thanksgiving travels

I am going to preface this by saying I'm sitting here with my leopard print snuggie on. That's right. It's currently a new favorite article of whatever-it-is. Wish I would've thought of it . . .

We went to New Martinsville on Wednesday evening. Had PJ's pizza (with the rest of New Martinsville judging by the line when I went to get the pizza). We had Thanksgiving lunch on 4th Street. Uncle Andy tried teaching the kids basic Spanish. Which led to incessant knock-knock jokes from Ted. I don't remember what was so funny about Sophie - but she just was. I had to give Uncle Mark a list of words he wasn't allowed to say b/c Sophie is a bit repetitive.



Afterwards, the boys played some cards.



Sophie and Ted joined in.



Then we went out Route 7 where my Mom cooked her first Thanksgiving dinner. It was great! Good job, Mom!



Ted and Trey played a little dress-up.



The grandkids: Graeson, Trey, Carlyn, Sophie and Ted.

Saturday I did a little Black Friday shopping in Middlebourne, WV.



We had lunch on 4th Street. Courtney has this magical way of getting Sophie to eat "salad" - lettuce and ranch dressing.



We had a birthday "party" during commercials of the WVU/Pitt game.



Love being part of this family!



Ted taught Andy how to play "Angry Birds" on our iphones.



Doh bought the Cootie game for the kids to play. We played one game and then the kids played with them as toys. Somehow the Cooties all ended up getting married.

Saturday morning we drove to Charleston. We had lunch with the Youngs and the Bishops. It was so great! Sydney and Ted were thrilled to see each other. And Sophie and Maisie played beautifully in the basement with the kitchen. It was truly a great visit (besides the pooping in the pants incident - but we won't go there!).



Maisie and Sophie (yeah, no pants).



Ted & Sydney



Preston (1), Sydney (4 1/2), Ted (5), Sophie (2 1/2) and Maisie (2 1/2). Duncan (3 months) was sleeping during this photo op.



Then we went to the Duffy's so Ted could spend some time with Gavin.

We took the kids to Cross Lanes to spend the night with Doh and Pap. We adults went to the Isaac's for a fun evening of catching up with friends, eating good food, and just plain fun. It was so good to see people and catch up. Truly, I felt so loved and blessed by the whole evening. Thanks to the Isaacs for being such gracious hosts.

Ben and I stayed at the Marriott with a gift certificate Project Graduation people gave to him. It included breakfast but Ben was gone for church. So Adrienne and I had a long overdue breakfast date.

Ben led worship at River Ridge Sunday morning and Andy spoke. That has to be a top 10 thing for Terri. Her sons loving Jesus and serving together. They both bless me. It was good to see so many people. The kids were slightly overwhelmed but did a great job and even gave out lots of hugs and kisses.

All in all, it was a great trip! Ted was all smiles after church and getting to hang with his friends. He was beaming. They both slept from Elkview (hanging on to their chicken nuggets) to Fairmont. I read half my book - woohoo!

This picture pretty much sums up how we all felt last night when we got home.

family

I feel like we've really turned a corner at our house. BIG TIME. In so many ways I can't even tell you. I feel like my kids are actually friends these days. They play so nicely together - most of the time. I truly want to foster in them the idea that they are friends and can be friends all their lives.


During our family viewing of Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving.

Ted is a great big brother. He's so helpful and so kind. We had our first parent/teacher conference two weeks ago. I was completely blessed by it. He has wonderful teachers that help reinforce our idea of making good choices and being a good friend. Ted is teaching Sophie how to play using her imagination and teaching her things he learns at school. He helps her use the potty and watches out for her. Even when she's a real turkey. He loves turning the hamper upside down to get her out of her bed on Saturday mornings - her bed is too high for her to get out of on her own. Tonight he was playing cars in the living room after Sophie went to bed. He just looked so big. And he played so big. With his bad guys and his good guys. Using his imagination. When he ate his smiley face cookie that Ben brought home for him, we talked about who he might marry when he grows up. Sydney, Maisie, and Mary Taylor topped the list! Although his first pick was Sophie!


The boy can even relax in his sleep.

I feel like Sophie is a whole new kid - even from when we moved here. She's started playing on her own a lot more. Her favorite things right now are her baby and drawing. She takes her baby all sorts of places - which is somewhat representative of what she and I do during the days. And she will draw for long periods of time. She loves markers more than anything but gets in trouble for drawing on herself. So, she goes back and forth with crayons and markers. Potty training is coming along. She has more accidents than I would like. Pooping is a whole other issue since she only poops every 3 (sometimes 4) days. I KNOW! Seriously. But I'm still not confident of her choices in that area yet since we haven't had a lot of practice. Usually on poop day I stay home a lot just in case. We had a poop incident at the park and that was AWFUL! It is life changing that she has gone from having to have my eyes on her at all times, to being able to leave her in another room and be semi-confident she won't ingest or destroy everything in sight.


This is her attire most days. Tobogan and gloves, no pants. She looks good in hats. Especially with her braids.


And her coloring. Without pants of course!

We eat dinner as a family more than we EVER have before. Ben is home more than ever before. Sometimes in the evenings we're not sure what to do with ourselves. We're not used to time together. It's actually been an adjustment for us. But a great one. Ben helps with baths most nights and even makes dinner every once in awhile. I feel like a family.

believing god

For the past 10 weeks (ok, maybe 12), I've been doing the bible study "Believing God" by Beth Moore. It couldn't have been more timely and perfect for exactly where I am in life. So, I wanted to share some nuggets that have spoken to my heart and what I want to remember and treasure. Maybe it will make sense, maybe not. But I know the truth the Lord has shown me and I don't want to forget.

