Thankful Thursdays

I thought it would be fun to do thankful Thursdays this month too!

Making a build a bear for Anna-Kate

I'm thankful for a loving and supportive husband and the wonderful father that he is! He was out of town Tuesday afternoon through Friday last week and I missed him so much! I realized that things that happen during the day are just not funny unless you have someone there to make you laugh about them. I'm thankful for a husband who makes me laugh daily.

I'm thankful for a beautiful brown eyed little girl who is so much fun! She is such a blessing in my life. I'm constantly laughing at something she has said or done. Yesterday I called her my cowgirl and then she called me her cow momma. Although I know where she was headed there, I am pretty sure that she doesn't quite understand that's not a compliment. haha :) She is always wanting to help with cooking and I am so excited that she is going to help me throw a surprise tea party for Derek's grandmother Saturday! I know that Anna-Kate is going to love helping cook and serving her great grandmother and Lepanto friends.

I'm thankful for a funny little two year old too. Thomas is hitting that stage where personality really comes out... the good and the bad! I love to hear all the things he is taking in and all the new words he is learning. Last night he was pulling out toys and saying "OH LOOK!" and each toy was just so exciting. Did I mention that he was right in the middle of Bible Study and Thomas chose to play right in the middle of the room everyone was in?

I'm thankful for the beautiful weather this fall has given us. I do get tired of the extreme heat but I don't like the cold unless it snows! (I know, picky much?) Thankfully we have had a good mixture of the two and the weather has been just beautiful!

What are you thankful for? 

Christmas Eve and Day

What a wonderful Christmas we had! We have had a ridiculous number of Christmas "celebrations" this year but I am so grateful that we were able to share the holiday with so many members of our family. We are so blessed. Bear with me, I am going to divide up the events so there will be a lot of little posts and lots of pictures! If you don't want to read about it you can skip the next few posts!! 

I actually had to work on Christmas Eve. We had a very busy morning at work but I got off around 1. When I got home I was so tired but I still had a lot to do. 

I showered and cleaned and then I remembered I still had one gift to get. It was for a child so I actually decided to brave Wal-Mart! Oh my! It was horrible, but I got a great parking spot and had good luck. I had a few other things to get but it really wasn't bad. I got in and out fairly quick. 

Last year, we started the tradition of having Derek's family over for a Christmas Eve dinner. So this year we wanted to do the same but decided to change up the menu. I had several ideas but eventually settled on doing breakfast for dinner so we could all wear our pajamas. Then with the time constraints from working I simplified and decided on breakfast casserole and biscuits with chocolate gravy for dessert. I have a recipe in my Paula Deen Cookbook but I altered it a bit. It's so good! I layered shredded hashbrowns, french bread cubed, sausage and cheese and then poured an egg mixture over. Yum! I made two casseroles so that we would have some left over for breakfast! I normally would have made biscuits from scratch but I knew that I'd be working and would need all the time I had to clean and get ready so I bought frozen biscuits. I used a Paula Deen recipe for the chocolate gravy too. That was my first time making it and really my first time eating it. It is so good! If you have never made it, you need to! 

We were ready so we decided to try a family picture! 

After dinner, we watched Elf. It's one of my favorite Christmas movies. Second to all of the claymation movies of course! 

When everyone left we put Thomas to bed and then let Anna-Kate help us set the cookies out for Santa and the carrots out for the reindeer. Then we let Anna-Kate throw out the reindeer food she got at school. It was so cute! This year has been so fun with Anna-Kate. She got so into Santa! Once she got in bed it was time for us to get to work! 

Every year so far Derek and I have stayed up on Christmas Eve and wrapped all of the gifts except for one or two things and then set the gifts out and filled the stockings. We always have a lot of fun doing that. I had wanted to wrap the gifts sooner but Derek wanted to stick with tradition. So we played Christmas music and wrapped everything! I think we were more excited than Anna-Kate! 

Anna-Kate woke up around 8 and came into our room saying "I think we need to go in the living room and see if Santa came." It was so cute. So we let her go in and see the presents under the tree. She was so excited! Derek grabbed Thomas while she checked out her changing table and her pillow pet. 

We did stockings and then let Thomas see his gifts that were sitting out. He got his first Thomas the Train set and big box of wooden blocks! He immediately pushed the train along the tracks and made the motor sounds! Ha- it's amazing how he knew to do that!! 

I love how he squats down now! 

Oh and as you can see, Thomas is now walking all over! :) He walked around so excited for the gifts! 

We finished opening gifts and then played for a bit before getting ready to do Christmas with Derek's family. 

When we got to Derek's grandmother's we played for a bit before getting started on the gifts. There were 11 people so there was a lot to go through!

