Goodbye, November!

This has been a truly lovely and enjoyable November.

Christmas feels like it will arrive sooner than it normally does, what with Thanksgiving being so late this year, but that's okay.

Speaking of Christmas, we were caught unawares by Santa at Lowe's yesterday (we left the house around 10 a.m., hoping most of the crowds had dispersed):

Had I known in advance we were going to be photographed at Lowe's, I probably would have made the children change clothes. However, I'm glad I didn't know, because that's an accurate picture of how we normally look: a little strange (HA!).

And, no, those Santa hats and reindeer antlers were NOT props provided for the picture by the good people at Lowe's. They were accessories thoughtfully chosen at home and purposely worn out into public by my children, who are experts at keeping me humble.

On to December!

Literal Children

The children came downstairs dressed like this today:

I thought they might have chosen to dress as ninjas this morning, but they informed me their outfits were in honor of Black Friday.

They are nothing if not committed.

A Cozy Home and an Easy Meal

Happy Thanksgiving!

I forgot to post yesterday, but I was (am) VERY thankful for our cozy home, including this Thanksgiving corner that is already looking like Christmas, less than 24 hours later:

This year it was just the six of us for Thanksgiving, and we decided to order a complete Thanksgiving meal from Cracker Barrel. I ordered it online, chose a pick-up time, drove to the back of the restaurant thanks to several clearly-marked signs pointing me toward the Thanksgiving meal pick-up, and someone loaded it into my car:

All I had to do today was follow the included official Cracker Barrel heating instructions and voila! No shopping for food, no cooking (therefore no dirtying what always feels like hundreds of measuring spoons and measuring cups), and hardly any dishes.

So thank you, Cracker Barrel. From the bottom of my heart.

Indoor Days

Today we had a lazy, indoor day (until we had to leave the house for gymnastics this afternoon). The weather was gloomy, the children were happy playing Legos on the living room floor, and I started to put out some Christmas decorations (there is currently a strange mixture of Thanksgiving and Christmas decor in the house).

We don't have any obligations until Sunday, so I'm going to enjoy every moment, and do my best to relax (something I'm not good at, ha!).

Opportunities to Serve and Carpooling

Yesterday (Sunday) we attended a birthday party at an indoor trampoline park. It was a 5th birthday party for our friends' daughter (the mom is currently deployed). Near the end of the party, the birthday girl slipped on the floor and busted open her chin. Our friend, obviously, needed to take his daughter to the emergency room, and we offered to bring the birthday girl's older sister home with us (both girls are friends with our kids and are comfortable at our house).

It was the very least we could do, bringing big sister home with us, and it made the ER visit MUCH simpler for our friend.

I'm thankful for opportunities to serve, and for our children to learn that service can take pretty much any form.

Speaking of service, today I am thankful for carpooling. Sydney and Lorelei on are the same basketball team as their friend down the street, and the friend's mom took Sydney and Lorelei with them to tonight's practice. That is all: I am thankful that tonight my neighbor was willing to drive the carpool.

Happy Monday!

Babysitters and Grammar

Oops, I didn't post yesterday!

Last night we hired a babysitter and went on a double date with Chet's parents to a restaurant we love. Babysitters are the best. I always want to give them $200 because I'm just so thankful they took care of our children for us for a couple of hours.

Ruthie has SUCH bad grammar, but I love it (I would have FREAKED OUT if first-born Sydney's grammar had been as bad). She asked me a few minutes ago, "Why do Daddy sometimes wear him clothes to bed tonight?" WHAT?!

Earlier this evening, while the other children watched a movie Ruthie wasn't interested in, she was playing upstairs, managing her baby dolls and no doubt using a whole package of real baby wipes on her fake babies (as long as it makes her happy, FINE). She came downstairs and asked me, "Can I have a couple tissues? A LOT of tissues. But not ALL of them, just a little bit, but a LITTLE bit a lot. Some. But A LOT."

