Give Thanks.

I gave it (thanks).
Last week.
We had a blast.
I've decided that Thanksgiving HAS to be my favorite holiday.  I mean - a holiday based totally on creating the perfect family meal/gathering - what is not to love???  I love it so much that I usually make my own 2 weeks before the big day...just to get the stomach nice and coated in preparation for the actual event.  I also decided to send out a "Thankful" card.  We had a blast in the 15 minutes we spent taking pictures...Indy has been warned from here on out...any funny faces given shall be used in future cards....and Ella is just to young to know or care, but man I LOVE that rascal face she makes!

MY TURKEYS...ha..ha..ha

 

 

I must thank my friend Kris - who was kind enough to run over and snap the above pics for us - she did a great job!

We headed over to Henderson to be with Matt's sister (and family) for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Here we have a wonderful picture of our hostess for the weekend.  She thought of everything...and had everything planned down to the last minute details...and my children are in love with her pantry.

Not quite sure how we all would've survived without the pool and the CA-juzzi.

We had photo shoots and face masks going all day long.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky, lived a bull-frog...

And then we had the TURKEY TROT OLYMPICS.  I must apologize up front for the somewhat haggard poor images...between photographing, videographing, instruction-giving, and cheating-inspecting it was rough going! (Oh and the doubled-over-laughing too!) 

A proper stretch is a must.

The first heat consisted of backwards walking, with arms like a soldier, then hip circles, then a gobble walk, 3 tuck jumps, sprint, and skip back to your teammates.  Exchange turkey hat with next team member. 

Wheelbarrow races, followed by Uncle Mike's "Doing-doing" turkey walk. 

We are beyond grateful for all that we have been blessed with and are ready for the Christmas Season!

Bad Mood + Bad Night's Sleep = Bad(er) Mood

Dear Megan, 
The next time you find yourself in this situation - please do the following:
1.  Get up.
2.  Close your mouth.
3.  Put on your shoes, clothes, jacket (and sunglasses!! you always forget these!)
4.  WALK OUT THE DOOR.
5.  Keep walking/running (trust me on this - its the only way to stay warm).  Don't turn around until you can think positively about every single person in your home... AND SMILE AT THEM NICELY when you are in their presence.
5.5.  Yes, you can skip all the chipmunk songs on the Kids Bop channel (what's up with all of those??)


I'm here to tell you that no one likes you or wants to be around you when you are in a bad mood and acting witchy"like".  I know you don't care - but I do (he..he..) Your spouse and children should not be made to suffer because they happened to "get" you as their spouse or mother and you happened to be in a bad mood; a bad mood that was compounded by the bad nights' sleep.  It's your own fault that your 2 year old fell off the big girl bed and then needed drinks at midnight and 4:30, and it was your decision to give birth to the 10 year old that had severe stomach pains.  I know, I know, it was your morning to sleep in - - that was dumb of you - - you don't get to sleep in for the next 10 years remember?


So please remember this - I've written it all done nice-like for you.
Love,  Me.
p.s. wasn't it ironically hilarious the random song choice of "Another one bites the dust" that started playing as you rounded the corner and began the walk down the big hill to the house -- with your garage door open??!!! I loved it! It put a huge smile on your/my/our face.
p.s.s. next time use the restroom first
p.s.s.s. time to think up another category

Engagement Session - Aubree & Adam

Once upon a time, back when the air was still warm and flowers grew in abundance (instead of withering away on the vine and collecting on the ground only to be blown away in the freezing wind)...two people spent a beautiful afternoon together basking in the wonderfullness (I know that's not a word, but made-up-words are used all the time around these parts so just go with it) of each other with stars in their eyes and hopes and dreams of a future...right around the corner (next Tuesdays' corner to be exact.)

(Okay so the session did end with a huge storm hitting about 2 minutes after we stopped shooting...but it made for some killer skies...and then Fall came...THE END.)

  

Passion IN Action

There are few things that can motivate me to "action".  Not the exercise action but the call up your politician/school board member/civic representative action.  Although ironically  it is "exercise/action" that caused this motivation/action.  Have I got you all twisted around?  Stick with me...
I have a workout buddy-not just any workout buddy, but a 4:55am workout buddy.  Her name is Mrs. Patterson.  Why the "Mrs?" because she's a teacher.  A teacher whom I discovered taught at my kids school.  I discovered this at 5:05am on a cool summers morning - rowing right along next to her.  Since that first introduction we have sweated profusely together and will continue to do so since neither one of us would ever dream of crying "uncle!"
One early morning when it was still dark out and everyone was tucked safely in their beddie-byes, I said to Mrs. Patterson, "you know what really gets me riled up?" (she just looked at me 'cause we were sweating hard and stuff) "the fact that the kids have P.E. only one time/week and my 5th graders' time slot is Friday at 2:00pm."  I told her that it was simmering right below the surface and I was contemplating finding grant money to fund more athletics for the kids at our school.  Of course I was thinking of finding someone else to write the grant :) but get riled up enough to be really passionate in my convincing speech.  "Well," says Mrs. Patterson, "I've been doing some reading and I'm thinking about approaching the principal and getting some kind of club started for kids.  In fact, I already have my kids doing exercises in the classroom and burpees if they leave stuff on their desks!" (she was riled up already too - hence the exclamation point :)  Mrs. Patterson and I get along really well - I hope that I can be like her - ever constant in the pursuit of exercise.

Needless to say, Mrs. Patterson went home and wrote up her letter of intent, complete with all sorts of scientific studies that you can find here, and submitted it.  I told her I happened to know a great kids instructor - who would be just thrilled to donate her time and energy and get up extra extra early to haul all of her kids to school 45 minutes before the bell rang...(thank you Coach Sheri - you rock!)

And the rest is history. 

(Oh and the small fact that the club maxed out their 25 slots within 30 minutes of the first day - apparently there are others who share the passion.)

(faces have been blurred to protect the innocent.)

Ok so they aren't perfect squats...but they sure look cute!