Project 365::335

30 Days::30

• For good friends (like family really) and birthday parties (seven already???)
  
• For enough money to buy my kids new sneakers when they need them (they are getting expensive!)
  
• For tommorrow--December 1st!
• For finally getting the outside lights to work--the house looks awesome hubby!
• For Trevor's TWO "wiggly" teeth.
• For the magical first snowflakes falling from the sky
• For singing around the Christmas Tree (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

Deck the Halls.

The Best Parts of Today:

• Getting our tree and Trevor finding it right away...
• Trevor saying, "Mom and Dad, it's a sizeable and perfect tree.."
• Decorating the house
• the coziness inside
• the just right temperatures outside (not too cold)
• Breanna pointing out all the colors on the tree "red", "green" and "blue"
• looking forward.
• Trevor's participation and not one complaint all day!
• watching some of our favrite movies and reading our favorite stories together.
• The way everything looks
• The Christmas hats (our tradition)
• enthusiasm and pure joy and wonder.
• taking my favorite pictures of the year
• just everything.....

The worst.

• Lucas and Bre's lack of participation and enthusiasm for the tasks at hand (maybe next year...Didn't we say that last year?)
• important ornaments getting broken
• kids causing mischief

Project 365::334
30 Days::29

For everything I love....right here in one picture

for decorating and feeling happy

for having the work done and now just getting to sit back and enjoy the season

for our Christmas tree!

For a day filled with my favorite photos

Project 365::333

30 Days of Gratitude:28

• for a good woorkout at home (with a little help...)
  
• for a full fridge
  
• For all the cousins being together (here and via webcam)
• for another day of fun
• looking forward to Christmas decorating tommorrow
• for another letter signed, sealed and delivered:)

Real Men.

.....watch Thomas the Train instead of the big game on Thanksgiving night.....(especially if you don't get the NFL network!)

Our Thanksgiving.

Thank you so much for Mike and Michelle for hosting a wonderfully relaxing afternoon--youwould think you guys cooked like that every day...you were such pros!

And for Grandpa, for interrupting the before meal prayer with, "Enough already!"    Ahhh.Family...it just doesn't get much better.  

Love this.

Project 365::332

30 Days::27

For You, You, You and You....need I say more?

For being together today (and not working)

that everyone was healthy and happy today.

For Michelle's amazing spread.

For seeing everyone.

For talking on the phone to everyone else.

For Ethan the Elf.

Project 365::331

30 Days of Grateful::26

• That we just had a great family day today...
  
• That we are all cooked and prepared for tommorrow (with a yummy pumpkin cheesecake that Bre and I made)...
  
• that we have had another day and another year to spend with the ones we love....
  
• Finishing my photography class, (and keeping up with it!).  I have just barely scratched the surface of the information presented (it will take years!), but it has changed my life...
  
• For the deep and meaningful book Breanna's PT reccommended to me I just started reading (b/c it's due back at the library on Friday!) The Last Lecture.
  
• The Sarah Mclaughlin Christmas CD that we brought out today (a Totally TV free day), I'll never tire of listening to that beutiful music....
  
• For Thanksgiving tommorrow and I can't wait until Trevor meets the Elf in the morning.  Here's to making more fantastic memories!  Happy Thanksgiving all!
  

Happy Birthday Linda!

Hope it was a great day:)

Project 365::330

30 Days::25







That I just can't  get enough of you guys playing together....

That you are so proud of finishing your handwriting book and I'm so proud of how hard you are working in school...

For the SECOND (don't ask) washing machine repair man....

For Lucas and his funny "hats"...

for a cozy indoor space to be on this raw, blustery,rainy day...

For picking upTrevor at school (apparently 15 mins late!?!?!)

For Christmas Dance party with Trevor and Lucas (and twirling while they belly laughed)....

For Head Shoulders knees and toes with Bre and singing while she belly laughed....

For talking to Jeff and Irene today...

For wrapping up the week and looking forward to a little relaxation and holiday baking tommorrow...

For being able to help a friend and for seeing a brand new baby boy:)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?   Wrapping paper.....

2. Real tree or Artificial?  real

3. When do you put up the tree?   the week after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down?   a few days after Christmas

 

5. Do you like eggnog?     kind of

 

6.Favorite gift received as a child? 

 

 7. Hardest person to buy for?  Josh--he usually just buys anyhting he needs

8. Easiest person to buy for?   Irene, she likes what I like

 

9. Do you have a nativity scene?   Yes

 

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?  Mail

 

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't know

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?  A few weeks before Thanksgiving

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?   No

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?  Any kind of special dessert

16. Lights on the tree?  white

 

17. Favorite Christmas song?   The whole Christmas CD by Sarah Mclaughlin,

traditional-Oh Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Home

19 Can  you  name all of Santa's reindeer's?    Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Cupid, Comet, Vixen, Donner & Blitzen, and Rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?   a few Christmas eve and the rest Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?  the commercialism

 

23.  What theme or color are you using? Red & Green
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner-  fliet mignon with bordelasie sauce

  

 

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?   For my family to be together.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this?  I'm the late one

27. Who is least likely to respond to this????

       MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Project 365::329
30 Days::24

For e-mail---I got so much accomplished today
for a clean house
For the rest of the week off to play with my family

"mama, I workin"...

