thankful that God made this wonderful plan to send Jesus to save the world from itself.  For me it makes Christmas so much more special to know that there is a God who loves me so much he would sacrifice his one and only son so that I can go to heaven when I die.

Jason and Mia at the park

I love photographing children in their element!  It is just so much fun to capture how they really are!

Here are some pictures of Jason and Mia at the park on a warm November day.  Before winter decided to show its face.

Jason just looks so serious in this picture.  And of course having a little snack of pb and j.

What would he do without his peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

Have I mentioned that Mia loves jumping?  If a park has these jumping things she always goes on them.

I love these slide pictures!

Jason figured out what I was doing and then I HAD to take pictures of him going down the slide.  He is getting to be such a ham. :)

Climbing back up the slide........what child doesn't do this?

Okay these next couple pictures are from a pair of shoes that were just lying at the park.  Yes, I realize it might be strange.  Actually some older boys came to the park while we were there.  Later they asked me, "do you know whose shoes these are?"  "No" I said.  "Weren't you taking pictures of them?"  "Yes, I was."  They thought that was a little out of the ordinary.   Oh well. :)

Here's Mia's feet as she is trying to jump on the jumpy thing

Someone might recognize those sandals too. :)

Snow Days ~ Being Thankful Day 12

Sometimes I think its easy to forget how the ordinary things in life are sometimes the most treasured.  Last week we had a bunch of snow days.  Josh got to stay home and spend time with Jason and Mia and they had a blast!!  He hardly gets to spend time with them doing fun winter things like sledding because of his school schedule (and a 40 minute drive).  So I am thankful for snow days that let Josh stay home and have some family time with all of us.

Noses and Giggles ~ Being Thankful Day 11

I am thankful today for little girl giggles.  And little boy giggles too. :)  Mia is in a stage of being very aware of her nose.  We have had peanuts, playdough, and mini m&ms up her nose.  And a band-aid stuck on her nose for no apparent reason.  But it provided us with giggles.  Life is too short not to laugh and giggle.  I love hearing Jason and Mia giggle and laugh.  It is so contagious.  They are such good friends and have such a good time together.  It is such a joy to hear their happiness.

Christina and Andrew

The second wedding Josh and I get to enjoy next summer is my sister Christina's!  So far in the family we have three married siblings.  This will make number four and another girl!

They are thinking a wedding in July.  I can't wait for warmer weather!  Andrew carved this....awww!

Christina is majoring in Spanish!  She is so great!  I need to have her teach Jason and Mia some spanish! :)  Andrew was such a good sport, since he wasn't too sure about having pictures taken.

This last one is one of my favs!  The light was so so beautiful!

Shoes ~ Being Thankful Day 10

Don't worry I am still working on my days of being thankful.  Maybe I should have titled this, "Boots!" instead of shoes. :)
  I love shoes!  I also love taking pictures of shoes (and handbags :)).  So I am thankful for shoes.  I know this isn't very deep.  But shoes are just one of those things that you can't do without.  You have to have at least one pair of shoes.  Shoes are one of those things that can define someone's personality and style.  They can be fun, serious, comfortable, at times change who you are for an evening or be the source of freedom for a morning run.  So hooray for shoes, dates, style, dressing up, staying home, running and all the things in life that take shoes.

Snow days!

I can't believe that my last post was 6 days ago!  We have had snow days all week and its been like a mini stay-cation.  I am working on getting all my pictures organized so I can get caught up!  I just had to write something though. :)  Jason and Mia have just loved having daddy home.  Josh has been working on some home projects and in between sledding, playing k"nex, reading, and just having a great time being with the family.  We made our Christmas chains, tried a new way of making pretzels and almond bark, and still have Christmas cookies to make, and of course turtles!  We cannot go without the turtles!  Maybe we will adventure out in the snow to try and do some Christmas shopping.  Oh and Josh and I have seen three movies lately: "The Blind Side",  "Up", and "The Proposal".  "The Blind Side" and "Up" are definite must sees and seriously think about adding them to your collection.  "The Proposal" started out pretty good but ended up finishing kind of weak.  It's okay, but I don't know if its a sure fire keeper.  That's kind of the heads up on what's been happening this week.  Stay tuned. :)

Hannah + Brad

Josh and I are so excited for weddings! Next summer we will have two weddings in our families to go to.

The first one will be his sister Hannah and her fiance Brad, who just happens to be a musician too. :)

These too are just so great together!  We cannot wait!

Hannah is so gorgeous and creative too.

We just had such a great time together, we really should just hang out more. :)

Brad proposed to Hannah at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo.   And she was so surprised to see her parents there to congratulate them!

This is so one of my favorites! :)

Okay, these two are so cute together!  You can't deny it.  They officially met in 2005 and then met again at a wedding this past fall.  Talk about meant for each other.  I love "how you met" stories and Hannah and Brad's definitely is at the top of my list for greatest stories.  Can't wait until the wedding!

