Merry Christmas Grandma & Grandpa

Enjoy this sweet video of Jericho. :)

Thanksgiving

At the beginning of November, I had a strong impression that it was important to really focus on the "Attitude of Gratitude" in our family. To help bring this to the forefront of our minds, we spent a family night creating our reminder. AJ drew is, Jericho colored it, my hubby cut out the leaves, and I supervised. Every night during dinner we would write down one thing we were grateful for without any duplicates.

The list ranged from everything from the Dallas Cowboys to Grandma and Grandpa being on a mission. The night before Thanksgiving, we pulled the tree down and read all of the leaves out loud. (CW's job was to take the leaf/leaves to the readers). It was fun to have a few laughs and some serious moments of gratitude in our home.

Happy Birthday to ME... the big 4-0!

Nothing quite like announcing your age to the world as a first blog posting, eh? But I couldn't resist sharing my birthday story. Friday morning arrives, and my darling older boys both wish me a Happy Birthday before my feet even hit the floor. Aren't they gems? I was hoping to get a card, flowers or something from MacDaddy in the morning (as has become our usual tradition), but was left disappointed. I wasn't happy that he hadn't even remembered to buy a card, particularly since it was such a birthday milestone. Of course, the icing on the cake was when he said, "I've put a lot of effort into this weekend." Yeah, right! All he did was make a phone call to make a dinner reservation. I had booked the hotel via PriceLine.

We dropped the kids off at their aunt and uncle's for the night, and MacDaddy wants to check in at the hotel before dinner so we could just park the car there and walk a few blocks to dinner. One of the reasons I chose the Melting Pot was that it is so relaxing and you are forced to take your time eating. Dip your bread and apples in the Spinach Artichoke cheese appetizer, salad, cook your individual bites of meat, dip the strawberries in chocolate - YUM! Well, throughout dinner, MacDaddy kept look at the clock, like he was anxious to be done. And of course, I kept telling him, "Relax. Just enjoy dinner. We don't have a plane to catch, or a babysitter to pay, or any plans for the rest of the night. Maybe we can even go straight to a movie." No, he HAD to go to the hotel room first. So, being the accommodating and understanding wife that I am, I agreed. Imagine my surprise when I open the door to the hotel room and heard a loud SURPRISE! Yes, he had pulled off a surprise party! Thank you darling!

Thanks to ALL of you. Those that were able to make it enjoyed a yummy cheesecake and quite a few laughs, especially about my feelings earlier in the day. And those that couldn't attend - thanks for the thoughtful cards, emails, gifts, and phone calls. You certainly made this birthday special. I love you all!