I am Grateful...

It was a rough morning this morning. Actually, it has been a bit of a rough month or two. I woke up late with a migrane and burning throat from the lovely acid reflux I have been having all night. My girls needed baths and breakfast and Kennedie needed to be driven to school. I was grouchy. Luckily, I witnessed the cutest little exchange between my girls in the bath tub. It went something like this:

Kelsie: "Te-te, I pay wit dat?"
Kennedie: "Okay, I'll share it with you." (She hands over the big cup and spoon)
Kelsie: "Tank tu, Te-te. La loo"

It was so simple, yet it melted and softened my heart and I realized I have way too much to be grateful for to even spend a moment in a bad mood.

Here is a quick list of what I am grateful for this morning:

Sweet little girls that love each other get a long most of the time.

An almost 2 year old that has to have a backpack, jacket, drink, snack, and anything else her sister has before we can leave for the 5 minute drive to school.

A safe reliable car to shuttle my family around in.

Online banking.

A toddler that is trying to potty train. (see below)

Bleach.

Big boxes of diapers, Goldfish, fruit snacks and juice boxes at Costco. Less trips to the store.

A sweet 6 year old daughter. She just recieved an award from her principal for citizenship. That means she has been an example of being kind, respectful, responsible and safe at school. I think that is great!

An amazing husband who works his tail off because he dreams big.

A husband who is making me wait to go vote (early voting) until he can go with me this afternoon.

That same husband who will lovingly carve pumpkins with our little family and grill our dinner tonight.

Pumpkins that were sent to the girls all the way from Springerville from our sweet friend Karl Turley. He has been such a blessing to my family. I smile everytime I walk by those pumpkins he grew.

A mom who checks on me regularly and keeps track of what the girls are up to.

That same mom who lets me think I need to check on her regularly. It makes me feel important.

Good friends and neighbors.

Getting to take my kids out trick-or-treating tomorrow.

My sister, who lives about 15 miles away, who is coming to our house to let Kennedie and Kelsie trick-or-treat from her so we don't have to drive over to her.

The fact that Kelsie adores Kory and will stay with her. (Kelsie can be a tough nut to crack.)

Being able to talk to my Dad.

Getting to go visit our family for Thanksgiving. I am grateful that most of mine and Levi's grandparents are alive to get to see our children and that our children will be lucky enough to get to know them.

A pregnany that has been progressing well.

A knowledge of Christ and the power of prayer.

The Little Mermaid. Without it, Kelsie would be on my lap and this list would not be possible.



I hope everyone has a great day. We all have a lot to be grateful for.

Free labor!

I went outside yesterday afternoon and this is what I found:

And lastly, what Kelsie does when you tell her to "smile."

The Pumpkin Patch

Kennedie's class took a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. Levi was off so he decided to go as a parent volunteer. I am glad that they both had a good time. Poor Levi had a day with more girls. He did really well, I think his only challenge was taking the 3 little girls in his group to the Port-O-Potty and convincing them it was okay to use it. Kennedie was really glad to have him along.

AT THE PETTING ZOO

EATING LUNCH
WITH SOME OF HER CLASS

Levi's Group

WITH DADDY IN "OUR SPOT" BEFORE THEY LEFT

High School Musical: The Ice Tour

Before we left.

(Consider this my 16 week belly pic ;)

The "kiss-y" Pose

WE'RE HERE!!

Our view

Kennedie with her $16 (no joke) snow cone and friend Jolee.

Kennedie was on fall break all last week. We made a quick trip up to Springerville and came home in time to go to HSM on ICE. Levi was working, so I talked my sister into hanging with Kelsie. Kennedie and I hadn't really done all that much just the 2 of us since Kels was born nearly 2 years ago. It was really nice to get to spend some quality time with my sweet girl. I am amazed by how kind and innocent she is. She is such a special little girl. I am glad I got that reminder.

We had a great night! Kennedie kept telling me how nice it was to have a "date" with me. We sat in a section that was bought up by a bunch of her friends from school (how we got the super-close awesome seats.) I snapped a few pictures, mostly on the way there and when we got there, but I got caught up in the show (yes, I did) and didn't get any of that. Kennedie made me pose with her, apparently it's cool in Kindergarten to make "kiss-y lips?" I don't know if it is with your mom?!?

Mount Lemmon

A few weekends ago we were craving fall. There was none of that to be found here. So we put on our jeans and jackets, went out to breakfast and headed up for a drive. We had so much fun. For a minute we forgot we were in the middle of Tucson and felt like we were in Round Valley. The girls were in heaven... It was a perfect way to spend a Saturday. (Here are a few pictures of our day. Can you tell who was holding the camera?)

We have a blog...

I have thought for a long time about joining the blogging world, but had reservations. I was worried about the invasion of privacy, worried about the time commitment, and really has no clue what I was doing. After moving away and getting busy with life, I realized how horrible I am about keeping in touch with family and friends. I rarely send updates on the girls. I am hoping that this blog will help me be better about that. I think it'll be easier if there is one place for those we love to look when they want to know what we are up to. I also hope it will serve as a fun little family journal. So bear with me as I learn what I am doing...