Reflective Thankfulness

Yesterday, the kids' school was in session.  Unlike  all of the other schools in the rest of the state, apparently.  I also subbed all day in the first grade.  At first, I was a little bitter.

OK, I was grumpy.

But then, I remembered how nice it is to have work.  No, it's not a full time or even a part time job, but it's work.  Also, I got to work with The Little Man's teachers.  I was reminded how thankful I am for them.  So nice, so caring, so committed.

The day went rather smoothly, and I was thankful that my prayers for the day, which were prayed in the wee morning hours, were answered. 

Later I got to sit down with this sweetie:

We met up with a friend and her mom. I was thankful for the time this friend and her mom committed to meeting with us to work out some differences that we had recently encountered. I remembered some past relationships that didn't work out in the same way.  I was thankful for the opportunity to work on the relationship, and not give up.

The Day After...

Today is the day after the presidential election.

So.  Thankful. It's. Over.

I was excited to  turn on the TV, have a day when my telephone didn't ring (Hello, RNC, I'm talking to you!  Thanks for calling me 3 times a day for the last few weeks.  Boy, your persistence really made me want to register for your party...*ahem*), and a day when I could go back to actually liking my "friends" on Facebook.

Well, two of the three happened.

People are crazy.  On both sides.

The end.

I'm thankful that no matter who is the president of our country, Jesus is King.  God is sovereign and unchanging.  He is faithful, trustworthy, and good, and I can put my hope in Him all day long.

Chatting Over Coffee

If I had a picture of a Starbucks cup and a cute friend, I'd insert that here. 

I don't. 

I was too busy catching up with life, laughing, and engaging in girlfriend conversation to take a picture.  It's so nice to have good friends.  Friends who listen, who know without explanation, and who understand. 

Today, I'm thankful for friendship.

I Heart Cheeseburgers

This past weekend was glorious.  Not only did we get to set the clocks back an hour (YAY, extra sleep!  BOO, sunset at 4:30), but we were completely without plans.  This meant a lazy Saturday morning, followed by delicious afternoon, and then another lazy evening.  Sunday brought me to The Girl's Sunday School class as a teacher, some church, and then, you guessed it, another lazy afternoon.

It was bliss.


For Saturday's delicious afternoon, I got all crazy and thought it would be fun to try out this burger joint I'd heard whisperings about.  I love a good cheeseburger, yes I do!  However, I have found that I am pretty particular with my cheeseburger choices.  I mean, if I am going to commit to consuming an entire week's worth of calories in one sitting, it better satisfy.   For me, cheeseburger satisfaction equals spicy, gooey, and unique.

So, we hit up Crave, and I knew from the menu I perused before we were sat, that I would be in love.  The burger choices ranged from very plain (typical cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion), to very unusual including burgers that were smeared with peanut butter and jalapenos, burgers with Krispy Kreme doughnuts as the buns, and the one I picked which was topped with fried cream cheese, jalepenos, avocados, and chipotle mayo (it was supposed to taste like a jalepeno popper and a burger collision). 

 

It was D-E-V-I-N-E. 

The end.

No, I didn't eat the whole thing.  I had to make a choice between the whole burger or part of the burger and some sweet potato fries.

In my world that's a no-brainer.

Can I be super shallow and be thankful for a cheeseburger?

No?  OK, then I will say that I am super thankful to have a family that loves searching for a great cheeseburger.  Seriously.  Both kids just started liking cheeseburgers this year.  I know.  There are no words.  Instead of trying to understand their crazy palates, I will just say, I am thankful for their change of heart and their deep desire to find the best burger.  It's so nice to have partners in crime.

I have no picture for Sunday.  If you are sad about this, just imagine: Me, The Hubs, the kids, my sister, and her boyfriend all in our jammies/cozies.  We are sitting in front of the TV/ laying on the floor/lounging at the kitchen table.  We are doing NOTHING but just enjoying each other's company.

That is something to be thankful for.

Prayer

Thankful to be apart of a group of women committed to praying over our kids, their school, and the staff.  I've been blessed with great friends, encouragement,  and opportunity to grow through His word and prayer because of this group.

