Happy Thanksgiving!!

As we end this day of thanks with full bellies and hearts from all the food and fellowship we've had today, I want to share something that was read in church last night. It really is a good prayer and thought we should keep with us each day. As I work to be more thankful for all that I have in my life and to be more aware of all the little blessings each day, I am going to try to remember this.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings each morning,

Thank You, Lord, that I can hear. There are those who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes tightly closed against the morning light as long as possible,

Thank You, Lord, that I can see. There are those who are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off arising, Thank You,Lord,

that I have the strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned,

tempers are short, Thank You, Lord, for my family. There are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in the magazines and the

menu is at times unbalanced, Thank You, Lord, for the food we have.

There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job is often monotonous, Thank You, Lord,

for the opportunity to work. There are many who have no jobs.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day, and wish my circumstances were not so modest, Thank You, Lord, for the gift of life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Happy Halloween!!

I still have lots of updating to do but wanted to say Happy Halloween!! I'll post pics of the boys in their costumes later but here's our pumpkins.

New Photos

Last month, I took the boys to have their pictures made. It was just a short while before Michael's birthday, but he was still 4 at the time. I'm working on getting on a better schedule with the photos. Of course, with a new baby on the way, we'll be getting photos made more often anyway. So, here they are:

The boys posed themselves for this photo. While the photographer was setting up the camera, John-William and Jackson laid down on the floor and told Michael to lie down on top of them. Then they asked if they could take their picture this way! It was cute, so I said yes.

Aren't they a handsome bunch?

This photo really captures the boys being themselves. Or at least themselves while they're tickled. John-William's face really expresses what he's like when he thinks something is funny. And Jackson was in the middle of a good laugh and Michael thought it was funny, too. I don't remember if this is when the photographer was hitting herself on the head with a candy tin or what was happening, but they thought it was funny!

Pregnancy Photos

I've also taken a couple of photos of myself in the last few weeks that I haven't shared yet. So, here they are:

Open House

All 3 of the boys have had Open House at school in the last few weeks. John-William and Jackson had theirs first. Grandma and Grandpa and Ninny and PawPaw were all able to be there that night. Our first stop was in John-William's room, where each child had done a self-portrait based on certain things about themselves (gender, hair color, birthday and month, likes and dislikes, etc.). Each object, even the shape of the face, had a code to determine what to draw. John-William's portrait turned out like this.

John-William also had a story map that he shared with us:

John-William also showed us all how to look up his AR (Accelerated Reading) points in the computer and proudly showed his grandparents how many pointed he had accumulated at that time (I can't remember how many there were).

After John-William's class, we visited Jackson's class. On the outside of the classroom door, there's a picture of each child in the class. Of course, it's kind of dark behind the door so my camera didn't pick up the details real well.

Jackson also enjoyed sharing his work with his grandparents:

They also made handprints with poems and I love it!!

A few nights later, we had Open House at Michael's preschool. He had lots of work to share. I won't post every picture, but here are a few of my favorites:

Part of their booklet was about family. Here's Michael's family picture that he drew. Starting at the top right is Adam and then it goes in order to the left. Notice the family member at the bottom left -- he has four legs and is named Riese. :)

Happy Birthday NaeNae!!

My sister, Tina, is celebrating her birthday today. I hope she has a great day!!

Have you ever seen a cuter goat???

Jackson was in a play at school last week and he was one of the billy goats in "The Three Nanny Goats Gruff." I'll share more pics later, but just had to share this.

Happy Birthday John-William!!

Today is John-William's 9th birthday. Can you believe that? And unfortunately, he woke up with a little bit of a cold. It isn't bad and the medicine is controlling his cough, which seems to be his only symptom. But, he went on to school and Ninny and I had lunch with him today. I also took cupcakes to his classroom and we shared those with his classmates. Then, he left a little early and came home with me. :) School got out early anyway today. So, we've had a pretty good day. We're going to the football game for a little while tonight and having his party tomorrow at a bowling alley. Should be lots of fun!!

Happy Birthday Michael!!!

Believe it or not, Michael is 5 years old today!!!! We had his party in the park this morning and then had a nice lunch with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Rod, Aunt Kym, Christian and Autumn. We had a very nice time at the party and he really enjoyed himself and got some great presents. I'll post some pictures from the party later, I'm going to rest for a little while before we have to go to the football field for Jackson's first game!!

