We Are So Blessed

We had a great Thanksgiving with Paul's family - there were thirty of us this year, including both sets of grandparents. We hadn't seen Paul's grandparents in a long time, so that was especially nice for us. It was the first time they had met Chloe! We ate a delicious meal (I brought butternut squash casserole, which you've got to try - so easy and delicious! Ugh - I just noticed while creating the link that each serving has 13.5 g of fat!) and took some group photos outside. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We were also able to praise God as a group for how He has blessed us. It was wonderful to see the ways He has taught us and led us this past year. His lovingkindness is everlasting!

BTW, the pic of Noah is an Indian outfit that his preschool teacher made for him out of a pillowcase. The pic of the three babies is of Chloe (in the middle) and her two cousins Isabelle and Emilee.

Hubby Promo

All right...I've been tagged by Danielle to write 13 things that I love about my hubby. This must be a busy time of year for everyone, because others have said that they haven't spent much time with their husbands lately, and neither have I! So this list will probably make me miss him even more!

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, this is why I'm thankful for my hubby:

1. He loves the Lord.
2. He is a real family man - he would rather spend time with us than anyone else.
3. He is musical! I love hearing him sing and play the trumpet.
4. He supports me in my endeavors to have a profession teaching and playing piano.
5. He picks up fast food on the way home from work when I call him last minute to say I didn't cook!
6. He is so very handsome.
7. He can fix anything! (And we make sure there's lots of stuff around here to fix!)
8. He is a good provider for our family.
9. He is very generous with his time and possessions.
10. He loves to have fun. He will go anywhere and try anything no matter time, weather, traffic.
11. He understands that I need time to myself every so often.
12. He is a people-person. He loves to meet new people and renew old acquaintances.
13. He will watch a good chick-flick with me, even though I know he's really wanting to watch SportCenter. :)

Phil. 1:3 "I thank God upon every remembrance of you!" Love you honey!

I am tagging Amy, a friend from college and my sister-in-law Dayna.

I'm Officially Old

On Tuesday night we had a great concert at church with the Maranatha Symphonic Band. They played a great concert, with lots of interesting music, including one of my favorites "In the Bleak Midwinter", in which the players actually said shhhh to imitate the sound of falling snow (does it actually make sound? anyway...) We had a few girls stay at our house (including Joelle Isaacs - for all you Woodcrusties), and as we were visiting with them, I actually heard myself say "When I was at Maranatha..." and proceeded to tell of the two pay phones we had to use in the dorms (no phone in rooms), the old "dating lounge" in Old Main, the old gym where the student center now is, etc. As their eyes started to glaze over, I realized that I have joined the ranks of those people who used to come back to Maranatha and look with awe at all the new things that were going on. I'm old! I have three kids! That makes me very old! The girls were very nice and nodded their heads and oohed and aahed while Paul and I reminisced about the good old days.

So, in honor of Maranatha tours, I looked up some old pictures from choir tour '96 (it's cold and rainy today - we had nothing else to do!). We went east that year and toured through D.C. as well. This is a picture of the choir singing on the steps of the Capitol. Jason Hatfield (Billy J!) is leading the group.










And here we are playing Rook, a favorite tour game. Do you recognize these people? Notice the nice wavy permed hair.

Popcorn Lovers

We're all popcorn lovers. That can be good or bad. The good part is that we can share a snack that we all love; the bad part is that we have to share! Last night after church was a good time for munching on popcorn, but, of course, anytime is a good time! The kids decided that it would be fun to all sit on mommy's lap - they love making trains out of everything!

Music and Football

Today was a busy day for us. Noah and Olivia had a concert at Barnes and Noble Bookstore with their music classes. Noah just started violin in September, but he already knows some little songs (or at least pretends to know them!). Olivia's music class sings all of the introductory songs that Noah is learning to play. The students were told they could dress in costumes, so Noah was a football player and Olivia was a butterfly once again. In the first video, you will see Olivia on the left side of the shot. The "bee" is our little neighbor Anna, with whom Olivia loves to play.

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After the concert, Paul and I went to the Notre Dame football game versus North Carolina. It was about 50 degrees and windy! But we kept warm sitting in our eighteen inches that are allotted to each seat on tiny wooden benches. It's amazing how many people can squeeze together, even while being bundled up in winter clothes!
















Of course, my favorite part of the game was the marching band at halftime.

You can see my viewing of the game was seriously impeded by the "large hat man" sitting right in front of me. This picture wasn't so bad because Paul was standing on the aforementioned tiny wooden bench when he took it. Imagine if you were sitting on the tiny wooden bench and were about 8 inches shorter than the "large hat man"! Well, it was probably good that it happened to me, because I don't watch much of the game anyways! The people watching is so much more interesting than football! And the best part was spending time with my hubby!

Family Fun Night

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The kids dressed up for a night of fun and games at church last Wednesday night. They were supposed to dress up as Bible characters, so Noah was a fisher of men (you'll notice Charlie Brown on the end of his fishing pole), Olivia was a butterfly, and Chloe was a peapod (from the Garden of Eden, of course!). They enjoyed all the games, but most of all loved the CANDY!

First Snow

I was so inspired by everyone's beautiful fall pictures on their blogs, that I couldn't wait to take some of my own! Then I woke up this morning when it was still dark and noticed a beautiful glow coming through the windows...something I hadn't seen for awhile...it was the moon reflecting off the snow! Well, the kids were alot more excited about it than I was. Or, shall I say, they were excited, and I wasn't. The kiddos went outside to play right away, and good thing too, because it had all disappeared by noon.