Isaac learns the pledge

Our little man learned a little something new at school and wanted to share it on video (don't miss his adorable expression at the end!) Yep, I'm certain that God made him with some extra sugar.....



We love you, Isaac-man! :)

Except....

So, today was a really wonderful day. We decorated our tree (and had a great time, even though it was an artificial one out of the box.... my vote will ALWAYS be to go and cut one down as a family. I caved.... for THIS year....) I had fun decorating a new house and a new stair railing with garland. We baked yummy chocolate chip cookies. We watched Home Alone 2 tonight and laughed like crazy. It was a really wonderful day.... except....

Today, I couldn't ignore the laundry monster anymore. And when I chose to not ignore it, I also received a little "gift" in the process. I think that one of Isaac's overnight pull-ups was tucked in the leg of one of his jammie pants, and I missed it. Have you ever sent a pull-up through the washer? Sigh.... trust me when I say that you don't want to. I have washed that load three times now.... and even sent it through the dryer once to see if it would pull that gel stuff off of the clothes. Happy holidays to me........

Thankfully, it was a relatively clean and dry pull-up.

Yep, I'll just choose to be thankful for that today....

Sometimes (part 2)....

.... I am encouraged by more than one mommy blogger in a single day! Check this post out, too....

Sometimes....

.... don't you love it when other mommas remind you that "You're pretty normal!" I loved THIS POST today.....

Thankful Thursday....

This edition of Thankful Thursday is a little different on the blog.... today, my kiddos chime in. We usually do a "Thankful Pumpkin" every year for the month of November, and every night at dinner, we write one thing we are thankful for. Well, to be quite honest, with the events of the last couple of weeks, I never bought a pumpkin. BUT.... we did start to share things that we are thankful for around the dinner table.

Tonight.....

Aaron: "I am thankful for mommy and daddy and for this great food that mommy made and for daddy providing the money from his job so that we could have food to eat."
Isaac: "I am thankful for scribbling."

Flashback!

I'm editing some old photos to prepare to take advantage of an awesome deal at Snapfish (365 free prints.... YAHOO!) and ran across this one....

This is a photo of Isaac at Ellie's age.... priceless! :)

From the mouths of babes....

(as told to me by my husband this morning.... I love that man!)

Aaron woke up at around 6 this morning.
At 6:20, he said to Scott, "Man, Isaac sure is sleeping in this morning!!!"

Um.... I think that we need to reframe the picture and give our kids some better perspective on "sleeping in"....

I'm still here....

.... it's been a long 8 days.... full of tears.... full of celebration of an amazing woman....

.... and yes, there has still been laughter at our house, too....

Prayer request....

Would welcome your prayers.... my sweet grandma jumped into the arms of Jesus last night. While we are thrilled that she is no longer in pain and is rejoicing with her Savior, our hearts are hurting. She has marked our lives forever....

Loving on all of my sweeties.... with Aaron....

and Isaac....

and Ellie (and my darling Grandpa)....
Reading one of our favorites to my older sis, Dawn, my cousins, and me (and yes, she sewed matching footie jammies for us every year for Christmas.... precious....)

My dear Grandma spent countless hours rocking with us on her porch swing. Here she is with my older sis, Dawn, and me....

Family Fun Mega-post

We are so blessed! Scott's sis and her family were home from Tennessee for the weekend, and we were able to have them up along with Scott's parents and celebrate Aaron's birthday at the same time! It was a beautiful fall day, full of fun and laughter!

Trust me when I say.... Concannon's Bakery in Muncie makes one of the best cakes EVER.... is it just me, or does Aaron look even older in this picture????

We used the special candles that won't blow out... um... they pretty much ticked Aaron off (literally....)

Isaac and Grandma Greene

Scott's mom and dad got Aaron cornhole for his birthday.... he loves it....

Playing some cornhole.... with Tripp continually on the move!

Scott's dad and our brother-in-law, Kenny

Love this! Isaac and Lainy

Scott and his sis, Jill

Our attempt with a picture of all five.... sigh....

This is what happened next.... the little ones just wanted to MOVE!

AHH! I don't think that they could be any cuter! :)

Love this, too! Trying to make Ellie smile! :)

I love that I love my sister-in-law! :)

Birthday Mega-post

Finally getting around to posting birthday pictures of our fabulous 8 year old! I know that every momma says this.... but how is Aaron already 8?! Almost weekly, this child stands next to me to see how much further he has to go until he catches me in height! I'm still winning.... for now! HA! :)

We love birthdays at our house. So much fun to celebrate!

Birthday morning with our family

Aaron always wants cinnamon rolls for his birthday!

We had a SMALL, laid-back BOY party with a couple of friends! The fun started on the zip line....

Then, we went on to the scavenger hunt....

Next, to find sticks to roast hot dogs....

On to the campfire and dinner....

Boys are crazy creatures!

Scott organized some more fun.... here they all are, as the #8!

After Aaron's football game the next day....

My heart....

.... is constantly moved to do more....

True Religion from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

It's not a secret....

I love this crew (and this crew LOVES their Daddy, too!) :)