Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful that we know such generous people! One of my dad's friends found out that Kael had been into baking cupcakes this summer, and he gifted Kael all of these cupcake sprinkles! We can't wait to get baking.

I'm thankful for the Ankeny schools app that keeps me updated on all the kids' academic stuff.  Specifically when I got a notification over the weekend about an awesome grade Kael had gotten in math.  I loved being able to congratulate him right when I found out!

I'm thankful for the kids creativity.  As it's starting to get dark earlier, the kids aren't able to be outside for as long in the evenings.  Kael came up with the idea to make "song brackets" for everyone in the family to determine favorite songs and Kylee worked on a big poster to cheer Kase on for his last football game coming up this weekend.

I'm thankful for our annual pumpkin carving night.  Monday night was cold and windy so Kent backed the cars out of the garage, turned on the heater and we got to work! Kylee doesn't mind touching the pumpkin guts.

Kael does.

And Kase won't even attempt to touch them. Mostly he just wanted the knife and wanted to carve it by himself.

I'm thankful for how our pumpkins turned out this year! Kylee freehand drew this cat.

She also drew a Hawkeye for Kase.

And Kael chose a football!

I'm so thankful for how sleepy this guy is every night.

I'm thankful that the kids have gotten involved in running and SO thankful for the Spooky Fun Run on Tuesday night! It was cold and windy but the kids still really wanted to race.

Kase could hardly contain his excitement.

Off they go!

Kylee was the first girl finisher of the whole thing, grades K-7!

Kael really kicked it in at the end and ran so hard to the finish!

When Kase heard us cheering for him near the finish he got the cutest, most serious and focused look on his face and sprinted for the finish! 

Kylee got second place last year at this event and only first place gets a medal.  She was SO happy this year to go home with this cool glow-in-the-dark medal! She has definitely been working and training hard!

They called Kael up to receive a medal, too.

But Kael knew one of his friends had finished ahead of him and as soon as Kael had accepted the medal, he found his friend and said, "Hey man, I know you beat me so this belongs to you."  I'm so thankful for Kael's good sportsmanship and for what a good heart he has. I love the young man he has grown up to be!

I'm thankful for this family that we have enjoyed all these running events with!

I'm also thankful the kids aren't too grown up for the Library Trick or Read event.  We hurried home after the race, ate a quick dinner then headed to the library. 

I'm thankful for how little and innocent Kase looks in this picture.  Being a third child, sometimes it seems like he's grown up too fast and I love that he was excited to see Ozzie!

I'm thankful for my sweet little ice cream sundae. 

Lots going on lately and lots to be thankful for!