Catching Up!

Sadly, it's been quite quiet in this little spot here lately.  I enjoy expressing my thoughts on "paper," and I've missed it greatly.  However, as the Mr. so often kindly reminds me, "The real world is calling.  Get out of the dream world!"  :)  I love him, and I'm glad we balance each other out so well!  At any rate, the real world has definitely been calling here lately!  We have had sick kid after sick kid after sick kid! I, for one, am sick of sick kids! :)  I thought we were doing pretty well this week, but Mr. G now has a cold and a slight fever!  I'm hoping he will fight it off quickly. 

Sick kiddos keep you busy, but then add to that the newbie's first birthday and Thanksgiving - all in the same week - and you get one BUSY week!  My effort in organization is paying off splendidly though!  We had a wonderful week without much stress in spite of sick kids!

Yes, my newbie turned 1 last week!  Can you believe it?  I sure can't!  He is such a joy and blessing to our family.  (I say that with sincerity even as I just finished cleaning up the entire box of kleenex he pulled out and chewed to bits!)  I'm so thankful for him!  Everyone enjoys him, and he has the most cheerleaders any baby could have while he is trying to walk!  This is the little one that I prayed for 2 years for God to give us, and there is rarely a day that passes when I'm looking at the newbie that I am not reminded of how good God has been.  I do not love the newbie any more than I love my other kiddos, but after barely surviving my first 4 in 4 1/2 years, I really did not know if we would ever have any more!  I'm so thankful for the work God did in my and the Mr.'s hearts, and I will always be deeply grateful to God for giving me a "second chance" with the newbie!  We partied hard the night before his birthday, and I am glad we did it then, because the poor baby ran a fever all day on his birthday!  Being sick did not keep him from diving into his cake!  Daddy finished the night off by telling Mr. A he could take a lick of frosting off the newbie's cake and then face-planted him with it!  The look on Mr. A's face was to die for!  A fun day all around!

And then, we pressed onward to Thanksgiving the next day!  This was only the second time in our 12 years of marriage the Mr. and I have had Thanksgiving with no other family!  The first time, the Mr. had very little faith in my cooking skills (not that I really blame him), and he cooked up a great fish fry for us - all the while explaining to our young children that the Pilgrims ate fish all the time!  :)  This year, we were by ourselves again, and I was determined to do it up good!  We had a 21 lb. turkey (which I got completely FREE - thank you Winco!), dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, celery sticks with cream cheese, home made rolls, blueberry jello salad, and three home made pies!  It was the first time I have ever cooked a turkey, and I was a little nervous, but I  impressed even myself!  That was some GOOD FOOD!  As Mr. A said when he finished stuffing himself completely, "Mom, we sure did eat like kings today!"  It was as close to a perfect meal as I will ever get!  I did warn the family not to expect such as this very often though because I am pretty sure I spent about 2 entire days in the kitchen, and for all of you who know me, well,  you know "that's just not really my thing!" (Miss E's new quote!)

Of course, Thanksgiving isn't just about the food.  Our family spent a good part of the meal talking about all the many things we were thankful to God for.  We are given so much especially when we consider how much God has already given and how very little we truly give back.  I was especially thankful this Thanksgiving that God is faithful to me and continues to give to me and to work in me in spite of my sinful, selfish self.

We cannot finish out a post about the week of Thanksgiving without including a short blurb about Black Friday!  I have this insane friend who texted me at 4 PM and said she had decided to pull an all nighter shopping trip instead of waiting until Friday morning (like we had previously planned - AHEM!).   I didn't want to disrupt our usual Thanksgiving tradition of watching Little Women.  So, at 10 PM, after I had everyone tucked in, I left my humble abode and went shopping.  I got home around 6 that morning because I was too sleepy to last any longer.  (The newbie had only slept ONE HOUR the night before!)  It was insane but fun!

That was our Thanksgiving week.  I apologize for never getting the link up for Thanksgiving traditions.  We received my new laptop, but they did not package it well, and it was damaged during shipping.  I am still awaiting my real computer, but I will do my best to put up a link next Monday.  I think I am going to write about Joyfulness in Busy Times.  What are your busy times of the year?  What do you do to help yourself remain joyful despite all the craziness going on around you?  Let us hear about it next Monday on our Joyful Mom Monday link-up! 

This post has become extraordinarily long, but I felt the need to say alot today! :)  I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and I pray you have found many little blessings in it already! 

Wishing you a day full of blessings,

Christy