Thanksgiving 2016

Happy belated Thanksgiving 2016! We survived hosting in our new house. We had 16 people here and everything went smoothly. The food was good, the company was great and our house was officially broken in. I forgot to mention that we also had three big dogs here. It was a full house!

I woke up the following day SO EXCITED for our traditional day-after-Thanksgiving family time. We picked up a Christmas tree the easy way this year (no tree farm), which diminished the experience a bit but gave us more time at home together. The boys have been bouncing off the walls, so excited that it's finally Christmas season.

We are constantly working on getting settled into our house, but we've been able to relax and enjoy it, too. I still ask Dan to pinch me at least once a day because I can't believe we have such a cozy perfect-for-us home. We have MUCH to be thankful for! It is crazy to think back to six or seven months ago and how much we've done and also how much has changed for us since then. Wow! We are so blessed and grateful for everything that has transpired.

Elijah gets a new behavioral aide who will be coming into our home starting tomorrow (she'll come one or two evenings/week after school). E is still loving chess and music class and Sammy is constantly creating art projects that are spread out alllllll over our house. :) The boys have a full week of school this week so we need to wrap up some dreaded homework this evening and prepare for the week ahead. Thanks for peeking in and I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!

Blessed!

We are listening to a series at church on being blessed, so I will continue with that theme for our family. We are so super blessed! Not every mom is able to get their kiddos off the bus every day and spend a majority of her day with a new puppy. Not every person is able to work from home doing her DREAM job. Not everyone can spend all of spring break with her cute boys. We are blessed and grateful beyond words! 

Spring break was packed with fun things and I mean PACKED. We loved every minute of it! One night we had the boys' second cousin over for a sleepover. She is the sweetest, cutest little thing and the kids all had a blast together. We can't wait to do it again! 

Another day I took the boys and Elijah's bff to see Zootopia. It was such a cute movie and the kids all had a fun time. Look at these happy faces! I love it!

We gave Buddy tons of love and attention. He has been chewing on things less, but still a lot. He gets into moods throughout the day when he seems to NEED to chew and rebel. Today he started chewing toilet paper off of the rolls in the bathroom. Seriously. When I try to remove something from his mouth, he refuses to drop said object unless there is a treat staring him in the face. He is a lot of work, but he is so worth it. The boys adore him. We can tell that he is going to be a very good doggy. He went to his first puppy kindergarten class on Saturday and we learned so much about how to train him. We love our Bud who likes to chew on everything....including broccoli and kale! :)

My dad and stepmom were in town for a few days and we were so happy to spend time with them. We did some fun things while they were here, including BOWLING followed by McDonald's! They were able to spend some time in school with each boy and that was so special for everyone.

The boys have had a few great days in school this week. Elijah has received two GREAT reports from his teachers. Yay!

I am still trying to figure out a routine with work and puppy during the day. It is challenging! Productivity for Pip and Ebby is an an all-time low, but we will get there. Like I said, we are BLESSED!

Thanks for checking in!!

Easter Blessings

This time of year gives me joy. The warmer weather is obviously a huge bonus, but Easter holds a super special place in my heart. A few years ago we had just started attending a new church and we were LOVING it. A few weeks into our new church venture, Elijah was able to be a part of the children's Easter program. The kids went in front of church and performed sign language along with singing to Jeff Deyo's Bless The Lord while Jeff Deyo himself sang on stage behind them. I remember being so completely overwhelmed and moved as I took it all in. It was Elijah's first time performing in church. It was Easter, which obviously has precious meaning. The music was INCREDIBLE. My heart was full and I felt the Holy Spirit sink into me. After that service I was on cloud nine. As we left church, I realized that I had not previously truly known Jesus before walking into church that day. When I walked out of church, He was with me and He has been ever since. So now, every time anyone mentions Easter I feel happiness and peace. Easter 2013 was when I finally understood and felt Jesus for the first time in my life.

Despite the sickness that has been running rampant in our family for the past three months, I feel a buzz in the air. Easter is upon us. It's the third anniversary of my true understanding and also the celebration of Jesus' resurrection. And so it seems fitting that we were immensely blessed today. 

Elijah was up early as usual this morning. He was reading in the loft at 6:30 and came RUNNING into our bedroom. "MOMMY! MOMMY! Someone is furiously ringing our doorbell!" I could barely comprehend this, but knew that I should force Dan downstairs to scope things out. :) As he got dressed I peeked out the window and saw a ton of footprints in the fresh snow in our yard. I stared, confused! Who came to our house? What was going on?! Just then a car pulled up and the passenger stared at our front door. I had the thought that maybe our house was burning down or maybe someone was trying to rob us.

When we opened the front door there were three huge Easter baskets filled with goodies greeting us, along with dozens of Easter eggs (candy inside) sitting in the snow for the boys. We were filled with confusion as we pulled everything inside. The boys put their boots on and excitedly collected eggs in the near-dark. As we dug through the baskets, we realized that some very generous people had come to our house. We were completely overwhelmed by the gifts we received. We are still trying to wrap our heads around the generosity.

Dan and I have been chatting about it all day. It is hard to accept such amazing gifts or feel like we are deserving, but we DO receive them and appreciate the generosity and we will of course pay it forward. This time of year brings such major blessings! We are grateful. God is so good to us all. Blessings are ALL around us!

Thanks for peeking in! Bless you all!