Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for (family, friends, health, a roof over our heads) but I am most thankful for the family I am blessed to see everyday: the kids that keep me laughing (and crying) and the husband who supports me and loves me through it all.

We had a great Thanksgiving in Cincinnati but unfortunately I left my camera in Indianapolis. My mom took a few pictures of some fun moments so thanks for forwarding, Mom!

My parents & I took the girls to the annual Duke Energy Train Display in downtown Cincinnati. It is always a nice display and the girls were amazed at how tiny the trains were.

I loved this Little People sign....appropriate :)

Jason and I went to his 15 year high school reunion on Saturday night, and Jason's parents were nice enough to watch Matthew while my parents watched the girls. Since the girls have been saying that our house is going to be boring this year because we won't have a big Christmas tree (we keep showing them the Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the stores saying this is what we are buying) my parents decided to let the girls pick out my parents' Christmas tree and help them decorate it. At first the girls picked out a rather large tree but then were "encouraged" to get a smaller tree. It worked out for all: the girls got to decorate a tree at a non-boring house and my parents found slaves (I mean, Grandkids) to decorate their tree). A win-win!



The all important tree

Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!

Raising Readers

Usually Laney walks around "reading" The Giver or taking notes in her black notebook, but this past weekend she started to read Financial Peace. I thought this was just fabulous; maybe she can give me the cliffs notes version!

It's official

As of Tuesday night, it is official that our house is on the market. We all know how bittersweet this is for us. We are excited to get back home and raise our family in what we feel is the perfect school district and suburb for us, but we have made such great friends that we consider family, here in Fishers. If you read this blog, you are one of those friends!

We bought this house thinking we would stay 3-5 years. We have been here 8 years; not because we felt stuck but because we love it here. We love our house, the location, the rooms, but most importantly our neighbors. Our neighbors have kept us here....we love them like family and feel blessed to have been surrounded by so many who care for us.

We have two showings for this weekend and are excited to get some movement going. I hope it happens quickly but will have to keep our fingers crossed.

I had to include the listing pictures in this post so when I am old and I forget what our first house looks like, I can bring out the blog book :)

Whose house IS this?
I had a friend comment "I wish my house was this clean"
I responded, "Me too."
This was just a two second snapshot!

This is what was really happening when I was taking pics.
Trying to dodge the child jumping :)
The girls thought it was so funny to try and get in the pic!

Thanksgiving Feast

We are very lucky to have many Thanksgiving celebrations between family, preschools and Rainbow Day Care and today was our first one. Rainbow made a great feast and although Matthew enjoyed playing his infamous role, Captain Destructo, by destroying all of the styrofoam cups, we had a great time! He is quite a handful these days!

And since our Connor Prairie membership expired today, we went there one last time. The girls spent over 30 minutes in the craft area doing the weaving, magnets and coloring while Matthew enjoyed running behind the exhibits. I personally think he loved just watching me squeeze behind all of these tiny displays to grab him! What a great day with my kiddos!

Now that's how you do it folks



Need to clean you up too, Dad

Captain Destructo has been here!

Thanks Aunt Holly

My Aunt Holly is a retired teacher and principal who lives in Texas. A few months ago she was cleaning out her some of her old teaching supplies and came across some foam balls and blank puzzles. We happily accepted her offer to send them to Indiana and let's just say, all of the kids had fun with their projects. Matthew really enjoyed throwing the balls down and watching the styrofoam fly off while the girls enjoyed making their own puzzles. So fun! Thanks Holly!!

He was mad because I asked him to get down...how dare I ask such things!

Look who came over to play

Look at these two cute, matching boys :)

We tried to get a pic of all of the kids and then I realized that we were missing Laney and Reese.
Oh well, we tried :)

Ella loves baby Reid and how can she not....look how happy he is!

Matthew's baptism

This past Sunday was a very special day for our little man. Matthew was baptized! We were surrounded by lots of family (!!) offering support and love for Matthew. The service was beautiful and all three children did great. At our church, the kids do their own children's ministry while the adults worship but in the Episcopal Church, the children typically sit with the adults. There is a nursery for those 4 and under but since Matthew was being baptized we figured he should be with us and Laney said she wanted to be with Matthew.

A funny moment during the service was when the Reverend said, "We will now present the candidates for baptism." Matthew then responded with a loud "uh-oh." It was hysterical and those around us started cracking up.

What was really nice is the Reverend let the girls participate in Matthew's baptism. Laney held the towel to dry Matthew's head off and Ella held the oil that was dabbed on Matthew's forehead. It was so precious! I was given the baptism candle and once I blew it out, I let Ella hold it. Of course in front of the church, Laney started to pout as she wanted to hold it. Being the big girl Ella is, she put the candle in Laney's hand to hold. I guess being that close to the big cross made a good impression.

The more I look at this picture, the funnier I think it is.
My uncle Fred is behind the candle, you can't see Aunt Holly in the back, Laney is on the stool as if she got baptized. Oh well. We sure had a great group though :)

The girl cousins



My parents had a very nice reception for all of us after the baptism. My parents were great sports as we walked everyone around the house, pointing out what colors we are going to paint, what walls we are knocking down, what carpet we are getting rid of. Thanks for the reception and for being such great sports, Mom & Dad!

My Aunt Holly from TX was in town, and I was so glad she could join us for the special day

Congratulations, Matthew!
We love you!
You are definitely our gift from God and you make our family complete!