Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful Kent will be home tonight.  He's been on the road for work and on Tuesday I spotted a snake by our front window and was sufficiently freaked out.  I called Kent, crying, saying, "I wish you were home to kill the dumb snake.  I hate that you're gone right now."  He said, "Huh? I can't understand you when you're crying so hard."  When I finally calmed down and told him again what was going on he scolded, "Lau-ra.  I thought someone was dead the way you were carrying on.  It's just a snake.  You'll be fine." Oh.  So much for the sympathy I was looking for.

I'm thankful that someone cares how terrified I am of snakes- when I saw the snake and started crying, Kylee instantly started praying out loud, "Please God, please take all the snakes away from our house and never let them come back because my mommy is very very scared right now."

I'm thankful for my dentist friend who shared how easily her day can be ruined by people who grump to her about being kept waiting.  At first, I was appalled by some of the rude things people say to her, then I thought about myself and how I'm probably guilty of an occasional obnoxious sigh if I've been kept waiting at a doctor's office.  Hearing it from her perspective made me resolve to not be crabby and impatient about waiting. 

I'm thankful trick-or-treat is coming soon.  There is a giant bowl of chocolate candy staring me in the face right now and can you believe that I haven't eaten a single piece? That willpower won't last forever.  I need some trick-or-treaters to come take some of it off my hands!

I'm thankful for Operation Christmas Child- the kids spent the better part of the evening filling out their "All About Me" letters to include in their gifts and making their shopping lists for the kids they want to buy for.  Some discussion questions came along with the boxes and the kids and I talked about all the things they were thankful for.  It made me so proud to hear that material items didn't top their lists.  Kylee disappeared into her room and returned with her piggy bank, "I have lots of quarters in here, Mom.  Can I buy lots of stuff for my girl?" My sweet girl was willing to spend her own money to make some little girl's Christmas even better.

I'm thankful for lots of things today, but mostly I'm thankful it's about bedtime.  It's been a long couple of days and I am ready for some shut-eye. 

What are you thankful for this week?

Today I...

...had dinner with a couple of great gals.  Seriously I love seeing you guys every month!

...watched my husband kill yet another snake.  That is 3 in the last 2 days.  ICK.  We find snakes in our backyard every year but hadn't  seen any yet this year.  The warm temps have brought them out...unfortunately this time right by our front step.  I am seriously afraid of walking out my own front door.

...ordered my first Christmas gift of 2011 online.  It's never too early to start! I'm not really an online shopper...I much prefer actually picking stuff out in a store but I saw something too cute I just had to get it.

...got whooped by my 4 year old in Uno.  How can someone be so good at Uno? It's supposed to be a game of luck, right?

...saw the bottom of our laundry basket.  That happens, um, never.

...played touch football in the backyard with a four year old and two six year olds.  They keep me young. 

...got Kylee's school pictures back and she is pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.  She looks so grown up.

...am loving the idea that a neighbor mom had for a birthday party idea.  The kids all decorated pumpkins to look like princesses! Foam crowns, pink feather boas, jewels for the nose, etc.  Prettiest pumpkins ever.

...can't stop eating Chex Mix with my own addition of peanuts, M & M's and candy corn.  I made it for the kids but have eaten the  majority of it by myself.  Yum.

....am praying the nice weather holds out for trick-or-treat.  Anyone need a good trick-or-treat joke? My kids ALWAYS use this one: Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide! I still laugh every time I hear it. :)

My Kylee

This morning Kylee woke up early.  She and I have both still been feeling yucky. Since we were up early anyways, I figured I might as well put the time to good use and get some stuff done while Kylee watched some TV. 

Later she and I were in a bit of a disagreement about getting ready for the day.  She wanted to stay in her jammies but I needed to wash them.  I could see she wasn't really excited about getting dressed so I picked out some of her comfiest clothes and told her she didn't have to put them on right away, but to make sure she had them on before we took Kael to school.

Quite awhile later she still wasn't dressed and was near tears about the whole ordeal.  "Kylee, that's enough, it's just time to get dressed now so Kael's not late for school."

She gave me a quick once over, noticing I was still in sweats and shot back, "Well how come you don't have to do anything?" That girl doesn't miss anything.

Normally I don't bite.  This morning, I did.  "Young lady, so far this morning I have washed, dried, and put your sheets back on your bed.  I have made breakfast for you and coffee for dad.  I have balanced the checkbook and emptied every single trash in the house.  I have made my bed and Kael's bed.  I have set out Kael's soccer stuff for practice tonight and filled his water bottle so it's ready and waiting in the fridge.  I have packed Kael a cold lunch to take to school.  I have swept the floor, gotten clothes out for you, and read you two books. So please, don't tell me that I don't do anything."