Thomas decided that this was the coolest place. Every time I turned around he was standing on that bench! 

Derek got a nice sports coat

Thomas wasn't so sure about how to open gifts but he had plenty of help! 

Thomas loved this glow worm! He would hand it to me and let me push the button and then he would rock  with it. So sweet! 

I got a Pandora bracelet with a treasure chest charm. I love it! 

Anna-Kate got pretty tired- we opened gifts for a long time! 

After we opened all of the gifts we went outside and let the girls open their new cars! haha! Anna-Kate was so excited!

We even got some snow flurries on Christmas day! I just wish some of it had stuck! 

After we got everything cleaned up, we ate and then visited and let the girls play with their toys. 

This is a horrible picture but I thought Anna-Kate was so cute in her dress up outfit! She's even got the little shoes on!

We got home and were all worn out! The kids went to bed and then Derek and I got things cleaned up. We had to pack for the Franklin trip too. We got most everything in order but still had a few things to do so we decided to hold off on leaving for Franklin until Monday morning.

We had a crazy Christmas day but it was wonderful! 

Thankful Thursdays

So I'm making this post a few days late, sorry but we are just busy busy during the week!

I'm so thankful we are! :) I've been really busy with work now that the holidays are approaching we are getting ready for our open house and for Thanksgiving orders! I've been working a lot but I am just so glad to have a job!! Even more than that I'm thankful to have a job that I really enjoy!

I'm also thankful that our children have a place to be while we are working. I know that both of them are well taken care of and happy during the days. Anna-Kate loves school more than anything these days! It's so neat to hear all that she is learning too! She has gotten so good with her colors and can usually say her memory verse! She's always singing songs from school too! So sweet!! I feel blessed to have a friend that does such a great job with Thomas too. I  know that he is happy too! I am also thankful to have the help we always seem to need when a child is sick or something else comes up!

Have I mentioned how much Derek has been helping around the house?? When I am busy with work (coming home around 7 or so) he works so hard to get things done around the house so that I can relax when I get home! Most nights dinner is even ready! I am spoiled! I am just so grateful for him! He always surprises me.

I am constantly reminded of the blessings around! 

Thankful Thursdays

Have you ever noticed how Thanksgiving gets overshadowed by Christmas? I mean, Halloween doesn't even fully wrap up before you start seeing Christmas trees and advertisements for the "hot new toy" of the season. It makes me so sad because I LOVE Thanksgiving!

So I thought I would bust out the Thanksgiving spirit and post what I'm grateful in each Thursday!

What's greater than a day that is dedicated to spending quality time with family, being thankful for what we have and of course eating a lot!

I love the food!

My friend Ashley made a blog post about her favorite Thanksgiving foods and it inspired me!

I am SO thankful for the good food on Thanksgiving. From the turkey all the way down to the pecan pie!

Even more than the food, I'm so thankful for the people who prepare the meals for me! Well not for me but for our family. :)

My sisters and I have always had two thanksgiving dinners and now this year it looks like we are adding another meal! We will do two on Thursday and probably one on Friday. Last year was the first year I really got to cook. I made broccoli cheese casserole and sweet potato casserole, corn pudding and then I made pecan pie, pumpkin pie and Bakerella's Turkey Cake Balls. (In my tiny oven! This year, I'm so grateful for my new oven! haha!) After doing all of that, I was TIRED! I could not believe that for years my grandmother has stood in her kitchen and made those casseroles, plus hashbrown casserole, the turkey and dressing, rolls and pecan and pumpkin pie. Oh and jello and ambrosia salad! Yikes!! Then I have my dad and his sister who prepare an entire meal on their own!

I am thankful for a place to gather and eat our thanksgiving meal! A few years ago, my grandmother's kitchen was being remodeled and we had no place to prepare the food and really no dining room to eat it in, so we all ate at Cracker Barrel. After that, I have been so grateful for the Thanksgivings at their house! It's so much easier to eat around the table where we can relax together after.

Finally, I am so thankful for the family we get to share these wonderful meals with! Every other year we go with Derek and his family and it's so nice! We don't always get to see each other and I just love spending time together! Of course, I am grateful for every year we get to spend with my family too. I know that there might be years where we can't spend the holidays together and it makes me cherish the moments we have even more. I'm so grateful that my children get to experience family on that level.

Of course, most of all I am thankful for Derek who is such a wonderful husband and father and the two beautiful children we have. He is such a hard worker and puts 100% into our family. Anna-Kate and Thomas are such a special gift. They are absolutely amazing!

Each week, I plan on sharing what I'm thankful for! I will try not to be so mushy though! haha! I just feel so richly blessed!

What are you thankful for?