Thanksgiving Feasts... at School!

The boys had their Thanksgiving Parties at school this past Thursday... They were so cute, and they were so excited to have Mommy and Daddy in class with them!

Sam started us off with  a little skit with his class.  He was an Indian... "Strong and Brave!" They were ADORABLE!!!!!

And afterwards... saying the blessing...

In Jake's class, we just ate!  Something he is pretty good at!

Daddy and his boys...

Mommy and her boys...

Sam's 'prizes' for Mommy and Daddy...

Jake's 'prizes' for Mommy and Daddy...

We still had to go to Chick-Fil-A afterwards... where they ate again!!!!! ;-) Love these boys!!!!!!

Our Trip to the GA Aquarium...

We ventured to the GA Aquarium one Friday to take advantage of a 'Mommy and Me' deal they were having.  Our good friends, the Pipers came too...

and to be economical... we all rode together!!!!!!! Just because 4 car seats FIT in my car, does NOT mean we will be adding more to our family!

The kids had a blast!  I think I'm gonna let the pictures speak for themselves on this one...

Cathy and I were SLAP WORE OUT after this little adventure!!!  But it was TOTALLY worth it to see all of the expressions on these kids faces.  They were mesmerized the entire time!  The Aquarium NEVER gets old!!!!!!!!!

Long Overdue...

For a girls night out!  I hear it's pretty amazing to stay in touch with a friend or two from high school... let alone 8+ of them!!!!  But we all still keep in touch... we don't see each other as often as we like, and we don't necessarily talk as often as we like, but this group of friends has withstood the test of time!  We will always be friends, and we will always make time for each other.... even if there are months-of-gaps between our get-togethers!!!!

These girls are so awesome!

Obviously, we were missing a few, but you can see that we didn't even skip a beat!

It's just a Box...

It may be 'just a box,' but it will also be all that one child gets for Christmas this year. It makes me sad just to think that!  All I did was go to the $1 Store and pick out books and toys and shampoo and toothbrushes for as cheap as I could.  But this is it for some kids...

One for a girl...

Once fore a boy...

I got the info through our church, and decided this would be a GREAT way to start our Holiday Season (a little early ;-), but I believe it's the way we will start it... and the way we will end it!

I also thought this could be a valuable lesson to my over-privileged and 'spoiled' kids too!  They know no different than what is in front of them!  And if I don't share what's 'normal' for the rest of the world, they will always think that they are 'normal'!  It's hard for them to wait on a prize until the next Holiday... be it Valentine's, Easter, President's Day, Christmas, Thursday, whatever it may be - let alone grasp NEVER getting prizes!!!!!

So, Jake and I shopped while Sam was in school, then the four of us sat down in the floor after dinner to pack the boxes.  Both boys were excited to see what was in the bags... until they realized it wasn't for them.  Then the disinterest set in.  I call the time after dinner 'the bewitching hours' because they are winding down (or up, actually) from their day and are tired, cranky, and somewhat difficult to deal with most some nights!  BJ and I powered through and did our best to explain that this is all some kid will get from Santa this year.  We asked them if they would be happy with only this box on Christmas morning... we got a resounding NO! I think it sunk in for Sam... in that moment. Jake, however, was his usual pinball-self and was all over the place talking NON-STOP about ANYTHING!  Sam and Jake wrote a note to each child - well, they dictated it to me - and we called it a night.

I don't feel successful... my children have no grip on reality!!!  BUT - I will keep working on them and I KNOW that one day they will realize how blessed they are!!!! They're only 3 and 4.... in a lot of ways - I'm SOOO glad that they have no grip on reality!  That means that I am doing my job of sheltering them and providing for them - well, the grandparents are too ;-)...... but there is that fine line of them being blissful and content - or them being blissful and clueless!!!! I'll take content - my prayer is that my boys won't ever have to know hunger or sadness!

Happy Anniversary...

To my awesome parents!!!!!  They have been married for 37 years, and have two wonderful children (if I do say so myself ;-) to show for it and two perfect grandchildren (again, I must pat myself on the back for their cuteness too)!!!  But the most important thing is that they have each other to share their life with... and they are still in love and love spending time together!  Good thing because they DO spend a lot of time together!!!!  It is a blessing to have each of them in my life - and more so as role models of how to make a marriage that works... and is real!  I love them so much, and am so grateful for how much they love each other and complete each other!

Sad thing is... I don't really have any recent pictures of JUST them!?!?!?

But this is when they're the happiest...

Oh good! I found one!!!!

Happy Anniversary!  I love yall with all my heart!!!