She looked seriously unimpressed.  I'd love to say she hopped off to her room and got dressed immediately.  She didn't and neither did I. 

Sometimes, we just have days like this.  We're both tired, emotional, and sick of being sick.  So, since our little chat this morning, I'm still in sweats, I have done no more laundry or cleaning, and my girl and I have spent the rest of our morning lounging around.  Eventually we mustered up enough energy to make some super colorful thumbprint cookies (her choice of colors).  I think we both feel much better already.

Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful Kael's IEP dismissal meeting went well on Tuesday.  All his teachers had wonderful things to say about him.  I was hesitant to let him be dismissed from his IEP, but our AEA coordinator said, "I've been reviewing all the data we collected for Kael and not only does he not really qualify anymore, he's actually not even close." His gen ed teacher also reported that several kids often approach Kael to be their partner during group work and that Kael is a well-liked kid in the classroom.  What parent wouldn't want to hear that? Even though the IEP door has shut for Kael I'm confident there are other avenues we can explore to ensure he doesn't "fall through the cracks." He's going to start a social group with his guidance counselor and I'm keeping a couple other ideas in my back pocket should he ever start struggling. But in the meantime, I feel content that this chapter in his life has successfully come to a close. I continue to be impressed every day with how much he learns and more importantly, how well he learns to cope with things that could be difficult for him.  Autism never has and never will define Kael, and releasing him from his IEP is further proof of this.

I'm thankful that today started off better than yesterday.  Half of us are sick and we completely ran out of Kleenexes in the house.  Also, somehow I let us get down to (between 3 bathrooms, mind you) only a half roll of toilet paper. That's just not a fun way to start a morning.  Kylee has been sick for a full week now and I haven't been feeling so hot myself.  Crossing my fingers Kael doesn't get it.  Kent won't because Kent never gets sick.  Another thing to be thankful for. :)

I'm thankful for an acquaintence who unexpectedly dropped by yesterday afternoon with a huge bag full of clothes that happened to be in Kael's size and in wonderful condition.  We're not above hand me downs.  Her kind gesture made me feel like I should do more nice things for other people.  Not just people I'm close with, but even people I don't know that well.  Pay it forward, you know?

I'm thankful our fireplace.  We run that thing every night from October through March and I love, love, love it.  So cozy.

I'm so thankful for my mom.  Do you remember a picture I showed you months ago of my disorganized/half-broken computer desk?  We finally kicked it to the curb this weekend and yesterday my mom came over armed with organizational tubs and labels.  We've spent the last two days going through everything from the kids' baby clothes to kids school papers and file folders.  And let me tell you, man does it feel good to know where everything is! Not to mention how pleased I am that I can actually walk through my laundry/storage room without tripping on random things that never made their way into the proper tubs.  It's a project I never would have tackled by myself and I was so very thankful to have my mom come help out.  Plus, she's just good company and I really enjoyed spending the last couple days with her. :)

I'm really thankful for all the wonderful family and friends we have who come out to support my kids sports (even as the weather gets chillier!!).  We have had quite the cheering section at the soccer games lately- high school friends, in-laws, cousins, grandparents....Kael and Kylee love it! We are so blessed.

Hope you're finding lots to be thankful for!

More Fall Fun (and lots of pictures)

Here is Kylee on her Star Student day.  She wasn't feeling the best but she did a a great job talking in front of the class!



She even read a book to the class!


A couple weekends ago we stopped by Earl May Pumpkin Fest. 

The first picture is Brooklyn, the second one is Kylee when she was a duck for Halloween 4 years ago.

Here are a few pictures of our trip to the fire station that I mentioned last week.

Kael's Fall Party was so fun.  Lots of parent helpers, well-behaved kids and cute crafts!

A few weeks ago Kael it was Kael's turn to bring Albert home from school.  Albert is the class teddy bear.  He was THRILLED.  Kael took excellent care of Albert.

Kylee is ready for Halloween.

The kids were dying to paint pumpkins again this year.  They turned out pretty cute!



Here are a few pictures from Kylee's field trip to the apple orchard. I am so lucky that I get to be a part of these trips with my kids!

Well friends, it seems like the cold weather is settling in- hope you've been out enjoying every last bit of decent fall weather! 

