Christmas Tree

We got our Christmas Tree on Saturday.  Though I grew up chopping down my own tree on a tree farm, I have resigned our family to picking a tree at Home Depot since the first Christmas in Louisville, I paid twice as much for a tree to chop than at Home Depot.  We left Jman with the Grandparents and borrowed the truck to pick it up.  Jeremiah has surprisingly done really well.  He usually does not touch the decorations- well except for thinking one of the Ornament balls was a "ball" and went and threw it in the kitchen and it shattered on the floor.  Oh my- what could I do- he really thought it was a ball!  And then yesterday, as I was taking groceries up- the boy unloaded all the eggs on the floor and I found him shaking one as I walked in- thankfully none of them broke- amazing!  Then he proceeded to kick the tree so all the needles in one section fell.  Yesterday, in a test of my patience, he forcefully pushed the poinsettia off the table sending dirt everywhere.  So he is testing my patience some these days but I know part of it is his busy age!  We'll see what else happens to my decorations.

Thanksgiving Glimpses 2012

Other glimpses of our Thanksgiving which was spent with the Lyons family just chilling out & eating lots of turkey!!

The boys- just chilling :)

The day was so nice we had to take them outside!

The young kids plus a fake stuffed bear near Laura's feet

The older ones- guess Jeremiah wanted to be in that photo

Our beloved GiGi!!  We love her!

Our attempt at a family pic for Thanksgiving complete with bear in the background (the black thing)

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving morning, we are waking up to a relaxing, beautiful morning!  I don't make breakfast that often, but I made a breakfast casserole and some gluten free blueberry & apple cinnamon muffins.  Here is my boys at breakfast and we have enjoyed a fun family walk on this beautiful day! 

I had high hopes of some traditions I was hoping to impart this Thanksgiving but feel like the time flew by without us sitting down to think through what we are thankful for!  Next year, Lord willing, I loved the idea of a Thanksgiving Thankful Tree.  I wanted to take a few moments in the busyness of Thanksgiving day to think of how God has blessed us this year!

1.  The Lord has blessed me with an amazing husband who serves our family and goes to school full time & works many jobs to provide for our family!  He does a great job balancing everything so well!

2.  I am thankful for a sweet and busy little Jeremiah boy and the joy he brings to our family!  Though he has three times the energy I have right now, he is so loving, friendly and happy.  I am also thankful the Lord has given me a healthy pregnancy so far and we look forward to meeting a new little one in this new year.

3.  I am thankful for how God has provided for us for me to be able to stay at home and the generosity of my in-laws in allowing us to live in this apartment for free and how the Lord continues to provide for our every need!

4.  I am so glad we were able to go to Israel this summer and how the Lord provided the funds for that with HUC & the generosity of people from our church!

5.  I am thankful for a Grandma that is so willing to take Jeremiah and give us a break and a great sister-in-law downstairs that is willing to do the same and make us yogurt and other fun treats!

6.  I am thankful for our church body and how the Lord has blessed us through the people of ECC and how they encourage and grow us to be more like Christ!  I am particularly thankful for Becky, a Godly woman who is a great encourager to me as a young mom.  I am also thankful for a sweet friend- Stephanie L and her intentionality in our friendship here as well as many other young moms who are a great encouragement!

And many many more... 

November of Travels

 November has been a busy month for our family.  The beginning of the month, I took a trip to PA to visit my family, go on a girls' overnight with some friends from York and college & celebrate and surprise my mom with a 60th birthday party.  I was able also to visit my Grandma in a nursing home who had broken her hip a few months ago but she looked great and has really recovered.  Jeremiah loved all the extra attention from Pop-Pop & Mom-Mom and Uncle Mike & Aunt Rachel.  He helped cook, played with lots of new trucks and even went to the Turkey Hill Experience to drive and ice cream truck. 

This fall, we also enjoyed going to a Counseling Training in Florence, Kentucky.  The November session was taught by Dr. Whitney from Southern Seminary and dealt with Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian life.  I had taken this course at Southern but so refreshing to hear him speak of praying through and meditating on Scripture. 

Last weekend, Michael took a road trip with some guys at HUC to SBL (language conference) in Chicago and there he found lots of good deals on books, went to sessions, stayed in the Hard Rock Hotel, and visited with some friends and professors from Southern Seminary.  Jman and I made it through the weekend and other than having my tire go a little flat- I for one was ready for Michael to come home Sunday night.  It was a tiring weekend chasing after an active toddler by myself. 

This week, we are staying put and celebrating Thanksgiving with the Lyons' family.  And hopefully enjoying some quality "family time" this week as well!

Music Group

 We have been enjoying going to a Music Class on Mondays near our house.  There is a sweet girl that is a Music Therapist and does a wonderful job with the kids.  She brings out the parachute, instruments, scarves and all kinds of hands on activities with music!  The Monday before Halloween, we all dressed up and Jeremiah was our little lion.  He enjoyed his outfit being a little lion so much that we went for a walk in the outfit that same day!  It actually was a great way to keep covered up except I probably looked a little strange walking around the neighborhood with a little lion cub. 

Jeremiah- 21 Months

 Jeremiah is 21 months old!  Hard to believe our little guy is getting closer to 2 years of age!  He is loving his trucks and tractors these days and lines them up on the coffee table or I often find them stashed away in the microwave. 

 Jeremiah is enjoying making animal sounds and points to his eyes many times and different parts of his body.  He loves to dance and jump and sure loves when we see big trucks or buses along the road!  In the last month or so, he has exploded in talking and babbling, singing and saying more words and putting things together!  He loves to point to pictures of Mama & Dada and points out Mom-Mom & Pop-Pop too.  We are so thankful for this little guy.  This week, we are working on the commands- "Come to Mama" and "Stop."  I have been realizing that my little "Speed," as some call him at church, needs to work on these commands as he can get away from me pretty fast.  So our goal is to work on these this week, a little each night. 

Fire Truck Museum

A few weeks ago, our beloved Aunt Becky V. took us to the Fire Truck Museum!  She is so good with different ideas that kids may love.  I would have had NO clue that this museum existed!  Jeremiah loved the model fire truck with sirens, lights and everything!  It was the perfect place for Jeremiah as he LOVES trucks at this age and is known even to do the "fire engine siren" even in the middle of church.  One of the perks of living on Colerain is that we always run to the window when we hear a siren and that is quite often!  :)  I am so thankful for Aunt Becky and how she takes time out to spend time with me and provides great wisdom and encouragement to me as a young mom!  I do think every young mom in church needs to adopt an "Aunt" for themselves and their kids.  :)