A Month of Thanks-Revisited

Last year, I spent the whole month of November blogging about things I was thankful for.  It proved to be much more eye-opening and heart transforming than what I thought it could be.  Turns out, when you think upon those things which are "Excellent and worthy of praise"  peace, trust, and joy fill your heart.  Crazy.

I have carried this with me through out the year, and have looked forward to making a concentrated effort not only to put this into practice again, but to also write about it.  Something about putting things down on paper (or in blog land, whatever) seems to really solidify things in my head as well as connect those learned things to my heart.

All that to say:  "It's BAAACK!"  All month, (God willing) I will be blogging about things in which I am thankful for.  In addition, I have made a small change.  I will also be trying to stretch my creativity by trying to Instagram it as well.  Hey, it worked for me this summer.  What can it hurt?  The kids are participating in "A Month of Thanks" as well.  They are filling out one leaf each night at dinner with one thing they were thankful for for that day. The leaves are then getting strung out garland style.  My hope is at the end of the month, and right before we start Advent season, we can look back at how blessed and loved we are.  With this reflection in mind, we can go into Advent season full and ready to give and love because we have been so abundantly provided for and loved first. 

So with that in mind, we have Day 1:

I am thankful for the bike ride I got to take today.  While on the path I was fully aware of the beauty that God gives us through Autumn.  I tried to soak in as much of the colors and mild weather as I could, knowing it would be over soon.

Later, I hit up the grocery store and I was thankful for not only the abundance of food we have in this country, but the variety. 

At any given time, I can go to this grocery store, either by foot or by car, and pick up anything my heart (and stomach) desires.  I do not have to worry about a shortage, or even if things are in season (as long as I want to pay the price for out of season produce).  It's there waiting for me each day.

How very blessed we are.

A Not So Spooky Night

This Halloween was a little different.  There wasn't as much build up or excitement.  I just wasn't that into it.  I can't say the kids were too hyped about it either.  At first this had no impact on me, then as the day got closer, I began to feel sad.  I was sad that maybe we were growing out of this holiday.  Not sure what caused this funk, but I'm blaming it on a few things.

First, the kids are a little bit older.  While free candy will draw even adults out to trick-or-treat (yes.  We had a mom come to our door.  With her child, but also with her own bag.  Weird.), getting all dressed up and tromping through the neighborhood sounded exhausting for some reason.  The novelty is definitely wearing off.  Secondly, we skipped the churches annual Fall Festival for the first time in the seven or eight years that we've been going to this church.  I had a photo session scheduled for that night, so we decided to skip the annual tradition this year.  Third, we didn't have costumes figured out.  The Little Man picked his costume out the year before at the Halloween clearance sale.  Somehow, that made me forget all about getting The Girl a costume.  Needless to say, she wouldn't have had a costume had it not been for school.  They were allowed to wear their costumes to school today for Halloween, and then had a little parade with some trunk or treating at the end of the day.  Well, there was no way she was going to miss that!  So at 7:00 the last night, we rushed to pick some supplies up for a costume.  So, you see, I'm just not into Halloween this year.

I did finally get my act together, and I'm glad I did.  As usual, the kids had a great time at school and trick-or-treating.  Here are some pics:

Some Instagram goodness of the kids carving pumpkins a couple of nights ago:

This year we let The Girl carve her own pumpkin.  She did great!

 My sweet girl as Missy Franklin in the school parade:

My boy as Jengo Fet...at least that's how I think you spell it.  It's a character from Star Wars:

Here they are the night before:

Missy Franklin showing off her medal:

This is Missy's "Seriously, I'm about to take the block" look.  It cracks me up:

Some Jengo Fett:

Can you tell The Little Man grew more than we had expected in the last year since we bought the costume?

He was so mad at me for making him take pictures before he could go trick-or-treating.  Can you tell?

Here, The Hubs, snuck up behind me and was trying to force a smile.  Can't you just hear him saying, "Come on, DAD!  Stop being so silly!"

 

So, not too spooky of a night.  Lots of candy and lots of smiles.  I'm so glad I got out of my funk, just in time!