Blessings and Birthday

As I was singing Christmas songs at the top of my lungs on my way home from work yesterday,I started to reflect on my blessings. When I say blessings I mean the simple joys of my life...

Watching my boys play outside together.

Watching the K-Man be protective of his little brother and wanting to teach him.

Experiencing the "Great Outdoors".

Having a beautiful drive to and from work.

Having Shelby (our wonderful black lab) who is so protective of the boys.

Footed PJs.

A home FULL of laughter and energy.

Cool nights.

Fireplaces.

Reading books.

Meals with family.
Comfort foods.
... simple joys!


Now...on to my birthday!
While a work yesterday my adorable husband arranged a sweet surprise for me. About 9:30 am I was paged to the west side nurses' station (actually multiple times because I was working with someone on brushing their teeth!) and I walked into a group of nurses, aides, patients, and other therapists just staring at me! About that time I hear my adorable husband, the K-man and Little Bit singing Happy Birthday over the intercom while the other sang along! He had called in and they had put it over the nursing home. Oh, how I wished the whole experience could have been video taped, but the mental memory will just have to do!

I returned home to a homemade cake, a decorated house with pink streamers EVERYWHERE (the K-man worked on it all morning!) and a pink birthday hat!

Now you talk about a GREAT birthday!

...simple Blessings...simple joys!

Meet the Pilgrims Living in Our Home!

I got the idea for these napkin rings here . I decided to laminate them to make them last longer! I think they will add a bit of fun to our Thanksgiving table!

Meet Lilly

If you haven't had the chance to read my adorable husband's sister's blog ...NOW is your chance to meet their new daughter (and my new niece). Diane has documented the process right up until Gotcha Day! It will bring joyful tears to your eyes!

We have Voted!!

This election year I have tried to make it very real for my boys. The K-man has picked up a lot from our supper table discussions and we have watched Fox News together as a family (monitoring the content) to try to explain the importance of voting and what a president actually does. I have also read books with the boys such as Clifford for President which is more on the K-man level (B. just likes the big red dog- Ha!).

After the K-man's Halloween party at school we headed to the polls for early voting. I tried in the most simple ways to go through the process with him. The ladies there were wonderful and gave him a sticker when we had voted. The K-man had some good questions and was excited to help me push the red button to enter our ballot! One question that bugged him all the way to the poll was how to spell the candidates name we were voting for...he was relieved when we didn't have to write anything!!! After voting he was very concerned about others not voting the way we voted...we have had some great discussions!

While there teaching my 4 year old about voting there was a gentlemen there in his mid 50s that was trying to vote but must have not gone through the right process to register and he had to finally tell them he had NEVER voted!!!! What in the WORLD!!! I was also amazed at a girl who practically skipped into the room beaming that she was about to vote for the first time...she looked to be in her 30s!!!! Ok, Ok, better late then never, I guess!!

This morning we spent time at the breakfast table reading Romans 13 and praying about the election and our family in the future. We had a good family talk about God being in control no matter who is our president. This election has been a blessing to our family's growth though it has been a tough year with the ups and downs!

Today, I am glued to the TV...In truth,I am an election junkie and the suspense kills me! The horrible news is I have Defensive Driving tonight (another story of waiting to the last minute!) and it is going to drive me batty until I can get on my Sirius radio to hear the update! Please tell me there are others out there that enjoys election years!

What do you get...

What do you get...when you have a frog with a fly-swatter and a paleontologist??

More fun then one could handle, of course!

Yes, you read it right...The K-man was a paleontologist for Halloween!
We started the question of "what do you want to be for Halloween?" in the summer, because we knew it might be a tough year. Why you ask? Because we wanted K. to try to think of something OTHER then a DINOSAUR. He has been a dino two years in a row and we just wanted him to branch out a bit...

Well, he branched out JUST A BIT-ha!
He came up with it on his own about 4 weeks before Halloween. I loved the idea and had to think outside the box to come up with a costume (right down to the excavation brush on his tool belt and the dino bone in his hand). He was asked a couple of times if he was Indiana Jones to which he looked confused and confidently announced he was a "PALEONTOLOGIST!" (the cutest one ever I might add!)

Now, Little Bit is CRAZY about "hoppys" (example...his birthday party...). One day I was pulling out some clothes from the back of the closet and saw the K-man's two year old Halloween costume. Not thinking really too much I pulled it out and Little Bit went wild with laughter! When I put it on him he ran from mirror to mirror just laughing and shouting "hoppy funny!" WooHoo, there was his Halloween costume! After begging, bribing and finally pulling it the costume off I had to hide it until Halloween because he kept wanting it back on!

I just added the flies to a fly swatter and TaDa...Trick or Treat!

I have to add this little froggy costume will forever be in our home because both of my adorable boys have now worn it and their sweet smells and sweet little faces are engraved on this Momma's heart!

This year we again participated in the hayride and trick or treating festivities in our neighborhood. We are so blessed!

Here are some action shots along with our porch decorated for the special night!