thankful for....

days that give me the opportunity to be reminded of how blessed i am.

Thanksgiving 2011---Jasmine, Ben & Beth had been here for 3 weeks---so much fun---got to play and hold and watch---grateful for time!    David Hall arrived Tuesday night...grateful for him letting us have his family for so long.  Leah & Joe and the boys came on Thanksgiving Day and stayed thru Sunday morning---the party is on!  My sister, Eden and her lovely husband, Bill came up from Lago Vista, TX (down by Austin) and stayed til Friday----grateful for having family IN texas! Eden brought up 5 GORGEOUS pies and a lovely fall flower arrangement---thankful for generous and tasteful people.  We were well on our way to a wonderful feast.

 J Howard Davis came for dinner and watched the Cowboy game for a bit as well....yay for a win!  Our menu was a combination of gluten-free, diabetic-friendly and traditional thanksgiving food...citrus-brined turkey, 2 kinds of stuffing, garlic & lemon green beans, my niece Jennifer's AMAZING won-ton sausage appetizer....mmmmm grateful for FOOD.

after the meal---david hall, joe, ace and david went out to the back yard to work on the playground installation....(see previous post).  We got out the push car, the double stroller and the POWER WHEELS (side note---having a son that works at goodwill and texts you pictures of the GREAT stuff that comes in---BONUS!----got it for $7 WORKING!).  Ben and Cannon had a great time 'driving'---yeah---now i see why we dont let 2 and 3 yr olds drive (yes---cannon just turned 3---*sigh* the kids are growing up :).  we headed over to the playground at the school across the street----Bill, Jasmine, Eden & I watched the boys run and jump and slide (Beth and Porter stayed in their stroller happy as bugs).  It was fun to watch Bill push Jonas on the pushcar....grateful for people who love my grandkids!

 eden happily took on the job of pushing porter and beth in the double stroller---not so easily done on a grassy field!

 beth and porter were all bundled up---thanks Great-aunt Eden for pushing the double!

 jonas loved having Bill push him in the pushcar.

 jasmine was always close at hand to make sure no veering was happening!

 the boys took turns driving the power wheels on the sidewalk (meaning on and off the grass) and in the parking lot of the school....they are such cute friends.

 Beth stood up on her own---what a great baby to let us get it on camera!  even Porter was interested!

that evening we played a rousing game of the Name Game---our favorite! twas a lovely day!

no-no to no-no

ace and i put up the tree today----and put back about 4 big buckets full of ornaments, nativities and other decoration we will not be putting up this year...all lovely---all very breakable....we also trimmed the tree on the bottom only with ornaments that we knew would put up with little hands. (the lack of lights on the bottom is due to last year's puppy, Lucy, chewing the heck out of anything in HER reach!)

in the past we have put our 'octagon' around the tree to keep the crawlers and toddlers from pulling the tree over or eating everything within arms' reach----but since our one crawler (beth "incredibles" hall) wont be here til a few days after christmas, we will hold off on enclosing the tree.

Leah & the boys will be here for a day or two this week---and i dont want to say "no-no" the whole time they are here---so instead i just wont put out what will break or be dangerous....Jonas and Cannon are both old enough (haha---really, merf?----2 is old enough?---have you ever SEEN a two year old?---tsk, tsk---so naive---so innocent) anywho----they are old enough to be told only once or twice a day "no-no---dont touch the tree"....grandma's house doesnt like being a no-no kinda place

 we also put up a playground in the backyard----our christmas present to ourselves---Joe, David & david hall (and ace before he went to work) worked ALL day the saturday after Thanksgiving putting it together----you remember that saturday? coldest and windiest day of the fall so far? yeah---that day---playground was finished at about 530---just in time for Ben Hall and Jonas nelson to go outside and climb up the climbing wall and go down the slide a couple of times before they froze---and jonas didnt care---he didnt want to come in.

 cannon went down the slide sunday morning before church---then realized "its cold!" and he was done.

david worked for about a week putting the accessories together and getting everything ready for

"the build" 

 jonas making his way up the climbing wall to the fort---looks like he is helping to build it!

(notice in the background of the picture with Jonas on the ladder---david hall is putting ben in time-out for pushing or hitting---i dont remember which---but david is saying "no-no" (haha---i thought that was funny)

along with that we redid our back family room area---make it more 'kid-friendly'---buckets-in-a-cabinet for toys with a tv/dvd for their movies and a futon for adults that want to oversee (and a place for ace to sleep while the girls and fams take over the upstairs)


 ace has declared this his 'mancave'---set up his game systems and 2 tv's (really---why 2?)---they will depart when the short men come to the house.


i'd much rather have a yes yes house than a no-no house....so my pretties and preciouses will be put up for a year or two---or a decade or two---my pretties and preciouses (oooh---can you tell i've been watching LOTR lately?---picture me in a dishtowel type loin cloth---well, no---dont---anyway---back to my preciouses) are now 3 mo, 5 mo, 10 mo, 2 yrs, 2 1/2 yrs, 2 3/4 yrs and 3 yrs.