TEENAGER ALERT!

Our house will be the same NO MORE! Elijah has turned 13! I have been wanting to write about this however lately I have had NO time for myself and things have been off the charts busy around here. Since I have a few minutes while my soon-to-be deviled eggs are cooking on the stove for our Thanksgiving feast this afternoon, I thought I would take a a bit to reflect on the life my our oldest son Elijah.

Where to begin? I wasn't exactly thrilled when I found out I was pregnant with Elijah. I had only been married a year and was so looking forward to just being married and vacationing and doing and going wherever we wanted to go...but apparently God had other plans. And to be quite honest, as my pregnancy continued I became more and more excited.

Pregnancy has never been easy for me. I don't carry very well and my babies always try to come early. I was pre-eclamptic and on bedrest and ended up delivering Elijah six weeks early. But OH MY GOSH...when he arrived, he was perfect.

Silver hair (seriously...I'm not kidding) and gigantic blue eyes and the sweetest little face ever. The nurses were all enthralled with him and several times a day we heard how they had never seen a baby with silver hair. He was incredible.

Elijah has been such a fun kid to raise. He is trustworthy, caring, and sweet. He is just so smart and constantly amazes us with his grades and study habits. WOW! He isn't ever afraid to try new things and is very outgoing and nice. When he started up at the middle school, I was especially nervous for him (opening his locker, getting to his classes okay, dealing with all the new kids) but you know what he said to me? He said, "It's going to be fun! I can't wait to meet all these new people."

Elijah also has made great decisions when making friends. I am so pleased with his group of buddies. I love when Aaron and Brendon come over and hang out. They are halarious and I always appreciate kids who are kind to Elijah's brother and sister and are respectful and like to have fun with Chad and I. I'm so proud of Elijah.

I can't believe he's 13. He is taller than me. Wears a bigger shoe size than Chad. His voice is getting deeper by the second. So many changes so fast! It's so hard to believe. Soon, he won't want to hang out with us as much as he does now and I hate that but know it's all part of the growing up process.

God bless my little teenager on his birthday. We sure do love him.

Thankful

It's that time of year again. Boy, times just flies by. I can't believe we are celebrating another Thanksgiving already. I am taking a breather from the cleaning and cooking and busyness to make my official list of some things I am especially thankful for this year.

1. My family. I am a lucky girl. I have great parents who raised me with morals and values and beliefs that have made me into the person I am. I also am very blessed to have awesome children who make living life wonderful and fun and exciting. I can't forget my husband who stands beside me and makes this journey through life worth taking. I am blessed to have him in my life.

2. My job. I know sometimes I complain about it and some days are completely exhausting but I am grateful for my job. I do enjoy the students and I work with such an amazing staff. I have such great friends there who completely crack me up and make working there fun.

3. My house. You know how they say that things sometimes comes in three's? Well this past week has been no different. First, the shower drain was leaking, then the water softner broke down and needed a new part, and then my washing machine broke and can't be fixed until Monday. BUT...I do love our home and the beauty and warmth and safety we have in our house. We truly enjoy living here and I am very thankful for our home and a fabulous place to raise our babies.

4. My bed. Is this silly? I love my bed! I'm saying it out loud for everyone to ... read. I love the feeling you get when you first snuggle down into bed and pull the blankets up to your chin. I love that relaxed feeling like "Ahhhhh! Finally!" I love laying in bed and reading or watching a movie. It's one of my favorite things!

5. My mom. I am especially thankful for her. She upholds tradition and family. She has character and I have always thought she was a "cool" mom. We have a great relationship and I am pleased that God allowed me to be her daughter. I hope that I have as great relationship with my children as I do with my mom.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you. I hope you are able to take some time out of your busy day to reflect on all of your blessings.

Going, going, gone!

Three down...one to go!

Today, Oscar went to his new home. He is just so cute and I knew he would be the next to leave us. He has such a perfect coat and an honest face. Adorable! Everyone, including Chad had a hard time letting this one go. The older they get the harder it is to say goodbye. What a little sweetie!

We have one little boy left. Zeus, our brute, is still here. If we find a home for him, it will be even harder to let him go just because the longer he's here the more attached we get plus he's the last one, which is never easy. He's rough and ornery and outgoing and loving and rambunctious...but he fits in so well with my children! If he goes...we'll be happy but if he doesn't....we'll be happy with that too.

Anyway, here is a picture of Sydney with Oscar minutes before they drove away with him.

I know he will be spoiled rotten and will have a great time being loved on by his new owners.

Pumpkin Time

Okay, so even though it's November 1 and I'm a little bit behind....I still wanted to get this put in my blog. Here is a picture of our kids carving pumpkins. We love this time of year. From the middle of October until Christmas is over, there just something magical about it! From carving pumpkins to Thanksgiving dinner to decorating the tree to all the holiday movies to Christmas Eve church services...we just love every minute of it! We enjoy everything about this time of year so much.

Anyway, I'm hoping to take LOTS of pictures over these next few weeks. I hope you enjoy them.