Happy Birthday Kinnick!

Kinnick's actual birthday was pretty low-key. It was the day after Thanksgiving and Marc's parents and sister were here to celebrate with us. Kinnick was sleeping on the floor in our room, but we still decided to surround him with balloons. (We blew them up at 3:30 am after returning from black Friday shopping!)
He opened presents in the morning.
He got a Dora book from Sadie and Mickey Mouse p.j.'s from Macey.
His big present was a new bike. He got to help his Dad put it together!

We celebrated with a turkey "cake". The kids had fun helping me decorate it.

My birthday boy... He likes to say "I'm not yittle, I'm BIG!" but to me, he's still my little boy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although we were not into our new house by Thanksgiving (as I had originally hoped!) it was a great Thanksgiving! Marc's parents and sister came for a long weekend. We were able to have a relaxing time filled with food, games, Christmas movies, and lots of laughs!
We started our morning with cinnamon rolls in front of the fire while we watched home alone. We did a lot of prep work ahead of time for our Thanksgiving feast (including cooking the turkey overnight). This is the first time I've ever had over an hour to sit and relax and enjoy breakfast in the same day as preparing a Thanksgiving meal--I loved it!
The kids made these cute wall hangings at MOPS the day before Thanksgiving (while all us moms made apple pies--it was so fun!) The kids also made the cards (below) to send to their great-grandparents.
A first for this year--Marc went black Friday shopping with me! We got the kids to bed and left around 9. We went to Wal-Mart for 10 o'clock deals and then hit Target and Kohl's at midnight. We were home around 3 and able to sleep in Friday morning. Marc was amazed by the experience but I think he will be okay if it was a one-time deal!

My Thankful List...

I loved reading every one's daily "thankful posts" on facebook... I didn't participate but did decide to make my own list here. 25 things I am thankful for:

1. I of course must start with my AMAZING husband... he cooks, he does laundry, and I adore watching him play with our kids!



2. My 3 "full-of-it" children are a close 2nd. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me a better person.



3. Thankful for ALL my extended family... I have some pretty amazing parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces & nephews.



4. Beyond thankful for my friends... old and new, near and far--I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful support system to laugh and cry with.



5. Thankful for our current church home... The Village Christian Church is an amazing place filled with wonderful people. They do church in a really great way.



6. Thankful for the wonderful generosity of people in our life... sharing their house when we needed a home.



7. Thankful for God's timing... it's always hard to see the "bigger picture" in the midst of everyday life, but His plan is ALWAYS best!



8. Thankful for little conveniences that I often take for granted... garbage disposal, automatic ice maker, garbage pick-up, home mail delivery...



9. Thankful for INTERNET!



10. Thankful for a warm place to live when it's so cold outside.



11. Thankful that God is still teaching me every day... more patience, more kindness, more generosity...



12. Thankful for the ability to run, play with my kids, dance, ride a bike, swim, and much more.



13. Thankful that I love to cook. It's so fun to try a new recipe, make a yummy dessert just to enjoy, or spend time in the kitchen with my kids.



14. Thankful for books! Love reading to my kids, love reading to learn, love reading for pleasure, love going to the library, love browsing a huge bookstore.



15. Thankful for my camera. So glad we have a way to capture every day moments-big and small so we can relive them again and again.



16. Thankful that our family has two vehicles to drive.



17. Thankful for a closet full of clothes, shoes, and lots of fun accessories.



18. Thankful for my education. So glad I chose teaching as a career!



19. Thankful for this season of life--staying home with my family has taught me so much and allowed me so many wonderful opportunities.



20. Thankful for Ms. Pearl's. God really knew what He was doing when He brought me here almost 10 years ago. I love having the opportunity to be a part of something so much bigger than me.



21. Thankful for the different "mom" groups I have been able to be a party of. It's so powerful to receive encouragement from other moms.



22. Thankful for all the ways God is challenging me and growing me... studying His word, small group, book studies, biblical teaching...



23. Thankful for all the people in my life who have adopted or are in the process of adopting.



24. Thankful for worship music.



25. Thankful for a God who is SO BIG... yet cares for me.

Kinnick's Birthday Party

We had Kinnick's birthday party at my parent's house the weekend before Thanksgiving. I was planning to do a Mickey Mouse party for him this year, but he kept insisting on a tractor cake.... so instead we made a John Deere Tractor cake:

"Somebody Get Me Down!"...

While working in the kitchen one day I heard "Somebody get me down!" coming from the living room. Sadie was doing an art activity and Macey was sleeping. This is what I found...

Soaking Up the Sunshine

November 15th was the last really warm day of fall and we took full advantage of it!! The kids and I headed to a local park that has been a favorite of ours while in the temporary house. The kids call it the "donkey" park because there are some random animals (fenced in) that they can look at. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed a whole afternoon of play time.

I'm 30!

