Chickasha Festival of Light

We heard about it last year, but didn't get to see it, so this year we decided to take a look...
Its about a 40 minute drive up to Chickasha, but it was worth it, my pictures didn't turn out too great, but at least they give you an idea. Walker kept "pointing" out the lights...
We even ran into Santa along the way, he was kind enough to pose for a picture! He sure is a jolly old fellow!
Our group included Kim, Keith, Caden & Kelsay; Aaron, Nicole & Gavin; Susan (her husband is in the field this week) and us.
At the end we watched the musical light show. Again Walker was "pointing" out the action. Its pretty hard to "point" with mittens on. I think it was in the low 40's. It would've been pretty with snow, but maybe the kids wouldn't have lasted as long outside. Overall it was a really good time!

fully-feathered turkey

thought you'd like to see a picture of our Turkey with a few more feathers. I will probably pack them up this weekend (I save the feathers so we can look back and compare what everyone was thankful for each year...and how handwriting changes etc). Thanks for participating!

real quick...

...I just want to recommend a book. Last year I was given a book from someone I had never met. Most likely because she knew my husband was deployed and she wanted to bless me. She did, immensely. I am excited to revisit the book this Christmas season and with Brad as well. I know money is tight and you most likely don't want to go buy a book, but this may be worth it. I hope one day that we will share the devotions together with the boys during the Advent season.

The book is Preparing for Jesus, Meditations on the Coming of Christ, Advent, Christmas and the Kingdom. It starts December 1 and is 40 days of meditations. It is written by Walter Wangerin Jr.

Thank you JoDee, God has blessed me richly!

I almost forgot...

FedEx is teaming up with some Christmas tree farmers to donate Trees for Troops. This will be the first year they are at our post. We signed up to reserve a tree for our family. Then we began making a list of stuff to go with our tree. Today I hit the jackpot when I found a tree stand at the thrift store for $3 and four bags of white lights at the Soldier's Closet for free. We were sort of leaning toward colored lights, but free is hard to argue with! And, I am going to try really hard to make a tree skirt with some flannel that Mom sent me... YIPPEE! We pick up our tree next Monday!

we won't be sending out Christmas lists after all...

...the empty diaper box provided lots of entertainment Sunday night! I guess that means we shouldn't get an area rug either... Of course, the fun ended when I tried to video tape it! Just a couple shots of our cuties...

Sorry, Mom, no long recap... We just had lots of good moments all weekend long...

sometimes I gotta wonder...

where I get these crazy ideas. See, I am going to attempt to make PJ pants for all of us for Christmas morning. (Don't you love the fabric I found...and for only 99 cents a yard!!!) Brad is going to be in San Antonio Dec 9-21 so that will give me two weeks. The weird thing is... ...Brad and I were both nearby when Walker found the last piece of pizza, the crazy bread sauce and the pizza cutter on the table last night. Do I REALLY think I am going to be able to sew four pair of PJ pants with this crazy little bandit on the loose????

Wish me well, or better yet, come babysit while I am sewing!!!

a super great weekend...

that is what we had, I'd recap, but I don't want to miss out on the last bit of it. Brad is making mac-n-cheese and AFV is on...savor the moments, they go so quickly...

Dancing Elves

Check out the boys with their dog!

snapshots from our day of thanks!

A quick picture after our chilly pre-dinner walk...probably if you zoom in you will see runny noses on at least two of the three guys! (Rene that is the German sled Barbie gave me) I forgot to take a picture of all the food. Yummy stuff! I must say the deep-fried turkey was WONDERFUL! I was a bit skeptical! Barbie even made a veggie tray to snack on before we ate...awww... After dinner the men retired to watch TV while the kids made some ornaments. Walker was really into the markers...
Wilson and Logan making their ornament selections. Somehow Wilson's finished product has gone missing since last night....these pics might be all we have left of them...perhaps they will turn up...
Wilson intently painting his ornament...very serious...
We were going to watch a movie together after dinner (they have a projector and a big screen), but we ended up just sitting around chatting while the kids played. Wilson topped off the night with a cup of cocoa in a coffee travel cup....you might be able to tell from the picture, he thought he was the COOLEST kid!!! They sent an extra one home so he could drink out of it this morning too...
We had a wonderful day, and were reminded repeatedly of our many, many blessings. What a treasure to have made friends that are like family in so many ways...

Thanksgiving morning!!!

Wilson was so excited about Thanksgiving this year, you would almost think its Christmas! This morning he whispered to me, "Thanksgiving isn't very far away anymore!" Here we are getting ready to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Its not quite like I remember, but Wilson got a kick out of a few of the floats & balloons and Walker liked some of the music!

