A thankful heart....

Wow, it feels like school just started and here I sit on the eve of Dec 7th....the Christmas tree is twinkling, the snow is lightly falling, and if I had sat down about 4 hours ago I would be sipping a nice cup of coffee with my favorite "Peppermint Mocha" creamer mixed in!!  But, drinking that at 7:26pm might just mess this girl up for the night!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving down in Pine Island with Tim's family.  We do enjoy our time down there on the farm where the kids can bundle up and go run and chase the dogs, or head out to  the shop/shed to shoot hoops on the mammoth bball hoop, or head down to "their basement" to read or play!  Me, I enjoy hanging out in the kitchen or watching some football (when it's worth watching!! wink wink).  We did make it out to one of our friends' tree farms and enjoyed seeing all their trees and visiting.  Their kids showed us around the "farm" and pointed out the best ones!

I'm thankful for the little coffee shop in Tim's hometown (it has wifi!!).  Malia had been wanting some alone time with me & Tim and so we took her there and enjoyed some coffee & hot chocolate and a rousing game of Scrabble!  It's so fun!  I love that Malia loves Scrabble!  Morgan wants to love it and be her "own" team, but she is ok when we double up together!

The girls and I enjoyed a day at the Mall of America a few Friday's ago!  Marshall went to our wonderful babysitter's house and we really had a fun day!  Rode some rides that made us want to cry...or rides where we thought we might lose the money out of our pockets because we didn't realize we would be hanging upside down!!  (oopsie...but no tears...so that's good!  I would hate to have messed up my makeup!!  ha ha)  Of course we had to make a stop at the American Girl doll store!  Oh that place is fun and I enjoy seeing the wonder in Malia & Morgan's eyes as they look around!

Tim's basketball reffing sesason is getting into full swing!  He isn't as busy as he has been in past years...but it still seems busy and we miss him on the nights/weekends when he is away.

The kids & I just video-chatted with my parents!  I would say "skype" but honestly I can't stand skype...the connection is never good and the video/audio is delayed...so, we use a different program through logitech and it works great!  Marshall LOVES to watch himself talk to them.  It's hillarious.  In fact, he usually misses funny faces that Papa does because he is sooo busy looking at himself.  (Even at the dinner table Marshall watches himself in his reflection in the window...oh boy...he takes after his Uncle TJ!!).

Now I must kick it into "high-gear" to get ready for Christmas!!  Ok, not really...but it is a little crazy that we are only 3 weeks away from Christmas.  Then Marshall will be 3 a few weeks after that and wow...it's amazing to me that he is almost 3 already.  Oh, the little boy that never seems to slow down...the little boy who keeps us on our toes and who loves to be the "declarer" of ALL things.  Yes, he let's us know when someone does something naughty...and when they do something nice and it's always in the loudest way possible....but I wouldn't expect anything else, I guess!!  (Too, funny...just now he came into the living room and said, "Mommy, I will be quiet"...the story is that I just had sent him to his room to play because he was being sooo loud out here!!!  and now here he is and he is a little quieter...a little!!)

A few pics to make you smile!

Our toothless 1st grader!

Yes...he is something isn't he?!!

They are truly "buddies"!  It's pretty cute!

Craziness at the Wittlief Tree Farm!

Malia & Morgan with the Wittlief kids!

Ready to ride!

Hmmm..."dippin dots"...they really are a messy way to eat ice cream!

I asked Malia to smile...ya..nice

Morgan's "not so real" glasses!!  

And again...does the word "normal" & "smile" mean anything to these kids....really....

These 3--so thankful for them!