30 Days of Thanks-Day 30

Wow!  I can't believe it's the last day of November already.  This month really flew for me.  Today I am thankful for this entire month and for a renewed focus on giving thanks even when life has you feeling down.  It's always a great reminder for me that no matter how bad things are, you really can always find something to be thankful for.  Tomorrow begins our RAKs and Jolly, our Elf on the Shelf, returns tonight!  Here are a couple things that are warming my heart today. 

 

I did some decorating for Christmas today and brought out our basket of Christmas books for the little ones.  Wyatt and Hannah sat next to each other so sweetly, looking at the books.  They were so excited and Wyatt kept coming up to me saying, "Mommy I found  my ..... book!"  He was so excited about each book he came across, it was like Christmas for him:)

Since I spend a lot of time in this spot everyday, by my kitchen sink, I filled it with all the things I love the most.  I didn't want to put away my new favorite owl decoration, so I put a scarf on him and it was instant Christmas décor:)  I printed the adorable "Holiday to do List" from http://happyhomefairy.com/2015/11/29/your-new-holiday-to-do-list-free-printable/  I love the simplicity of it so I framed it and put it front and center where I could see it and be reminded daily of the true meaning of the season. 

And then there's these 3.  When one wants to use the potty, they all want to use the potty.  The moral of the story is.....I need more potties.  At least Wyatt and Hattie actually went which was awesome; Hattie's 1st time!!!  NEVER a dull moment I tell you!

30 Days of Thanks-Day 29

Today I am thankful for the beautiful cardinal that landed on my dad's deck as we were sitting around his kitchen table.  As I've mentioned before, it is said that a cardinal is a representative of a loved one that has passed.  When you see one, it means they are visiting you. I've seen many cardinals in my life, but this one took my breath away; it was the first one I've seen since my mom's been gone.  It gave me goose bumps.  I'm so thankful that my dad and my kids got to see it too.   

30 Days of Thanks-Day 28

Today I am thankful for a very nice visit with Dave's Grandpa & Grandma Welter.  The kids and I went over for the afternoon and had a really nice time and also got to see both of their caretakers as they were switching guard for the week.  The woman who cares for them (Xanah (sp?))  was so sweet; she brought in a HUGE box of chocolates, wine, and a pie and told the kids to eat some chocolates.  We all had a couple pieces and it was so yummy!  She walked in and told us all, "kiss me!"  She was very sweet and got straight to cleaning, my kind of girl;)  Grace read Grandma a book and the kids entertained everyone by jumping on a mini trampoline the other caretaker, Peter, brought out for them. 

 

I am also so thankful for how my dad takes care of my mom's gravesite.  He goes to the flower shop here with the changing of the seasons and picks things that she would've picked herself.  Unfortunately, even though we ordered her headstone (actually a garden bench) very shortly after she passed away, it won't be put in until spring.  So, until then, he keeps it looking just perfect for her.

This little cardinal is tucked in the center of the wreath.

 

30 Days of Thanks-Day 27

Today I am thankful for ringing bells for the Salvation Army this afternoon with the kids and for a nice dinner with my dad afterwards.  I signed us up to do the bell ringing today with Dave gone hunting.  I questioned my sanity many times after signing up while he wasn't home and had made up my mind on Wednesday that I was going to cancel our shift for today; I just didn't think we (Wyatt) was going to handle the two hour shift (prior to this year the shifts have only been one hour but they changed it this year).  But, I just couldn't cancel and so I had my dad on standby in case Wyatt went over the deep edge.  Turns out he was pretty good.  There were times Wyatt and Grace were on the floor and were tired of standing, we had fights about who would ring the bell and handout the mints we brought, but we made it!  We signed up for another shift on December 12th and daddy will be home for that one!  My dad told the kids if they were good he would treat us to dinner after we were done.  Truth be told, we were probably going to go out regardless because it is more of a treat for me than for them:)  Thanks dad. 

 

30 Days of Thanks-Day26

Today I am thankful for a beautiful Thanksgiving with my wonderful family, Dave's parents, and my sister-in-law, Sarah's, parents.  We had a very nice day with amazing food.  It was so much harder than I anticipated, not having my mom here.  You go along, thinking you're ok, and then the tears just come.  I miss her so much.  I'm thankful for the memories and traditions she left us with.  I'm thankful Dave's sister was able to stop by this evening for a short visit.  I'm thankful that everyone shared in the preparation of our delicious meal.  I'm thankful that we made it through another "first" without my mom. 