Go for it, Sister.

Volunteers

I didn't track down that scary "before" picture of our bedroom yet. Soon!

Today I'm thankful for volunteers. I believe I've mentioned Sydney, Lorelei, and Ford are playing basketball this season. I'm not sure yet if Ford's age group does official teams, or if they will just divide the children into teams on game days. I'll keep you posted.

Sydney and Lorelei ARE on official teams, and are (thankfully) on the same team. Their friend from down the street is also on their team (woo hoo for carpooling!), and they are the Spartans.

Sydney's and Lorelei's coaches are a husband/wife pair whose granddaughter plays on the team. They seem to be really good at explaining things to all the girls, and they are SO kind. I'm just thankful that there are people in our community who volunteer their time and talents so that my children can have a positive sports experience.

On to Friday, friends!

Clean Rooms

We have family in town today (Chet's parents!), and they are sleeping in our bedroom while they're here. There is more room for suitcases in our bedroom, AND it means they get their own bathroom (because sharing a bathroom with a 9-, 8-, 5-, and 3-year old is gross).

Because guests are sleeping in our bedroom, it's never been cleaner:

Our bedroom is humongous; I would have rather them given more square footage to the closet and bathroom, but that's okay.

I thought I had a terrifying "before" picture that I took a few months ago when this room was in transition, but I can't find it. I'll look for it and post it later!

Happy Wednesday!

No Frills

Or, at least, very few frills.

Today I'm thankful for our last homeschool group meeting for the year, and that it was a beautifully simple affair.

We learned, we worked, we celebrated, and now we rest.

That is all. Like I said...time to rest.

Canvas

I'll post the picture I wanted to a few days ago when my pictures wouldn't load properly:

I bought this canvas recently from Lindsay Letters, and LOVE IT SO MUCH. I've been wanting to purchase something from her shop for at least a year, and I finally found the perfect item. "O Holy Night" is my favorite Christmas song for sure, but also a song that fills me with hope any day of the year.

I have a feeling I'll leave this canvas up all year long at our house. I'm so thankful for talented people who create beautiful art.

A (Mostly) Lovely View and Team Effort

I meant to post last night (Saturday), but I ran over to my neighbor's house "real quick" to get Lorelei,  and then Chet and the other kids ended up joining us and we all ended up coming home at midnight, so... (Those are our favorite kind of neighbors though.)

Yesterday morning I went for a long (cold) training run, and I had a lovely view:

I almost cropped the random orange cone and drainage pipe out of the picture, but this is a perfect representation of south Mississippi: beautiful, but also a little bit hillbilly.

This evening Chet, the kids, and I all banded together and "tidied the house." It wasn't TOO messy, but we had a full weekend and things weren't exactly where they were supposed to be. And I don't like waking up Monday morning to chaos (although it happens sometimes). (Let's all agree that probably no one likes waking up Monday morning to chaos.)

Lest you think we were all singing "Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go!" as we worked harmoniously...no. Everyone kept their cool, but there were some close calls. But I am still thankful for the opportunity to train our children, working together toward a common goal, and a tidy home when it's all over.

Happy Sunday, friends!

O.C.C.

I posted this on Instagram, but Sydney, Lorelei, Ford, and I went to Target this morning to fill our four Operation Christmas Child boxes.

Ruthie stayed with a babysitter, which may be the smartest decision I've ever made.

The kids were VERY excited to choose things to put in the boxes, but I had to remind them several times to please stop talking all at once and asking "What about this?!" about EVERYTHING IN THE STORE.

It was a tad bit overwhelming (for me).

In addition to leaving Ruthie with a babysitter, I'm also glad I chose a weekday morning to run the errand. We don't normally go to the store on weekdays during school hours, but I knew it would be WAY too crazy to navigate a place like Target on a Saturday, and with such a specific shopping list to follow.

