The Spirit of Giving (Remix)

I figured I should tell you about Thanksgiving while it is still relevant.  Giving thanks for what we have should always be relevant, but you have to admit, now that Advent is upon us Thanksgiving seems like so long ago. Luckily for us we have plenty of photos to remind us.

We spent Thanksgiving with my folks down in Louisiana.  We left late Tuesday afternoon and arrived just past midnight.  We sure do enjoy nighttime drives.  The kids sleep and the adult talk.  And talk and talk and talk.  Sounds like a killer time, I know.

We spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in Houma.  And it was a great time.  Here it goes!

The weather has been quite nice here (and by this I mean I Gulf Coast area between here and there).  The nights are cold, the days are cool(er), sunshine is plentiful, and the breeze keeps on blowing.  The fruit has been plentiful at my parents' house.  The above picture is of lemons.  The one below is satsumas.

And a heads up for Grandma Tammy and Grandpa Dan.  The grapefruit is getting ready and I hope you are too.  So far they are really juicy, but a little tart.  Hopefully in the next few weeks they will sweeten up a bit and be perfect for your consumption.  

We had a couple of fires and roasted marshmallows.  The kids really enjoyed this.  We also discovered there is a right way and a wrong way to roast marshmallows and it greatly depends on who will be eating it and how picky they are about singed parts.  

And we got to spend some time with Aunt Liz.  And boy, has she grown!  

Mom got some bad news.  Actually, I don't know if she did or if this is just a poorly timed photo.  

This last run of photos is out of order.  I don't know why blogger chose to do this, but if I try to fix it and fail I will likely abandon this entry and you won't get to see any of it.  So consider this the remix part of the blog.

And so, in the spirit of giving thanks, here's where I thank my parents.  Thank you for your hospitality this time and every time.  Thank you for all the delicious food.  You sure know our favorites and have them on hand for us.  Thank you for the clean laundry!  Thank you for the love and attention that you show the kiddos.  Thank you for having cable TV and for recording the shows that we like (Parenthood and Duck Dynasty).  Thanks for the beautiful kitchen table!  Thanks for the shopping trips and the movie nights.  And most of all, thanks for supporting us and our dreams.  We sure do love you guys!

And now we will happily march into December.  I am particularly excited about this coming month.  Not only is this the first time we will have a Christmas tree in 5 years, but we are also having Christmas at our place with the Becker grandparents (wahoo!!!) !  And as if that weren't enough, my brother and his brood will stop in with my parents and the house will be full!!  Oh joy of joys!

25 down, 35 to Go

Only 35 more fun things to do before Orry turns 6.  Only.  Ha!  There are only 34 days until his birthday.  So I guess that we are more or less on top of it.  I'm not even sure that Orry remembers that we are counting down, but we shall keep moving forward.

And now for a look back:

Making wooden models (a stealth plane)

Making cookies 

Zoobilee and the new exhibit Dinosaurs

Orry won his first game of Settlers of Catan

A trip to the Children's Museum

And now for what was probably the best thing we were blessed enough to be able to do:

Meeting more cousins!!

I have to show this picture because this one came next:

Oh Annie, so predictable...

We've done more things than I have pictures of.  For example, just yesterday Troy and Orry made smoothies.  I didn't get a picture, but let me paint for you a picture.  They made them with strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, and cooked broccoli.  (I know, I know.  But it shouldn't surprise you.  Troy is, after all, the "sardine-hiding-in-a-burrito" chef.)  Makes me want to puke just thinking about it.  I did taste them and next to stinky tofu, it was the only other food that made me want to barf.  Strange thing, Orry and Annie ate them without complaint... !!!  We were stunned.  I still want to barf.

As we keep going down the list (which you can find here), I think I'll take charge of the rest of the food related activities...

60 Fun Things Update

It's been 10 days since I posted about the 60 fun things we are trying to do.  I'm crossing off the things we have done as we go along.  You can see it by revisiting the original post.  Here I'm just sharing some of the photos and details from our latest adventures.  In no particular order...

Beach fun--She finally learned to love the sand!

More museum fun, this time in Sugarland

Played with our cousins!

Found a new park with sweet hiking trails

Our trip to the zoo

Waiting for the bats to come out at Bat Fest

This is the rehearsal for the wedding, we forgot our camera for the actual event...

We still have a ways to go to complete this list.  It's exhausting to even think about it.  But it's a good kind of exhausting.  The kind of exhausting that makes you happy to be alive and happy to have a comfortable bed to fall into at the end of the day.

*Sidenote:  The best and most heartfelt wishes to my sister and new brother-in-law!  It was a beautiful wedding.  Thank you for allowing us to all have a special part in it.  And congrats to two of my sister-in-laws on the recent additions to their families!  We are so blessed!

