Precious Moments

This Thanksgiving was a special one for our family. We love hosting at our house and this year there were fourteen of us. I used to stress out about entertaining that many people in our home, family or not, but not anymore. The past few years it's become such a joy. Each family contributes several dishes to the feast and it's so nice that way. We get to taste some great recipes and those who have a "specialty" can choose to bring that for everyone to share. The four kids were big enough to sit at the little table and the adults enjoyed the extended dining table and lots of laughs. The weather was quite mild so after lunch everyone relaxed on the back patio while the kids played in the yard.

For black Friday we opted to load up as a family once the kids were awake and start the morning off with donuts around 7:30am. Anna and I stopped into Old Navy (where we were one of about three families shopping) and found some cute items for our upcoming family pictures while the boys went over to Lowe's. Then we all met back up and went to Academy and Tractor Supply. I did a little online shopping on Land's End and Kohl's for Christmas later that day. That was the extent of our shopping. Thankfully we are really quite ready for Christmas in the way of gift-giving so there was no pressure to stand in line for certain items over the weekend. Friday afternoon we put up the exterior Christmas decorations and I got the mantle decorated. For the first time in the more than ten years Mark and I have been together, we set up the Christmas village and train set at the near-begging request of Ian.

On Saturday we put up the Christmas tree and the kids' little 3-foot tree and finished the interior decorations. And after church on Sunday Ian (sort of) helped me decorate both trees while Anna napped. When Anna woke up she immediately went to the tree and examined all of the ornaments. She was really drawn to those with baby photos and animals. And she likes seeing the ornaments with Mark and me and Coal pictured together - before kids.

Sunday night we went to Braum's for dinner and our milk/OJ items (Braum's milk is like gold in this house...if you've had it, you know how good it is) and the kids thoroughly enjoyed sharing one side of the booth while Mark and I shared the other side.

And that's when one of the sweetest things my son has ever said was shared. Ian hugged Anna, kissed the top of her head and announced to me that he was going to marry Anna. Now you and I know that isn't possible but that's how he could best express his love for his sister. It was precious. When I gently explained that they are brother and sister and couldn't marry each other, Ian asked why. After attempting to further explain that even though they couldn't marry, they will always be brother and sister and share so much love. Ian said he didn't care. He was going to marry Anna ten times so she could wear ten wedding rings. Ha! He's so cute and has such a big heart. And nothing means more to him than his family and his close friends.

After dinner we drove around to look at Christmas lights for the first time this season - as early as it may be. We weren't disappointed. One of the most infamous houses for extravagant lights in our area was as bright as ever and the kids went nuts! I can't even type out how Anna says Christmas lights but it's something like 'Kwitmo lights' and it's hysterical because she says it so amazingly fast. All we heard from the backseat of the truck was each child yelling to look at the lights out of their window and then a loud, "Ooohhh!" from each of them. It really does make my soul smile to see how such simple things in life can make a child so amazingly joyous!

Veterans Day

Just wanted to post a BIG THANK YOU to each and every service person out there - both active and retired. My heart goes out to those families who have a troop serving overseas and especially to those families who's loved one is missing in action. May God bless each service member and their family! Our freedom, in so many senses of the word, is solely because of your unfailing dedication to our country. Thank you!

The anti-holiday message

I was disturbed to see an article online today stating that several major retailers have decided to open on Thanksgiving Day this year. As if it wasn't bad enough to see stores open at 4am (instead of what was once "early" at 6am) this past year, now they are said to be opening as early as 10pm on Thanksgiving. I am no stranger to the Black Friday sales but I am usually on the hunt for a few specific things that are realistic to get - Target's flannel pjs for the kids, a specific toy, home appliance, or bedding like Target's flannel sheets. Mark and I ventured out to Kohl's Black Friday sale a few years ago and we will never do that again. At least Target is not a stampede and is rather well-organized. I get there minutes before the doors open (none of this waiting in line for hours or overnight for me) and have never missed out on an item I was in search for.

 

And because of the chaos, injuries and even deaths reported in past years at some big box chains around the nation, I refuse to shop at certain stores (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Toys R Us, and Kohls) on Black Friday or that entire weekend. I will not risk my health or safety for a discounted crock pot or portable DVD player.

