THANKFUL

It is the time of year to be extra thankful and these people here in this picture, I'm most thankful for. The keep me going day in and out and our love for each other is never ending.

I'm also more than thankful to our God who provides for us, my entire family and friends, health and personal growth. We celebrated this Thanksgiving day with our friends, who graciously invited us for dinner. It was a feast and more than delicious. Unfortunately, we totally forgot to get a group picture with everyone: ages ranging from 2 year old to 92.  But look at this gorgeous table display my friend, Emily, created:

Beautiful Sunset on this great day:

And this was my view the next morning when I was out and about doing a bit Black Friday shopping:

In the beginning of the month, Amelia's school hosted a Thanksgiving luncheon for the students and their families, which I happily joined. I'm most thankful that my job allows me to be an active part of her school life and available to join her at these events. The staff set up this cute photo opp:

While I didn't take any photos during lunch, we snapped this one afterwards with two of her classmates: 

The preschoolers had practiced for the past several weeks for their Thanksgiving program and finally on Monday was the "big" performance. Elliot and his classmates were so excited and he told me "that we are the cool kids because we are the Indians."

"H is for home, my home is warm and cozy" - Elliot's solo part in the program. 

THANKS

My little boy did so well during his program and was a star performer. What an improvement from last year, where he was so tired by the last song that he started to cry on stage.

Elliot was especially proud of his headband. Each kid colored and wrote their own name:

 My two boys:

We hope you all enjoyed a bountiful Thanksgiving Day!

Weekend Fun in November

Fall arrived briefly and then it felt like winter moved in. Most of our nightly temperatures were right around or below freezing and our daytime highs ranged from low 30s F with freezing rain to low fifties. But I'm not complaining as we had just as much fun in the cold than in the heat of the summer. Sitting with tea and a book, just like her mother:

The first weekend of November Elliot started playing basketball at the Y. In the first training session, he moved right on up an age grade as he was too far ahead for the 3 and 4 year olds. He was so exciting about his first team sport and loves every minute of it. And I might be partial, but this kid has some skills. Number 23 is on the roll: 

While the boys were at practice, the girls went shopping. Amelia loved the fact that we looked like sisters: 

Introducing the children to Monopoly and making this quickly a favorite Saturday activity:

On Sundays, we go to church, where we showed off our matching dresses and then play football in the yard:

On November 6th, it was midterm election in the US and I took the children with me to vote. This is a great time to teach them about our freedom and responsibilities we have as a citizen of this great nation. 

The freedom we enjoy is due to our brave service men and women who fought for our country and so on Veterans Day each year, we make sure to honor them. The Nashville Zoo opens up that day to all active and retired military personal for a free day at the zoo. Thankful for our own hero who served in Desert Storm, we enjoyed a fun morning at the Zoo. It was super cold and some animals were off exhibit due to the temperatures but it also meant way less people. 

As part of their appreciation to the military families, everyone was given free rides on the train and carousel as well as on the bounce houses. 

A little video compilation for your enjoyment (sound on):

Future zookeepers:

It truly was a beautiful day to be out and about and a great way by the zoo to honor and give back to our heroes and their families. 

That same Sunday, Amelia and I went to church to help pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Every year, we pack two boxes at home with goodies for children who would otherwise not get a Christmas gift but this year we also wanted to do a bit more. 

We started the "Packing Party" off with a prayer and a Christmas song by all the little helpers:

And then we packed 612 boxes in just a bit over an hour. It was definitely a workout but one that makes you feel good and inspires future generations to do the same. 

Mission completed: 

Did I mention that this is our "busy" season? I finally just caught up from my Europe trip, vacation with Oma and work, and now the holiday season has began and with that lots of activities and fun events to add to our calendars. On Tuesday, after dance lessons, Amelia and I went to Literacy Night at her school. This is one of the monthly events the school does for the students and their families. And since there was a free book as a prize, my little book nerd had to go. The theme was camping and the students had to complete different activities, such as reading by flashlight, word puzzles, scavenger hunt and a painting, before they could choose a free book to take home.  

It was another late night but definitely worth it as I got to spend some one-on-one time with my sweet girl. One day, they don't want to hang out with Mommy anymore and thus, I make sure that I fill my cup up now before they grow up too fast. This leads me to this weekend, when my baby boy got sick with a fast moving stomach bug. We had to cancel all activities and just stayed home. It was a must as I myself got a bit of the bug too and so I made the best of it and sat down and cuddled my babes. It is also Christmas movie season and my favorite thing to watch at this time of year. 

With that, I will head back to my couch and rest up as next up is Elliot's Thanksgiving Program at school and a delicious Turkey dinner with friends. 

Happy Halloween 2018

On Wednesday morning, we woke up ready to have a "Bootastic" day. While the children couldn't wear their costumes to school, that didn't prevent me from dressing up for work though. 

But don't worry, I was not the only one who came dressed up to work. My fellow co-workers joined in on the fun: 

I even found the Phantom:

After work, I headed to Amelia's school, where I was in charge of planning the Fall Classroom Party. The children enjoyed a yummy spread of treats and played a couple of fun games. The Mummy Toilet paper game is a seasonal favorite:

Class Picture:

Scary!!!

Right before dusk, we got ready to go trick-or treating in the neighborhood. The witch and her little monsters:

Usually, we only make it to a few houses and then head back home to hand out candy. This year, we visited a record of at least 10 houses.

And then they wanted to go home to serve "the customers":

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and sweet Halloween. Boo from our crew to yours!