We Are Thankful

Weekend before last we had the pleasure of having my parents, Mamita Donna and Poppa Jeffery, come for a visit.  It should go without saying that we had a wonderful time, but I'm going to say it anyway.  We had a wonderful time!  We went to a craft show, watched a killer football game (Geaux Tigers #1!!!), ate tacos from a food truck, went to church, saw Cars 2, went for a swim at the hotel pool, and walked among the butterflies.  

But of all the fun things that we do with our family, my favorite has to be gathering around the table and enjoying a meal together.  This time around we enjoyed hamburgers with all the trimmings.  Child and grown-up alike feasted that night.  All were satisfied.  None went hungry.  

Yes, some of us eat in our underoos...

During this time of year we are encouraged to slow down and give thanks for all the things that we have.  What time of year is it, you ask?  Well, I know it can be confusing.  Halloween is right around the corner.  And while the stores already have their twinkling lights wrapped around tall fir trees with golden presents shining from under their branches, Thanksgiving, that wonderful time of year when we gather around a table with our family, is only 37 days away.  While we do have costumes and candy and cobwebs and pumpkins on our minds, we are also taking time to give thanks for the things we have.

Orry's school is currently collecting canned goods for the local food bank and we are taking this opportunity to really help the kids understand just how fortunate we are.  We talk about the privilege of having clean water and the responsibility we have not to waste it or take it for granted.  We talk about the fresh vegetables and fruits we eat everyday and how lucky we are to be able to access and afford such commodities.  We also talk about sharing what we have with others.

I confess that I am guilty of giving all of my "back of the pantry" goods away whenever I get the chance.  You know, all those cans of baked beans, cooked spinach, and mixed vegetables that seem to hide in the back behind the more desirable items.  But I got to thinking, Shouldn't I be giving things that I myself would want to receive if the shoe were on the other foot?  And so I sent Orry and Troy to the store with specific instructions.  #1: Choose $10 worth of non-perishable food items. #2: Make sure that you pick things that you enjoy and that you think a boy just like you might like to eat.  They came back with a variety of things, but I know that Orry must have remembered rule #2 because he was sure to bring back some mandarin oranges.  He really wanted to give "a boy just like you" some fresh apples, but we had to remember rule #1.  

Being thankful for the things we have is something that we can do all year round.  Giving to our local food bank is also something that we can do all year round.  Hopefully, in this coming year we will do more of both. So tell me, what are you thankful for?

Me vs Us

I love spending time with my family.  And by that I don't mean grocery shopping together, going to doctors appointments together, or just hanging out at home.  I mean getting out of our ordinary setting and doing things that we don't normally get to do together.  Today we did our routine things, church and errands.  We also took advantage of free admission to the HMNS Butterfly Center (did I mention that we like free things?)

My favorite: Rice Paper butterfly

The kids and I have visited the Butterfly Center a handful of times over the year.  Troy, on the other hand, hasn't been since our first trip there.  So he was delighted to get to explore and learn some and I was delighted to have an extra set of hands in a place that doesn't allow strollers.

I love the weekends.  I love the time we take to have adventures together as a family.  But I also love me.

Baby Boudreaux bump!!

I think it's important to love yourself.  And I think it's important to take the time to treat yourself right.  So between all the family business, I took the time to treat myself, and a best friend, to a pedicure.

Now I feel that I should preface all this by saying that I love being a mom.  I love what my kids have done for me.  I love my husband and my married life.  I love how much I have grown as a person over the past five, almost 6, years.  Overall, my life is great and I'm quite blessed.

Now, I'll continue by letting you know that being a parent can be downright hard sometimes.  Making the best decisions for them with your limited knowledge of the world.  Dealing with the small everyday stresses that can pile up and weigh down on you like a monstrous burden.  Needing an extra hand or lap at the most trying times of your day.  And being married isn't always a walk in the park.  There are arguments based on differences of opinion and arguments that stem from hungry bellies.  Sharing all of your extra free time with someone else can really start to not feel like free time after a while.

My tired dogs

But no one said that it would be easy.  No one said that we wouldn't struggle to make it through the day, much less the next five decades (if we are so lucky). But no one said that you couldn't have a time out every once in a while.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy getting away, even if it's only for a few hours.  I forgot how much clarity I get when I take some time off.  I really encourage you parents of young ones to treat yourselves right.  Love yourself.  Take time to relax by yourself.  Take time to do something that you love to do, but don't have the time to do everyday.  Get to know yourself away from your kids.  I bet that you will love who you are and your kids will reap the benefit of a more balanced and relaxed you.

So tell me, what is your favorite thing to do to just get away and relax?