Thankful Day Thirty

 

I'm thankful for my sister.  I'm so glad she was able to come down for the weekend and spend some time.  It's nice to have some sister time.  I'm thankful that she's been able to help me with Thanksgiving and with cleaning up and decorating for Christmas.  She has done so much for us this year, and is such a giving person.  I'm thankful that we have so much in common and live fairly close to each other that we've been able to see each other more in the last few years, building a stronger bond.  We are the bookends of our family, so there's many years between us in age.  It took awhile for us to be this close, since I was out of the house before she was in jr. high.  I'm grateful that we've been able to develop a relationship as we've gotten older.  

I love all my siblings, but I have a special bond with Emmy.   It's nice to have so much in common, to share common ideas and interests, and to be able to help each other with creative projects and share ideas.  Plus, anyone who would willingly take on the care of a 20 month old for 2 months while I was recovering from surgery deserves her own post in my list of thankful things.  Love her!    

Thankful Day Twenty-Nine

I'm thankful for being able to learn new skills.

For weeks now, Kyle has been BEGGING to make a pumpkin pie.  "Are we going to have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving?"  "When are we going to make pumpkin pie?"  "Can I help you make a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving?"  

Thanks to this inspiration, I thought it would be fun to have the boys help me make a pie this year, even though Kyle looks ticked in the picture.  I promise he was having a fun time....he was just mad that he had to stand next to Evan.  {Poor Baby.}

We mixed up the crust and rolled it out. 

By that time, Kyle's attention span had run out.  Plus, he'd seen what pumpkin looked like when I opened the can and figured this thing was going to be disgusting.  Evan and Ryan stayed with me until the end, helping me mix and crack eggs, and mix some more. 

Finally, it was ready to go into the oven. 

 And it turned out to be SO delicious!  Kyle even liked it, afterall! 

And while still on the topic of pies and Thanksgiving, I can't help but share some pictures from the boys' school activities. 

Ryan made a turkey apron and his very own apple pie.  He couldn't WAIT to share it with us. 

Kyle had a student-only feast at school on Friday.  He LOVED almost everything.  They also made Indian headbands and came up with Indian names, based on their initials.  Our Kyle Cooper was Kicking Coyote for the day. 

How thankful I am when trying new things turns out well!

Thankful Day Twenty-Eight

 I'm thankful for Thanksgiving.  It's nice to have a specific day set aside to focus on giving thanks for all the blessings we have.  I know we should be grateful all the time, but holidays like this are special because they just help celebrate and focus our attention on good things we should be doing.

After a little bit of discussion about the difficulty of planning Thanksgiving, with the uncertainty of our nephew's birth, not knowing when Grandma and Grandpa would be there or home, Julia not wanting to host Thanksgiving at her house with a new baby and it being her birthday, and just not knowing for sure what the day would bring, we decided to just do Thanksgiving at our house.  We invited a few neighbors, but that all fell through for a number of reasons.  And, Grandma and Grandpa had already made plans at their home.  It was just going to be our little family, BUT I had the thought to see if Uncle Eric and Aunt Emmy wanted to come down and help out.  THEY DID!

It was nice to have the help and to keep things simple.  Emmy made some appetizers.  Evan LOVED the spinach dip!!!!    

 Here we are, ready for the feast!

 We opened up some Thanksgiving poppers, filled with the crowns, some Thanksgiving jokes, and little surprises.  Stephen and Eric modeled their treasures.

We had a wonderful feast.  We are so blessed to have delicious food to eat and great family to share the holiday with.  We took a little survey to find our everyone's favorite dish from the feast.  Ryan's first response to seeing his plate of food was, "I don't like ANY of this stuff.  It looks gross."  He only wanted the roll and pumpkin pie, but I forced him to take ONE bite of everything.  I literally had to spoon feed him to get him to try things.  Kyle liked everything but the green bean casserole and potatoes, even liking the sweet potato casserole, and he always tells me he doesn't like sweet potatoes!  The ham, rolls, and cheesy potatoes were the favorites of the day.

Our feast was finished and cleaned up before the Cowboys played, and then Evan went down for a nap.  We even got all the Thanksgiving decorations put up and Christmas stuff out and ready to go.

It's been a successful holiday so far!  

Thankful Day Twenty-Seven

 I'm thankful today that our Thankful Tree is up and ready BEFORE Thanksgiving.

