Our Thanksgiving

Most people celebrate on Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. We started a little earlier than that. My parents drove to Abilene on Tuesday night and stayed at our house for the night. On Wednesday, we spent most of the morning together and then were able to eat lunch with my granddad. We took Little Panda to his place and enjoyed time talking and eating together. We also managed to take a few pictures while we were there.

G-Papa and (two of the four - almost five) great grandchildren.

The four generation shot - my granddad, my mom, me, and my girls. How great!

After lunch, my parents headed to Fort Worth and my family headed home for naps and to start packing for Fort Worth. We didn't leave until Thursday morning for several reasons but it turned out to be a great thing. I was able to take my time to make the rolls and dessert for our lunch at my aunt and uncles house. That in itself was wonderful.

We spent the rest of the weekend with my dad's family in Fort Worth/Mansfield/Arlington. It was a good, fun, and pretty relaxing week. No certain times to be anywhere. Mom and I were able to do some shopping - not early in the morning shopping but shopping, nonetheless.

Sunday also happened to be my grandmother's birthday. We all went to church together and then out to eat before all heading separate ways. While at the restaurant, I snapped another picture of the girls, this time with their great-grandmother, my dad's mom.

On the way home we ran into really bad, backed up traffic. They are doing some construction on I-20 just east of Ranger Hill. Normally, not a horrible thing. But on Sunday after Thanksgiving when everyone is trying to get home, it was BAD! I think we spent an extra hour (at least) on the road Sunday afternoon. Luckily, Reagan didn't have a morning nap due to church so she slept the whole way. Even in the stop and go traffic. Lindsey took a good nap too and then was happy to read or watch the world go by. Although it took longer, it really was a good trip.

I am so thankful to have had that time with my family - all of them.

One More Day!

Here it is the day before Thanksgiving and I have one last "thankful" post to write. This time it will be things that I have been blessed with that I am so very thankful for.

I am blessed by my MOPS group. Mothers of Preschoolers is an amazing organization that is all over the world but I am lucky enough to be a part of it here in Abilene. Twice a month, on Mondays, I am able to sit with a group of women who are so wonderful. We get to talk, eat, listen to great and uplifting testimonies, learn more about being better mothers, and sometimes get crafty. It is a great way to spend every other Monday and I always look forward to it.

Young Children's World is another wonderful place filled with wonderful people. I love working and teaching there. I love that my girls get to go to "school" there and have such loving teachers. YCW has been another one of those places that I look forward to going to each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I love being able to be around such Christian women. They encourage me and I learn a lot from each of them.

Now for the "little" stuff...

my van - love that it is easy to get the girls in and out and that it gets me from here to there.

my house - I love it - it is perfect for us.

my health - so far God has blessed me with good health and good health of those I love.

my God - He has blessed me so richly and so many times I take it all for granted.

I love Thanksgiving - good food, great family and friends, but mostly a time when we can remember what we have been blessed with. I hope that by reading this, you can take some time and think about those things that are near and dear to you and thank God for them all.

Friends

So here is my second thankfulness post. I would love to put up a bunch of pictures of my girl friends but I'm afraid that I would miss some and embarrass others. But here goes some of the things that I am thankful for about my friends.

I am thankful that I can go on mommy only dinners. And to grab coffee. Being able to eat or drink while having a calm conversation and not have to worry about children staying sitting down and being somewhat quiet. Those times are very important to me and very wonderful.

I am thankful for my friends who listen to me when I want to talk. Not that I do that much but I am so thankful that I have friends who don't judge me and don't try to one up me with their own stories or life. I am also thankful in that I have great people who will share with me their thoughts and ideas.

I am thankful that I have friends who don't care what my house looks like. I enjoy having people over but hate cleaning. So these friends are the best to have. They aren't critical of what I have done (or haven't done) to clean for them to come over.

I have some of the best friends ever. Thank you God for my wonderful friends Amy, Katherine, Alisha, Barbara (you fit it two categories), Mom (two also for you!), Ashley. And please forgive me if I didn't name you as one of my friends on here - be assured you are loved and very much appreciated!

What Am I Thankful For?

That is really a very important question. And one that we have been asking our kiddos at school. So I thought that I would take a little time and answer it myself.

First of all, my family. My wonderful husband is amazing. He works so hard at two different jobs so that he can provide for our family. I am so grateful that he does so that I might be able to stay at home with our girls when they are so little. He means everything to me. I love you, husband!

My girls. They are both so fun and exciting to be with and watch grow. Lindsey is growing so fast and I love watching her learn new things. And I get such a kick out of the things that she says. Reagan, while only being 16 months, is such fun too. She loves to open cabinets and drawers and pull everything out (okay, so that isn't the fun part). But she enjoys looking at everything and seeing our reaction.

My parents. They moved away this summer but I am so thankful that I was able to live so close to them for the first 30 years of my life. I miss them so much but love being able to visit them and stay in the same house with them while we are there.

My in-laws (this includes sisters too). They are always there when we need a quick babysitter. And they never complain about doing so (although, who could complain about our sweet, precious girls?) All of them are great about loving the girls and encouraging us as we raise them.

Okay, that's all for now but stay tuned - there are more people that I am thankful for!

Our Halloween Trip

For Halloween, my family drove up to Oklahoma to surprise my mom. I had talked to my dad earlier in the week and planned it all out. We left Abilene just after lunch and drove to Edmond and picked up dinner for all of us and rang the doorbell at my parents. Mom came to the door because dad had left to "go get dinner" (which he did by way of me handing it to him in their driveway). She kinda just looked at us like, "you're not supposed to be here". It was great. After that, she kept thinking of things that needed to be done, like wash sheets and get them on our beds but dad had already taken care of that. It was so fun to see her face once it all sunk in that we had planned this earlier and taken care of everything. She was still so surprised that she forgot to call her dad which she does every night (sorry, Papa!).

We had a great visit and mom got to have the fun of trick or treating with the girls. Here are some pictures of that night...

Lindsey in her flower girl dress. She just loved wearing it again and looked just as beautiful (minus the hair).

Reagan dressed as a little ladybug. She smiled once we got it on her - not so much in the process of getting dressed.

Trying to get a picture of the girls together, both happy and still, is hard these days. That would be my dad's hand trying to get Reagan to stay by Lindsey.

And here is my mom trying to put Reagan back after she did make it away. Not too happy anymore.

After trick-or-treating (which Reagan was so good at - she held out her bucket and signed "thank you") Reagan was checking out the goods still at my parents house.

Going in for some more to add to her pumpkin.

And being caught in the act! Haha!

We loved our weekend in OK with my parents. We tried a few new places to eat (The Hideaway Pizza is amazing!) And I am so glad that we were able to surprise mom so well.

Reagan's Stay in the Hospital

Most of you know all about our visit to the hospital so I will try to keep this brief but I wanted to share just a couple of pictures with everyone. If you don't know the story, here is a quick rundown. Monday, the 19th, Reagan woke up having a lot of trouble breathing. We went to the doctor that morning and he said that it looked like bronchitis. He told us that we could either go to the hospital then and let them do breathing treatments and oxygen. Or we could go home, try and do it ourselves, then go back to him on Tuesday morning and he would put us in the hospital then. We decided to let the professionals do it and went straight from the doctor's office to the hospital.

First thing they did at the hospital was give Reagan an IV in order to give her fluids and medicine. Not fun seeing an IV in your baby. She also was hooked up to an oxygen monitor. Also every two hours she had a breathing treatment. She was pretty confined to a small area because of the tubes and cords. She was not having much fun. I did happen to snap a picture of her while she appeared a little content.
We were in the hospital for three days. Each day the breathing treatments became less frequent and once she pulled out her IV, we didn't have to have it put back in. They just gave her oral medicines. That was a relief.

A fun gift we (I mean, Reagan) received while in the hospital.

After coming home, we continued breathing treatments on Thursday and Friday morning. Our follow-up appointment with the doctor was Friday morning and everything looked (and sounded) much better. Now we have a breathing machine and medicine at home that we can use if ever needed. We hope to not use it much but it does help me feel better that if she ever has major trouble again, we can use that and hopefully avoid another trip to the hospital.

Lindsey is Five!

I think this is the last in the Lindsey birthday series. Hopefully!

I always enjoy taking first-thing-in-the-morning pictures. Unfortunately with the flash these pictures did not turn out very good. She kept blinking when the flash went off because it was so bright. But it is a memory that will last a long time.

Another attempt at getting a picture with her eyes open. Didn't work!

Lindsey is opening her presents from Mom, Dad, and Reagan on the night of her actual birthday. First was her #5 angel. If you don't remember these, my aunt and uncle would give them to me each year for my birthday and I have decided to give them to Lindsey.

Digging in another gift. Love how she just flings the tissue paper to the floor.