Super Dad

I really don't give Kent enough credit for everything he does. By 11:00 this morning he had played in a flag football game, coached a game of Kael's soccer team, and coached a game of Kylee's soccer team. Shortly after that, he headed to my dad's house to help him work on reinfocing a bridge over my dad's creek. Not to mention the fact that I've been feeling crummy all weekend so he has also been on meal making duty and get up early with the kids duty.  Here's a few photos of Super Dad in action.

He's definitely still got it.



Sometimes I have to remind him that he's playing in the church league and it's not really supposed to be tackle football.  He really appreciates those comments.

Kael loves soccer!



Sometimes the coach gets to help the kids figure out how to put these on.  





Sometimes the coach has to remind the kids which direction they're going.

Kent you're a Super Dad!!!



Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for a quiet afternoon. Kylee took a highly uncharacteristic nap yesterday, and usually if either of my kids take a nap I fly into "get something done" mode but not yesterday. So, I snuggled up in the rocking chair with a good book and a mug of homemade hot chocolate, watching a slow rain come in. It was heavenly.

I'm thankful that Kael's school was having a fundraiser at Burger King which was the perfect place to spend a rainy evening and an equally perfect excuse for me not to cook.

I'm thankful for the Fire Station Open House. Every year I want to take the kids to this, but every year something comes up.  We finally made it last night! Evidently it's a popular event; we had to park quite a ways away and there were tons of people there. I wasn't sure how the kids would do but neither of them seemed to mind the walk or the crowd. They had a blast sitting in fire trucks, sliding down fire poles, and "rescuing" babies from a fire (blindfolded, walking on their knees through a maze!").

I'm thankful Kael loves playing his school suggested math games online.

I'm thankful Kylee has learned how to click the mouse so she can join in the computer fun.

I'm thankful that my kids want to be a ghost and a cat for Halloween.  Those kind of costumes I can handle. I'll be really thankful if they don't change their minds between now and then.

I'm thankful for coffee.  On days that my kids both get up by 5:45, I have a couple cups of coffee and can usually get about three loads of laundry done before Kael leaves for school at 7:40. Without the coffee there's a pretty good chance I'd still be in my pajamas by the time Kael leaves for school.

I'm thankful that it's Kylee's week to be Star Student at preschool. 

I'm thankful that dinner is already slow cooking in the oven. I'm also thankful for the chocolate chip cookie bars Kylee helped me make that I just pulled out of the oven.  It's taking everything I have to not eat one. 

What are you thankful for this week?

A Perfect Fall Day

Our Saturdays are tied up with flag football, soccer and Iowa football games. Knowing this, I have a tendancy to be a fun bully squeeze as much fun as possible into our Sunday afternoons. My whining/planning started Saturday afternoon, "Kent it's supposed to be really nice out tomorrow let's do something fun! What do you want to do?" I must have asked him a hundred times.  We threw around a few ideas but mostly I just didn't want to spend the day watching Kent watch football. My mom and I had talked about going to the mall but I declared it too nice out to spend the day indoors.

After church, Kent went to the airport to pick up a rental car and I chatted with my dad.  "Kent doesn't know it yet but I think we're going to the Ledges. I'm going to have a picnic packed by the time he gets home. Do you and Mom want to join us?" My dad responded in true King of Ideas style, "That sounds great.  I'll go home, get my truck, load up the bikes then after the Ledges we can go to Madrid and ride across the High Trestle Trail bridge (something that he's been wanting to do for a long time)." He also picked up KFC for a picnic, saving me the trouble of making sandwiches and such for everyone.

My mom got lots of great pictures but here are a few favorites from the day. 



At the bridge.  Have you been?



Kent's funny.



I was supposed to be eating twist ice cream but there was no vanilla. I made a pouty face but truly I was just thankful for the ice cream stop we made between hiking and riding. Yum!

 You guys, it was The Best Day.  The weather was awesome, the picnic was fun, the hiking and fall colors were amazing, the bike ride was fantastic, and the bridge was breathtakingly beautiful. I honestly can't think of a better way to spend a fall Sunday afternoon- enjoying the outdoors with my family.

Right around the corner

After a handful of busy weekends, we decided that tonight would be pizza and movie night. I headed to the Red Box and to the grocery store while the pizza was cookin'.

Driving there, I got stuck behind a s-l-o-w driver.  The kind who made complete stops before turning.  The kind who drives 5 miles under the speed limit.  Grr.

First stop, Red Box. Get out of my car and there is only one (yay!) person in line in front of me.  The kind who takes her time reading the full synopsis of the movie before making a selection.  I take a deep breath and wait it out. Sure enough, the line is building up behind me.  Soon there were four people in line after me and still, no hurry from the lady in front of me.  I had a sinking feeling she would ultimately decide on the movie I wanted and that it would be the last one.  Thankfully I was wrong and. Secured the movie and moved along.