On Monday night, we had a lesson about being thankful, and combined it with Stephen's planned lesson about "sucking it upness."  {Dada was a little sick of the whining and ingratitude going on around here.}  We talked about gratitude and some of the things we should be thankful for.  We read our thankful leaves from the previous years.  {We've been doing this for 4 years, and I've kept my favorites from those years.}  We laughed and remembered and realized all that we have to be thankful for.

Then, we talked about "sucking it up."  Sometimes things go bad or not as well as we would like.  Sometimes we don't get our way.  Sometimes all the things we are grateful for aren't always there.  Sometimes we lose things.  Sometimes we have to do hard things.  It's a whole lot better for everyone involved if you just "suck it up" and get through the hard things, but think about the good things you do have.  For example, Kyle was complaining about having to put away his laundry.  I explained that, yes, sometimes chores aren't fun.  But, you get them done and then you think about how great it is that you have clean laundry and a mom who does your laundry and a washing machine to do that laundry and more than enough pairs of underwear and PJs that you HAVE to put them away in drawers.  I think they were all getting it.

We talked about not taking things for granted because sometimes bad things can happen and the good things might not be so good anymore or we might lose them.  Then, Kyle said, "Well, I'm glad I picked that I'm thankful for Ryan because I'm not going to lose him."  Wouldn't it be just lovely if we could've left it with that wonderful fairy tale of life?  Well, I had to throw in, "You never know, Kyle.  Sometimes bad things happen.  Ryan could get lost or sick or something could happen to him.  But that's why we're a family and we are going to be grateful for all the times we have together.  None of us thought Mommy was going to get sick this year, but she did.  And we can still find lots to be grateful for."

We started our leaves by coloring them.  

Kyle, for the first time, wrote his own leaves!  He chose that he was grateful for:"Playing with Ryan.  Skylanders.  Earth."

Ryan said: "Kyle.  Pumpkins.  I love Mama."

Evan said: "Meow-Meow.  Dada.  Choo-Choo--this is what he calls the iPad."
 
Mom said: "Family.  Good Doctors.  Faith in Christ."

Dad said: "Family.  Medicine.  Service from other people." 

We got a good list and hung the leaves on the tree. 

 Now the tree has a place of honor, a few days before the actual holiday.  Yay!

Thankful Day Twenty-Six

Today I am SO thankful to have my drains out!!!!!!  They are a discomfort, a pain, and difficult to move around with.  Wearing clothes with the drains and their long tubes has been a challenge.  Kyle even told his Sunday School teacher that "my mom isn't doing so well anymore because she has too many tubes."  Clearly, everyone could tell that these drains were making me not do so well.

I was supposed to have them taken out on Tuesday, but at my appointment, there was still too much fluid, the color was a concern, and my breasts were warm and threatening infection.  Taking the drains out then would've been a bad idea and probably would've ended up worse than just dealing with the annoyance of keeping them around for another week.

Today, I am free!  It feels SO much better to be tube-free and on the way to healing....again...but not for the last time.   

Thankful Day Twenty-Five

I'm thankful for boot and sweater weather.

I actually LOVE to wear cool weather clothes.  If I lived somewhere that had fall for more than 17 days a year, I would probably own at least 30 pairs of boots.  I LOVE boots, but it's hard to justify them when 89% of the year down here is spent in sandals.  I can, however, justify some kickin' cowboy boots, being Texan and all, which I've been on the lookout for for some time.  I want the perfect pair, since I won't be wearing them that often. 

I also love sweaters.  I love wearing layers and when the weather is cool--not freezing--enough to put on a sweater.  We've had that kind of weather around here for the last few days.  It would've been perfect if we could've just erased the wind and sleet, which turns sweater weather into coat, hat, scarves, and gloves weather----something completely different. 

I like sticking with sweater/boots weather, and I'm glad my dapper little man got to wear his stylin' new sweater to church today.  (ALL of my men wore their preppy Polo sweaters today, but this one was the only one willing to pose.) 

Thankful Day Twenty-Four

I am thankful to have a new nephew, my first one, to be exact!!!

Dayton Bond Cooper is here.....quite a bit earlier than originally expected, but still bigger than any of my boys.

We got to travel to College Station to visit him yesterday.  There is just NOTHING like holding a newborn.  I'm in love already.  

 The boys were like....oh.  A baby.  Cool.  Now where can we run around and what can we get into??? 

They climbed and climbed on the couch and into the window.  Boys.  Not even one of them was excited to hold the sweet baby. 

That left me plenty of time to sit and rock a sweet baby boy and think back to what it feels like to be that close to heaven. 

