kindergarten thankfulness.

our big feast is tomorrow at school.  my native americans have been invited over to the pilgrim's classroom to share in our feast of plenty.  it should be an exciting day! after our thanksgiving lesson today, i asked each kinder kid what they were most thankful for.  here's what i got in no particular order. . .

mom and dad

the boss of our whole school, Mrs. Case (our principal)

God
family
wii

our feast

bunk bed

kittens

Mrs. Jeffrey (smart kid)

D.S.

puppies

cousins

brothers

cats

baby sisters

back in action.

eeeks.  i forgot about you, dear blog.  promise to never do that again.

ya'll,  i have some incredible news.  i think i might have married santa claus. 

andy made me the happiest girl this weekend by taking me shopping for all of my new christmas decor! he was so jolly and so festive and we had an absolute blast! saturday night he wrote the book on hanging christmas lights. as a little girl i remember my dad hanging the most perfect lights. so straight and all white. i prayed and prayed that the Lord would give me a husband that was as particular about christmas lights as dear ole' dad and He gave me one! our house looks pretty great. we feel kinda bad for thanksgiving so we are not turning them on officially until friday but so far we have cheated every night by just flicking them on for about 20 minutes or so to stand in awe. there is not a person on the planet that loves christmas more than this girl!

 i am vowing to finish my a to z list by thursday so check back!

e, f & g!

well well well.  we have had a very intersting past 24 hours.  andy had to be at work this morning at 3. yep, you read it right.  THREE A.M.  they had a concrete pour to complete and his v.i.p. presence was required.  goodness gracioius, i am proud of this man. 

later in the day i got a text from him that said there had been some suspicous charges to our credit card.  hmmm, i thought.  i have been doing some suspicous christmas shopping for him lately but i didn't remember it being to the tune of $900 buck-a-roos.  so i went on with my day of molding young minds and knew that he would take care of it later.  well later turned into our entire night and we have offically been robbed.  i never thought i would fall victim to identity theft, so crazy!

E is for efficient husband.

F is for fraud.

and

G is for goodness gracious this is going to be such an ordeal to straighten out. 

D is for dates.

i love a good date night with andy.  my idea of the perfect date is yummy mexican food and walking around target.  typically on friday nights, we are so exhausted from a week of work that we eat either super early, like grandparent time, or get a pizza and a movie and are in bed by 10:30.  it's crazy to both of us how much sleep married people get.

andy is thankful for D: digiorno pizza.

i am on a new sewing kick.  last night my mom and i made the cutest little pin, cannot wait to find the perfect cardigan to adorn it.  next up: is hair accessories.

so much to be excited about this week, we have supper club at the belcher's and christmas decorating on saturday! plus, we are just days closer to thanksgiving break.  who doesn't love days off?!?

comet.

C is for Comet!

i have something in my blood called the "hall clean gene".  it's really something that haunts me, just kidding mom! but seriously, i cannot stand a dirty house and this little guy named comet is my go-to man to get the job done. i use it on everything but floors and windows.  i love you, comet.  you're always there for me and never let me down.

drumroll please, andy is thankful for C: couch.  such a simple man.

in other news, i have been kicked out of my house for a weekend of bachelor-ness. the boys are playing poker, golf and celebrating the upcoming marriage of mark and diana!  i am looking forward to the abilene philharmonic home tour this afternoon with some girls.  ooohing and awwwing over some of abilene's old fabulous homes will be so fun!

brother bubee.

B is for Brother!

i am so thankful for my brother, christopher.  he made growing up such an adventure.  he is an incredible athlete, a fun friend, a very loyal brother, the most competive person i know and a huge mess! he is the constant life of the party and anyone that ever meets him for the first time automatically becomes as crazy about him as we have been for his entire life.  my love for my brother is unreal, talk about a pyscho, protective big sister.  i cannot WAIT to see how the Lord will continue to guide his steps.

andy says he's thankful for letter B: bedtime.

abc's.

in honor of thanksgiving i am challenging myself to blog everyday about something that i am thankful for, a to z. i should have started november 1st so now this will probably take me into december but oh well, maybe i can cover 2 or 3 letters a day. some silly, some serious, some just plain ridiculous and some very obvious . . come start your list with me!

