I'm A Winner!

That's right! I am winner! And I have the internet bling to prove it!

Not that I am trying to brag or anything, but I'm bragging. :) Two years in a row, and one day I might even get published! Just like last year, I'm not done, but I did it! (And I will finish it one day. Promise!) 50,000+ words in the month of November. (I'll be writing tomorrow too, because the challenge is to write every day of November, not just to 50,000 words.)

Yay!

Thanksgiving 2013

I hope that everyone had a Thanksgiving that was as wonderful as mine. I haven't been home for he holidays in several years, and it's even better than I remember. I miss having Michael around very, very much, but I am so happy that, if he has to be gone, we could take this opportunity to travel home for the holidays. Watching my boys experience the holidays surrounded by family fills my heart with unspeakable joy.

Aside from the usual magic of the holidays, my grandmother has always managed to add her own magical quality to the season that no one has ever been able to replicate for me. I've considered, once or twice since leaving home, that maybe it was just the innocence of childhood that made holidays at my grandmother's seem so extra special in comparison to anywhere else. I can now say that, no, it wasn't just because I was a child. Everything truly is more magical here. Hopefully I can bring some of that back with me so that we can have just as much fun next year in Colorado as we are having this year in Ohio.

 Beautiful table setting! The pictures truly do it no justice! It is because of my grandmother that I obsess over having enough table clothes for every occasion. My collection is growing slowly.

 Parker wrote out the place cards as part of school his last day before Thanksgiving Break. I think he did an amazing job, especially considering he had some long names to write that he's never written before.

The boys watched the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade, complete with some marching of their own!

 The Kid's Table, complete with their own "candles".

 There is a story to this that involves the boys asking people to sit with them, a deep conversation about whose butt could fit, musings about someone's butt being large and bubbily, and Alex finding out that she fit!

 Dessert!

 Once merely a normal cloth napkin, this festive piece of holiday table wear got to spend part of its day as a superhero cape. There was much joy to be had by all involved!

 There is something amazing about watching people you love love your babies!

 A nice photobomb by Max.

 A tradition started with my Great-Grandfather. You always follow your guests out and wave until you can see them no longer. It is something I will always, always do, even in I have to drag myself out there using my teeth!

 I love this picture! It will be one of the first I print out and hang in our new home in Colorado!

Oh, and Luke is back!

Are you ready for the holidays?! They are most certainly upon us! Christmas music is playing 24 hours and on full blast in the van, and the countdown to Christmas has started in the head of all but the most Scrooge-Like. (And they are counting down too, just with dread.) I had decided to avoid Black Friday, but did pop out for a couple of hours in the afternoon to land a pretty awesome deal on Legos. I can't wait to see the faces of my children when they open them up Christmas morning! 

 

Look Who's Back

The boys are going to be so excited in the morning! I am pretty excited too, truth be told! 

Happy Thanksgiving! (It's almost Black Friday, so if you're going out, be careful!)

So Much To Be Thankful For!

Happy Thanksgiving! This will be short, because today isn't about being on the computer for long, and we have Charlie Brown to watch, but I wanted to give you a small preview into a day that was just so wonderful! I hope that everyone was blessed with as much love and joy as we got to experience today!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

A New Pet

We have a new pet. Grandpapa and Parker found it lost and alone on their property, and Parker brought it to me with pleading eyes. I figured that it's small enough, and so cute and fluffy...And besides, Parker had a great name picked out already. :)

Meet Frisbee, the Wooly Worm!

After playing with him for a bit, an old peanut butter jar with holes already punched into it for little creature breathing was found, and after filling it with leaves, bark, and a nice climbing stick, Frisbee was relocated into his new home. 

He seemed happy enough, and the boys were thrilled with him, but I welcomed him with a little more anxiety. After all, as much fun as a fuzzy little wooly worm can be, when ol' Frisbee decided to kick the bucket it would be Mommy who had to pick up the pieces of little broken hearts. I willed the fuzzy wooly worm to live, and live for a long time, while only expecting a few days of joy from him before it would be time to officiate a little wooly funeral. 

We found Frisbee two days before our first snow of the season, which was, perhaps, very lucky for him. The snow fell ten days ago, and in case you were wondering, that means that Frisbee has been a part of our family for twelve days now! He's a very beloved part of the family at this point, even having houses built for him out of waffle blocks, and Sebastian will carry him around the house while I am doing school work with Parker, talking to him about who knows what. What might interest a wooly worm? It doesn't matter, I suppose. Sebastian is happy, and as long as we keep giving him fresh leaves, and his jar isn't dropped on the floor too often, I figure Frisbee is pretty happy too. (Before PETA contacts me with angry letters, Frisbee's jar has never been dropped on the floor...*knock on wood*)

Now, of course, since the boys are so madly in love, I am desperately searching the internet for tips on how to keep wooly worms alive in captivity! There is actually a lot of information out there, which I found exciting. 

I love watching them learn and experience all the wonders of an Ohio Autumn, of which "wooly worms" are apart of. I'm actually kind of hoping that we can raise our little wooly worm into a mother, and though it might seem very silly to some people, I am very thankful for this experience with my boys...Or I will be until Frisbee goes belly up on us, which should be soon now that I have written about how thankful I am for the silly little thing. :)

Tis' The Season

Tis the season, indeed. The season for ornaments, flashing lights, Christmas music, and (apparently) creepy, dancing Santas strategically placed right next to the door at Lowes where you can't really avoid the things. I adore the holidays! Everything about them, but this Santa gives me the heebie jeebies. 

Of course, my oldest thinks he's just the bee's knees, even though I think he's just a tad wary of him too. (Based on how he runs a few steps away, with a hop skip, before he will dance with him.)

But, dance with him he does, and today we got pictures of it! And, as creepy as the giant, wiggling, singing Santa Clause is, (and who in the world would pay $130 for this thing?) he certainly brings out some impressive moves in my happy-go-lucky four and a half year old!

My two year old is not a fan of getting close to the Demon Santa. He will laugh and smile from afar, and by afar I mean half way down the isle at Lowes, but there was no way he was walking up to that thing like his braver older brother.

He observed the whole event with a quiet caution for quite awhile. (We loitered in Lowes for some time getting pictures with this thing. I guess it isn't really loitering, since Grandpapa was there to actually buy something, but I was waiting for some blue-vested Lowes employee to stalk up to Grandmama and I with a gruff "You need to either buy this thing or move on, Ladies!") Finally, he seemed to decide that it couldn't actually walk over to get him, so that it might be safe to dance after all...at a distance.

"Oh no! She caught me dancing! I wonder if that camera is on? Who am I kidding? It's always on!"

Tis' the season friends! For lights, music, Christmas trees...and creepy Demon Santas that dance with my boys in Lowes!