Ho Ho Ho....

Every year since K was around 5, she has set up a Santa's Sleigh scene and plopped herself right in the Santa seat. The first time I was in the kitchen and I knew she playing in the next room. Suddenly, I heard HO HO HO in as deep a voice as a little girl can manage. Chuckling to myself, I popped my head into the room to see my little Santa and was surprised to find her with her "reindeer".

Yes, her two little reindeer with their kleenex antlers were whizzing her around the world. Her red cooler was packed, as any Santa bag would be, with little toys.

A few things have changed over the years...

She's developed her very own white beard...although it was dripping after a few minutes.

This year she had a pillow belly and a sidekick.

He started out as a puppy in Santa's sack and ended the morning as....

....an elf helping Santa check the list.

The reindeer not only have new stick antlers,

there are more of them!

However, even with the differences over the years some things will never change...

The room is filled with laughter and a DEEP

HO HO HO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

my little flower...

Here's my little flower....

and with her friend, the bumblebee.

Pumpkin Carving Night...

Earlier this week we had our big pumpkin carving night. K was beyond excited about it and was extra helpful clearing up after dinner. Then she quickly assembled the necessities required to make the evening a smooth event.

First step was laying out her plastic map to help the pumpkin gut clean-up go quickly.

Then the carving tools were carefully laid out.
(looks like an operating room)

Patterns were picked.


The victims (um, pumpkins) were gathered.



Holes were cut...



and guts were picked through.

We toast the seeds. :)

This one was scraped clean.

After a little (LOT) poking and sawing,
here are our finished Jack O'Lanterns.

Out front this evening....

Beware....

This could be found on K's door the entire month of October!!

Let's go inside her room....

She admitted she is ready for Halloween to be over.

Now, onto Thanksgiving....

K's list of thanks....

K wrote this list yesterday and I thought I would share it with you!

I may be small, but I still have a lot of things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for:

A Mighty Lord
Loveable Pets
A great father and mother
Brothers and sister in law
Family and Friends that care
The World
Clothes that keep me warm
My home and shelter
A bed to sleep in
Water and food to keep me from starving
Electricity
Someone to play with me
A Name
A wonderful church
My eyes, feet and hands
My head, heart, brain and nose
Great teachers (she's homeschooled!) ;o)
Things to learn
Great neighbors
Entertainment
Games
Movies
Soft, warm blankets to snuggle in on a cold night
My stuffed dog, Brownie
Somebody to love
People that help me
Inventors
My Dad's Job
Living
Me to like things that I like
Everything around me
My belongings

Thank you, Lord, for everything. You are the greatest! Happy Thanksgiving, Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is such a fun holiday. I tend to love all holidays that are centered around family getting together. :) Throw in all the great food and that "love" factor jumps up a notch. This is the holiday where everyone here pitches in and makes some of their favorite recipes and we get together not once, but twice to eat everything! How's that? Well, our family has a tradition we call "Repeat Friday". After Thanksgiving dinner the last thing you really want to do is sort out leftovers and split them up for families to take with them. So, we started just gathering Friday afternoon and reheating everything, adding some nice bread for sandwiches and enjoying another meal. The best part about this is it comes without HOURS of cooking beforehand. It's also a good way to relax and help put a dent in the leftovers. Then if there is anything still around at that point, we divide it up. I am so thankful for my wonderful family!!

I'd like to wish all my friends, family, followers, and BFS members a Blessed Happy Thanksgiving!!

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart,I will enter His courts with praise,I will say this is the day that the Lord has made,I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Ok, so it's November 4th and the Election is all the news....except here. Oh, yes we did go out and vote....and picked up our free Starbucks coffee. (I even brought mine home and made some delish Mocha Frappucinos and have enough to make another batch!) :) But the big news is Mike took off work today and kid #4 helped him work on Christmas lights!! Oh yeah! We are so ready. Hmmm....well, the outside of the house is so ready. The inside is NOT decorated and could even stand to be tidied up a bit and I do NOT even want to discuss shopping. Not even going to go there. However, the scene in my living room did lift my spirits and had me humming, "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...." Almost makes me want to go.....shopping!

Hard at work putting on the clips to hang the lights.

This strand is all done and ready for bulbs!

Here are the lights we are using this year to outline the house.

They look pretty all lit up!

A snapshot of outside. It's just the beginning, but it will all be ready to go on Thanksgiving day!! :)

It's that time of the year....

One quick check on a countdown site and I see that it is just 79 days, 4 hours, and 50 minutes until CHRISTMAS!!! Where, oh where did the days go? Doesn't it seem like just yesterday we were packing up the last of the Christmas decorations?? Oh....maybe it was just yesterday and we said we weren't going to talk about that! Anyway, it's that time of the year AGAIN! Every year I say I am going to be on the ball. I am going to get my shopping done early, have the most fantastic surprise gifts for everyone, wrap presents as they enter the house, make some homemade gifts that will be cherished by all who receive them, deep clean the house early AND keep it that way, get a family Christmas picture done in the fall, write an amusing must read every word Christmas letter, decorate by Thanksgiving, send all my cards out by December 1st, and leave the ENTIRE month of December just to bake cookies and make fun holiday crafts! Yeah....and then I wake up and it's December 20th and nothing is wrapped, what cookies I made are all eaten, cards still haven't gone out, the house needs some serious picking up, and....you get the picture.

Why do we do it to ourselves? Maybe it's only me! Anyway...this year I know I am not going to get it all done, it isn't going to be perfect, I will be up on Christmas Eve wrapping those last gifts, and it is ok. I am ok with that! No one has ever complained, so I need to just cut myself some slack.

I think we all have good family memories of Christmas....well, except for a few years ago when I spent Christmas in bed with the stomach virus. Other than that year, and the year kid #1 had chicken pox for Christmas, and the year grandpa slept on our couch suffering from influenza, and the year grandpa fell during the annual Christmas football game and broke his collar bone and the year......oh nevermind! The point is, whatever gets done or is left undone and whether everyone is healthy or sick, and whether or not the bows make it on the packages; Christmas is a special time around here and we just love being together.

Tomorrow I officially begin Christmas shopping. I only have ideas for the younger kids and that's where I will start. I still hope to wrap them as they come in.....

By the way, Christmas is now 79 days, 4 hours and 13 minutes away!!