A girl and her shoes! Love it!

The birthday girl and Daddy!

Mommy and her big birthday girl!

I can't believe it. Lindsey is five. She is a beautiful child of God and I love her so much. Looking forward to so many more years to watch her grow.

Lindsey's "Blasingame" Party

Monday night while Barbara and Manny were still in town, we decided to celebrate Lindsey's birthday with Robert's family. We started out at Mr. Gatti's and then ended up at our house for cake and ice cream. It was a fun time and Lindsey got even more fun things.

Here she is with her most favorite nightgown (for now). She would wear it every night if I did laundry often enough for that.

She loves this new Mulan doll. She is close to having all the princess dolls like this. I think we are lacking only Snow White, Jasmine, and Pocahontas. And then the new princess, Tiana, from The Princess and the Frog.

This was apparently kinda hard to open. I love her face.

A new set of softball stuff - glove, bat and ball. All princess of course!

You might think, surely this is the last of the birthday celebrations for Lindsey. You're wrong if you think that. I love having it spread out so much so stay tuned for our own family celebration with Lindsey. Our big 5 year old!

Lindsey's Friend Party

Next was Lindsey's friend party. She has been wanting to have a Disney Princess party for so long and I had put it off thinking that she would like them for a long time. Well, this year was the Princess party. And to make it more fun, we invited her friends to dress like princesses (or prince as the case may be).

This is Lindsey and her friend, Campbell. They were wearing the same dress and thought it was cute.

Kerith and Lindsey. Katherine, Kerith's mom, was out of town and dad brought her to the party (minus the Princess dress that we loaned them). Thought it was funny. Love that family.

Here is the prince. I love the costume and am so glad that Finn cheered up so we could take this great picture of the two of them.

I had made princess shape cookies (crown, glass slipper, wand, and princess) and the kiddos were able to decorate two. One to eat then and one to take home and eat. It got a tad messy there - glad I had lots of help to do the cleanup!

Reagan was having a ball. She had the attention of everyone (except me). But Mimi and Nana loved it.

Lindsey's princess crown cake.

Lindsey blowing out candle number 2 this year. She is a pro now.

Barbara and Manny just barely made it to the party. They had some issues with flights and car rental stuff. But they came and that is all that mattered.

Lindsey loved this gift. A necklace, bracelet, and lots of stick on earrings.

And I loved this gift. Shrinky Dinks! I used to make these a lot at my friends house growing up. Now Lindsey is loving making them at home.

Nearing the end of the party. Lindsey is growing up way too fast but I am loving every minute of it.

Forgot this picture

Before Lindsey's birthday was Water Day at school. It was actually supposed to be the day after we got back from Boston but the weather was bad so we had to postpone it. Well, I think this is the first time that I have ever had a Water Day in October. But the weather turned out great and we had a fun time. Right before Lindsey's class went out to play in all the water stuff, she was standing saying hi to me. This is the picture that I took of her. Brace yourself!

Lindsey's "Lindsey" Birthday

Some of you may wonder at the title of this blog. Basically it means Lindsey's party with my family, the Lindsey's (and others). We enjoyed a great lunch at home followed by cupcakes, ice cream and of course, presents.

I think this is the first year that Lindsey actually blew out her own candles. She never has trouble helping others blow theirs out. But when it comes to all eyes on her, she hasn't blown her own out until this year. Yippee!

Cute polka dot tights to go with a really cute pink sweater dress.

One of my favorite games from when I was little. I think this was the first thing to come out of the box for her to play with, too.

Two huge pads of stickers and coloring pages. These should keep her occupied for a while.

She also got this fun Strawberry Shortcake playhouse that has paper dolls. My brother took this great picture of Lindsey while playing with it.

We had a great lunch and time together. Right after everyone left, however, we had to take naps in preparation for the next birthday party.

I know, I know...It's been forever

I could blame Robert but I won't. The problem is he surprised me with a new iPhone just over a week ago and since then, I haven't been on the computer more than twice probably. I love my phone - it lets me do everything I want to do (e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and text). What more do I need? Oh, yeah, my blog! So, I will try my hardest to post several blogs this week. I have to make up for lost time.

Lots has happened since I wrote last - Lindsey turned 5, Reagan was in the hospital and we all went to Oklahoma and surprised my mom this weekend. And guess what?!?! I have pictures from all of those times and then some. So, if I actually post this week (as I plan to) you will be busy reading and looking at pictures of our life. Doesn't that make you so excited?