Stop number two- grocery store.  I NEVER shop on Friday nights and had no idea how busy it would be.  I had actually gotten groceries earlier in the day (Don't ask. Well, I'll tell anyways. I am kind of funny about groceries.  Hy-Vee for produce. Fareway for meat. Target for yogurt. Wal-Mart for...well, I only make it there occasionally but it just makes sense to buy stuff like toilet paper there when it's half the price of Hy-Vee!) Ok, back to the grocery store.  I struggled to find a parking spot and finally made it in. Hustled around the store and got in the checkout line.  I ALWAYS choose the wrong line.  Tonight was no different.  I got behind a lady who needed a store manager to come over and sign off on something, then wrote a check for her groceries which I realize takes only two seconds longer than swiping a credit card, but still.  It just seemed like I was in that line for-ev-er. (Sandlot, anyone?)

It seemed like I was in fast forward but my world wanted to move in slow motion.  As I rushed out of the store something caught my eye.  There, at my very favorite Starbucks, in cute, artsy letters were the words 79 days until Christmas.  I paused.  I smiled.  And I slowed down.

I love Christmas.  I know, I know, we have several holidays to celebrate before then.  But I'll be honest, Halloween is not for me.  I don't like anything about being scared.  I don't care much for spiders, bats, witches and things of that nature. And I lack the creativity to inspire wonderful costumes.  Thanksgiving, on the other hand, I love. Here's a random fact about me- I only eat turkey on Thanksgiving.  I'm weird, I know. 

But Christmas...just seeing the word Christmas at Starbucks made me happy. It lit up my night.  And then I got it.  That's exactly how it's supposed to be.  The very idea of Christmas is meant to ignite that feeling.  Not because of Peppermint Mochas, but because of what Christmas really means. 

I headed home and gushed to Kylee, "Can you believe there's only 79 days until Christmas?" Her reaction was exactly as I anticipated.  Big eyes, big smile. She gets it, too.

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful that when Kent's out of town, Kylee will come to my rescue and kill any spiders we find in the house.  She's fearless. In many aspects Kylee and I are exactly.the.same but this is one big difference between us.  She rocks.

I'm thankful my dad liked the apple pie I made him. My dad is the King Of Ideas and his most recent idea was to give some of his customers apple pies with dollar signs (he works for Edward Jones) and asked if I thought I could make one.  Turns out I can. :) I don't guarantee that I can make enough of them and my perfectionist self would change several things about this one, but I enjoyed the challenge.

Actually I'm really thankful for apple pies, apple dumplings, apple cake, apple crisp and apple bars.

I'm thankful that Kent and I had a great time in Kansas City even though the Vikings lost. We had wonderful weather, a fun time tailgating, and even had some time for a quick stop in the Power and Light District.  Also, I'm very thankful Tam and Rob were in town so we could hang out with them! Tam is definitely the hostess with the mostess and we had a great time catching up with them. Thanks for letting us stay guys!

I'm thankful there's enough leaves on the ground to start making leaf piles.  Well, actually there's not really enough in our yard to get a good leaf pile yet, so the kids swiped a few leaves that had gathered in the street so the pile could be bigger.  I'm sure it will be only a couple weeks until we have plenty in our own yard.  I'm thankful we live in an older neighborhood with BIG trees that can provide entertainment for my kids.

I'm thankful that Kael was so excited to participate in Walk To School Day. Since we can't really walk all the way from our house (me, Brooklyn, Ryan, Kylee and Kael crossing State Street at 8:00 AM? I don't think so), we just drove a little bit closer to school and walked from there.  I was so impressed at how many people walked! What a great community we live in. (Just in case you needed a reminder: I Heart Ankeny. :) Kael was met with teachers handing out bottled water and  cheerleaders passing out prizes and stickers that said "I'm a walk star" which made me laugh a lot because I'm kind of cheesy like that. :)

I'm thankful for this beautiful weather we've been having, which will probably end up being our last burst of warmth before the chilly temps set in.  We are taking full advantage of these nice days walking to parks, having picnics, riding bikes and playing outside all afternoon.

Thursday is my favorite day, October is my favorite month and fall is my favorite season.  So on a day like today, I can't help but feel there is so very very much to be thankful for.  How about you? Have you made some time to stop and reflect about what you're truly thankful for?

Happy Thursday!