thankful

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

This Thanksgiving we made our way to Houston via Southwest airlines (my new favorite airline) to see Chad's grandparents, aunt and uncle and Chad's parents (who also flew to Houston). We truly had a wonderful time visiting, playing and soaking up family time with Chad's family. It had been a while since we had seen Chad's grandparents and aunt and uncle. They had never met Charlie until this past week and Luke was really too young to remember the last time we had seen them. Well, after 4 days of quality time, Luke and Charlie did not want to leave Houston! The boys soaked up the attention and love and Chad and I felt very blessed to have shared this time with his adoring family.

Charlie, Nana, Luke and Poppy

As I'm sure you did, we ate lots of yummy food, watched football and chatted with family. What you might not have done was headed to the Downtown Aquarium in Houston! Yes, our little Luke is still declaring he wants to be a marine biologist when he grows up. We thought, an aquarium, a shark tunnel via train ride and a restaurant in an aquarium would be a great adventure for our boys! We actually had no idea how enthralled little Charlie would be. He just loved watching the fish and ooohhed and aaahhed the whole way through! We may have two marine biologists in the future!

Poppy and his scuba diver!

I am actually disappointed with my pictures from the trip. I was so excited to use some new skills and get quality shots of Chad's family with the boys. Turns out, most of my pictures were taken on a setting I had been playing with for my photography class homework and I never changed it back!!! Bummer!! However, I do have one photo for which I am really thankful. It may not be the best quality, but it's the subject that means a lot. It shows the 4 generations of Chad's family: Great grandparents (Chad's moms' parents), Chad's parents, us, and our boys.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Know that though we weren't with many of you, we are thankful for ALL of our family and friends. We love you!!

a whimsical Saturday

After a busy week and a fun-filled date night with my sister and her boyfriend at the Orpheum (we went to see Cirque Dreams: Holidaze), Chad and I woke up a little sleepy on Saturday morning. With no events to dictate our plans, we decided there's no better way to start the day, than to take the boys to the Collierville square and head straight to Square Beans Coffee shop for some breakfast and coffee!

It's such a charming little coffee shop and we made ourselves right at home on their cozy couches while we watched College Gameday!

My sweet hubby anxiously awaited his coffee and breakfast. . .

Lukey enjoyed snuggling with his Daddy and. . .

Charlie got caught eating some Cheerios off the floor!

Thanks Square Beans! We'll be back soon!

We couldn't leave the Collierville square without exploring trains, visiting the toy shop and doing some Christmas shopping, so after finishing breakfast we headed straight for the tracks and came across this. . .

Luke was thrilled because he was in his train shirt and Charlie in his train pants (totally unplanned!)

the boys played with rocks on the tracks and even posed. . .

but then became a little nervous and began looking for trains that might be heading their way. . .

Finally, Charlie was ready to run off down the tracks and we decide that was our cue to move on.

So off to the toystore, where Charlie climbed on tables. . .

and Luke played with rescue vehicles (and we found some Christmas ideas)!!

What a fun, whim of a Saturday morning we had!!!! Complete with HUGS and. . .

KISSES too!!!

our little bruiser

Sweet Charlie,

We hear all the time that the second child will do anything to get attention. But, did you really have to throw yourself into your bedside table to get a black eye, which in turn has ellicited many "oohhs and aahhs" from people? We definitely prefer your adorable laugh, the way you can get people to play peek-a-boo with you for hours, your melt-our-heart-hugs and many other endearing qualities to your temper-tantrums. Can we work on cutting those out? Ya think? Maybe? Pleeeease?

Great thanks!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

in full bloom

I signed up to take a photography class a couple of months ago and I've been counting down the days to the first class! Well, last week was our first class and I'm super excited to finally have started! I managed last week's class fine (I knew a little about aperture and ISO settings already), but this week's homework is packed with information I've never thought of or played around with! Slightly overwhelming!! I told Luke about my class and how Mommy was really going to need to practice and he's thrilled when I pull out my camera and talks about my homework, etc. He's been on such a mission to find beautiful fall leaves and part of my assignment last week was to play around with aperture settings and to take a shallow depth of field picture. So this leaf, with its beautiful color pattern was my subject. Over the next 6 weeks, I'll be extra busy with my camera. It's such a perfect time (the holiday season) to be getting into the nitty-gritty of photography. My photography passion is in full-bloom!!

a little change and a dinner showdown!

It's a new month and with a new month, I was in the mood for some change. So, the blog got a new look! I figured that was a lot easier than a new wardrobe (though not as much fun maybe) or painting our beige walls some fun, rich, yummy color. I'm sure my hubby will agree with me!

Let me know your thoughts---do you like the stretched out version, or do you prefer the more condensed style? Or, did you even notice a change? Some of you probably only read our blog through your Google Reader (I love my mine and have no idea how one lives without it---many thanks to my friend Kelly who saved me SO much time in life introducing me to Google Reader) and may never visit our actual blog anymore. Although I love my Google Reader, thanks to my blog roll I still occasionally click on the actual links to see many of your blogs "in person" rather than just through my reader in case you make changes too!

