Friendsgiving

I don't know if it's because growing up Thanksgiving was always spent with friends, but I have always wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with our community.  This year was finally the year, and a tradition we hope continues through the years.  

Nine adult friends gathered around our table to enjoy family favorite Thanksgiving dishes.  Every couple brought two side dishes, either savory or dessert, and the hosts (us!) made turkey in the crock pot, some stuffing, and drinks.  It has a hit! 

And we got to use our wedding china.

Good friends having good fun

These two have lots of fun together.  This picture has them "going to school" (they are really walking over to Memma and Poppa's house), Byron wearing one of Emma's pink backpacks, and an Esther crown they made at church.

Yes, he is a happy boy.

My boy and his bud

It's been fun watching Byron grow and become verbal about those he loves.  He has developed a sweet friendship with his little buddy Gideon.  We kept him the other day, and the kids had a blast!  They watched some cartoons...

... and Emma got to boss them around some, taking them to "Sunday School Camp"...

... and having story time.  She even had them go to time out for not paying attention during reading hour :-/

Thanksgiving tree

This year I finally got around to making our family Thanksgiving tree.  I hope we get into the habit of doing one each year.  What had kept me from doing one before was the fact that I couldn't do it "perfectly," so once I threw that ideal out the window, the possibilities were endless.  

We just took some brown paper the painters left at the house, drew a tree trunk, then went outside and gathered some fall leaves.  We hot glued them and called it a day.  About every day as a family we talk about the things we are thankful for.  It's been fun filling up our tree with thanksgiving.  What's become even more special is for Emma to embrace and become so familiar with the word "thanksgiving."  She is often asking herself and others what they are thankful for.

Halloween 2015

This was the first year Emma got excited leading up to Halloween, and had us counting down the days for it.  She had decided to be Anna from Frozen, and had carefully planned out her outfit, including white nylons and black shoes that buckle, just like Anna's.

A friend gave us LB's monkey outfit, which was perfect since we often say he both acts and talks like a monkey.

 At the church's Costume Carnival.  They brought in a petting zoo, which was such a treat for the children.

My sister Alison and her hubby came to town for a visit this weekend.  And they brought their beloved dog Po with them.  The kids enjoyed him so much.

And of course Emma made sure Tia read to her some books before she headed back home.

Catching up with the blog

It's embarrassing to see how behind I am on the blog.  I refuse to ever say I'm too busy for anything, but the fact of the matter is that life has become too good to spend down time catching up on the blog.  Between happy children, a new home I have enjoyed making ours, helping run a ministry at church (MOPS), friends, exercise, books, and just being plain ol' tired (pregnant!), it's easy to see why I'd put the blog at the bottom of the priority list.

However, I don't print pictures, so the blog is the closest thing to recording our family life, so here it is -- pictures since September:

Just a sight I enjoyed turning back to in the car.  My darling girl with her John Deere hat she enjoys so much.

I turned 31 this year, and for my birthday I requested going out dancing.

Baby bump showing!

Our friends Chris and Shannon joined us for our evening fun.

Our men.

Then cousin Ames and Ezra came to River Pointe for a few days, which meant lots of playing.

And Mexico's Independence Day rolled around mid-September and I decided to make the traditional pozole and invite a few friends to enjoy the evening fun.

Preparing our yummy bowls of pozole.

And like I said earlier, we have two darling happy children who love and enjoy each other far too well.  And here is proof -- watching a Dora cartoon, on the same chair, sharing their blanket.  

And Byron is such a good sport basically agreeing to do everything big sister tells him to.  Here he is being put "to bed" on the floor.  Why not?!?!

And dinner picnics have become a common thing for us to do.  When busy nights come along, instead of running through the drive-thru somewhere, we end up packing a picnic and enjoying it as a family somewhere.  Here we are at the church, meeting daddy before he headed to Bible Study.  It seems like we end up doing one of these about once every two weeks or so.

 And then Halloween rolled around, and Emma spotted these "Halloween cookies" at Target, which were a hit with the children, and with mommy as well since it didn't require us to make such a huge mess in the kitchen.

And then I just love this picture of me and my Little Man.

This good-looking duo enjoyed our seasonal decorations all too well.

And on many occasions, this is how they choose to spend time with each other, snuggled together in the same seat, either reading or watching cartoons together.

October 19th rolled around -- daddy's birthday -- and we celebrated it the best way ever -- in our home with our little family.  The kids each got daddy a balloon, and a few gifts.

I made breakfast for dinner -- eggs, grits, bacon, and watermelon.

For our table centerpiece, the kids and I went outside and gathered flowers and weeds.  It looked so nice!

The kids' gift of choice for daddy.

Two days after daddy's birthday we found out the sex of our third child.

A boy.  And he's being named after my dad -- Naamen.

I found this kid's doctor's kit at a yard sale for 50 cents, and you'd think I'd bought the kids the Moon.  It has provided them with hours of entertainment.

Again, how they choose to watch TV.

And this pic does not do what's going on any justice, but the kids loooooove chasing lizards around the house.  The poor lizard in this pic was terrified, and eventually met his Maker by the end of the ordeal after Little Byron stepped on it :'(  We have been working hard to tell them that lizards are our friends and that we don't kill them.  It has also been fun for the children to watch the lizards they chase around change colors before their eyes.