My 30th birthday was pretty low-key, but terrific nonetheless! I decided to try cake balls for the first time as a birthday treat to myself. I made them pink, of course. They were super yummy! I haven't made them again yet but plan to!
Marc's sister, Stephanie came to visit for the weekend. We took a trip to Ms. Pearl's for the day on Friday (My birthday). I was able to finish painting this mural that my small group girl's helped me get started on...
After Ms. Pearl's we picked up Marc and went out to Red Lobster to celebrate. The kids loved seeing the lobsters in the tank. On Saturday, Aunt Nee Nee babysat while Marc and I picked out new carpet for our house. That night we were able to attend the gala at our church.
Great birthday weekend!

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween this year, we made a trip back to Streator for "down-town" trick-or-treating. The kids wore this care bear costumes that my mom and one of her friends made for my brother and I (and our two neighbor boys) when I was little. We got so many complements!

Sadie and I carved our family pumpkin--she wanted a "princess" castle. I did my best with the "spooky" castle stencil!


We were also able to go trick-or-treating in a close by town with some of our new friends. The kids ended up with WAY too much candy.

On Halloween I helped Sadie and Kinnick make these handprint spiders with webs. They always love projects that involve paint!

Moments that Melt my Heart

Playing Outside

Feeding the Geese

Making Breakfast

Conversations that Make Me LAUGH...

There is never a shortage of funny conversations in our household... I know I must keep documenting because before I know it they will be grown! Enjoy:

• Kinnick: What's your favorite weather?-the weathers are fall, summer, ping, and winter. Me: Those are called seasons-what's your favorite season? K: Fall-because I like fallin'! Me: (laughing) K: That's silly-only leaves have to fall-not animals or people... or swings or firepits or lamps or books or c.d.'s...
• Sadie: Are the hash browns done cooking? Me: I'm not sure, I'll have to check them. S: Can you turn on the oven light? Yeah! They are done--they're "fizzy-ing"--you know, like making a little noise.
• Sadie: Mommy is the boss, you're not the boss applesauce. Kinnick: Mommy's not the boss, Jesus is the boss! S: Jesus is the boss of Mommy and Mommy is the boss of us. K: Who's the boss of Jesus? S: Nobody--he's the king. (Whispering) Actually I'm the boss of Jesus.
• (While reading on the couch one morning, Sadie on one side, Kinnick on the other, Macey on my lap...) Kinnick: I think we should have another baby in our family. Macey isn't a baby anymore and I'm not either. Me: Where would put the baby? I don't think there is room for a baby to read with us. (5 minutes later) K: Mom--we could put the baby on my cars chair or on the floor. The baby will fit.
• I was trying to teach Sadie how to write Macey's name. She wrote: M-A-C. Me: You need to put an E-Y on the end of Macey's name. Sadie: Why? It ends with C... May-C.
• Kinnick quoting a nursery rhyme: "Mary, Mary, titan terry how does your garden grow? With silver bells and taco shells and pretty maids all in a row."
• My mom was wiping off Macey's hands/mouth with a washrag... Macey: Too hot, too hot! Grandma: It's not too hot. M: Save me Grandpa, Save me.
• Kinnick opened a pair of binnoculars for Christmas. Sadie after looking through them, looked up and said "I though I would be able to see Africa and other far away places."
• Words by Kinnick: "piderman"= spiderman "parpallow" = marshmallow "you're welpum!" = You're welcome! "tree" = three "yittle" = little

Pumpkin Cookies Please!

I loved having time to do lots of baking this fall. I especially loved making these pumpkin cookies! Our whole house would smell amazing when we baked these cookies...

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

• 1 c. butter
• 1 egg
• 1 c. pumpkin
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 t. powder
• 1/4 t. soda
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. allspice
• 1 c. chopped toasted pecans (opt.)

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. Beat butter, sugar, and egg--add in pumpkin followed by flour mixture. Stir in pecans. Drop onto cookie sheet by spoonfuls. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool & Ice...

Brown Butter Icing: Melt 6 T. butter. Stir in 1/3 c. brown sugar--heat until bubbly. Remove from heat and add 2 c. powder sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add hot water until smooth (start with 1-2 T.). Ice cooled cookies immediately after preparing icing. Add more hot water if icing gets too thick.

Pumpkin Snicker Doodles:

• 3 & 3/4 c. flour
• 1 1/2 t. powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• 1 c. butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 3/4 c. pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 2 t. vanilla
• Extra: 1/2 c. sugar, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. ginger

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. cream butter, sugars, and egg-add pumpkin and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Form dough into 1" balls and roll in extra sugar mixture. Flatten slightly and bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. YUMMY!

Loving New Traditions

Something new that we got to try this year was a local pumpkin patch called "Dollinger's Farm". We had a blast and I'm sure we will be returning next year. We started our visit with a ride on a little steam engine train... Next we visited the little petting area. The kids loved trying to feed the goats.


We got to check out LOTS of pumpkins!
We also got to do LOTS of playing...
Kinnick especially loved playing in the piles of hay!

We also got to check out a Native American tee pee with some different clothing and instruments in it. And of course we couldn't leave without finding the "perfect" pumpkin!