I actually went the opposite way with my holiday shopping this year. I finished shopping for the kids and my two nephews in October - all while getting great deals on unique gifts I think each child will be thrilled with and stuck to the budget agreed upon by our entire family. I keep a spreadsheet of what I've purchased so we don't over spend. And most of my shopping was done online because of the huge benefits - online coupons, sales on merchandise not easily found in the actual stores, convenience of shopping when I have the time, and delivery (often free) right to my door! And my side of the family has decided to not trade gifts among the adults from now on and Mark and I are happy with that. We feel blessed to not "need" anything and the kids' extended family would rather focus on picking out a few special gifts for the kids instead. And we're excited to be sponsoring an Angels foster child this year for Christmas. I think the kids will love shopping for their "buddy" and sharing the gifts at the Christmas party in December.

As so many people posted, in response to the article I mentioned above, retailers are taking the meaning out of the holidays by requiring their employees to come in ON holidays. I absolutely disagree with chain stores earning bigger profits at the sacrifice of family time and true celebration of the holidays.

And truth be told the so-called deals everyone are after will probably be posted again closer to the holidays so why should we dash from the dining room table and abandon our family time - which is already so scarce because of overwhelming schedules and to-do lists every other day of the year? I just don't buy it {pun intended}.

So I will refuse to shop at stores (in person or online) on Thanksgiving Day and I hope you'll join me in saying NO to the retailers this coming Thanksgiving holiday.

Oklahoma's 5.6

Last night just before 11pm we had a 5.6 earthquake with an epicenter in Sparks, just outside Prague, Oklahoma, only about sixty miles away. I had already been asleep and it woke me up. Mark was not fully asleep so he woke up, too. We sat in bed and could hear the rumble of the quake and saw everything sort of "roll" and shake in the house. It was really wild. It sounded like a long, solid rumble of thunder and lasted what seemed like a minute or so but reports state it was probably only 15-30 seconds at most. Nothing was knocked over or damaged at our house but reports on the news showed chimneys collapsing into homes, cracks throughout brick home walls, cabinets emptied, etc. in and around Prague.

On Saturday morning there was a 5.2 earthquake in Oklahoma but it happened around 2am so we slept through it. Reports of the 5.6 quake were felt down in Dallas and as far as Wisconsin.

Then, on Sunday evening just after the kids went to bed we had a 4.7 quake that seemed shorter than the previous night but seeing the computer monitor on our desk and lamps shake in a wave-like motion was pretty wild. Oddly enough, that night we had thunderstorms, too, and within 48 hours there were tornadoes to our west. We are no stranger to wild, ever-changing weather but to have so many natural phenomenon this year...even within a week...is pretty strange!

Wide open spaces

I can not express how excited I am to finally be making this post!! After several years of combing the MLS listings for homes or land, daily visits to Realtor.com, dragging the kids to countless open houses and showings with our realtor, and regular weekend adventures to "look at land", we finally found what we've been searching so long for.

We have had dreams of building a home but with each opportunity we had to make that happen, there was always something not quite right. So we entertained buying an existing home but we were met with even more barriers. In August we were prepared to make an offer on a lot but within a matter of days the stock market tanked and the lot went under contract while we were on vacation. At the end of September we were prepared to make an offer on a home we liked but it went under contract overnight before we could make our offer. And now we know why these situations and SO many more didn't work out for us over the years. God always has a plan. So when we located this piece of land, everything seemed to fall into place and we knew quickly that it was right for us.

This morning we signed a contract to reserve a 1.75 acre (mol), hill-top tract in a fairly new development just a few miles northeast of where we live now. The neighborhood has 54 acreage lots total and our parcel offers clear northeast views about a half a mile out over the rolling hills and trees from what will be the front porch of our home and a clear view of the sunset to the southwest from the backyard.

This weekend we will begin interviewing one of our top three choices in builders. We hope to break ground in the spring and move in before the winter holidays next year.

The kids are very excited at the idea of moving. They look forward to having a house with stairs (because every kid LOVES playing on stairs), a big flat driveway to ride bikes on, and a giant yard to race their PowerWheels in. As Ian says, "this yard is big enough I could drive my four wheeler forever and never hit a bird feeder." Well said, my son. So we're excited to embark on our adventure "in the country" with wide open spaces.