Music ~ Being Thankful Day 9

For those of you who know Josh and I, you know how much we love music.  Music is such a blessing from God.  To me it seems like a tiny piece of heaven we get to enjoy here on earth.  It has such an impact on us as human beings.  In movies, it tells us how to feel.  When you are down, music can lift your spirits.  We use it as motivation, worship, and means to express all those gooey feelings of love that we experience.  What a blessing music is to our lives and I am so thankful that God gave us such a gift.

Sunlight ~ Being Thankful Day 8

Sorry, I got a little behind with my Being Thankful posts.  Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can get caught up.
Today I am thankful for sunlight.  Winter is on its way and I am not looking forward to the white skies and sunless days.  Yesterday was so warm, Jason and MIa and I got outside, and just soaked in some sun!  It was wonderful!

Fruit ~ Being Thankful Day 7

Oh these are some of my favorites of some of my recent work!! Love these!  Sorry. :)  Our family eats fruit like no one's business.  Sometimes it is just plain sick how much fruit we go through.  I am so thankful that my family likes to eat fruit and vegetables and that maybe through that they stay healthy.   Life is just never perfect and every day I think I realize how many blessings I need to be thankful for.  Now off for a week of visiting family and eating good food.

I'm a Big Girl Now! ~ Being Thankful Day 6

This might seem like a strange post to some, but to the mother's who have been through it, today I am thankful for potty-trained children.  It is such a feeling of accomplishment when after months of struggle, a mom can say, "My child is potty-trained!"  Mia recently decided that she done with diapers.  We have bought our last bag! She stays dry during the day and has been staying dry almost every night (except when she's at Grandma's, of course). It's amazing how much she has grown in the last year, not only by height and weight, but also with her vocabulary.  She is just so much a little girl now.  I am so proud of her!

The Dirt Devil ~ Being Thankful Day 5

When we were at Josh's parents in the last couple of weeks, my mother-in-law asked me if I wanted this dirt devil.  It's for hard floors.  I don't like having clutter and I couldn't think of where I would keep it.  Plus we have a broom and I just didn't think that we needed it.   Of course Josh had other ideas and snuck it in the trunk without telling me.  Well, I tried it and loved it; as hard that is too admit. :) I said it could stay.  It really was a lot easier to clean the stairs and entryway, and Josh uses it on the kitchen floor. So even though I didn't want to take it home, I'm glad it found its way here anyway.

Failures ~ Being Thankful Day 4

No matter how smart you get or how many lessons you learn there are still times when you do something stupid. I always think of "Meet the Robinsons" where the frog and the dinosaur say, "Master I don't know how well this plan was thought through."  I guess in a way I am licking my own wounds. We went roller-skating on Sunday.  It was Jason and Mia's first time.  It also didn't take long for Mia to tire of having wheels on her feet and slowly inching her way around the rink.  So instead of saying no to her request I said okay and picked her up and we started inching our way a little faster around the rink.
Now how long have I been a mom? How many times have I had adrenaline rushing through my body over the safety of my children and making sure they are okay, fed, loved, that they get enough exercise, or read enough books to exercise their brains, and the list goes on.  Of course I wasn't going very fast, but I could tell that I was about to tumble.  I braced myself for the oncoming pain for both my bottom and my ego.  Ouch! It hurt.  Mia was fine.  I made sure we fell backward and she landed on my stomach.  My little sweetheart was still a little shaken from just falling and kept saying, "Mom, you fell." I reassured her I was okay.  The owner, who goes to our church and is sort of the "watchdog" came over to see how we were doing and reminded me that I shouldn't be carrying her with skates on.  All those feelings of stupidity, "duh!", and embarrassment washed over me.  Not to mention my tailbone was throbbing.  For some reason I continually have failures in public for the entertainment of everyone else.
Another example is when Jason, Mia, and I were at the mall.  Jason takes off out of Target and I thought it would be easier to just run and grab him instead of trying to run and grab him with Mia in tow.  So I left Mia in the cart and dashed after him.  When we got back to the cart someone from our old church (whom I hadn't seen in a year) was standing with Mia and the cart (along with their shopping friend).  It was nice that she stood with Mia but how many times do I have to look ridiculous as a mother before I have learned or paid my dues to the club of humiliation or both?
I guess my only comfort is that it keeps me humble and even Paul had a thorn in his flesh.  When he asked God to take it away all God said was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).  

Being Thankful ~ Day 3

Today I am very thankful for Kleenex.  I know that colds and flu have been on the minds of everyone and the same for me.  Both Jason and Mia ended up with coughs and runny noses and I just kept taking their temperature to make sure it wasn't something else.  But Mia still has a runny nose and is constantly asking for a kleenex or I will catch her in dire need of a kleenex.  I am so glad that their are kleenex's to help wipe runny noses especially the kind that has lotion.

Being Thankful ~ Day 2

I am so thankful for my children.  These two are my full time job and even though I don't get a paycheck; getting this time with them while they are little is irreplaceable.