 I tried my hand at my mom's stuffing today.  This is before it was cooked; we all love to taste test it before it's cooked.  My dad said I did good, that it tasted just like it should:)

 We used the silverware we got as a gift from Dave's Grandma & Grandpa Reed as a wedding gift. 

 I made all the kids turkey hats

 I couldn't resist this fun tablecloth from Target.  The kids had fun coloring on it and playing the games on it. 

 Kids table

 My little turkeys

 My mother-in-law makes amazing pies.  I'm thankful she offered to bring them today because pie making is not something I'm good at.  So delicious!

 My sister-in-law made this adorable cheese, sausage, and cracker turkey. 

 My mom was the center of our table today; always with us.  My sister-in-law brought me the lovely flowers.  My mom always brought the hostess flowers so Sarah said she was carrying on the tradition.  I'm so thankful for Sarah, she's been the biggest support to me in so many ways.

 My dad carving the turkey he fried for us. 

 Hannah playing the iPad on Jim's lap

 My sweet little turkey nieces.  Hannah was not thrilled I wouldn't open up her candy for her:)

 Silly cousins, Grace and Hattie. 

 Dave and his masterpiece.  This turkey was a labor of love.  He used my dad's smoker to smoke it.  It was SO GOOD and quite the process to make it. 

 

Our delicious spread!

30 Days of Thanks-Day 25

Today I am thankful for an impromptu dinner out.  We were busy getting things ready for tomorrow and I hadn't put a ton of thought into what I would feed my family tonight, but figured we'd quick grill up some burgers.  Dave said, "why don't we go out for dinner tonight."  He didn't have to spend too much time trying to convince me.  He's always quick to offer to make dinner or help me out however he can.  I'm happy that we do things as a team :)

30 Days of Thanks-Day 24

Today I am thankful for the excitement our girls had for the guest performers at their school and for Grace being so brave to stand in front of all the school and ask them a question she thought of!  Andi & Alex, who were recently on The Voice, came to the girls' school to perform today and take questions from some of the kids.  Andi & Alex attended Glenbrook when they were young and are Pulaski grads.  Grace was chosen from all the Kindergarteners to ask them a question.  When she found out yesterday that she was picked, she was pretty nervous and I wasn't sure she'd go through with it today.  But, she did, and she did a great job:)  Her teacher snapped the picture of her and e-mailed it to me and another teacher (the mom of the little guy I babysit) recorded her for me. 

 

30 Days of Thanks-Day 23

Today I am thankful for a visit from one of the nicest little families I know.  Rich and Julie came by with their sweet little Hallie tonight.  Julie was returning the maternity clothes I had lent her but it was so good to catch up with them and cuddle Hallie.  Julie lost her dad a couple years ago and she is so comforting to talk to.  She gets it and she knows exactly how much it hurts.  She gives me hope that we will get through the tough times.  She and Rich are two of the kindest people I've ever met (along with Rich's entire family and Julie's mom too).  I'm thankful to have them in our lives!

30 Days of Thanks-Day 22

Today I am thankful to have Dave and the girls home safe and sound.  They hit a deer on the way home and messed up the side of our truck pretty good.  Thankfully everyone was fine, minus the deer:(  With any luck insurance will total the truck.  We've been wanting to sell it before it is worth absolutely nothing anyway.  We are going to have some tired girls tomorrow morning but at least they'll have lots of exciting stories to tell from the weekend! 

Pope Papa

Wyatt and I went to church this morning and our envelope for the collection was sitting next to me on the pew.  It has a picture of Pope Francis on the back of it and Wyatt picked it up and asked, "Who that mama?  Jesus?"  I told him that the man was the Pope to which he replied, "Papa?"

30 Days of Thanks-Day 21

So much to be thankful for again today.  I'm having such a nice weekend with my little man (the girls are hanging out with Dave's mom while the guys are hunting and love to play cards with the guys at night:).  This is the first time in 9 years that I haven't spent a hunting weekend with my mom.  Since Madi was born, I've usually stayed with her during hunting.  We loved just hanging out,  playing Scrabble, usually we would go out to eat, and probably do some shopping.    I was feeling pretty down about it but I'm happy to have this time with my baby.  Being the youngest, it's not often that him and I have a lot of one-on-one time, especially with babysitting during the day.  The kid absolutely melts my heart. 