A is for Andy!

surely, you all knew this was coming. i've said it before and i'll say it a million more times. i am so thankful for my husband, andy! such an old picture but such a sweet reminder. . . true loves pick each other's noses.

i am making andy participate as well.i think this will be so fun to read some day when we've been married for 50 plus years. his response for letter A was: air conditioning!

veteran's day.

both of my grandfather's are veterans today. it is crazy for my mind to wrap around the fact that they both were part of a piece of our nation's greatest and most tragic history and are both alive and kickin' it today. my grandpa was a tank commander in wwII and my pe-paw was in the marines. we are all so proud of these two men and so thankful for the men and women that continue to honor our country with their service towards our freedom!

lots of victories!

my dad felt like the big dog that he his on his birthday. so thankful for you, dad!

we had a fantasticlly busy weekend full of family! my heart and soul gets so excited when i think about our future babies. it is my dream come true to be wife of the year, june cleaver and mom to lots of sweet babies all at the same time. i want to have lots and lots of babies and my sweet husband does too! however we are not planning on over-populating our little home any time soon. all of this to say, i had the sweetest pleasure of watching my jeffrey niece and nephews play, play, play and enjoy each other and their time at the ranch this weekend. i can't wait until we add to that cute clan!

we are getting very excited about the holidays right around the corner and more time with our families. i am also stalking hobby lobby for their 50% off flyers telling me to take out the wallet and stock up on christmas decor! first purchase will be the most perfect tree, preferably pre-lit.

my brother christopher got a special surprise last week. he plays second base for the acu wildcats and last spring they were crowned the lsc champs! it was such a fun season and now he has the bling proof of a champion. we couldn't be prouder of him!

thrill of the hunt.

it's official. deer season is here and my andy was up with the sun this morning. actually in my sleepiness i think he was up before the sun. crazy kid!

we both will experience the thrill of the hunt on this anticipated weekend. . . his deer and my treasures at christmas carousel!

happy hunting!

happy birthday dad!

today is my dad's big day! happy birthday dad.

i am so thankful for my father. he has made being a daughter so sweet and so precious. he truly has blessed my life and my brothers by loving the Lord, my mom and us! i have many sweet memories of my dad. . . ones that make me cry and ones that make me laugh so hard that i almost pee in my pants! we all had such a sweet time this past spring planning mine and andy's wedding but it was an especially sweet time with my dad. it was a bittersweet day when he walked me down that aisle to andy. he is my earthly example of our Father's unconditonal love for me. i think about all of the sweet times my dad and i have shared and my heart can hardly contain itself. he is such a great man, so kind to others, so patient with us women in his life, so passionate about anything his children have participated in, so supportive and so generous. love you dad!

a thousand times yes!

a year ago today marks mine and andy's engagement day! it was truly the most shocking day of my life. we had several conversations about getting married and i really did think that i had everything figured out regarding the proposal but boy was i wrong! it was the surprise of a lifetime and absolutely the most perfect thing ever. thank you Lord for this wonderful husband you gave me. may our marriage bring you glory and honor. i couldn't love him more!

after thoughts.

so obviously we think that jacob moore is the best photographer ever! we took our "after the big day" shots and these are just three of our favorites. this shoot was so fun because it's every girls dream to get back in her dress and re-play her wedding day all over again. lucky for us, andy owns his tux! i have known jacob for a few years but just before the wedding figured out that he was doing photography on the side. i totally think he should do this full time! he has the sweetest most beautiful wife and the cutest happiest little baby. jacob is so so easy to work with and so so laid back. he obviously is so so talented as well. the Lord has definitely blessed jacob with so many talents. check him out!

(since he is a man of many hats he is still working out the kinks of his website)
p.s. this is totally off the subject of wonderful jacob moore, but i can not get enough of apples and carmel these days!

bootoyou!

meet the characters.

rachel zoe & brad. i think they look perfect.

girl scout and her thin mints. so creative!

bob the builder & suzy homemaker! just like real life.

the cutest ever cowboys.

. . . and the honeybee hosts!

we hosted a little boo bash last night! the menu was very simple. . . i was introduced to little caesars hot & readys on thursday night and decided that they would be the easiest and most delicious option for our little shin-dig. they did not disappoint! after our bellies were full we headed over to the classy abilene bowling lanes for a little competition battle of the sexes style. let me tell you that the girls gave the boys a close run for their money, especially lucy and abby! i just know they are in a secret little bowling league and forgot to tell all of us about it. even their husbands couldn't believe their eyes! it was a great night and we are so thankful for these new friends that we have here in sweet little abilene.

this upcoming week is going to be jammed packed. school pictures tomorrow. andy and i are going to TRY and start working out again. bible study. my dad's birthday celebration. christmas carousel. opening weekend of deer season. sleep. eat and laundry. whew!

be on the lookout for some awesome "after the big day" shots coming soon from our favorite photographer jacob moore!