Thanksgiving Blessings

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our turkey table to yours! May you take the time today to reflect on everything each of us has to be thankful for. I know if we were to list them all here, it would take quite a bit of time! For the short (and most important) list though, we are thankful for our faith, our family, the love that we share for each other, our spiritual gifts, our hopes, values and dreams. May we always feel this way in our lives, not just on Thanksgiving.

Many Blessings!

The Last Day

So, although I haven't posted it here yet, many of you are already aware of our most recent blessing; I found a job! Or, more accurately, a job found me!

There are so many things I(we) am(are) grateful for in our lives, and employment is definitely one of them. Other items on the list include spending the entire summer (5+ months!) with E and really forming what I pray will be a lifelong bond with our daughter. I have memories beyond memories of this summer and plan to dedicate a future post here to all the things her and I took on as part of our normal daily and/or weekly routines.

Today is our last weekday together. With Monday as my first day (yes, I would LOVE to start on the short Thanksgiving week, sure no problem!), I will miss being with her terribly during the days. On the flip side though, there is a large part of me that knows heading back into the mix is, without a doubt, the right thing to do.

A big thank you to all of our friends who helped us out during this scaling back time. It is definitely times like this when you know who is really on your side. I received many messages this summer ranging from general encouragement to specific potential job leads. It is one of these private leads - a sort of a friend of a friend told me this once kind of deal - that ultimately led to the opportunity that played out to be my next gig. Thank you. You know who you are.

We are really looking forward to finding a new schedule and settling into our new groove. All this patient waiting has led to this moment, the start of a new chapter. We are truly blessed and could not be more thankful. As a friend of mine always says, "Praises Up, Blessings Down". Amen to that.

What Are You Staring At? Do I have Food On My Face?

So what if my favorite movie is "There's Something About Mary"?

If We Entertain You, Remind Us Not To Serve You The Rotini

American Soldiers; The Often Overlooked National Treasure

Happy Veteran's Day!

And a big thank you to anyone who has served, is currently serving, or plans to serve this great country of ours! We could not be who we are or where we are without your brave efforts!

I chose to use pictures of the Korean Memorial in Washington D.C., not to single out a specific American conflict, but rather to commemorate a family vacation once observed by us in which we had the pleasure to witness this memorial firsthand. If you have not seen it, I would highly suggest placing it on your "bucket list". It is awesome!

Another Superwoman Joins The Ranks

So the first two disguises didn’t quite work out.

The witch costume (although appropriate for our toddler at times in terms of her demeanor) with black feathers at the sleeve ends and bottom, was thinner than it looked in the package and certainly SHORTER than it looked in the package. If she were older and tried to wear something like that out of the house, she would’ve been sent “to her room” for a changin’. So it was axed. I consoled S, who had her heart set on the “littlest witch”, that there were a number of years left for E to don a pointed black hat. If you ask me this disguise just becomes more fun with age anyhow as an older child will certainly put up with green face paint and fake nose warts longer than a toddler would anyway.

The bumblebee costume, with glittery wings and antenna headband, was adorable, but only if Halloween occurred in June instead of October. The temperature was in the low 40’s, so the bee was ditched for a more practical, more outrageous, more velvety, full armed and full legged, Superwoman (or Supergirl).

Besides, I am a HUGE fan of taking the total character a bit further than just wearing the costume. I mean, a true job well done is playing the part too, right? That being said, have you ever, EVER, seen a witch run like that?

Doctor Emily came over to play on Halloween and the two girls had a blast. They also stayed up WAY past their bedtimes, but I guess that's to be expected on a year when Halloween lands on a Saturday! S made that headband to complement the outfit, which prompted one parent on "the candy circuit" to pose the question "Did Superwoman wear a headband?". Who knows. All I know is I have Superwoman for a wife and Supergirl on Halloween.

After only a few houses, she already had the routine down; get in wagon, ride to next driveway, hop out and run up to steps, climb steps, mumble something (sometimes "Trick or Treat!") and reach into candy bowl with gloves (retrieving nothing and requiring assistance), go back to wagon, hold on tight to pumpkin handle, repeat. As a parent, it was adorable. We can't wait for next year!

Spook E For Halloween

Yes that's right, it's still clearly the end of October around here. As I download pictures and video of the big night, I remembered how much fun we had decorating the place with items we were too fearful to bring out last year. This translates into our Rocketship seeing many things for the first time - parenting gold. Check out the video.

Admittedly, I knew this would give her a start, and yes, I did stage this sequence allowing her to set of the motion-activated pumpkin. It was worth every effort just to catch her reaction. Note: similar to most kids, waving her hands in the air (usually wildly) is her way of communicating "all done", or in some cases such as this, "take it away" and/or "get me out of here".