Thankful.  Simply defined as feeling or expressing gratitude.

This week marked our first family Thanksgiving in California.  The day brought new traditions for our family.  It also brought a time of reflection and a renewed sense of thankfulness.  Here are few of the things for which I am thankful:

• An amazingly wonderful husband who has a heart for God, loves me completely and passionately, and is an incredible father who models Christ's love to his kids
• Two healthy children who never cease to amaze me and fill me with an overwhelming sense of love and joy and awe
• My parents - two of the most wonderful people in my life - who raised me in a loving home and demonstrated daily what it meant to love God and serve others
• Wonderful friends who encourage me, love me, and stand by me no matter where life takes us
• The chance to live in the beautiful state of California and experience living with the beach and the mountains in our backyard
• The blessing of living in The United States of America where we have freedoms, safety, and opportunities beyond measure
• Most important - I am thankful for my God.  He is faithful, a comfort, a provider, and a friend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope your Thanksgiving Day is wonderful!

Two Thumbs Up

We took the kids to see Bolt in 3D on Friday night.  It was an unplanned movie quest, but it turned out to be a much better movie than I anticipated.  The overall messages of perseverance, heroism even if you don't look/act like a superhero, and true friendship is a great message.  The kids laughed.  Michael laughed.  I laughed.  I think we all had different characters who were our favorites.  I personally liked the pigeons.  They were fabulous!  With their head wobbles, neck bends, and glowing colors were incredible!  The little hamster was a nutcase who had Michael laughing out loud.  The kids loved the dog, Bolt.  I highly recommend this movie to anyone with little ones.

 

How Do You Know. . .Thanksgiving

Remember my post about how one can tell the seasons changing in SoCal?  If not, then click here and you can read that post before proceeding with this post.  If so, then here you go.   This is how you know it is Thanksgiving season in SoCal. . .

Happy Thanksgiving Season to all!!

Happiness in a Box

                          
This weekend I posted on Facebook that "Andi is wishing she was not so homesick today."  Several of my dear friends commented on that status.  One person not only commented, she had a brilliant plan to cheer me up.  The plan. . .a field trip to Sprinkles in Beverly Hills.  If you have not heard of Sprinkles, let me just tell you that they are little cupcakes packed full of yumminess.  Everyday they bake different flavors of cupcakes, so I went online this morning and made a list of the cupcakes I wanted to buy and bring home.  I couldn't resist the pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting (I LOVE pumpkin flavor stuff!).  But then I hear the red velvet cupcake is out of this world.  I'll test that one later and let you know how it tastes.  :-)  And the kids wanted a simple yellow cupcake with chocolate icing covered in chocolate sprinkles.  Michael wanted the dark chocolate with dark chocolate icing & sprinkles.  And one can never go wrong with their black and white - a simple chocolate cupcake with cream cheese icing and chocolate shavings.  They are so yummy.  Each and every bite.  Here is a look at the beauties. . .

Another cool part of this field trip is that the Sprinkles store is right off Rodeo Drive!!  Rodeo Drive, Baby!  Think Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and Alicia Silverstone in Clueless.  And so as to not be underdone, the holiday decor along the light towers on Rodeo Drive are crystal chandeliers suspended in glass boxes.  I kid you not!  They are beautiful, exquisite, and VERY Beverly Hills.  :-)

The best part of the field trip was driving in a convertible with a sweet friend who took time out of her day to help cheer me up.  Thank you!  Hopefully this will be the first of many more field trips to come.  This is one happy girl. . .

Sing, Sing, Sing

The children's choir led worship in "big church" at church this weekend.  This is Carson and Calleigh's first time to be a part of a choir, and their first time to be on stage in front of the congregation.  They both said they felt very nervous and shy, but they did great!  Here are some pre-show pictures:

 

Aren't they the cutest kids?!

The choir led three worship songs and then performed one song from their upcoming Christmas Program, "The Mystery of the Manger:  It's The Gospel Truth!"  Here is a clip from their practice tonight:

The kids will sing again tomorrow morning in both services.  Now that they have essentially "been there, done that" with the Saturday night service, maybe they will be more relaxed and animated tomorrow morning.  The only thing that would make this any better would be to have my family here to see the kids.  Miss you all so very much!

Art Fair

Big Springs Elementary School hosted an Art Fair today.  The cafeteria was decorated with displays of framed watercolor paintings created by each of the children at Big Springs.  The students in each class painted a picture based upon a specific topic.  The children in Calleigh's class painted a picture of their family.  The children in Carson's class painted a picture of a flower.  During the Art Fair, parents were given the option to purchase their child's framed paintings, and a portion of the proceeds goes back to the school.  It is a great fundraiser!  Here are the kid's paintings:

Calleigh, Carson, Andi, Michael, and Sammy.  Great job, Calleigh!

Red flower - it has great texture because he put salt crystals on the wet paint and it gave it this wonderful 3 dimensional look.  Very cool.

Karate Kid

I sat at the computer this afternoon answering e-mail, and what to my wandering eyes appear?  A vision of Calleigh in the midst of karate moves.  She did not know that I was watching.  She only knew that she could see her reflection in the sliding glass doors.  I very carefully pulled out the camera, slid open the sliding glass door, and videotaped my karate kid in action.  She was a little surprised and embarrassed when she saw me with the camera.  But it was too cute to not tape it!  Here she is. . .don't know why it is so fuzzy, but you'll get the idea of her talent.

Work of Art

This weekend we nursed Calleigh back to health after a very rough battle with the stomach flu.  She is a great little trooper - she even smiles when she is sick!  I must admit that I have never watched more Barbie and Dora and God Rocks! DVDs than I watched this weekend.  Wow.  

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Carson handled the weekend seclusion of Calleigh and constant attention towards Calleigh.  He proved how self-sufficient he can be when necessary.  But he also prove how deep his love is towards his little sister.  He loves to draw and took it upon himself to make Calleigh pictures of the movies that she watched.  Here are a few of his weekend artwork projects:

Dora and Boots

Sugar Plum Princess (love the phonetical spelling!  and check out the eyelashes!)

The Nutcracker (from Barbie and the Nutcracker - again, cute phonics!  but what is up with everyone having only 3 fingers?!)

Carson has such a tender heart.  He constantly peeked his head around the corner of the room to get an update on how Calleigh was feeling.  He wanted to buy her a Barbie toy from Target.  He drew her pictures.  And on Friday night, after he was tucked into bed, he came down the stairs and told me that he couldn't sleep.  I asked him what was wrong and he simply replied, "It's hard to sleep when Calleigh isn't in her room."  Awwww.  They DO love each other!  Sigh and smile.

It is moments like this that I will treasure and recall on those days when they want to beat the living tar out of each other.  Yes, love comes in many ways.  Apparently sibling rivalry is one of them.  But for now, true and genuine concern for one another is their form of love.

It is exciting to see your child find reading an exciting adventure.  It is cool to walk downstairs at 7:00 am to find your child already dressed for school and reading his book on the couch.  It is fun to listen to your child recount the mysteries and wonderland of which he just read.  Carson has discovered the Harry Potter book series and does not want to put them down.  On his own, he has read book one and book two already.  He is now on to book three Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  I just think it is cool that reading is associated with fun.  Way to go little man!

Andi:  You were a beautiful ballerina tonight.

Calleigh:  I know.