I love any opportunity that helps teach our privileged children that the world is so much bigger than the one they know. They get a taste of that as military kids, but there's still so much they have no idea about. So I'm thankful for service opportunities like Operation Christmas Child to help them learn, a little bit at a time.

Funny Kids

I'm thankful for the comic relief kids provide, especially in this midst of this oftentimes overwhelming season of life.

Ruthie loves playing with stuffed animals, and will often bring one to me and say something like, "This is my puppy, and he's very soft, but he bites."

Earlier I told Ford to relax, and he said he could only relax when he has a glass of lemonade.

Sydney and Lorelei are also funny, but more intentionally so at ages 9 and 8. I can't think of anything they've said recently (sorry!), but we find ourselves laughing at the same things together, and I love that.

I hope you were able to chuckle about something today! Happy Thursday!

Friends-Who-Are-Like-Family

I was going to be thankful for some of my plants and a new canvas I bought, but for some reason my pictures aren't downloading as quickly as I think they should, so I'll be thankful for something else today.

One of the biggest joys and privileges of being a Navy family is the friends-who-are-like-family that we've met. We've acquired more than what feels like our fair share, and I'm EXTREMELY thankful.

Our next-door neighbors in California fall into this category. They also moved to the Gulf coast (Florida) this past summer and I'm delighted that we've already seen them a handful of times in just a few months.

This past weekend we spent Saturday night in Pensacola to visit them and to celebrate our friend's Navy promotion. The children played together as if they still lived next door to each other (Sydney and Lorelei even spent the night to prolong the fun).

Friends-who-are-like-family are truly a gift.

New Mercies

Lamentations 3:22-23 says:

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."

Today I am thankful that each morning we wake up to a new day, full of the Lord's mercies.

Yesterday (Monday) evening some of our children went to bed disgruntled (and so did their mom).

I'm thankful we woke up to a fresh Tuesday, went to school and gymnastics, and now everyone is in bed, less disgruntled than yesterday.

We have much to be thankful for.

Happy Veterans Day!

It's Veterans Day, so I'm thankful for our country's veterans!

Here is a picture of Chet and Lorelei last month, when they attended the commissioning of the U.S.S. Cincinnati.

I don't currently have the patience to search for any more Veterans Day-appropriate pictures, but a HUGE thankful to all those who have served (my dad and stepdad included), and continue to serve.

Dishwashers and Health

I went to bed last night feeling like I was forgetting something -- posting on the blog!

Yesterday I was thankful for (Navy) base living, because a maintenance company handles our needs (much like an apartment complex). We'd been having dishwasher problems, so they ordered us a new one and installed it yesterday. We can give the company permission to enter our homes and complete maintenance if we're away (which we do), so even better that the dishwasher was installed while the kids and I were at Walmart picking up groceries. It was like magic (the newly-installed dishwasher AND the grocery pickup, ha!).

Today I'm thankful for our general health, even though Ruthie has been sick today.

She threw up a couple of times this morning and has been on the couch sleeping pretty much all day. It's easy to feel down and frustrated when your child is sick, but it's important (for me) to remember that there are other children and families struggling with much more serious illnesses.

I hope your Friday was lovely -- I'll not be posting tomorrow (Saturday), but should be back Sunday!

Play

I snapped this picture this morning:

Apparently all of Ruthie's stuffed animals were having a morning meeting.

I've minimized our home enough (including the kids' toys) that even if there's a "huge" mess (for the record, the picture above is NOT what I consider a huge mess, ha!), it can be cleaned up quickly, especially when everyone pitches in.

I've been better lately about not stressing over intricate toy scenes staged around our home, because it means they're using their creative little minds to play (and usually together). (Emphasis on BETTER; I'm still a recovering perfectionist.)

I suppose this means I'm thankful for my quest for minimalism, but more so for the creative play that happens in our home each and every day.