The closest I'll get to a little girl???

Jackson colored some of his fingernails pink today. I'm guessing this was while he was in his bedroom, supposedly cleaning. Anyway, since this may be the closest I'll ever get to painting a little girl's fingernails, I had to take a picture!

A special Labor Day event...

if you can call it that, LOL. The boys decided to put on a "play" for us this evening after dinner. They came up wirh the characters and costumes all by themselves. John-William was Peter, the 20-year-old husband and father. Jackson was Lucy, the 20-year-old wife and mother. Michael was Jessica, the 10-year-old daughter. Obviously, they didn't do much math when considering their ages!! Adam and I were seated and then the show began. The story was that Peter and Lucy wanted to go on a date without Jessica. Grandma (played by our very own Riese, the miniature pinscher) was going to baby-sit Jessica.


Does this look like the profile of a 10-year-old girl to you? In case you can't tell, that's a ponytail created from a pair of shorts and a bracelet!

Here "she" is from the front:

This is Lucy, the mom and Peter and Lucy hugging as they asked each other for a date.

Peter and Lucy finally decide to let Jessica go with them, so here they are telling her yes and then pretending to play checkers at the restaurant they go to for dinner.

A busy Labor Day....

We spent the day at home today, working around the house. Adam and the boys trimmed the hedges (Adam trimmed, the boys cleaned up) and Adam mowed the lawn. After finally get some rain over the last few days, the grass needed to be cut for the first time in 3-4 weeks. Michael went to Ninny and PawPaw's house, which was a reward for cleaning his room and being helpful. We're really struggling with John-William and Jackson and their bedroom. They're very helpful, they just don't want to clean their room. So, I'm working on some organization ideas to help and they're working on getting it cleaned up. Anyway, we just did things around here but I have a few good pics to share.

While we were outside, Jackson caught a lizard that he carried around for a while. The little lizard would just cling onto his finger and hang there. Then Jackson discovered that the lizard would bite his finger (he said it didn't hurt, the lizard was very small) and hang on. So, here's Jackson experimenting with the lizard. Don't worry, he washed his hands very well when he was all done!

John-William mainly looked on as Jackson played with the lizard. He isn't as free-minded as Jackson is when it comes to bugs, lizards and things that can easily and quickly jump from one spot to another and be up your pantleg before you know it! LOL He held Riese (hasn't he grown) while Jackson played with the lizard, but he did finally hold him.

Have you seen me lately?

These pictures are actually about 10 days old now, but I thought I'd share anyway.

Here's what you see when you pass me on the street:

Here's how my belly really looks!

I've been meaning to do a baby update as well. We went back to the OB last Wednesday and everything still looks good. We had our diagnostic ultrasound and there were no problems found. We saw the heart chambers, kidneys, bladder, toes (his foot measured 3.5 cm!) and lots of other things. He is definitely still a boy, LOL, and a thumb sucker! I don't have pictures ready to upload but I'll try to do those soon. They aren't as clear as the ones we got the week before. But, everything looks good and my OB did confirm that we'll have a baby by late December. So, definitely a 2007 baby! With my history of short labor and the boys coming earlier and earlier (3, 9 and 11 days early, respectively), she isn't planning to let me go past 38 weeks, if I make it that far. That means that we should have a baby by Friday, December 28th if all goes well!

Kindergarten Graduation

Yes, Jackson is in first grade now but I still have to post his graduation pictures!! Of course, John-William, Michael, Adam and I were there along with Grandma and Grandpa and Ninny. Unfortunately, due to the timing (8:30 a.m.!), others weren't able to be there due to work and family obligations. It was a great ceremony, though, and the kids did a great job of walking aross the stage to get their diplomas. The kindergarten teachers put together a Powerpoint presentation of the kids and some of their activites during the year. Since most of the pictures were of multiple children, I won't post all of them because the other kids' faces are visible. However, here are a couple of Jackson from the presentation:

And his brothers waiting patiently for the ceremony to start:

The happy graduate himself, with his usual silly grin:

Can you believe it?

And, family photos when it was all said and done: