Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year!

 I'm thankful for moments like these.  The kids were laughing.  I mean belly laugh giggling while they were jumping on the bed.

 I'm thankful for a little guy who keeps growing and growing.  Look at him doing a push up.  :)

 I'm thankful for a husband who works hard every day and then comes home, gets on the floor and plays with the kids.  Michael is such a GREAT daddy.

 I'm thankful that both kids like to read books.  Even little Noah loves looking at books.  Katelyn will sit and read to him during the day and the other night Michael was reading him a story.  Noah likes to turn the pages.

 I'm thankful for a beat up coffee table that has many dents and dings in it.  All of those markings have come because God has blessed us with children and so our house is loud and crazy and the furniture is well worn.  

 I'm thankful for our church.  It has been an answer to prayer. Katelyn was in the children's choir that sang  for our mission's conference a couple of weeks ago.  She got to wear one of the dressed I bought her while I was in China.  She sang "How Great is Our God" in English, Spanish, German and Indonesian.  She practiced the words at home everyday.  She really did a good job.

 I'm thankful for a big girl who likes to cook with me.  She's such a big helper in so many ways, but she especially loves getting to help me bake.  We made a nutella swirled pumpkin pie with a gingersnap crust the other day to have for dessert when my brother and his family came over.  

 I am thankful that our kids have wonderful grandparents.  It's fun to watch your parents enjoy their grandkids.  My parents got two more this year!

 Speaking of new grandkids....I'm thankful for my little nephew, Charlie.  He's almost six months old now and he's adorable.  Katelyn got to hold him the other night.  It will be fun to watch all the kids play together as they get older.

 I'm thankful for fun times with family.  We've had lots of fun this year.  Here's Aunt Mimi with the kids.

 I'm thankful for Noah's sweet disposition.  He brings much joy into our home.

 I'm thankful for Katelyn's personality...her big, big personality.  She is creative and has a strong sense of self.  She dressed herself the other day and LOVED what she picked out.  She makes us laugh...a lot...all the time.

 I'm thankful for my husband who is loving, faithful, hard working and has such a good sense of humor.  He's my best friend and I couldn't imagine life without him.  I thank God every day that He brought Michael into my life.

 I'm thankful that Noah is learning to do new things everyday.  He hasn't quite figured out how to crawl but I think he can wiggle or roll his way into any little spot.

Last, but not least, I'm thankful for two wonderful kids that I didn't  know if I would get have or not. They bring me so much joy.  I'm thankful that I get to be their mom.  What a gift!  I'm also so thankful for the relationship they have with each other.  I can't wait to watch that grow.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Count your blessings.

Noah's 9 months old!

I am really not sure how it's gone by so quickly, but Noah is nine months old.

 He is so good natured.  He just goes with the flow.  He laughs a lot.  He's very observant.  He's sweet and loving.  To say that he is a blessing is an understatement!

 Katelyn loves her brother.  She wrote "I love you Noah" in tinker toys the other day.  She can make him laugh faster than any of us.  He lights up when she comes in a room.  I think she really needed a sibling.  I'm so glad they have each other. I never get tired of watching them interact.

 Noah's not quite crawling yet but he can roll or pivot in a circle quickly to get to what he wants.  I'm in no hurry for him to be mobile.  I know that he'll be into everything soon.  I'm enjoying this last bit of time where I can plop him on the floor and he'll just sit and play with his toys. 

 He's gotten very good at feeding himself puffs, cheerios and graham crackers.  He ate little chunks of banana today and a few little pieces of chicken yesterday.  He's an eating machine.  I think the expansion of the grocery budget is coming.  We went to the pediatrician yesterday and Noah is 30.5 inches long and weighs 24 pounds.  That's 10 inches and 15 pounds bigger than he was when he was born!  It's amazing to me how fast kids grow in the first year. 

We had a really fun day today.  Katelyn worked really hard at her school work.  I am so blessed by how much she loves to learn.  She is starting to write on her own and it's so sweet to see what she writes about and how she spells words.  She's getting really good.  She spells many words correctly and the rest are spelled phonetically so we can tell what she is trying to say.  She made a little book tonight about "Me and Noah".  She wrote about going to the park with him and the things they like to do there. 

After we finished school we met up with some friends at the park and the kids played for two hours.  It was a beautiful day.  When Michael got home he grilled burgers and we ate together and played.  The kids were especially silly and fun and after we tucked them in we looked at each other and said we have really great kids.  I had this moment where I thought, I have everything I could ever want and I feel really blessed!!

 I'm thankful that the ordinary days feel extraordinary.

The Children's Garden

We went to The Arboretum's children's garden about a week and a half ago.  This is a relatively new area of the Arboretum and we hadn't been before.  The Friday before last was supposed to be the last sunny and warm day for awhile so we headed over for some outdoor fun with my friend and her two kids.

 The children's garden is AWESOME!  It's beautiful and there's so much for the kids to explore. It's a kid wonderland in fact.  A vegetable garden with buckets laying around to pick stuff, a butterfly garden with nets, a bunch of trees with little rakes lying around to rake up the leaves, a little pond with cane poles to do some "fishing", an old fashioned log cabin, another little open cabin to do art projects in, a straw hut with buckets of mud lying around, a sand pit with tools to search for artifacts, a creek to play in.  PERFECT.  

 Katelyn was "fishing."

 Noah had to try out the fishing also.

 Katelyn and her friends made leaf creations.

 Noah played in a hollow log.

 It was the perfect fall day!

 Noah and Katelyn both love to be outside.  They were happy campers. 

 Katelyn had a big rock, a bucket of mud and a stick.  She was good to go.

 This little guy was happy in a pile of leaves.

They had these misters that the kids loved playing in.

We were there for three hours and it flew by.  We'll definitely be getting an annual family membership in the spring.  This place was great.  I really love that homeschooling allows us to go and do something like this in the middle of the week.  We were able to get through our school work in the morning and then spend the afternoon outside.  Seems like a good place to be for a five year old!