 We've been busy bees today.  We had a coffee and bagel date this morning at the coffee shop, we've watched movies in my bed with popcorn, went shopping in Green Bay, and have gotten so much done!  Christmas cards are addressed, labeled, and stamped, Christmas letter is ready to print, Christmas shopping is almost done, and our RAK for this year are almost all ready to go.  Maybe it has something to do with being up before 5am on a Saturday?  He got the awesome Packers coat in the picture above today at Goodwill.  It looks brand new.  He didn't need it but it was $9 and the kid LOVES it.  He is the biggest little Packer fan I've ever seen:)

 I'm thankful that it looks like he's ready to get potty trained!  He's gone on the potty twice today!  We picked up some stickers today and printed out a potty chart.  We haven't pushed the subject at all with him and he's been asking a lot the last couple days.  He's doing well with the pooping part, I have to figure out how to get him not to pee all over though; I'm new at this boy stuff. 

Madi came home with this and I forgot to include it for yesterday.  I am so thankful for the kind little girl she is!  Lord knows Dave and I try to stress, above all else, to always be kind and to be a good person.  She makes us so proud!

30 Days of Thanks-Day 20

Today I am thankful to have been chosen to be part of the book launch team for Breaking Busy.  I first learned about these book launch teams through one of my favorite blogs, www.moneysavingmom.com, earlier this year.  I'm been privileged to be part of four other launch teams prior to this book.  I've always enjoyed reading but just have not taken the time to do a lot of reading in the last several years.  I love being a part of these teams; it forces me to take the time to do something I enjoy, something for me,  and also gives me an outlet to interact with other women on the teams.  Looking forward to digging into this book this weekend while Dave is gone hunting!

 

30 Days of Thanks-Day19

Today I am thankful that I took interest in my mom's cooking and baking and that I have learned and make some of her best recipes regularly.  My mom was a wonderful cook and baker.  It took me until I was in college to fully appreciate that, take interest in it, and to actually ask her for recipes, tips, and advice.  I'm baking her pumpkin bars for Dave to bring up for deer hunting this weekend and listening to Christmas music.  She made THE BEST pumpkin bars and loved Christmas music.  Dave tells me the bars are one of the things I baked for him early in our relationship that won his heart:)  I'm so thankful for all the "gifts" she gave me along the way that help keep her memory alive each and every day. 

30 Days of Thanks-Day 18

Today I am thankful for my early mornings with my sweet Wyatt.  He is an EARLY riser (3:45, 4:30, 5:30 if he feels like sleeping in).  While there are some days, like today, when I can barely keep my eyes open, I really don't mind our mornings together.  He wakes up and calls, "Mommy!"  We go out in the living room and he has to get his mini muffins, milk, turn on Netflix, and we cuddle on the couch.  I'll sleep when he doesn't want to cuddle anymore, but for now I'll deal with the bags under my eyes:)  This picture was from yesterday when he got up at 4:30; he decided to use my mascara as lipstick during the wee hours of the morning:)

 

30 Days of Thanks-Day 17

Today I am thankful for a surprise package from my Aunt Laurel with one of these beautiful mugs for me, my dad, brother, and sister.  She couldn't have planned for it to arrive on a better day; today it's been 10 weeks since mom's been gone.  Than again, maybe mom had something to do with it:)

 My mom loved birds, especially cardinals.  I read this saying at her visitation service, the night before her funeral.  Not only do we gravitate towards anything having to do with cardinals because she would have loved it, now it's also a source of comfort for us to see them

30 Days of Thanks-Day 16

Today I am thankful for a good morning at our house.  It is so true that the morning sets the tone for the day.  We started a new morning routine a while back with the purpose of eliminating some of the morning craziness we'd been dealing with.  The girls' alarm goes off at 6am and (ideally) they get up, make their beds, get dressed, and take care of their laundry.  They come out for breakfast at about 6:15 and it works best if we choose what we're going to eat the night before. They eat and put their dishes in the dishwasher then we fix their hair.  Normally we get done a little before 7 and then they have free time until my sis-in-law drops the twins off and takes them to school at about 7:20.  Grace has proven not to be a morning person.  She takes a long time to wake up and doesn't like to eat right away.  There have been many mornings that she's still in bed by the time Madi comes out or is a stinker about breakfast.  This morning she was the first one out of their room and she was dressed and she did a beautiful job making her bed!  There was no fighting coming from their room like there is sometimes when they're getting ready, Madi ate her breakfast right up, brushed her hair, and was probably ready by 6:30.  Mornings like this seriously make all the difference! 

