You better watch out. You better not cry!

One of my kiddos was thrilled to see Santa today! After I tucked him into bed tonight, Carter told me "Mommy, Santa has the greatest beard ever!" Evyn was not quite so impressed.

Carter got to ride Santa's "sleigh."

Carter has a recent obsession with nutcrackers. He insisted that we buy one last week at Hobby Lobby. Since then he has reminded me every day that we need to buy some peanuts with the shells on so he can use his nutcracker. He was thrilled to find a lifesize nutcracker to take his picture with today.

And even more thrilled to finally get his hands on some peanuts!

This is just a random, but adorable, picture of my sweet boy!

And in other big news, Evyn is officially walking. She has been taking a few steps for a couple of weeks, but this week she has started walking across the room! She is so very proud of herself! It is super cute to watch her because she is still so tiny! I love it!

Carter's dream.

Carter came and got in my bed the other day at 5:45 am. He said "Mommy, I had the best dream. Jesus was bor-en (born) and he was a baby and I got to hold him. And he didn't even cry. He had all of his hay and his little wooden box to sleep in. Isn't that cool?"

Yes. Very cool. This kid amazes me.

The dangers of marrying your best friend.

I had a friend tell me once that many people marry someone that they can live with but very few marry someone that they cannot live without. I find myself in that second group of people. What a precious gift to wake up with your very best friend by your side every morning. And what a privilege to watch the best man that you know become the best father that you can imagine. What joy it gives me to make him laugh. What comfort I find in him on days that I need to be heard and held. What pride I feel when I watch him work. I marvel at the way that he loves Jesus and loves humanity. His heart is big. He is patient and kind and funny. And handsome. I really love this boy.

He is packing his bags for Morocco as I type this. I am so delighted that he gets another opportunity to share the love of Christ with his international friends. But I will miss him immensely while he is gone. I may sound silly or codependent or just plain pathetic, and I don't care. Ten days feels like an eternity when you are away from your best friend. I remember the days that we were dating and cell phones did not exist yet and nobody had the internet at home. I would check my mailbox with such enthusiasm and cling to his words. I hated being apart. And I feel that even more now. What a blessing to love someone that much. So please pray that the next ten days will go quickly, that he will have safe travel, that his time will be used effectively, the the gospel will be shared, that nobody will kill me in my sleep, and that God will give me the energy to be a single mom while he is gone. Thanks.

Indian Thanksgiving

Mike spends a lot of time working with International students at Tech. It is amazing how God has literally brought the ends of the earth to our own backyard. About two years ago, we met Trupti and Ruchi. They are roomies and absolutely precious girls. We always love hanging out with them. Trupti works at UMC and actually held Evyn within an hour of her being born. We had the opportunity to hang out with them a few weeks ago and decided that we would host an "Indian Thanksgiving" dinner this weekend.

Here is Trupti with Evyn on her birthday.

Trupti and Ruchi came over and hung out last night. They are going to Sea World next month, so Carter told them all about Shamu and the rides and the pirates. He even showed them his stuffed Shamu. Then they played Elefun, Memory, Candy Land, and Operation for hours. They were such good sports.

More friends came over to join us for dinner. Pictured left to right are Mike, Sharma, Carter, Trupti, Ruchi, Rupe, and Poonam. Sharma was hilarious. And the girls are all so beautiful. We ate and laughed and really enjoyed every minute of the evening. We also learned that Rupe is really scared of cats when Toonces jumped up next to her on the couch and she screamed and spilled her plate! So funny.

We had rice, chickpeas, chicken manaca, tortillas, cucumber salad, chicken pockets (I made these), Inidan sweets (fried wheat flour soaked in a sweet syrup), and chocolate cake (mine). It was DELICIOUS. This was honestly the first meal that we have eaten with International students that I have not choked down. It was fabulous.

We feel so blessed to have such sweet friendships with such amazing people. We are thankful that they would be willing to come hang out with us and be part of our lives. I love watching my kids soak them up. I love watching Carter eat Indian food. And I am reminded that life is a whole lot bigger than my little corner of the world. And on a serious note, these friendships make "praying for the lost" so much more meaningful to me. I pray that God will make Himself known to my sweet friends so that we might look forward to eternity together.

fat lips, lego towers, thanksgiving, traditions, and first haircuts.

I apologize in advance for the incredibly random nature of this post, but my life seems to not happen in a blog-friendly format.

Evyn got her first fat lip the other night. She face planted onto a wooden toy that she was playing with. And while I wish that she had not hurt herself, I actually think she looks pretty cute with her big swollen lip.


Carter and Mike recently discovered that they could build a lego tower all the way to the ceiling. Mommy discovered that when that tower falls over, you find legos under furniture for the better part of the week.

Thanksgiving was amazing this year. It is normally not my favorite holiday, but this year just seemed really special for whatever reason. We enjoyed relaxing with just the four of us in the morning. Carter was fascinated by the parade. And then the weather was so pretty that we went and fed the ducks.

