Thanksgiving

Unbelievable how quickly time is marching on. Children are growing, seasons are changing, and we are in the midst of the holiday season. We are trying to remember to be thankful for all things we take for granted and to keep Jesus as the center of our holiday busyness. Meanwhile, I am adjusting to looking over at Violet and seeing her in an upright position. I never know where I am going to find her and at times, I need to run for the camera to catch those funny moments. Violet holding on the banister made me laugh, simply because she was there laughing all by herself, I suppose she was pretty proud she accomplished this feat. The laughter is what drew my attention to her and then of course I said, "don't move, let me get my camera!" This caught my sentimental self, when I saw Jacob reading to Ashley. How kind he is to read a book to Ashley at her level of reading. Jacob is into reading chapter books that don't always have a lot of pictures, so it is nice to see him pleasing his sister.

We started out Thanksgiving with a Thanksgiving feast at Ashley's school, which I was able to go in and be a helper. I love helping at the school, and wish I could do more, but..... Ashley dressed as an Indian with a beautiful costume. Then the class had a wonderful feast of popcorn, grapes, apples, trail mix, and a turkey cookie. I believe they all had a wonderful time.

We have begun to pull out the Christmas decorations and all the beautiful Nativity scenes which I love the most. It was really neat to talk about the birth of Jesus with the children and to hear Rachel say "I want to hear more about Jesus" Rachel, I hope we do continue to keep this as a center of our conversation, and yes, I do think we will be talking more about Jesus.

a quick update

Time slips by so quickly, days fly by, weeks disappear and now look at this baby of ours. I smile every time I look over her way and catch her watching me with those big eyes. She is growing so quickly, I am sad how fast time flies and feel like I am not appreciating these moments. I catch myself thinking and saying, this is the last time I get to have an infant, etc.... I even hear Ben saying things like, this is the last baby I get to toss around. He enjoys playing with her and hearing her laugh as he tosses her around.

Rachel and I had some fun with our babies here. I did not include the picture of her baby, but her baby has acquired new clothing. Violet, at times, needs some clothing changes, so of course Rachel's baby doll must also, and I do not have baby doll clothing. We were in the middle of a crisis, when I had this brillant idea of those baby clothes Violet can not wear anymore and sure enough, they fit, so now I can enjoy seeing those infant clothing on a baby doll!! Who would have thought!

Rachel is talking more and more. It is fun to spend time with her! This weekend we had a fun time camping with our church group. Late nights, campfire talks with our friends and even later nights for us adults. There were so many girls that were so willing to help me keep up with my kids. It is so nice to be in a place where other people know my children and if they did forget where I was, people around knew who they were and could get them to me. It is getting really late. I'm not even sure if I'm making any sense. I think it is time to go to bed. Sweet dreams to every one.