I'm Thankful For...

-My family

-Salvation through Jesus Christ

-My wonderful husband who bears with me through it all!

-Aubrey-what a grown up 5 year old, always willing to help me out

-Cameron-rambunctious and fun loving, all boy yet compliments me on my earrings

-Lauren-my baby who is almost 1 and taking her first steps, how precious

-A warm house with an attached garage, something I love more and more as it gets colder

-A secure job for my husband that he enjoys

-A Christ-centered church in which we hear the Word preached and our kids are surrounded by believers

-Wonderful friends who love me despite my flaws

-My MOPS group and all the support I receive there

-Grandparents that love our children and take care of them so willingly

-Brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews and even those on the way

-The opportunity to homeschool my children

-A country where we are free to worship God openly

I know it is a few days early, but I thought it would be good to get down my thoughts about what I'm thankful for and to see how tremendously we've been blessed.

Leaves

Fall is such a wonderful time of the year. We are blessed to have two beautiful, mature trees in our front yard that dazzle us with color each fall. This year was no exception, but all good things must come to an end so I decided yesterday was the day to rake up the leaves. The kids wanted to help, and they actually did help. It's amazing how strong they are when they apply themselves. Ryan knows that I love to take pictures, he thinks it can go overboard sometimes, but he doesn't really mind. So, here's a lot of pictures that I took of us enjoying the huge pile of leaves. I couldn't get a good picture of all of us, I kept cutting off heads, so I just made do with what I could get. Lauren loved her first experience with the leaves, even with her brother throwing leaves in the air!

What she's up to

Lauren is 10 1/2 months and loving it! She loves to stand by herself and then plop down. Who knows how soon she will walk, not that I'm wishing it to come anytime soon. She's still such a happy girl and really doesn't cause any problems. Just a few pictures to show the things she does.

This is at the Children's Museum. She was walking with the walker and of course spotted the camera, that's why she's pointing. This is also one of her signature things to do. When she sees someone she knows, she points at them and smiles.

Here she is being very messy. I love that she feeds herself, but then there is clean up.

And the cupboards. She has discovered them and frankly I don't care. It keeps her entertained when I am making supper or doing dishes. Sure I have to clean it all up, but oh well. How relaxed I have become over my 5 years of parenting. Besides, isn't it so cute?

Bloomsbury Farm

We went to Bloomsbury Farm with the MOPS group and the kids loved it. I hadn't been there since Aubrey was very small and I was pregnant with Cameron, so it was good to go back. Of course it was right up Cameron's alley since he could run around outside and get dirty. Aubrey liked it too. Here they are riding the horses, this is the way to do it when they are young!

They loved going on the tractor ride and had to touch the corn. The tractor driver was great and would get really close to the corn so they could reach it without falling out. I have to say that I appreciate when random people do little things like this to make my kids happy. Not that they should be happy about everything, but it's nice to see that people care.

Lauren was with us too, but unfortunately she didn't make it into any pictures.