Gingerbread House

 Thanks to Grandma Karen for sending all of the supplies necessary to make a gingerbread house.  She sent a box from Florida filled with icing, candy, graham crackers, sprinkles, etc.  The kids had fun and spent about two hours on their creation.  They were happy with the final result!  Gingerbread cookies were also included, but we're saving those for another day. :)

Thankful

Thanksgiving day was full of family time.  We spent lunch with Mom and enjoyed our pasta meal courtesy of Maggiano's.  Since it was just the five of us, we decided to not make mom do all of the work.  We brought the meal and she just made salad and desserts.  Pretty easy and delicious!  After our visit we went to Logan to spend the late afternoon and evening with Brad's family.  We were blessed to have Aunt Carole and Uncle Tim join us, too.  It was a long, exhausting day, but we have so much to be thankful for. 

We are happy, healthy and blessed with a warm home and food on the table every day.  We serve a God that loves us despite our faults.  We have so much more than what we need and because of that, we've decided to sponsor two kids again this Christmas.  This is one of our favorite traditions as we are given a child from Warren Township Schools and one from Mt. Comfort Elementary.  We've asked the kids to use their own money this year to buy toys for the student at MCE, so they can truly experience the joy of giving.  I love the chance to watch them buy for others.  The smiles on their faces when we drop off the gifts is priceless.

Today we made time to go to the movies.  There's been so much talk about the movie, Wonder, so I was really looking forward to it.  It did not disappoint!  We all loved it and the kids learned valuable life lessons.  I pray and hope our children will choose kindness when faced with adversity.  It's so easy to follow and not lead, especially when leading means going against the "cool kids".  Take the time to watch as this will be one I purchase for the chance to see it again numerous times. 

Boiler Up!

We had a great time at Mackey Arena cheering on the Boilers last weekend.  They played Fairfield, so it wasn't much of a game, but they were hot from the field which made it tons of fun.  They hit 18 three-pointers!!  The crowd was loving it!

Pumpkin Book Report

Drew's class was asked to do a book report and create a pumpkin that looks like the main character.  This Spider-Man pumpkin turned out pretty neat!  

Trick or Treat

We spent Halloween with friends from church.  I'll post a group pic when I get it, but thought I'd share our family photo.  I was a little cheap this year and didn't spend money on costumes.  Since the kids are past the point of playing dress-up, it seemed silly to spend the money.  They were perfectly fine being a baseball and softball player and loved that we joined in, too.  Brad's the umpire and I'm the crazy mom.  Should I be worried that they didn't think my costume should look any different than my normal attire?! I did add the cowbell and Drew told me he's totally okay with me bringing it to games. Ha!  We stopped to visit Violet and Eloise before heading to Greenfield.  They were the cutest llamas we've ever seen. :)

Paws and Think

Brad's hard work at Warren continues to pay off as they've partnered with Paws and Think over this last year.  He's been the driving force behind it and we're so proud of him.  The therapy dogs are called in during times of stress to comfort the kids and staff.  In the last twelve months, Warren Central has experienced the loss of nine students and staff. 

Brad was asked to speak at a fundraising event to help support this program.  With little notice and few babysitter options, I decided to stay home and let Alivia be Brad's date.  She's the animal lover, so it was an easy choice. :)  Although it was a little fancy for Alivia, she couldn't believe all of the silverware for each person, she loved every minute.  It sounded like the guests loved having her, too. Enjoy the pictures!

Photo booth fun!

Alivia chose this dessert for their table.

I love that they can make these memories.

They had a caricature drawn, too. :)