Thankful for...

so many things. Here's a little list of my 'thanks' for this year:

-Thankful that my husband is safely home at the head of our table this year
-Thankful for all the husbands and daddies who are not able to be home with their families this year.
-Thankful for good friends to spend the holiday with and hope that next year maybe we'll both have a husband at home!
-Thankful that my mom was such an awesome cook
-Thankful that my children are enjoying their piano lessons
-Thankful for techonology that allows us to keep up with family and friends in this far apart world
-Thankful for my little twins who are learning so fast and so much and even thankful for the messes sometimes because I know they won't last and I'll miss this time soon enough
-Thankful for my big boy who does so much to help and is such a good brother to his siblings
-Thankful for my big girl who is smart and wise beyond her years
-Thankful that we are all healthy
-Thankful for good health care and doctors
-Thankful for my family even though I miss them so!
-Thankful for my friends who have become family
-Thankful for the love of my husband
-Thankful for the love of God, his mercies and blessings and his Son, my salvation.

F is for... football, fall, fun, friends, family and food!

Wow, it's been a while since I've written anything here! Facebook is probably to blame as it's so nice to keep in touch with everyone that way. Anyway, we've had a busy fall and the first flakes of snow just fell this morning so winter is here! BB had a great first season of Pop Warner football as his team was undefeated. He played right tackle (#28) all this season and is looking forward to trying something new next year. He would rather be able to tackle someone instead of "just blocking!" It was exciting for us to watch him play but also a little sad for me as he's growing up so fast.

It was a beautiful fall here and we went for a little drive one Sunday in October while John was at home sick just to look at the beautiful colors and then stopped at the Burrville Cider Mill for some fresh apple cider doughnuts and cider and then playing at Thompson Park at the great playground they have there. Tried to have a picnic also, but it was just too blustery.

We've all been having fun with new friends and old. BG is excited to be a part of the local Nutcracker production this year mainly because her friend is in it and she gets to kick her leg over a mouse's head in her part as a soldier. She plays two boy parts but isn't too upset about not getting to wear a fancy dress and she even wears jeans a few times a week now! LG on the other hand is turning into a pink monster. I took her and LB shopping with me the other day and told them we were getting jeans for BB and LB and she said "and I want a skirt!" and was very put out that I wasn't considering getting her something fancy to wear. She's so cute with her reasoning, it's hard not to give in to her every request! She woke up from her nap in the car yesterday and said "I'm happy, Mommy!" BB is happy that some of his friends from our old street live closer to us on our new street so he gets to play with them more often. And I'm happy to have known a couple of friends long enough now that we can tell each others' stories to other people. I think it's sweet when a friend finishes your story with a sense of pride in what you've accomplished or a struggle you've gone through.


Halloween was a lot of fun this year with the little kids getting into it. LG said for a month out that she was going to be a 'black cat' and LB kept changing his mind until settling on a pirate. BB was a scarecrow and I have blisters on my fingers from the hot glue! Who knew it would be that difficult? BG decided to be a witch since LG was a black cat. It was fun to watch the little kids trying to understand trick or treating. LB really got into and ran between each house and told everyone 'I'm a pirate' while LG took her time looking at people and asking when are we trick or treating and when we told her we ARE trick or treating she laughed and said 'OHHH!' Several times last week LB put his pirate hat on and said he was going out to get some candy... and I'm glad it's mostly gone! When I picked them up at pre-school on Tuesday, his teacher said "LB was in rare form today." Apparantly he flooded the bathroom when he was in there washing his hands and wasn't very responsive to usual commands. Have some more candy...



In other food news, I've been trying some different things to cut down our grocery costs. I finally got a good waffle iron and I love it. Even took a picture of it with a stack of waffles ready to go in the freezer! No more Eggo's here. I just make extra batter whenever we have waffles and freeze the rest. I also made a bunch of meals using my new cookbook called "Fix it, Freeze it, Feast" based on recipes using warehouse club portions. So I've got a bunch of burritos and a couple of lasagnas, cheeseburger pie, pasta sauce, and chicken cordon bleu in the freezer. That, along with the case of pizza dough balls, and we've been eating well and fewer groceries needed and less fast food too! Oh, and this apple pie was so yummy I just had to take a picture of that too!

Since my last post on here I also had my body scan done for the thyroid cancer and it came back negative for any thyroid or cancer tissue left in my neck or elsewhere in my body! I won't need another scan for a year and then I won't have to withdraw from my Synthroid as I've had to for the last two scans. Yay for that! I need my energy and focus! I'm also finally in the therapeutic range for the Coumadin which means I don't have to have my finger pricked every week but now once a month. I was scheduled on 1 Dec for my next visit with my doctor and their office called me yesterday afternoon to reschedule because my doctor passed away suddenly on Tuesday. So sad for his family and all of his patients. He hadn't been my doctor for long, but I saw more of him in the last few months than any other doctor previously and I will greatly miss him and I thank him for saving my life this summer!

That about sums up the last couple of months here. That was nice to actually write a paragraph or two instead of a one line 'update,' maybe I'll do it again sometime soon!