Then my precious family came over to spend the day. We ate some really yummy food- turkey and gravy, dressing, sweet potato casserole, cranberries, jello, deviled eggs, green bean casserole, homemade mac and cheese, rolls, and pumpkin pie. I ate through the pain, and even had leftovers for dinner! It is so much fun to watch the kids play and just have time to visit and enjoy each other's company. I loved every minute of our time together. When we bought this house, I had visions of playing football at the park across the street on Thanksgiving. Yesterday while we were playing football and baseball and watching Evyn learn to walk holding onto Papa's finger, I almost had to pinch myself. It was a perfect day. Here is the whole crew, and most of us are looking at the camera.

Mark and Carter are the best of friends. Carter invited Mark to spend the night, and because he is just that cool, he did! Here they are taking in a little Curious George on Thanksgiving night. Then after a night spent in bunk beds, we had breakfast and decorated the Christmas tree.

We always set up the tree on the day after Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite family traditions. Carter was actually really good help with the ornaments this year!

And my very favorite Christmas tradition is wrapping my babies up in lights for a picture. I wonder how long I can get away with this!

And in other big news, Evyn got her first haircut today. My huge insecurity when I found out that I was pregnant with a girl was fixing her hair. It just intimidates me. Everyone assured me that she would be at least two before I would have to worry about it. Then I gave birth to the hairiest white child on the planet. I love her hair and can't imagine her without it, but the whole thing makes me giggle. The sides of it are MUCH longer than the very back, so she had her first little trim today and looks like such a big girl now.

Our sweet friend, L'Anna, gave Carter his first haircut and was gracious enough to do the honors with Evyn.

Carter

Evyn

Carter and L'Anna

Evyn and L'Anna

Dr. Carter

Carter wanted to play with his doctor kit this afternoon. I was told that I could be the sick guy while he was the doctor. After looking for ladybugs in my ears and nose, and listening to my heart with his stethoscope, he decided to take my blood pressure. He said "Mommy, hold out your arm ankle for your blood pressure." I guess he does not know the word "wrist." I loved it.

He also apparently does not know the word "swallow" because he told me yesterday that he needed to "throat down" his dinner. Mike started to tell him to say swallow and I stopped him because I thought it was too cute. For as grown up as he seems sometimes I love it that he still is so little in other ways.

A Thankful Heart

With Thanksgiving approaching, we have had lots of questions in our house about pilgrims, Indians, "horns of plenty," turkeys, and Thanksgiving in general. It has been really sweet to hear Carter tell us the things that he is thankful for- Evyn and Mark are at the top of his list, followed by his Batman car, and footie pajamas. Pretty well rounded if you ask me. I can't help but reflect on the things that I am thankful for as well.

I am honestly thankful for the gift of my salvation. I am so undeserving, yet so very grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to adopt me into His family. And I am thankful for my precious husband, who is the biggest joy in my life. He makes me laugh like nobody else. He is honestly the best person that I know. And he wakes up next to me every morning! I am blessed. And my heart is so very full of our children that I can hardly stand it. To have two healthy, beautiful, well behaved, and hilarious kids is such a gift. I love having my family in town. I have amazing friends to share life with. I love my job. I love my church home. And at the risk of sounding a little materialistic, I love my house and my car. This is just the start of my thankful list.

It's been a week or so since I shared pictures, and I have a few cute shots to share. Evyn has learned how to pose for the camera, as demonstrated below.

Carter had his Thanksgiving party at school on Friday. I was a room mother. This was completely out of my comfort zone and quite honestly not my favorite thing that I have ever done. But it was sweet to get to watch him interact with his friends and he was really glad that I was there. They did a little Thanksgiving program and he was adorable. They sang some fun songs and absolutely melted my heart. Here is my little Indian.

Carter with most of his class and his teacher, Mrs. Lewis. We love her. Look at how cute and spunky she looks.

This was taken while they were singing "Five fat turkeys are we."

Carter's teacher painted a turkey on his face. He was so proud of it!

I love this next series of pictures because it just about summarizes Evyn. This child is spunky. She is such an entertainer. She will do something cute, then look at you and wait for you to laugh and then giggle right along with you before doing it again. She loves being the center of attention and is rather opinionated. I am having so much fun watching her little personality emerge! She is a bundle of energy but will still snuggle with her mommy. I am crazy about this little girl. So, she recently discovered that she can sit in Carter's chair all by herself and loves showing off her new trick. You can almost imagine the noises that accompany the facial expressions in these pictures!

And last but not least, Carter has been growing his hair out. I love it longer. It is so soft and I find that I rub the top of his head all the time. However, he has been asking me for the last few weeks if he could please have his "spikey hair" again. And I figure if he actually has a preference for how he wears his hair, I might as well indulge him. He is precious either way, so why not?

Before. . .

After. . .

Happy almost Thanksgiving!