Thankful
Family. I am THANKFUL that all of my brothers and their wives moved to Charlotte this year. I am THANKFUL that they love my kids and spend lots of time with them. I am THANKFUL that my kids will know how important family is, and that they will grow up surrounded by positive role models.
God’s Provision. I am THANKFUL for all the freelance work Matt got this year. I am THANKFUL that God provided an opportunity for me to bring in a little extra money this year after Matt got laid off, and that I am still able to stay at home with my kids. I am THANKFUL that my husband put us on a budget. I am THANKFUL that my friend Vickie motivated me to use coupons, and that it saved us thousands of dollars this year on groceries!
Girl’s Night. I am THANKFUL that every Thursday night, I get to look forward to meeting some of my girlfriends for coffee or dinner. I am THANKFUL that I have such a great group of friends to encourage me and support me. I am THANKFUL that I get a few hours of time to relax with adults every week.
Ella’s Growth. I am THANKFUL that we decided to hold Ella back from going to kindergarten this year. I am THANKFUL that because of that decision, she has come out of her shell. I am THANKFUL that my daughter is not so shy anymore. A year and a half ago, I feared that she would hate school. Now, I am THANKFUL that she doesn’t want to go home when I pick her up at preschool. I am THANKFUL that she is asking to do things independently now.
Almost Straight Teeth. I am THANKFUL that I finally got my braces this year. I am THANKFUL that in just a couple of months they will come off, and I will have straight teeth. I am THANKFUL that they are clear.
Fall. I am THANKFUL for this time of year. I am THANKFUL that the trees are so beautiful. I am THANKFUL for the leaves that cover the ground. I am THANKFUL for pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. I am THANKFUL for homemade cookies. I am THANKFUL for yummy smelling candles. I am THANKFUL for daylight savings being over so that my kids can go to bed earlier. I am THANKFUL for all the pumpkins I see sitting on porches. I am THANKFUL that I will be spending Thanksgiving with 16 of my family members!
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Finally over the flu!
Wow! Is it really mid-November already? What happened? Oh, I know. We lost over a week when we all had the H1N1 flu last week. And not only that, but I got bronchitis to top it all off. Luckily we got it now and not over a holiday. And I have to say that I have the best friends and family a girl could ask for. I had so many people watching my kids, bringing me soup and just calling to check in on us. Thank you to all of you….you know who you are! It made me feel very loved and blessed to have all your help. And I do have to apologize – no Halloween pictures. I can’t believe it, but I actually started coming down with the flu on Halloween. It took all of my energy, and lots and lots of ibuprofen and Tylenol, just to muster up the energy to get through the days activities – a birthday party and trick-or-treating, that I never took any photos of the kids dressed up. I am very sad about it. Justin was Batman and Ella was a Cat. They were so cute! Better luck next year I guess.
Other than being sick, we’ve had quite a relaxing week. It has been pouring down rain the past few days, so we haven’t really left the house much. Matt and I got to go on a day date Tuesday while the kids were at preschool. We started our Christmas shopping and then went out to lunch. We picked up quite a few goodies for the kids while they were on sale at Walmart this week. Here is a sneak peak of one of Ella’s and one of Justin’s. And can I just say that 5 year old girls are really hard to shop for. I have hardly any ideas of what to get Ella this year….any opinions?
Speaking of Christmas shopping, I am really looking forward to the holidays this year. Matt will have pretty much the entire month of December off (which is good and bad), but it will be great to have him around for all the fun activities. I just got a call today that my mom and her fiance are coming to visit in December! Plus, all of my siblings and their spouses moved here over the summer, and I am really looking forward to celebrating with them. Yes, it is going to be a fun holiday season this year!
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How cute are these?
Aren’t these so cute and fun! My friend, Molly DeCrow, is a part owner of this new line of lip glosses. Their company is called What’s Your Virtue. I love the whole idea behind these, and I can’t wait to get mine! If you have a minute, you should check out this article about why these were created!
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More Halloween Fun
I can’t resist buying all those fun halloween sprinkles and cupcake liners. They are just too cute to pass up.
Since the kids are too young to really carve pumpkins, we usually have them paint these little ones. I think they’ll do this at least one or two more times this week!
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The Farm
Today we went to Hunter Farm. We have gone every year since Ella was 15 months old, so we can’t break the tradition now! We went on a hayride, pet sheep, goats and pigs and got to pick out little pumpkins before we left.
The next two weeks are packed with all kinds of fall and halloween activities. A fall party at school, a halloween birthday party, a costume parade, 2 other halloween parties, and of course the real deal – trick or treating. I think the kids will get to dress up like 4 or 5 different times. Good thing we have buckets full of costumes around here! Happy Fall!!!
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Fall Update
I’ve been posting a lot of photos lately, but that’s been about it. Thought I would play catch up on what’s been going on around here lately for everyone we haven’t talked to much in the past few months.