30 Days of Thanks-Day 15

Today I am thankful for a fun afternoon at Dave's Christmas party!  His company had it a little early this year and held it during the Packer game at a sports bar.  They had a taco/nacho bar, drinks, and a trivia game and prizes at halftime.  Dave came home with a new 30th Anniversary (of the company) jacket and a case of beer:)  I'm also thankful for my sister and Brian for watching the kids so we could go and enjoy the party! 

30 Days of Thanks-Days 13 & 14

Today I am thankful for two days with Dave's family celebrating our early Christmas.  His parents will leave for warmer weather in AZ after gun hunting.  I feel like I gained 5 pounds the last couple of days; we had so much wonderful food.  The kids enjoyed playing together and were entertained for a good part of the day with our nephew's new magic kit.  We watched MANY magic shows:)  We decided not to bring our camera so I just have a few shots from my phone; sometimes I just like to watch instead of seeing it all through the camera.  We're looking forward to using our family's new telescope!!  We love to go lay in the backyard during the summer and look at the stars, now we will really be able to do some star-gazing!

 We pulled out our Christmas jammies!

 Cousins in Christmas jammies!

 Grandpa and Grandma made Christmas cookies

 The kids were working on coloring the wrapping paper for the Christmas gift we all got for Dave's parents.

 There's Jack!  All the Reed cousins by the tree waiting patiently to open their presents!

 All dressed up in their Christmas duds!

My sister-in-law made Jesus' birthday cake this year.  It was SO good; you can't go wrong with chocolate and caramel!  We will have to bring our 'A' game next year to make a cake equally as delicious! 

 

 

30 Days of Thanks-Day 12

Today I am thankful for these two beautiful little girls who turn two years old today!  I feel so blessed to be their Auntie.  I love being so close to them and I love how close they are to my kids.  I'm thankful I get to experience the wonder of twins through watching them; it's truly something special.  They are each so unique and different and both have the best sense of humor and little personalities .  I'm thankful things worked out so I could spend my days with them.  Auntie wasn't very prepared but Wyatt and I whipped up a little impromptu birthday party before Hannah and Hattie came over today.  We blew up balloons, got out our birthday books, made party hats, downloaded a fun version of Happy Birthday on iTunes, and got Happy Meals for lunch.  We listened to Happy Birthday over, and over, and over, and over again!  The smiles on their faces each time was so worth it:)   Happy Birthday sweet girls!  Auntie couldn't possibly love you more!   

 Happy Hatters!

 It was love at first sight with these two little ladies.  Top picture is the first time I met them, bottom left is last year on their birthday, and bottom right is today.  Hannah didn't want a picture and Hattie wanted to watch tv:)

 Wyatt helping with the party prep:)

Hooray for McDonald's birthday lunch and not Auntie's cooking! 

 

 

I am also so very thankful for the beautiful Evening of Remembrance put on by Aurora Health Care this evening.  I am so thankful for the care my mom received from all of the wonderful staff there and especially for the group of amazingly beautiful women who cared for her during her final time here on earth.  God had to have hand picked these nurses to be in hospice care; they are wonderful at what they do.  My mom's favorite hospice nurse, Val, was there tonight with her son Andrew.  Andrew often prayed for my mom and I am so thankful we were able to meet him.  My mom had a beautiful butterfly scarf that Val loved.  Mom was able to find another one just like it and gave it to Val as a gift.  Val's daughter also loved the scarf and would borrow it and wear it.  Well, when her daughter moved to AZ, the scarf went with her.  Val had told us this story so we knew she no longer had the scarf.  After mom passed away, we found her same butterfly scarf hanging in the closet.  I knew it had to go to Val.  My dad took some things to the hospital one day and left the scarf there for them to give to Val.  She told me tonight, that on her way to work that day, she was thinking how burned out she was and didn't know if she could continue on working like she was.  She said she got to work and was given the scarf and she knew she was doing exactly what she was put on this earth to do. 

 Each person's name was read and we went up and received a rose in her memory.

We were asked to bring a picture to display at the service as well.

 

30 Days of Thanks-Day11

Today I am thankful for all those who have served our great country.  Their sacrifices have allowed us our freedom.  I'm thankful, and proud, to live "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  Here are a few of the Vets from my own family.  Thank you!

 This is my Grandpa Hoverson.  He was not a part of my dad's life and passed away when my dad was young, so I never had the chance to meet him. 

 This is my favorite picture of Dave's Grandpa Reed.  I'm so thankful to have had him in our lives and I miss him so much.  He was a great man. 

 This is Dave's Grandpa Welter.  I can't believe how much his sons look like him in his younger days!

 And finally, my Uncle Charlie:)