Thanksgiving Gift Bag

If I were an interior decorator, I’d have used something other than a gift bag that someone else gave to us (and my table would be clean).  If I were more prepared, I’d have labeled it with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  As it is, I was happy that we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with more than turkey and pie.  This year, I pulled a gift bag out of our stash at the beginning of November, prepared a stack of colorful cards, and began writing down what we were thankful for each day.

On Thanksgiving we read the cards while enjoying pumpkin pancakes.  We ended up with things like:

• jumping on Daddy (one of Caleb’s favorite ways to play with Daddy)
• bananas, sushi, bean sprouts, and taste buds to enjoy these things
• that Deborah makes it possible for me to sleep in
• Luke
• sunny November days and discovering new parks
• good, silly books to read (Skippyjon Jones)
• communion
• somersaults
• quiet evenings at home
• that the sink, a few spice jars, and a measuring cup is so entertaining for Caleb.
• Dad-his hope in God, his sacrificial love
• generous friends
• naptime
• playing at Joey’s house
• sharing and enjoying a beautiful view of the moon with Caleb
• God’s perfect timing

What a reminder of all the (big and little) ways God gives us way more than we deserve each day.

Treasure Hunt

God has loaned me two treasures with the names Caleb and Sophia. The following video will share a bit of them with you. Here are some of the things that made me smile while I watched this:

• Sophia's creative "crawling"
• Caleb offering commentary for the video
• Sophia chasing Caleb
• Caleb's rainbow
• Sophia getting stuck between the table and the chair
• Sweet giggles between siblings
• Big smiles from Sophia
• Sophia making the sound of the letter "A" (and Caleb pointing out that fact)

New Tricks

Sophia's moving! She's still planning on living with us, but she now has the privilege of inching her way across the floor on her own. She alternates between an army crawl, a scoot, a gyroscopic roll, and magic. How did you get there? This is eerily reminiscent of Caleb's early attempts at crawling.

And Caleb has several of his own tricks he'd like to share:

Daily Highlights

Today: Sunshiny picnic in the park with friends.  No coats in this 60 degree November weather!

Yesterday: Discovering a new (to us) park in the 60 degree November weather.

Sunday: Celebrating the time change by making cinnamon rolls (since we were up anyway).

Saturday: Sushi date with Luke.  Running a 5k.  Playing in leaves with Caleb.

Friday: Umm, I don’t know if I can remember that far back.

And because pictures need to be posted:

Caleb enjoying his Halloween loot.

Thankful

I started this post last week, so even though it’s a bit out of date, I thought it’d be appropriate to start off November remembering a few things I’m thankful for. 

It’s been one several of those weeks that reminds me of how much I have to be thankful for.  You may not want to read all this, but it’s good for me to remember how faithful God is in the daily stuff. 

• Thankful for friendly neighbors who jumpstart my car
• Thankful for an auto repair budget and an auto mechanic with a kid-friendly waiting room (and cookies too)
• Thankful for a reliable car that doesn’t leave me stranded
• Thankful for previous experiences with cars that did leave me stranded so that I know how to jumpstart a car
• Thankful that we had been planning and saving to replace our roof before the hail storm hit
• Thankful that our roof has a simple, straightforward design so they squeezed us in on a Saturday instead of having to wait a month to get it replaced
• Thankful for parents and others who showed us how to manage money
• Thankful Sophia still smiles even when she misses a nap
• Thankful that bedtime usually doesn’t take 2-4 hours
• Thankful for mornings without an agenda that I can spend playing with my kids and playdoh
• Thankful for mornings with an agenda so I don’t drive my kids crazy (and they don’t drive me crazy)
• Thankful for a washing machine that quickly makes the awful spit-up smell disappear
• Thankful that we were able to get our fence repaired after a tree limb fell on it
• Thankful that the other tree limb that fell the day after our fenced was fixed didn’t damage the fence
• Thankful for neighbors who shared their sidewalk chalk with Caleb, prompting a new activity and hours of entertainment/learning
• Thankful that Caleb loves to help, even if it’s just pressing the start button on the microwave
• Thankful for naptime when everyone in the house naps
• Thankful for a warm, cozy house on windy days
• Thankful for friends who come over and play
• Thankful that Sophia seems to be past her allergic reaction to who knows what (and thankful it was a mild reaction)
• Thankful for sunshine, crunchy leaves, and afternoon walks

I think I could go on and on.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m saying half of these things in jest.  I really am thankful for them.  I may have preferred that our money go to other places than into our car and house, but I am thankful for our car and house and all the ways God has provided as we take care of them.  I wish that Sophia hadn’t had an allergic reaction, but I am thankful that doctors and medicine are readily available. 

Halloween: Part 2

Hopefully, I’ll have just as many posts about Thanksgiving as I have about Halloween.

Grandma helped us carve pumpkins this year, and Caleb discovered that jack-o-lanterns make great puzzles!

Caleb got to dress up as a construction worker this year.  We heard a lot of: “Oh how cute.  Bob the Builder.”  But since Caleb has no idea who Bob the Builder is, we just left it as a guy with tools.  He’ll probably still be wearing this costume at Thanksgiving he loves it so much.  He loved walking with his flashlight attached to his tool belt, lighting his way to the next house when we went trick-or-treating.  We went to just a few houses around ours and actually met neighbors we haven’t met in the five years we’ve lived here.    

Decked out with his hard hat, tool belt, tool box, and tools.  This is the face we get when we tell Caleb to smile.  Isn’t it lovely?

Caleb’s candy stash.

  Caleb enjoying his one treat for the evening. 

Caleb explaining the best method for cutting plastic “wood” with a plastic saw to Sophia.  

And in case you’re wondering…Sophia got to be her lovely self for the Halloween festivities.  Plenty cute enough, if you ask me!