InstaFriday {late}, Thanksgiving and Christmas Lights.

We have been busy as I'm sure all of you have been too.

Since I have a had little time to blog the last couple of days, I thought I'd just throw all my ramblings into one.

Lets start.

I missed InstaFriday this week because I pretty much forgot that it was Friday.

Here's my cell pics from the week.

The littlest Raider fan and he even painted his face.

 They got to ride in the "cool" cart together for the first time. Big stuff for these guys.

 An afternoon movie with the cousins.

 He likes to use a beer coozie while having a little juice. Super classy.

 We went to the aquarium this past week.

It always cracks me up that the kids are always so fascinated with the frogs.

 Miss Radley reading about the sea life.

 The turtle was showing off.

 We made blackberry banana smoothies the day after Thanksgiving...so yummy.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful day.

We spent time with both sides of our family and Ethan told me it was the best day ever. 

Here are some pictures of the day.

The Lewis Family

Lewis cousins.

Just us.

My boys.

Game Time.

The last picture is horrible but it represents the most fun of the night. 

Every year after we've eaten Thanksgiving dinner and settled down a bit we play Left Right Center.

Have you ever played?

It's great for big groups, which is perfect for us, and we love it.

I heard that after we left (kids needed to go to bed) the rest of the gang busted out the wave while playing.

My family is awesome. 

On Saturday Brett got all the decorations out of the garage and I've been working on decorating the house. 

I think this is the first year I've had all the decorating done before December 1st.

Well all but the tree.

Today the boys "helped" Brett with the lights.

They only managed to break one light.

Not too bad. 

I hope you've had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Thanksgiving {and a new tradition}.

While we were having dinner tonight we went around the table saying what we are thankful for.

Ethan replied, "I'm thankful for my whole garden and my whole family."

So simple and sweet.

While I could go on and on for all I am thankful for, I'm keeping it simple as well.

I'm thankful for Brett, my boys, the roof over our heads and our health.

Right now, in this moment I couldn't ask for more. 

I'm happy and fulfilled.

I have a great sense of contentment, which is not always easy for me, and I like how it feels.

I love our life, what we are doing, what we are learning and how we are growing (I know that sounds really cheesy but it's true).

I'm also loving the stages the boys are in right now, while they are sometimes rough, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I don't want to forget it.

So this year, I'm starting a new tradition.

I'm writing both of the boys letters of thanks, telling each one why I am thankful for them at this time in their lives. 

I'll put them away in their keepsake boxes and hopefully years from now we can sit around the table at Thanksgiving dinner and cry as we read all the letters I have written over the years..

At least that's how I see it playing out in my head. 

I know things will change as time goes on and I don't want to forget why I'm thankful for each of them in their own special unique way.

Lastly, Happy Thanksgiving to you.

I hope you enjoy the holiday with those you love most.

I know I will be and thanking the Lord for every minute of it. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

  1 Chronicles 29:13

"Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name."

This Morning.

I've had a rough morning. 

Jacob has decided that 5ish or so is a suitable time to wake up everyday.

I've tried to convince him otherwise but he doesn't seem to believe me.

And when he wakes up, he's up. 

No cuddling or holding or laying in my bed. He's ready to eat, play and climb.

Which means no easing into the day. I have to be alert and on the ball.

I wasn't happy about that this morning.

I was instantly in a bad mood. 

It didn't take long for Ethan to wake up, since he could hear his little brother up and running around.

They soon started pulling and rolling around on one another which never ends good.

It wasn't long before I heard crying and screaming coming from them and it wasn't even 7am yet.

Breakfast wasn't going well, the kids were whiny, I needed coffee.

I started getting frustrated with the kids, being too harsh and short.

I complained and whined to my husband.

I went to the bathroom and cried for a minute.

All this just made things worse, obviously.

I dropped Ethan off at preschool, late, and headed to Starbucks. I needed it!

As I sat in the drive-thru I saw that a friend posted this on facebook.

It hit me right in the face.

It's not like this is a new concept, but I needed to read those words.

I'm sitting here crying and complaining, to my loving husband, in my cozy house about my two beautiful kids, while I really should be thanking God for all this and so much more.

Oh, how selfish and ungrateful I felt right then.

Now that doesn't mean I'm going to discount my feelings of exhaustion or being overwhelmed, but I most definitely do not need to take it out on anyone else, especially those I love the most.

