11.26.2010

Giving Thanks

I started this post yesterday -- at least in my mind!  Yesterday was a tremendous time with family and friends.  I am grateful for much!  I am guilty of getting caught up in the "day-to-day" that I tend to forget my thankfulness.  As I look back to my early posts, I was trying to post each week with a Thankful Thursday.  I'm challenging myself to get back to that as often as possible.

As we celebrated the day yesterday, I remain incredibly thankful for our new home.  We've been here just over a year and it still seems surreal.  We have great neighbors and so enjoy the quietness around us!  The beauty of the fall trees has been stunning. We recently had the roof replaced after this summer's hailstorm and it looks great.  Last week, we had sod laid in the front yard and it changed the look of things for the better, as well!  On the inside, we have plenty of room to enjoy one another's company and we are now looking forward to Advent and Christmas.

As always, I am thankful for my sweet girl. Adeline knocks our socks off everyday!  She talks ALL THE TIME!! She wakes up talking and goes to sleep talking! (and, like her mom, she sometimes talks in her sleep!!) Off the top of my head, she loves her family, her friends, her dogs, books, shoes, giraffes, and monkeys.  She has an intense laughter that causes us to smile and laugh right along with her.  She's a keen observer of the world around her!

My life would be so empty without Ben.  I am thankful for his gentle spirit that loves me and Adeline unceasingly.  After many years of prayer, God opened the door for a new job in March.  While the transition hasn't always been easy, we are thankful for this opportunity.  Ben is being challenged which causes us to be challenged so we are growing. What a gift he is to our family!

11.01.2010

A Silver Anniversary

Not that I have any good excuses, but it isn't as easy to update these days.  I now have to maintain a blog for school, and sad to say, it has gotten the updates lately.

I totally missed an update for the sweet thing's 2nd birthday! But, I realized this weekend that I could write about her 25th (month!) Silver Anniversary which occurred this past Saturday, October 30th!  I know I write it each time, but she continues to AMAZE us in so many ways.  Between home and school, she has learned quite a repertoire of songs and nursery rhymes to share.  Right now, her favorites are Five Little Monkeys Swinging on the Tree and Humpty Dumpty.  She's got the ABC song down for the most part and is working on counting past 10. She loves to be outside and is a great helper on Sunday mornings to walk out to get the paper for Daddy!  We are able to communicate more and more as her vocabualry grows.  Each day, it seems, she puts more words together in sentences to clearly say what she means.  There is no doubt when she says, "I don't want to!" and your heart melts when she says, "I love you!"  Adeline Jane -- Mommy and Daddy LOVE you, too!

For her real birthday last month, we took our first family vacation to Branson. We have a great time enjoying the fall weather while playing outside at Silver Dollar City and playing inside at the waterpark in our hotel! She and I rode the butterflies and she rode the frogs with Daddy.  She has her daddy's tummy for rides as she wanted to go again and again!! I will treasure the memories for a lifetime and I hope there is something she might remember, too.  She was also intrigued by a statue of a hot pink gorilla in front of a garden shop there and insisted, "I ride it!" So, we stopped for pictures of her on top of the gorilla!  It was a hoot!

We are all getting used to a new four-legged member of our family.  Aussie is a miniature Australian Shepherd who is keeping us all on our toes!  She loves to be around people and especially enjoys chasing balls with Adeline in the backyard.  Adeline is sweet to her (most of the time!) and cheers her on when she pees outside.  "Good pee, Aussie!"  Gotta love it!!

For Halloween, she dressed up as a giraffe.  She LOVES giraffes!  We went to her school carnival a few weeks ago and she had a blast palying games there.  Yesterday Uncle Chris, Aunt Juju, and Chase had a party that was so much fun and then we got to go to another carnival with some friends.  It was a busy, fun day full of treats!!