Thankful Day Twenty-Three

I'm thankful for laughter.

I like people with a sense of humor.  I like to think I have a pretty good one, and it's one of my favorite qualities about Stephen, too.  Our boys seem to have pretty good comedic timing, as well.  Having all of these people around me to make me smile and laugh sure helps out when I feel like strangling them. 

For example, this morning.....well, around 8:00, which would be considered "morning" for most of you, but was actually midday to us, since we'd already been up for HOURS, "playing" and watching Monsters University......I digress. 

This morning, I was making breakfast, and my three little monsters were being quite scary----running around the house, throwing things, riding this glider toy they always fight over {the sound it makes as it bumps over the tile grout is MUCH louder at 8:00 a.m. than later in the day,} and calling my name WAY too loudly and WAY too often for that early in the midday hours.....or at least before I'd had some Dr. Pepper or, let's be honest, Valium in me.

I finally said, "Uggggg!!!!!  I'm gonna kill someone today!!!"

With no hesitation whatsoever, Ryan shouted out, "KILL EVAN!!!!!!"

Kyle seconded the motion:  "Yeah, don't kill us.  Kill Evan!"

Evan responded in his own defense:  "Yeah!  I TWO!"  {Probably not gonna be a lawyer, that one.  On the other hand, maybe he's perfectly mastered the art of redirection.}

In a few seconds, my frustration turned to laughter.  I'm so thankful that these boys I sometimes want to throw out the window know how to save themselves by making me laugh.  

  

Thankful Day Twenty-Two

I am thankful for healthy kids. 

With all of our trials, we {for the most part} haven't had to stress over the health of our boys.  It's comforting to know that all 3 are healthy, growing well, learning in the ways they should, not struggling with food allergies or any severe seasonal allergies, have all beat the odds on my genetic disorder, can see and hear well, are socially "normal," and we only have to occasionally pull out the humidifier and a little over the counter meds to deal with coughs and runny noses or band aids for cuts and scrapes.  I truly know what a blessing this is and am grateful for it everyday. 

I'm also grateful for my kids' doctor.  She's great and very caring toward me and the whole cancer thing, too.  Her whole staff checks in on me every time I bring one of the boys for their well checks. 

Evan had his 2-year-old well check last week, and did great.  He even had to get a flu shot and barely flinched.  He passed with flying colors, and Dr. M is quite happy with his growth--he jumped way up in the curve!--his advancements, and his personality.  He's a keeper.

Stats:
Height: 34" {40%}
Weight: 26 lb 8 oz {31%}
HC: 47.8 cm {27%}

I'm so thankful for this positive health check and to know that my boys are healthy--and happy, too!  

Thankful Day Twenty-One

I am thankful for our home.  It's our first real home, and we didn't get it until 12 years of marriage.  I have loved it.  I love decorating, organizing, planning projects, and even cleaning it.  I love how Ryan calls it "Mom's house," to which Kyle quickly responds, "No, Ryan, it's OUR house.  All of us."  I love making memories in our home, having room for the boys to play and have their own space.  I love our master suite.  I love the backyard.  I love getting to decorate for holidays.  And I love that we finally have a house that is OUR home. 

  

Thankful Day Twenty

I am so thankful for my iPad.  While I'm stuck in bed, I'm able to blog, do some Christmas shopping, find funny videos, keep up with email, plan out my to-do list, read, and catch up with people. It's been a life-saver this year, and I am thankful for it on a daily basis.  

I also loves that Evan calls it "Choo-Choo" because he likes to play a Thomas game on here, along with other games.  He's lost some of his iPad privileges though, ever since he deleted my Candy Crush and put me back to level one.  That's one way to cut out a mindless time-sucker!  Who knows what other important things The Baby Monster might accidently erase while playing "Choo-Choo,"  so he is only allowed to play while closely monitored.   

I'm grateful for my iPad and want it to be in working shape, especially for times like today when I'm supposed to be mostly resting.   

Thankful Day Nineteen

I'm thankful for nap time.  That precious time is dwindling around here, but I cherish it as long as possible.  Thankfully, Evan still takes a considerably long nap AND sleeps all the way through the night until 7:30-8:00.  It is glorious.  I hold it dear.  There are some days I am literally calling out, "Baby steps to nap time....BABY STEPS TO NAP TIME!!!!"

Nap time is Me Time, even if that Me Time is spent doing dishes or putting away laundry.  It's a blessing to be able to do whatever work {or play} I have planned without tripping over tiny people.