 There are far too many days I choose to focus on what I don't have or what is not going my way, when I really should be focusing on all the greatness God has blessed me with.

It's really so simple when I think about it, so why do I make it so hard.

So I'm choosing to change my attitude today. 

Thank You God!

Thank You for all I have!

Thank you for all you have given me!

Thank you!

Have you thanked God today?

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Thanksgiving. {a family affair}

Thanksgiving is all about family. Eating, laughing, sharing, watching football and spending time together. I look forward to it every year. 

Family is always close to the top of  my thankful list during Thanksgiving, but I realized this year that even though I'm thankful for family I haven't really let "family" sink in.

You see, I have a uniquely large family, and by large I mean huge. 

My mom is one of eleven children. Think about that for a minute, one of eleven, and they only had one bathroom in their house. Yikes. My aunt figured out that Jacob is the 68th direct descendant of my grandparents. 68th! Just 12 days later the 69th was born and my sister is having the 70th in January. It's incredible that two people who decided to marry 70ish years ago has resulted in so many people in such a short period of time. 

 The number continues to grow when you add in my dad's side of the family with about 20 people.

I have been so fortunate to have such a large close family. Some of my greatest childhood memories are from large family functions. There is never a dull moment. Something is always going on, and we never do anything small. Thanksgiving dinner usually consists of at least thirty people. I love it! I love the craziness of our get togethers. I love that there are is always a group of us for the smallest of occasions. I love that within a 5 mile radius of my house there are roughly 30 people I can call who are willing to help me in a moments notice.  

 Then it occurred to me, not only am I fortunate for all these people, but my boys get to grow up with all these wonderful people too. Not only do they have my family but Brett's also. They have aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, cousins, second cousins, cousins two, three, four time removed (whatever all that means). There's not a lot of kids out there that can say that. We have a unique situation and I'm thankful for each person that makes up our family. 

For as long as I can remember on Thanksgiving I have always said I am thankful for my family, but it took me 30 years to really understand why I am thankful for them.

A Thankful Reminder.

For the last couple of days I've been having my own little pity party.

I'm tired, cranky, my house is a mess, I don't know the last time I washed my hair, I want to wear my regular jeans, I want my old schedule back. I've been mean to Brett for no real good reason and my patience has been short with Ethan on a few occasions.

I hear myself complaining and know that I am being foolish, but the words just keep coming out. 

I know my little pity party has a lot to do with the hormones raging through my body right now and my lack of sleep. But to be honest, it's unacceptable. I'm only making myself feel worse.

And then today I watched Oprah.

I actually think God wanted me to watch Oprah, yes, silly as that may sound. 

I'm not really a huge fan of Oprah, she scares me a little, but I sometimes will watch her show.

Earlier in the week I had seen the previews for her Friday show and I was interested. She was giving away ultimate dreams to deserving people and announcing the next book for her book club. 

I was most interested in the book announcement. 

When Friday came around I forgot to watch and didn't really think twice about it. 

Then last night when I was feeding Jacob around midnight I remembered that her show is run again at 1:30 in the morning. 

I decided to record it. 

(Trust me, this is leading somewhere)

So today while Brett and Ethan were outside and I was giving Jacob a bottle I decided to watch the show.

Her first guest was a woman that I will never forget.

A few years ago she went into the hospital to give birth to her second child. Everything was seemingly fine. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, but unfortunately she had developed a flesh eating disease and the only way to save her life was by amputating both of her legs and arms. 

Over the next few years she had to learn how to care for herself, her daughters, and husband, all while trying to maneuver around a small cramped apartment that was not handicap accessible. 

To top it off, her husband had recently lost his job and was having a hard time finding work.

And this woman has a good attitude about life everyday. She has made due with what she has been giving and she has a smile on her face.

As I sat there watching, and crying of course, I felt so ashamed of myself and my sad little pity party. 

I have a house, a husband with a job, two healthy children, and for cryin' out loud all of my limbs.

And I'm feeling sorry for myself because I haven't taken a shower and I want some more sleep. 

I was being ridiculous. I was being selfish. I was taking everything I have for granted. 

I instantly changed my attitude. I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I prayed. I instantly felt lighter. 

My problems are not really problems at all. God has given me and my family so much to be grateful for.

I won't forget that woman and I hope the next time I'm having a little pity party, which will happen again I'm sure, she will pop into my mind and I will thank the Lord for what he has given me.