Lorelei, Ford, Ruthie

Our homeschool group meets Tuesdays, and this year (4th grade) Sydney started the afternoon language arts program (English grammar and writing) that goes along with our curriculum. This means that after lunch Sydney and I go to class while Lorelei, Ford, and Ruthie go to the childcare room from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Normally there are other younger siblings with them in the childcare room and a teenaged sibling that cares for all the children. Today the teenaged sibling couldn't be there, and the other families with younger siblings were able to make other arrangements...leaving Lorelei, Ford, and Ruthie the only ones ones in need of someone to watch them.

Thankfully the iPad was in the car with a couple of movies downloaded onto it. My kids usually wander off in the middle of the movie to do something else, and they did that today too, but overall  they played very nicely together and didn't need me for anything (I checked on them from our classroom two doors down every 15 minutes or so, and Ruthie came in a couple of times to sit on my lap).

Good job, kiddos!

Everything?

Whew. It's been a DAY. Lots of school work accomplished (with Ruthie at the babysitter's house), basketball "tryouts" (not sure why they use that term since everyone is put on a team) for Sydney and Lorelei this evening, and children (and parents) who are still not used to the time change and are at the ends of their ropes come bedtime.

Yet...I am still thankful. I'm thankful for Domino's Pizza for dinner tonight, and for the washing machine and dryer that do my laundry for me (there are currently several unwashed piles waiting patiently for their turns in the machines), and for Ford -- who should be in bed -- asking me deep questions such as, "But WHY is there no very last number? I DON'T GET IT!"

Happy Monday, friends.

Running

(I'm posting this just under the wire -- eek!)

I'm thankful for a body that has the ability to run. I'm training to run a half marathon in mid-December, and I completed a 7-mile run this morning before church (thanks to the time change!).

That was the very shortest thing I could think of to post about before falling into bed (ha!).

Hope everyone had a lovely Sunday!

Soccer

Today I'm thankful for Sydney's soccer league. Sydney plays through a program called i9 Sports, and while it it not a perfect program, it is currently perfect for us.

Like most American parents, I have to fight against the urge to make sure my kids are ALWAYS EXCELLING (!!!) at whatever they participate in. Part of that is due to my (sometimes overbearing) personality, but it's also most definitely an American problem.

This sports program has allowed Sydney to have fun playing soccer without it taking over our lives. Is she getting the very best coaching the state of Mississippis has to offer? No. Does she NEED the very best coaching the state of Mississippi has to offer? Nope. Is it far more important for her mother to be nice and calm because she has a manageable schedule? YES.

Despite touting all this wisdom about youth sports, I still have to remind myself almost daily that it really is okay if there are better programs out there that we're not participating in. Again, this is mostly a (my) personality problem. So in addition to being thankful for i9 Sports, I'm also thankful I have a healthy family and that we live in a country where worrying about soccer programs is a thing. Lord, help me keep things in perspective.

Happy Saturday!

A Season of Thanksgiving

September flew by, but October came and went in the blink of an eye.

I've claimed for years that October is my favorite month, but I think November is actually my new favorite. I won't go on and on about how I'm a Halloween grinch like I usually do (you can read all about that HERE and HERE), but I AM thankful the best day of the year (November 1st) has arrived!

I've done it before, often halfheartedly (not on purpose!), but I'm going to strive to post each day in November, focusing on thankfulness. I almost talked myself out of writing a blog post this morning, but persevered, and I even updated the blog background and my "recently read" book list on the sidebar!

This first day of November I'm thankful for a safe neighborhood where our children can trick-or-treat, and I'm equally thankful that I was finally allowed to throw away all the fake spiderwebs on our bushes after the kids were in bed last night. Here are pictures of our Halloween decorations, as well as the kids in their costumes (Sydney was a ninja; Lorelei was Harry Potter; Ford was quidditch-playing Harry Potter; Ruthie was a monkey -- it was cold and windy last night!).

Happy November 1st!