Thanksgiving and giving thanks

I'd like to start my entry by saying that you'll have to excuse me as I'm working off of 3 hours of sleep after a crazy Black Friday (Thursday really) event so my grammer, spelling or structure may be very poorly executed!

So, yesterday was Thanksgiving. I got up and put the turkey in at about 9 and Harmony helped me prep just about everything for the day. It was such a heartwarming thing to watch her help me peel potatoes. She even asked "did your dad show you how to do this when you had thanksgiving with him" I said "why do you think my dad would have shown me" and she replied "because peeling potatoes is a hard job, I think dad's can probably teach kids better". I"m still not sure if this was a blow to my potato peeling ability or if she was just making an innocent observation, but I thought it was sweet either way! Noah and Kevin did the stereotypical "men watch football" day. Kev likes to stick to making hotdogs, corndogs, macaronni and other such things that can safely be heated either in the oven, microwave or a bowl of water!

As the day progressed we had visitors straggling in and out. Kevin's friend from Junior high who he hasn't seen in 10+ years stopped by with his wife and four kids. They stayed for a short time and then went to have dinner with their family. Then The Reed crew and Megan and Addy and Georgia came over to eat with us. Little Miss P was cracking me up while she was hoisting one of our guinea pigs over her shoulder. She carried that thing around like a ragdoll "I got you, I got you" she kept saying.

After dinner was over Bill and his wife Sandra came back over for some wine and visiting without the interuption of all the kiddos. I asked Bill how Kev was when he was younger, to which he replied "the same". He said that Kev was always the guy that you could go to and talk to. He was the one you knew was always there. Trusty Kevin.

We were laying in bed and I turned to Kevin and thought about how he is still that, trusty Kevin. Reliable, trustworthy, honest, caring, genuine. Our lives have become so intertwined with each other that sometimes we forget to stop and appreciate what we are to and for each other. It was no accident how or when we met. I love that man beyond anything I could ever explain in words and I know (because I know) that he feels the same for me. This love, this life, this family that we have is not something that everyone gets to experience in their life. We are the lucky ones who have found each other, somehow..

We are thankful to be so blessed.

secrets

11/12/10
Tonight I was driving to the outlet mall with Noah to pick out shirts for him and Kev to wear for our family photos tomorrow. Out of the blue he turned to me and said "mommy, do you have any secrets?" I asked him what he meant and he said "you know, do you have things in your head that nobody knows about". I got a little concerned that he might want to talk to me about something so I told him "yes, I think everyone has secrets Noah. It's not necessarily a bad thing as long as they aren't hurting anyone. Sometimes people just keep things to themselves because they are too personal to share". I asked him if he had any secrets and his response was "not right now, but I wonder if I will when I get older". He said he doesn't think he can have secrets from me because I'm his mom. I (of course) loved that answer. Then he got really quiet and said "I love you". It completely melted me. We talked about how he is getting older and he may feel like it will be hard to talk to me about things. I told him how I hope that we can always be close like we are now, and how I hope that he can always talk to me. He said he thinks he will because I "try to understand things". I think there must be a moment in your parenthood where you TRULY know you are doing a good job. For me, having that conversation did it. My son is ten, which means he has spent over half the time that he likely will living with me... which means I only likely have half of the time left. The weight of that truth is difficult, but I know, beyond a doubt, that we are raising an amazing child.

Lompoc Aquatic Center

In celebration of Noah's 10th birthday we went to the Aquatic Center in Lompoc. I have to say I was completely impressed. We were able to rent the entire place and have it all to ourselves :)

The drive there was thrilling! With five boys and Harmony in the vehicle with Kev and I, you can only imagine the potty talk! I'm pretty sure that any time one of the boys said "butt" or "weiner" the entire car broke out in belly laughts and screams. Not to self, next time bring ear plugs!

I think everyone had an awesome time and we will definitely be going back again!!!


Here's NOah pulling the ropes to make the water come out of the spout Kevin just coming out of the water slide

Noah, Jake and Caden trying to figure out how it all works

All the boys getting ready to go down the slide. Noah, Caden, Jude, Jake and Ryan

Harmony's first time down the blue slide.

November 4th

Today I am thankful for the TV repair man. (soooo lame I know, but I paid a lot of money for this TV and it hasn't been working right since we got it!!)

Thankful for..

Someone on Facebook posted that they are going to post something they are thankful for every day in November. I thought this would be good for me! I'm missing the first two days but better late than never!

Today I am Thankful that my children will eat cereal for dinner.

Noah's turning 10

I found this journal of mine sitting in the closet. I pulled it out to read it tonight, and this is what it said.

____________________________

July 6th 2000

At three o'clock today we went in to have an ultrasound done. It was the most wonderful thing ever. We could see your little body moving around, you even kicked the ultrasound tech. We found out today that you are a boy, just what I thought. I almost cried when I saw your penis on the screen! It's so wonderful!! Now I know I'm going to have a son, and I'm going to name you Noah.

____________________________

Noah, the day I had you seems like the day my life began. It was the day I realized things were worth doing, and doing well. It was the day I wanted to make something more of myself so that someone else would be proud of me. It was the day I realized what life was all about. You have taught me so many wonderful and beautiful things. You remind me every day that life is complicated and amazing all in the same breath. I love you so much and I'm so proud of the young man that you are becoming.

Happy 10th Birthday to you!

Trick or Treats

Halloween turned out to be so much fun. On Saturday night we went to the Devereaux house and partied. I'll admit I had one too many jello shots and had to stumble home, but it doesn't happen very often so I let myself! Then on Sunday evening we had Jeff and Patti and the gang, , Megan and Addy and the Mcneill clan over for a spaghetti dinner and then we all went trick or treating together. It's always fun to watch a gang of kids running through the night with buckets of candy.

Happy tale of the evening, i found a costume that wasn't completely terrible!