Catch Up

I'm such a blog slacker. So here I go playing catch up again.

Carving pumpkins.


Trick or Treat night at Lori's. It was so cold we put the kids' costumes over their coats, which is why they resemble the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.










Putting up the Christmas tree.


Being silly.

Sam's 4th Birthday Party!

Sam's birthday is December 21st.

It's so close to Christmas that it's hard to figure out how to handle his party. The past few years we've had it once at home right on the day, once at the Japanese Steakhouse a few days before, once at home on Christmas Eve...but it just never seemed separate or special enough.

This year my mom suggested December 3rd and it worked out perfectly.

It was Sam's first party where he invited friends - three buddies from school. Only two could make it, but I think Sam was over the moon to have kids from preschool at our house. They were so sweet and nice, as were their parents. And everyone else we invited came, too. We had a house full of friends and family to celebrate Sam's 4th birthday, a few weeks early. It was a truly blessed day!

It was a Transformer party, of course, since among other friends and family, Sam always prays for Optimus Prime at night before bed.


Since I'm not very creative, I scoured the internet looking for ideas and found some cute things. Like these tin can robots Sam and I made for utensil holders.


And these robot party favor boxes made with candy appendages and a hidden mini Transformer inside. Rich did a great job with these, didn't he?



I made his banner with the Autobot emblem watermarked in the background.


And we found Transformer decals on Amazon and stuck them all over the windows and the walls.



And the piece de resistance, the Optimus Prime head cake. We found the pan on Amazon, too. I mixed up a ton of frosting colors, Rich outlined everything and then we both filled it in...for an hour and a half. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it.





We also had "Computer Chips" aka chips, "Nuts and Bolts" aka white chocolate-covered chex mix, "Ball Bearings" aka grapes, and "Motor Oil" aka chocolate milk.



I think it was a success!



Happy (early) birthday, my sweet boy!

Early Thanksgiving in Newcomerstown

Thanksgiving has become kind of a floater holiday for us.

When Nan and Papa were around and healthy, we had Thanksgiving with them and my aunts and uncles and cousins from Dad's side of the family. We always had such fun telling stories and catching up. As my paternal grandparents started declining in health and inclining in years, that tradition kind of stopped. I miss it.

Sometimes we visited both sets of grandparents for Thanksgiving. I have fond memories of watching the Macy's Day parade in the organ room at Grandma and Grandpa's and then of raiding the red cream soda stash in Nan and Papa's basement.

Between then and now, we've trended toward flying by the seat of our pants for Thanksgiving. We've spent it with Rich's family a couple of times, my parents and Grandma Kraft a couple of times, in Zanesville a couple of times, and I think we even spent it alone once.

But I think we've come up with a new tradition this year, one that I love. Two Thanksgivings!

Over the weekend we went to Mom and Dad's to have an early Thanksgiving in Newcomerstown. Lori and her family were there and after we gorged on a HUGE and DELICIOUS Thanksgiving dinner, we watched the OSU game and put up Mom and Dad's Christmas tree. I swear I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. Several times. These people are the absolute best. I loved every moment of the time we were there.

Then tomorrow we'll head to Chardon to spend some quality time with Tom and Bobbie on Thanksgiving Day. I can't wait. We've done this once or twice before and it's a lot of fun. I'm sure it's not easy putting our crazy family up for a few days, but I'm really looking forward to it. And I'm pretty sure my in-laws are too.

You know, every single weekend since the beginning of November and until the end of December is booked for us. It can be exhausting sometimes to be running around so much, especially with the kids and packing and all that fun stuff. But I told Rich while we drove to Newcomerstown this weekend that it really is a testament to how blessed our lives are. To be this busy during the holiday season means that we have a lot of people who love us, and a lot of people we love. Not everyone has that.

Pastor Mike had a simple but profound quote in his sermon on Sunday - "Be grateful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference."

And boy, are we grateful. Grateful and tired. :)

Steel Magnolias at GWA

"I find it amusing. Men are supposed to be made out of steel or something..."

- Quote from M'Lynn from Steel Magnolias (referring to the fact that her husband couldn't handle watching their daughter take her last breath, but she could).

This weekend was my annual Girls Week Away (GWA). And once again, I left that gorgeous cabin touched and inspired by those women. All throughout the weekend, that quote from Steel Magnolias rang loudly through my head as I talked with and learned more about my GWA girls.

And let me tell you, they are definitively steel magnolias.

Some of the stories I heard this weekend were unbelievable. I cried a few times, not with tears of pity, but of awe. I heard about childhood traumas, divorce, abuse, children's illnesses, crimes against them, deaths...and all of them have not only survived the shit, but have come out on the other side of it stronger and wiser, doing better to others than what's been done to them.

They are really something to behold. They are down to earth, fun, kind, smart women who are also extraordinary, tough and brave, although it seems many of them need reminded of that.

Maybe they forget how special and important they are. Maybe when a woman has had to fight for every single good thing in her life, when she has had to take care of so many others instead of herself, when she's had to push and battle obstacles just to get one step ahead, when she hasn't had anyone to remind her how beautiful and good and smart and unique and valuable and significant and relevant she is; maybe then she forgets that she is all of those things. And more.

And these women are.

Amy
Becky
Carrie
Shannon
Kayla
Danette
Jody
Vanessa
Shellie
Kimmy
Niki
Savannah
Kim
Carla
Kelly
Molly
Nichole

These girls make me laugh until my side hurts, soften my heart, make me see things from completely different perspectives. They make me feel blessed that they like me as much as I like them.

For some of them, I think I'm the only "regular" Christian woman they've ever met. The only non-judging, down to earth, non-Bible-banging, non-pushy, non-in your face, sinning Christian they might know. Hell, I'm probably in the minority even among other "regular" Christians as far as those attributes go.

But none of them judge me. They treat me like one of the gang. And I love that. If they want to talk about God, then I do. But I don't bring it up.

Though that's not to say that God isn't anywhere to be found at GWA, because he was all over that place this weekend. He was in the faces and smiles and hugs and reassuring words of all of those women, even if they didn't realize it. That's how God works, you know? And he was in the beautiful weather and the fields and hills and trees and the moon and the warm sunshine...I saw an awful lot of him there.

Right there with all of my steel magnolias.

Love you, GWA girls.

Miles

I am not a cat person. I think they're sneaky and fickle. And they walk on kitchen counters, which disgusts me. And most people overfeed them and they become ugly, fat sloths.

But I do love my Miles.

Because he's affectionate and social, the number of injuries he inflicts on all of us while "playing" are decreasing, he's still a cute little runt, and he never attempts to walk on our counters (at least when we're home to watch him).

And most importantly because my kids adore him. Every time we leave the house, Sam yells, "Bye bye, Miles. See you later. Be back soon." Every morning when Lena wakes up, she asks for "Miles, Miles". And they both add him to their prayer lists at night...so sweet.

The anniversary of me saving him from the cold woods of Hocking Hills is coming up this weekend. Has it been a year already?

Anyway, for a non-cat person, I am so glad that we made an exception for this little guy, because he sure has brightened up our lives and become a member of the family!