Here is the Thanksgiving turkey. It is such a treat to read about what everyone is thankful for...and a great way to incorporate extended family into our Thanksgiving tradition! He is a little skinnier this year, so I guess I will have to put self-addressed STAMPED envelopes in the packets again next year! Sorry that I forgot the stamps this year! I am sure we will be getting a few more feathers in the next few days. Wilson is so excited each day to check the mail...

We are planning on taking a walk before we head over to Curry & Barbie's house. Hopefully it will tire Muskoka out and maybe burn a few calories so we can stuff ourselves a bit more!! Yummy times...

Oh, this year, I personally am MOST thankful that my husband is not leaving in 3 days. While we had a nice Thanksgiving last year, it was bittersweet. I am simply looking forward to enjoying the day and thanking God for His bountiful provisions this past year.

Border Security

making fudge...

Wilson whipping up some fudge from his new color-coded cookbook. Thought we might as well get a jumpstart on the holiday baking...well, actually I do more "candy-making" than "baking." Well, if you want to get technical, I do more "OOPS!" than anything in the kitchen. Last year I made toffee three times before I got it right. I had to keep trying so I could send Brad a variety of treats...

they wouldn't be brothers...

...if they didn't "sword-fight" with sticks, right?

We had a beautiful weekend weather-wise. I got my Thanksgiving-bowling-fix in early, yesterday. Then we went for a walk and the boys played outside for awhile. We ended our night with a pizza picnic and a movie (Ratatu...however you spell it). Mommy botched another plan for a new recipe, so Daddy came through with the pizza. I managed to screw up scrambled eggs this morning, but who needs those details? Hoping for some more outdoor play this afternoon... Who knows how many more of these weekends we will have?

walker wants a turn..

I think this is how brother gets on...

maybe he gives it a little push first...

I guess this'll work for now, at least it has a bell...and streamers!

riding...

little people nativity set...

If I could have 100 nativity sets, it might not be enough. I LOVE them! We have a PlayMobil set for Wilson that is "on display" in their bedroom. Walker would totally eat it...such tiny pieces. So when I saw this Little People set, I stopped dead in my tracks. We were going to have to wait a few days though. My mom was going to buy & ship one to us, but online they were almost double the price. So she called me and told me to go to buy it and she would pay us back. When I told Wilson he exclaimed,"you are the best mommy I ever had!" They have had fun with it ever since... (It did take about 12 minutes to get it all out of the package! Enough already with the twisty-ties!)


I don't know why the donkey is on top of the stable, but I am sure Wilson has an imaginative explanation!

passing time...

we are back to one vehicle (Shane & Bri needed theirs back), so I snapped a few pics while we were waiting for our ride to bible study. It is nearly impossible to catch Walker looking at the camera. He is always interested in something else...

Wilson got a "video game system." I don't really know what you would call it, but he loves it. I love it, because he can't mess anything up on the computer and Brad loves it because he doesn't come home to a messed up computer... Wilson saved his allowance for about (give or take) 10 weeks to buy a "Mack" from the movie Cars. He got a little extra cash in the mail to bump him over the top. The Mack turned out to be a $40 bust! He was VERY disappointed to have to return it, but we gave him the option of trying a second one or picking something new. He picked the video game set. We had seen it before but didn't know if if was "too young" for him. He seems to like it, the game cartridges are mostly from PBS Kids, which he likes. I don't think it will be long before Walker will want to participate...

He told me he was doing," a motorcycle puzzle like the kind Grandpa Carl likes..."

'new' pictures...

You said you wanted "new pictures" but you didn't say they had to be recent. So how about this blast from the past. Poor Wilson, his mommy and daddy weren't blogging when he was a wee little man... I don't remember him being so round-faced. Love memory lane...

I will take some new & recent pics of the kids soon; maybe even tonight. Its not like picture-taking is time consuming, I'm just forgetful sometimes. And, well, digging things out of Walker's mouth and chasing him down while he is holding, scissors, straight pins, or a combination of other dangerous items.

The weather has been beautiful and I know we missed some great photo ops this weekend. Today is blustery and I will be surprised if there are any leaves left on the trees once this wind stops blowing... If there are, I will try to take pics, we actually have a lot more color than I expected. Of course, we weren't here this time last year, so we may have missed it. I think the insane amount of rain this spring/summer may have something to do with the color though...

Veterans Day

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt


This picture is from the National WWII Memorial, and represents everyone who didn't make it home at the end of the war. Of the 16 Million people who served during WWII over 400,000 didn't make it home. We are losing over 1000 WWII vets a day, please take time to thank them!