Oh Christmas tree

Sooooo....

Honestly I wasn't excited about putting up the Christmas tree in this rental home.  I had a day or two of being a sour puss having to decorate in a house I don't love.  

You know what happened?  

We decorated and now I'm in love.  

I love this little house all festive and bright for Christmas.  I love driving up to the house and seeing the big tree lit through the huge front windows.  I know we all have good days and bad days and good thoughts and bad thoughts.  I don't like being negative and I make it my mission to try to always see the bright side.  This time the bright side smacked me in the face and I deserved it!

I wasn't excited about getting a real tree this year because Hayden's eczema is out of control and I didn't want to add more allergy to his life.  We ended up getting a pre-lit fake tree and it's kinda fun.  I think it is a great idea and we can use it in our playroom in the years to come and get a real tree for the main living area again. 

Anyway, I'm excited about this year now and I know God will have us in our new home next year.  That will give me time to get a new tree skirt. ;-)  Goodness we need a larger one!

Thanksgiving 2016

We had a great day celebrating the turkey!!  

After lunch Layla and I had some time together on the hammock.  It was super fun and a time I'll never forget.  She's a sweetie and I'm so thankful for her and our conversations. 

Hayden was a busy boy between watching football, playing corn hole and throwing the football, but he managed to lay on the hammock with me for a bit too. {longest run on sentence ever}

I loved that we enjoyed our day in Clifton Texas.  I can't remember the last time I celebrated Thanksgiving in Clifton.  I was super young though!  I love my little hometown and I'm thankful my Aunt and Uncle still live there so I can share C-town with them!

Layla and I found this cute turkey on Pinterest.  

We totally copied the post and made our own veggie turkey!

  I'm thankful for today, but I am thankful every single day.  I want to teach my babies gratefulness.  I want them to know true joy and I think that comes from being thankful for what you have.  There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for!

look at these faces!!

These two told me how happy they are that I'm off work this week.  

They rewarded me by letting me take their picture!  Goodness they are sweeties!

my first break as a working mom

We have a week long break from school for Thanksgiving!  

I'm so excited to do nothing.  

One of my coworkers asked me what I was going to do and I said, "I'm doing nothing!"

I'll be hanging with the pups and kids.  I'll be watching football.  I'll be baking pies.  I'm planning to make a cute veggie turkey to take to my hometown on Thursday.  I'm shopping for black flat shoes and work pants. I'm returning a few things to a few stores. I'm reading books and drinking quiet cups of coffee. I'm going to spend my time catching up and relaxing. I'm going to do a few things that I just haven't had time to do.  I'll be a great week.

I'm excited to be with my people and pets and enjoy every single second!

I am blessed!

the patting myself on the back post ;-)

I'm trying to raise readers y'all, but I know reading isn't for everyone.  My hope is that Layla and Hayden will see me reading and they may love it too.

As part of their homework the munchkins read for 20 minutes everyday.  They have to read quietly and you better believe I join in.  Knowing the kiddos would be reading anyway is what motivated me to challenge myself to read more in 2016.  

Last December I decided I'd read 25 books in one year.  I wasn't sure if I would make the time to do it, but I DID!  It was so fun and I really branched out and read some books that I wouldn't normally have picked for myself.  I ended up falling in love with Goodreads.  I love having buddies to follow so I can see what they are reading.  I have my favorite friends and if they love a book I try to read what they've read.  It is a wonderful tool for reviewing books before I read them.

I'm planning to do another challenge in 2017 and I know it will be harder for me since I have a job now, but I think I can do it!

don't forget my favorite

It's that time of the year again.  It's the time of the year when people start putting up their CHRISTMAS TREES!  

What in the world? It's the first week of November!!!  

If you know me you know I love food.  Thanksgiving is my ALL TIME favorite holiday and I just can't forget it!  However, this is my opinion and I'm cool with whatever you do in your house, but dang it..... after the election and all the hateful talk I think we all could use a dose of gratefulness.  AM I RIGHT?!!  

peace.love.thanksgiving.

can I get a sunset view?

I will never take sunsets for granted.  

When we lived in our house in Haslet I loved every evening.  I saw the sunset every single day for almost 7 years.  I remember the last year we lived there I hated summer.  It was so hot you couldn't open the patio door without an oven mit.  You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.  It was one of the hottest summers on record and I was dreming of trees and shade.

Driving out of HEB parking lot tonight made me think of our current status.

House shopping.

We have months before we will actually move, but we look and explore homes all the time.

The kids wake up excited every single Saturday asking when we are going to head out to house shop.  They are just as excited as we are about finding our new home.

I have such mixed feelings about our home to be.  I want to see the sunset every single night because I am obsessed with sunsets.  BUT I want trees.  Will the trees block my view of God's beauty?  In Haslet we had no trees.  In Ohio we lived down in a valley and so the mountains blocked the sunset.  In Georgia we were surrounded by so many trees we couldn't see the sunset.  In our 4 years of adventures in other states I realized I miss the sunsets!  I missed them so much.  I'm thankful to be back in Texas enjoying the sun.  

God has led our litte family on a wonderful journey and I know he has the perfect home in store for us.  I can't wait to trust and see where he plants us in our town!