Project 365::328

30 Days::23

• For this new little tradition we started...can't wait to read these little slips of gratitude year after year...
  

• For Boys and their toys... I don't know who is having more fun...the grownup boy or the kids:)
  
• For my 1st letter going out tommorrow.
• For the new Shooting Stars Parent group (yes, ANOTHER commitment...but a very valuable one)
• for finishing all but one photography project (with a great cooperative subject--Thanks T!)
• for a very yummy dinner (that I didn't have to cook)
• For Chai tea --I just love it!
• For only one day of work next week and two days of school.

Project 365::327

30 Days::22

I'm grateful for ....WEEKENDS~!

Everything I love, wrapped up on one couch.

The library

That Lucas gives me a laugh every mealtime when he insists on eating like a dog.

That Trevor can be wrapped up for an entire day in creative play (even if it involves Army men)

That things are finally getting fixed around here (except the washer...)

That Josh is finally listening to me (about some things:))

3+1=4

It's a boy!
Congrats Erica and Family! Tucker Anthony was born on the 18th of November at 8:51 pm, weighing in at 6lbs 9 oz.

You guys have been a special part of Breanna's (and our) life since she was a month old. Best wishes for you and your new little one!

Project 365::326
30 Days::21

For this healthy toddler Lunch that you actually ate (some..) and even drank some milk!

For the washing machine fix-it man

For not having to pick Breanna up at school today

For gas being less than $2.00 per gallon!

Fro a full fridge and a warm home on a REALLY cold night.

Holiday Project #2

(#1 was the December daily)

Trevor begged me to do this today...actually he has been asking for a week. I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving, but it turned out to be a great project for us to do together on a COLD afternoon after school.

Advent Calendar: Making Memories Advent Fa-La-La Advent Calendar kit found at Target.

the inside prompts found here.

{The last two years, the Advent "Fairies" have come to our house each day of Advent and they bring experiences rather than "things." Last year I compiled some of our (er, I mean, their!) better ideas and put them onto sheets which I printed and then cut into little cards. I put the cards inside a decorated box (which I dubbed a Holiday Spirit Box). I sold these boxes at a school fundraising event and also gave them as Christmas presents. The idea being that you reached into the box, pulled out a card and picked an idea to fill you with some holiday spirit. Above is a link to the PDF of the experiences I put in these boxes. There are more ideas than they are the days of Advent, but if this idea spoke to you, you could pull the ideas that would be most fun and meaningful for your family. Whether you use the ideas to count down Advent with experiences or gift someone with a holiday spirit box, I have found sharing meaningful experiences of the season the best gift of all.}

The Procedure for making the album was as follows: (especially if you are a six year old boy):

1. Take out all the little drawers and rearrange them according to how I want them---21 has to have a snowflake on it b/c it is the shortest and "coldest" day of the year.

2. Help Mom rub on the numbers only after I have shown her EXACTLY where to put them.

3. Embellish with flowers, brads and ribbon (and again show Mom exactly where these things need to be)

4. Take a picture with it and laugh b/c I "accidently" spit on the floor.

5. Help Dad put in the inside surpises after Mom lamintes and cuts them out with her special scrapbooking stuff.

6. Admire my work and put it in a safe place where little kids can't get it.

Project 365::325
30 Days::20

• That Lucas and I got a little time outside to rake some leaves (well not really many leaves got raked) on this VERY COLD day (high 30 degrees!)

• That our home was very warm on the inside

• for getting to use my camera ALOT today.

• That Lucas and Bre got along and played SOOO well this afternoon and into the evening (and that Lucas didn't have his usual meltdown period before, during and after dinner).

• That we started (and finished) our Advent calendar (I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving, but Trevor insisted!)--more on how to in a later post.

• That I got to spend some time in Trevor's classroom today.

• For Family dinner night (and our relaxed Thursdays at home in general)
• For our awesome second hand children's clothing store in town... I found Lucas a pair of his very own crocs for under 5 bucks...

• For bathtime and bedtime being right near each other tonight....

• For three sleeping children snuggled nicely into their beds.... and for getting to tuck them all in tonight... I am grateful.
  
  
  

Project 365::324
30 Days::19

I'm thankful today for the internet....without google, your hands would probably look like this until Chtristmas (a little diluted bleach and it comes right off, by the way)

I'm thankful to talk with Jeff via instant message today (another great thing about the internet)

I'm thankful that I can still be grateful for this day, even though most of us got up on the wrong side of the bed, we have a broken toilet, washing machine and a little blue on a white carpet.

Twelve tips for the holidays:

Make this the best year and least stressful year yet.  GO here for some tips.

Project 365::323
30 Days::18

For You. You are growing like a weed (notice the pants---time for some new clothes!). I just love the age you are at right now. Still little, but big all at the same time. You have such an energy for life, it inspires me (even though you pout when you don't get your own way!). I can't wait to spend this holiday season with you. I love you little boy!

For the elf on a shelf that a very sweet co-worker gave us for the kids to enjoy this holiday season. I can't wait to start some new traditions.