A quiet Thanksgiving...

I love being with our extended family. I love seeing our nieces and nephews and hanging out with the brothers and sisters-in-law and talking and playing games until late at night.

But, sometimes, it is such a joy (and a refreshing change) to be able to celebrate a holiday *shhhhhhh* by ourselves.

No driving, no packing, no cleaning every square inch of my home, no schedule...just the 4 of us.

Fall is such a busy time for Brad and since we were away from our kids for 10 days last month, we just felt like we needed to bunker down at home and spend some quality time with each other and Sammy and Caleb.

So we slept in Thanksgiving day and had a very late brunch (waffles and cinnamon rolls-YUM!) and starting cooking "the big meal" mid-morning. The kids were so excited to help make the stuffing and sweet potatoes.


Sammy loves getting on her apron and hat.


While I know Caleb loves to help in the kitchen, I think he's mostly just after the FOOD!

After a great (and quite huge) meal, (did I mention I cooked a 20 pound bird...for just the 4 of us...I have such "mommy mush brains" right now), we just enjoyed a quiet evening getting our house ready to decorate the next morning. Oh, and one other side note, this year was the first year...well, that Brad and I can remember...that I had everything warm and ready at the same time.

It only took me 10 years...

So, bright and early the next morning, we got out our BRAND NEW artificial tree (that we bought half price after Christmas last year...oh, and one other side note...our previous artificial tree...that we bought for $6.00 at a Good Will store over 12 years when we were in college...the one that could have been used for the Charlie Brown Christmas special...has finally been laid to rest) and we decorated with the kids.


I cannot describe how fun it was to take our time, give up control, and let the kids help us in their own way.


Although it took us about 3 times as long with the kids' help, we had a ton of fun...


had some pretty silly moments...


and took tons of pictures.


It truly is the most WONDERFUL time of the year!

Craft time!

I love the ages of my kids! I love that they are able to do so much...like follow directions, use glue (properly), cut, color, and all sorts of other fun things. And since starting to receive my awesome Family Fun magazine (thanks Erica!) we have had plenty of fun fall and Thanksgiving activities to do.

The following activitiy was actually not from the Family Fun magazine, but it's one I've wanted to do with the kids since last year. I drew a tree trunk and Brad and I cut some colored leaves out of foam paper and had Sammy and Caleb tell us things they were thankful for. I wrote what they said on the leaves, and then they taped them onto our Thanksgiving Tree.


I loved Caleb's contributions...such as cars, buses, trucks, and trains! (Have I mentioned he is such a boy!


Sammy's included her bunk bed, her baby sister and Caleb, ponies, and dresses.


Ours included family, friends, and faith. We are all truly blessed, aren't we!

This next idea did come from October's Family Fun issue. With the foam paper, we cut out silly faces and taped them onto some pumpkins and squash I had yet to cook.


Caleb had some issues with the tape, so Daddy was there to help him.


Sammy had no issues figuring out what to do.


I could just squeeze this cute little guy...well, actually I do! (And pretty regularly, I might add!)


This is Sammy with her silly face.


And, of course, Brad and I had to do one as well.

Fall photos...a little late

I just couldn't go with posting about our Advent activities or newly taken Christmas pictures without posting first some fall pictures of the kids and our Thanksgiving happenings.

It really kills me to go back a month or two...and if you really know me, you know this is true! But there have been a lot of fun kid activities that I just have to write about!

Because it was so rainy (and snowy) in October, we weren't able to tackle our yard until after we got back from our cruise - which was mid November. We were grateful for the mild temps in November so that we could finish some much needed yard work.

The first two pictures are from an earlier time outside playing in the leaves.

I LOVE that the kids are old enough to be such big helpers outside.


All we really got accomplished this day was to make one big pile of leaves and jump in it again and again and again. Sammy especially loved the sound the leaves made as she walked through them!


Shortly after we got back, we had a great couple of warm days and tackled the whole yard. We spent a whole afternoon and evening outside and the kids did great!


Sammy LOVED jumping into the leaves!

Ready! Set!


Jump!


I absolutely LOVE this picture of Sammy. She is such a pretty and fun little girl!


This shows Sammy's resourcefulness. When Caleb was playing with the kid's rake, she found something else from the garage that she could use...an old broom!


The lawn was raked and mowed, all the firewood was brought inside...


and fun was had by all!

A lesson in giving...

A few Sundays ago as we were driving home from church, Sammy asked about why some kids bring money and put it in the offering plate during Sunday School. She asked why they were doing it, and where the money went to, and if she could bring some of her money to give next week.

We were delighted to talk with her about what offering was and how God has asked us to give some of the money He has entrusted to us back to Him. We told her what the money pays for, and how God loves a cheerful giver.

The next week, Sammy took 5 pennies from her little bank in her room and took them to Sunday School. The following Thursday, she took 7 more pennies and put them in the offering plate at Bible Study Fellowship.

Now, Sammy only has about 30 cents or so in her piggy bank. All of her birthday money goes into her savings account, but when we happen to find some loose change or coins on the street she puts them in her bank. We also use her money for activities when we do school.

It didn't take her long to realize after giving these 12 pennies that her money was going away. And she was quite upset about it. So last Wednesday she told us she was going to stop putting money into the offering plate because she didn't want all of her money to be gone. So Brad and I talked to her about it and told her that God asks us to do this and that He loves it when we give, and that God will bless her giving and she will have more money in the future. We asked her if she wanted to pray to God and talk to Him about how she was feeling. Here's what she said:

"Dear God, can you please give me my money back?"

After Brad and I were finally able to control our giggles, Brad asked her whose money it really was. She said, "God's."

He asked her if she wanted to pray again. She said:

"Dear God, can you please give me Your money back?"

We chatted a bit more about it with her...you know, once we were able to control our giggles and smiles in the front seat. And we decided not to press it any further.

Just a few days later, as I was collecting some used plastic bags to recycle, I found a quarter in one of the bags. I went into Sammy's room and told her I had found it, and she could put it into her piggy bank. We talked about how God had blessed her because she had cheerfully given to Him.

I told her that God had DOUBLED what she had given. She had given 12 cents and He gave her 12 cents plus 13 more.

I was almost brought to tears at the way God had given her (and us) a lesson in giving.

We CAN take Him at His Word and He WILL bless our giving...no matter how small it is!

Like father...

like son...


like daughter...

Seriously, who needs a TV when you have these 3 goofy children...opps...I mean 2 goofy children!

Oh, and I don't think Brad's going to be taking any silly pictures of himself (or pictures of teaching our children silly things) anytime soon.

Actually, his exact quote was (as we were looking through some recently downloaded pictures from our camera) "you're going to put that in your blog, aren't you?"

Yes Brad, yes I am!