Update on the kids….both Ella and Justin are enjoying their 3-day a week preschool at Next Level Church. They are learning so much, and sending them is definitely paying off! Ella knows all of her letters and is very interested in learning how to read. She has been asking me every day to help her sound out words. A favorite website that we have her use regularly is called Starfall, and it’s great for all different levels and stages of kids who are learning letters/sounds/reading. Bonus: it is simultaneously teaching her how to use the computer (mostly the mouse)! I am so excited that she will soon be reading, but I don’t know how Matt and I will be able to have adult conversations around her when she learns how to spell. About every fourth or fifth word is spelled out when we are talking and don’t want the kids to know what we’re saying. For example… “let’s go get some I-C-E C-R-E-A-M” or “if we have time, maybe we could stop at the P-A-R-K on the way home”. They have no idea what we’re saying now, and if we change our minds, it doesn’t matter. But, that all might change soon.
Justin is learning his colors and letters this year. He has totally surprised me by being much more interested in learning that I thought he’d be. He cried the first week of preschool when he found out that Ella’s class was learning a letter(they do one a week), and his class wasn’t (yet). He has made me tons of adorable crafts already that I have hanging on my wall, and he told me last week that he wants to be a preschool teacher when he grows up. He spends the rest of his time asking to go outside, riding his bike, playing hockey and playing toys. He finally gets to start the hockey program next week after months of skating lessons, and he is so excited. At home he plays toys all day. It amazes me how long he can sit on the floor and play with his spiderman action figures, his motorcycles, hot wheels cars and all the other little tiny toys he owns. The best is when I overhear him making his guys talk to each other. So cute!
As for me and Matt, we are busy all the time it seems. Matt’s been working a lot of freelance for Speed and some for Nascar Media Group. He might have some time off this winter when racing season ends though. We are very thankful to God for providing for our family this year after Matt’s layoff. So far the freelance thing is working out, so we are going to stick with it and see what happens.
I hate writing about myself, but if you’re wondering why you haven’t heard from me much lately…I am still watching Austin 5 days a week, I am in 2 community groups through my church, I do a Bible study on Thursday mornings through CBS, I have been regularly seeing a chiropractor (which takes up more time than you’d think), trying to work out (not nearly as much as I should be), driving kids to preschool, skating, dance/gymnastics and of course trying to keep the house clean, laundry done, everyone fed around here and spending way too much time at Target and the grocery store.
This week we finished up buying everything we needed for the kids halloween costumes, and all the winter gear the kids will need soon….hats, gloves, coats, scarves, etc. I found some cute stuff here. It usually snows at least once or twice per year here in Charlotte, and so every year we buy snow pants and snow boots for the kids, which we started this week. I hate to spend all that money on something that they may only wear once or twice, but when it does snow and they don’t have the right gear, it really sucks. For them and me. They get cold and can’t stay out as long, and I have to listen to crying and constantly change their clothes out all day. I grew up in the desert where it never snowed, so I love that my kids get to experience a snow day every once in a while. It is totally worth every penny. And I’m still not sure who gets more excited about snow…them or me?
And that’s some of what we’ve been doing lately. Check back soon for Hunter Farm pictures….it is in the plans to go tomorrow!
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7 years
Yesterday was mine and Matt’s 7 year anniversary. Since it was Sunday, Matt had to work, but we have a date night scheduled for this Thursday. Here we are 7 years ago (actually 6 1/2 – we got legally married Oct. ‘02 & then had our wedding in March of ‘03 – long story, and I don’t have many digital pics from back then).
And here we are today, married 7 years with two kids!
Wow! 7 years can really make a huge difference. Our lives have changed so much, but I love everything about it! I love my husband, our kids and our life together. I wonder where we’ll be in 7 more years?
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A date with Aunt Shayne
Ella and her Aunt Shayne are off to see Disney on Ice Princess Classics today. Yesterday Ella told me she wanted to wear her Cinderella dress, but I had to tell her no since it will be freezing inside. So, her and I spent yesterday morning shopping for a cute, yet warm, outfit. We finally found this super cute dress at the Gap, and the boots at Target. And from what I hear, Aunt Shayne bought her a princess tiara to wear during the show!
Please excuse the blurriness in this photo. I am trying to figure out all the manual settings on my SLR camera, and it’s really confusing. This is the best I got.
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My Little Sydney Crosby
Justin was so excited today when his new hockey jersey arrived in the mail. Since he’s been a good sport about taking skating lessons for the past 8 months, Matt bought him a new jersey. Next month he’ll get to start the hockey program, and he’ll need a jersey big enough to fit over all those pads!
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Do you think Justin could be in one of those stain remover commercials? That’s what I thought after our trip to the playground last night. And I didn’t even get a picture of the back or bottom of this shirt. It looked much worse in person. After washing the shirt using Tide with bleach detergent, pouring a big capful of Tide stain remover and spraying the entire shirt down with shout stain removal spray, it was still pretty green. Not to mention there was still pieces of actual grass in my washing machine. I think I’m going to have to soak it in pure bleach to get these stains out. Tide and Shout, you have let me down.
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