Enough of that. On to our dinner showdown! So the other night we experienced what I think I can safely say was our first dinner showdown with Luke. You know, the kind where said child refuses to eat what is in front of him? Yep, it finally happened with us. There have been other times when we have heard, "I don't like that" (before he even tries it, of course) or "I'm not going to eat that" and he always does without a fight. BUT, the other night was different. I made potato soup. Luke heard the word "soup" and was determined he wasn't going to like it or eat it, even though it had potatoes, cheese and bacon (all things he loves) in it. Luke wasn't even rude about it--initially. He just sat there and told us he wasn't going to eat it. Chad told him he was and it went back and forth a bit which led to time out. Luke wasn't even phased. Didn't mind going to time out. We made our very first threats ever of Luke staying at the table until bedtime and then going to bed hungry and without food. And, though he had his heart set on playing Diego with his daddy, Luke looked like he might forgo the fun and not eat. He just sat and lifted his spoon and tried to talk around the subject of eating. We heard more about his day at school than ever before, because he was trying to talk so he wouldn't have to eat!!! After what was an eternity and with only 10 minutes left to play before bed, Luke finally took a couple bites and we excused him from the table.

Have you been through this? What did you do? Or, better yet, want to share any amazing-your-kid-will-eat-this recipes?? We're all for them!!!

will you join us?

I'm sure many of you are already thinking about your Christmas list and lists for your loved ones too. I'm guessing that every single one of you have already started buying for those on your lists. If you haven't, don't feel bad, I haven't done a lick of shopping--not one single thing!

As you start or finish your shopping in the next couple of weeks, stop for a minute and think about your Christmas morning tradition. It probably involves unwrapping presents, right? Yes, I know the true meaning of the season, my Lord and Saviour was born and what an amazing gift He is! However, I'd be lying to you if I said our Christmas wasn't exciting because of giving and getting tangible gifts on Christmas, the thrill of Santa and all the hoopla!

Imagine what Christmas would be like if you didn't have anything to open. Some of us probably think it would be refreshing and much needed for our children who already have too much stuff! But aside from all of that, really, what would it be like?

Let me get to my point, because obviously I have one! Chad and I are trying to teach our children about giving and not always getting, about thinking of others and not just themselves. We're trying to teach them to serve and love others. It's tough at this age, when the world still seems to revolve around them, but we have to start somewhere. So, a couple of years ago, we told Luke about children all over the world who wake up on Christmas morning without any presents and without hearing about Jesus. We told him that our family wants to help those children. We then gathered some shoe boxes and filled them with small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies and had him participate in Operation Christmas Child with us. Some of you may have heard of this and some maybe not. I encourage you to check out the link and read more about it.

I've been participating in OCC for at least 15 years and got Chad involved not long after that. We've been assembling shoe boxes together since before we were married. There are so many ways to help others in need---many that you are involved in and others we are involved in too. Operation Christmas Child just pulls at my heart though and I wanted you to know about it or remind you about it so that maybe you and your family could participate too. Please visit the OCC website for more information, but here's a quick run down of how things work. . .

1. get a shoe box from your house
2. decide if you want to fill the box for a boy or girl
3. decide what age range (you will see the options on the website)
4. purchase some items from the suggested lists on the website (small toys, hygiene items, school supplies, etc.) ---we always go to the dollar store and stock up!
5. enclose a check for $7 OR this year pay online and you can track your shoe box to its destination!! I can't wait to do that!!
6. deliver your shoe box(es) during National Collection week Nov. 16th-23rd----that's it!!

an example of a filled shoe box

Operation Christmas Child's mission is to "demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ."

Will you join us????

treats and not tricks!

Before we jump too far into November, I just had to wrap up our Halloween! For the first time in 20 years, our church did not have a fall fest party on Halloween. So, we had to make other plans. This year we joined some friends for an early potluck dinner and trick-or-treated around their neighborhood! Luke, (aka Superman) who normally likes to feel things out before jumping in, quickly got the idea of how trick-or-treating works and was leading the pack in no time! Little Charlie (aka Froggy) on the other hand, was at the tail end of the pack and even decided to head the opposite way several times! He figured out how things worked eventually and was fascinated by the wrappers in his bucket. We definitely had a Happy Halloween!

An attempt at getting a group shot of the little kiddos

(Cowgirl Carter, Froggy Charlie, Elvis Kate, Lion Austin and Fred Knox)

An attempt at getting a group shot of the big kiddos

Samuel the elephant and Superman

Froggy on a mission!

Trick or treat!

Ariel Kate and Superman Luke (aka Dora and Diego)---sweet friends!

One of the highlights of the night was heading to Aunt Mary's to trick-or-treat! It was her first time (as a new home owner) to pass out treats and Luke was insistent that we show up at her place. So fun!

Trick or treat, anyone home?

Charlie takes time to inspect his goodies!



Aunt Mary and her nephews!