The other good thing is that quiet time is still an easy thing for Evan.  He goes straight to sleep, as you can see from this picture.  He was reading his book in the car and fell asleep in about 3 minutes.  What a peaceful ride home--I could listen to my music as loudly as I wanted to without being asked for fruit snacks every 12 1/2 minutes.  Glorious!  

Thankful Day Eighteen

 I'm thankful for talented friends who share so lovingly.

We often joke about all the people who have a photography business "on the side,"  but there are people out there with legitimate talents in the area of photography.  I'm grateful to have several friends like that who have been able to share their time and talents with me this year.  My cancer portraits continue to go on, although some of those shots would be over sharing to put out there on the interweb.

I can, however, share the beautiful family portraits we had taken a few weeks ago.  I LOVE the location.  I LOVE the colors we wore.  I LOVE how easy this photo shoot was, and the memories we will have of each of us at this time in our lives.  2013 has sucked in a lot of ways, but we can still laugh and smile....especially when our photographer kept saying things like "poopy diapers" and "boogers."

I'm so grateful for talented friends and for beautiful work that comes from them.     

Thankful Day Seventeen

Today I'm thankful for traditions.

It's been a tradition for the last several years that we  have a toga party sometime in the fall.  After my surgery and everything else going on with treatment, this big party was one thing I just had to let go.....until we started getting creative.

I was originally supposed to host Bunco earlier in the year, but that was just NOT going to happen.  One of my other friends was supposed to host in November, and she just didn't feel up to it after having a baby and with her husband's work schedule.  I figured I'd be able to host in November.  After brainstorming ideas for a theme, I mentioned, "maybe we can do a Toga Bunco!"  Everyone loved the idea, so I was able to squeeze in a bit of my toga party along with my Bunco hosting duties. 
 The invite said:

 Toga! Toga! Toga!  Carpe BUNCO!  Join us as we battle it out, gladiator-style for most buncos.  Come dressed in your best toga!  Dice Divas bring your offerings to the gods in thanksgiving for a bounteous harvest.  Bunco Babes bring $5 for your offering.  "Alea iacta est."  {The dice has been cast} ---Caesar   


I was glad that most of the girls came dressed in togas. 

We ate, talked, and actually played, too!  I even won for most buncos and rolled off for most wins.  It was a good night. 

We had so much fun, and I'm grateful to be able to keep on the tradition of toga party. 

Thankful Day Sixteen--Monster Party

I'm always happy about a reason to throw a party!  Last Monday was our Baby Monster's birthday, and we put on a Monster Bash.  I'm thankful for my sister, Emmalee for helping me with the invites and getting me some monster art to work with. 

Evan was ready to party! 

We drank "Pond Scum." 

Here's the table set up:  Monster Dogs with chili and cheese; Monster Ears {potato chips} and Ear Wax {dip}; Monster Toenails {tortilla chips} and Mush {guacamole, queso, salsa}; Slime {crackers with jalapeno jelly dip}, Monster Cookies--these were from pinterest and were a hit!; Forest Finds {salad with grilled chicken, blue cheese, walnuts, and craisins}; Monster Eyes {grapes}; cupcakes and a monster smash cake. 

We had our guest pose with some monster props:

Brad and Jack

Mike, Erin, Grayson

Cooper, Ellie, Charlie

Becky and Allen

Claire and Julia

Frank, Christy, Olivia, and Sophia

Aivy and Evan

Pete and Erin

Bobby, Monica, Layla, Miles

Claire, Jack, Heather

Grandma Polly, Grandpa, Evan, Grandma

The Monster Clan

Neighbor girls--only missing a few.

We had outside games--Monster Cage

Monster Truck Bowling

Monster Hunt

Monster Stacking

Monster Ball--throwing monsters into basketball hoop.  Pin the Eye on the Monster--we didn't get to this one, and Kyle is DYING to do it!  The kids were just having so much fun playing. 

It was nice to catch up with friends and get to know our neighbors a little better. 

Then, it was cake time! 

 Then we sang to the birthday boy and let him blow out his candles.



On the way out, everyone signed Evan's birthday book and was able to adopt a monster.  I asked the neighbors not to bring presents, but they did anyway.  I think I might have to cancel Christmas!!!

At least Kyle and Ryan were around to help the Baby Monster open his haul. 

What a fun night!  We had a great party.  I'm so thankful for our Baby Monster and for the excuse to throw a Monster Bash.