1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
3. I am who God says I am.
4. God's word is active and alive in me.
5. I can do all things through Christ.

- God insists that I exist in my "promised land" - the place where my theology and reality meet.

- My promised land is a place of . . .
* possession - of Christ's words and much affirmatively answered prayer
* unapologetic blessing to the obedient
* abiding in Christ's love
* where God brings a great harvest and blessing
* involves conquest - there is so much more than this
* great victory over the enemy

- God wants to take me to my "Gilgal" (Gilgal means circle) where any one of the following happens (Joshua 4) . . .
* we realize that God has rolled away our reproach
* God has proved us victorious in a do-over (an opportunity to go back and get something right)
* God has taken us full circle in a significant way.

- NOTECARDS! - I'm pretty sure I've never done one of Beth's bible studies where she hasn't mentioned having notecards with scriptures that apply to your stage of life on them. I'm actually doing it and it blesses me to no end.

- God asked the Isrealites to take their stone of remembrance from the middle of the Jordan when they crossed through it. That is the half-way point, the deepest part - the place of sudden doubt and indecision. It's the place where you look back at what you know and look forward to what you don't. And remember that " . . . thus far the Lord has helped us." - Joshua 4 & I Samuel 7:12

Even though I haven't been able to finish with the actual group of women that I started this study with, I've seen this study to the end personally. The Lord's timing is perfect. I have no doubt.

friends

I spent my weekend with these beautiful women!



Oh, they are so good for my soul. We stayed at a cabin in the boonies away from everything. Complete with a wood stove, porch swing and deer heads on the wall! I'm pretty sure it was our most inexpensive weekend ever. And when I think about the range of conversations when we are together and talk for hours on end. We've been friends since jr high/high school. We've seen each other through unbelievable things. And we get together and don't miss a beat. This is my favorite weekend of the year.

Emily actually couldn't be there for the whole weekend. Her grandfather is very ill so she was with him and her family. The blessing of that is that she was just a little over an hour away from where we were. So we met her for dinner on Saturday night. Unfortunately it was bad Mexican which came back to haunt us all later!


Technology is amazing and the things that you can have at your finger tips! =)


We had an impromptu jewelry party at Panera which was fun!

I'm thankful for women who know me inside and out, have seen me at my worst and my best, and who love me just the same. Thanks for a wonderful weekend, Friends!

status updates

I don't update my status on Facebook incessantly. Occasionally. But the funny thing is that a lot of times I'm going throughout my day and update it in my head. Life is one big status update. So, these are a few things that didn't make it but ran through my head . . .

- I haven't killed a stink bug in 3 days . . . Hallelujah!

- 5:30 and dark . . . boo!

- No more sun in the backyard after school. Bummer.

- accidental/unintentional potty training started this week . . . pray for us.

- no potty accidents today (but so sorry for Jane last night!) She got a couple doozies.

- flat chocolate chip cookies AGAIN - what the heck am I doing wrong?

- made my first home made lasagna and it was GOOD. I am darn proud of myself.

- so excited for this weekend I can hardly stand it.

- " . . . Thus far the Lord has helped us." - I Samuel 7:12

- library trip #2 was much more pleasant than library trip #1.

- gotta love a good sale at Old Navy!

- "field agent" is the best app ever. Just made $9.50 in the vacuum cleaner aisle at Walmart.

- needs to develop a higher tolerance for outdoors when it's below 60 degrees. My children are their own personal heaters and love to be outside.

- misses staff meetings on Thursdays even though I didn't like them when I had to attend.

- finally has everything I need to turn in my subbing application. And it cost me a small fortune to get it all.

- the browns beat the saints, the saints beat the steelers, therefore, the browns beat the steelers (that one is for Derek!)

and, last but not least . . .

- the typical attire around our house these days . . .

some pics for ya

I made my first batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies EVER last week. They were delicious (but flat!). Sophie didn't seem to mind. AND, I made my first ever home made lasagna last week. It was AWESOME! I am so proud of myself!!!


Ted is loving learning about spelling words. We have the video "Word Factory" (sequel to "Letter Factory"). He gets his letters off the fridge and makes the words with them while watching. I guess we'll be getting him the fridge thing that spells words for Christmas. Just a side note: I do love Leap Frog stuff! And, Ted is rarely seen around the house w/o some sort of dress up something-or-other.


Ted dressed as a girl.


Ted will dress up and come in saying he's Ted's brother. Then he will come back in as Ted and say, "Have you seen my brother? Look, he disappeared and left all his stuff." And whatever costume he's wearing is laying in a pile on the floor. It's pretty funny and clever!


Ted totes his pillow pet back and forth to school everyday. He loves that thing. And actually naps at school ocassionally.


Sophie loves making funny faces. This is her only one though. The other morning when I went to get her up, this is what I was greeted with.

I am horrible and potty training. We are semi-training while we're at home. But I'm not willing to stay home for several days in a row to really grind it out. And I know that's not helping anyone. I hate those first few months when you go to the bathroom 7 times during one trip to the grocery store. Or they have to pee as soon as you pull out of the driveway. I just need to make a commitment to this and do it. Or send her away and let someone else do it. Any takers?

omg - preschool version

My kids watch/listen to the song that Ben, JB & Kirk did for program at least once a day. I've been trying to get these videos for some time. They finally cooperated the other day. Enjoy. For the real video click here - OMG.



Just a note on Sophie's . . . she ALWAYS notices when Ted jumps off the diving board and when JB "cries" on the swing.