6th Day of Gratitude- Purple Toes! Purple Toes!

This month wasn't going to always be so serious!! Gratitude comes in all forms, right? Sometimes we need to really appreciate the small things or the silly things or just the little, fun things too.

So yay for purple toenails and for doing something just for yourself that makes you smile every time you see it...


I'm thinking this is a little bit of a girl thing... but whatever... I am thankful for the little things that we can do that make us smile. Happy Saturday and enjoy your extra hour of sleep!

Fifth Day of Gratitude - Ahhh.... Sleeping In

With our early morning hours on the weekdays and busy Saturday and Sunday mornings, it seems sleeping in is such luxury. It is so much harder to get up when it is dark and cold out, I think. Today, the kids didn't have school and we told them last night that they could just relax and sleep in, and they did and for that, I am thankful!

I tip-toed into Zoey's room and even opened her curtains a little so that I could get enough light for this shot:


p.s. I am not even gonna say another word about how big her feet look! The girl is going to be in my shoes in no time!

4th Day of Gratitude (DoG) - Zoey in School

Zoey is a good student and works her very best at school and we are certainly proud of all of her hard work! Today was report card day and parent/teacher conferences. We decided to spontaneously reward her for her hard work by going out for dinner (her choice) and ice cream! Yum!

I am thankful for her hard work, and her nice teacher this year...

Third Day of Gratitude - Mornings with Max

Knowing that this is the last year of Max being home so much, I really cherish the time alone we do have each morning before school. Over the past year he has really wanted me to play with him more and more as well. Several times a morning I hear, "Mommy, do you want to play this with me?" or "Mommy, do you want to read this with me?" And well, I just can't so no to the request. There really isn't anything more important that needs my attention at this time anyway.

So today, I am thankful that I can stay home and play with my Max who still wants to play with me...

Here he is Smartwater Bowling! He really turns anything into a game!!



p.s. I'm also thankful for my super deal on Smartwater!!

Second Day of Gratitude (DoG) - Mom

Today is my mom's birthday! Hooray:) Happy Birthday, Mom!!

A post about gratitude today could not be about anything else, for sure! As I get older, I realize even more how much she has done for me and continues to do for me and my family. The prayers, the sacrifices, the time, the aching love... I'm beginning to get it. And am so, so thankful. For all of our similarities and all of our differences... each makes me learn and grow and appreciate...so, so thankful. I love you, Mom.

On Gratitude... and Pumpkin Carving

It's crazy to think that November is already upon us. It is true what they say, isn't it? Each year seems to go by faster than the one before. Zoey and I were picking something up at Target yesterday (Halloween) and they were already gearing up for Christmas.

With that sight in mind, I was thinking yesterday and today that I didn't want this month to past by in such a flurry and rush that I only spent one day being thankful. I certainly try to focus on the blessings, but sometimes fall short in the day-to-day. For a while, I experimented with a gratitude journal. Every night before I went to bed, I wrote five things down for which I was thankful. After a couple of days of writing the "family, friends, health, etc" down in some form or another, something changed. I noticed that throughout my day I would stop and take note of something that I could write down later. It made me see things a little differently. Better.

The real challenge was on the crappy days. BUT, these were also the days that I found it to be the most beneficial to me. If you haven't tried something like this, I recommend it. (there are even apps for it!)

So, why am I saying all this? Well, like I said, I didn't want November to rush by and me stopping to give thanks only on Thanksgiving. I have decided to do 30 Days of Gratitude (DoG for short because that would make my kids laugh) posts. My goal is to have a picture, too, because it definitely helps me learn in that area as well. Join me if you can, even if it just a comment or one post on your own blog.
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We have friends here in Ohio that we eat dinner with often. It is always casual, fun, and without expectations. This dinner has taught me that I need to have people over even when the house isn't perfect (ahem... never!), and that good friends don't care if you run out of dishes and you need to serve dessert on paper plates, and that the company is more important than the food, so if I try something new and it stinks, well, it just means we eat more dessert!! And that the good and bad of life happens and friends are nice to have around to share it. For all of that, I am grateful...

The other night our friends hosted a dinner and pumpkin carving night!

Check out these adorable cupcakes Stephanie made for the kids...




When I saw this one, I had to laugh... So Ross... the Guinness and the power tool, all for carving pumpkins!!


Here are the finished products all lit up:


The three that we did in particular...
Mine- dots!
Max- traditional face
Zoey- Stars!



And because I forgot to post... here is Zoey's Pumpkin Globe. All third graders do it as a project this time of year. I think it is so cool!



Happy November.

Trick or Treat

or Beggars Night... here in Ohio, which seems to never actually fall on the real Halloween...

So, for those of you that guessed Jesse from my Wordless Wednesday post the other day... you would be mostly correct. Zoey was a cowgirl, inspired by Jesse, from Toy Story. Max went along for the ride (cowboy) and finally was something besides a football player.

I have realized that my favorite part of sewing is definitely Halloween costumes! I let Zoey come up with the idea. She then draws out what she wants on paper, picking the colors for everything. I spend a couple of weeks just thinking about it in my brain, trying to figure out my best way to construct the costume (my domestic engineering, if you will) and then we hit the fabric stores and such and get building. So, I basically love the process of figuring out exactly how to make the costume and then (Bonus) the sewing part doesn't even have to come close to being perfect (I have some problems with that... went it comes to crafts, I am definitely not an attention to detail gal).

So, anyway. I just wanted to share my sewing revelation. All this to say, I had fun making our cowboy and cowgirl come to life... YEEHAW!



Here Zoey is saying, "Howdy, Partner!" with a tip of her hat...






Doing a little cowboy ho-down dancing...


Zoey set this next pose up... with her serious face.




Getting into character...


My cowboy at Sunset...


And ross with fire... keeping me warm as I passed out candy. I love to be out there with it all, seeing the kids run up from far away, so this was perfect!


The kids were so excited all day! Along with our special day to trick or treat, we also have a city wide set time. This I like. It does mean we start before it is even dark out, but that's okay. We had a perfect night with a glorious sunset to finish it off! Fun.