Sunday, December 3, 2017

Lots to be thankful for :)

November tends to be a month for me when life gets even busier, which then brings on added stress, causing me to sometimes forget to enjoy all of the blessings God has provided me with!  Therefore, taking the time to reflect on my blessings never seems more important than now.

Joden has attended many basketball camps over the last few years, but this fall was his first experience actually playing 5 on 5. It really has been fun watching him and he has even surprised me!  This is what I have discovered:
-He works hard
-He wants to always be point guard
-He is sort of a ball hog
-He wants to score
-Once he saw other kids traveling/double dribbling, he chose to join in
-Finally, it has made me believe that basketball may be a sport he really enjoys so I am excited to see what the future holds
 




Next memory to be grateful for is getting to go to the Husker volleyball game with the dinner group girls!  We had great seats and it was a 4 set game, which was exciting.


 While Mike was out hunting Joden attempted to do Reeve's hair and also fell out of a tree...so he was pretending to look like a creepy dude here:)

 Due to Mike's mom being sick with leukemia, the kids are often talking about her and praying for her!

One of the added stressors in November is basketball season, although it is a good stress.  These girls, as you can tell, are sure fun to be around!  Looking forward to what this year holds for our team.  

The next stress, that was not of course planned, was Reeve getting head lice at school.  Sadly, she had it for two weeks and we had no clue.  Her scalp had been quite itchy, but other than that we just thought it was due to the dry season.  Luckily we have not had any more and are praying that it stays away.  Reeve handled it like a champ, while I on the other hand cried when we found out she had it. 



November was our month to host dinner group so we had our first meal around our new table!  We went with a Friendsgiving meal and what a great way to break in the new table:)

Another stress of November is Mike's deer hunting, which as his spouse I 100% support--life just gets hectic trying to work around all of our schedules.  Love though all the memories these two will make out in God's country!

While the boys were out hunting, Reeve and I went to a friends wedding who I coached with the last two years.  We sure enjoyed getting to experience her beautiful day:)


 Each year Barr Middle School does a Purple Hands Assembly and we had the honor of getting to have Hannah Houston since she was a former Barr Bulldog!  She rocked the gym-it was amazing:)

Thankful for these basketball coaches wives who meal prep with me to  make basketball season a tad less hectic!  

Thankful our children have an amazing dad!



Reeve's first grade class of turkeys! 

What a great Thanksgiving we had at Mike's sister Heather's house!  The weather and company were incredible:)






More basketball season fun!



Every Tuesday I have my students do something that helps target their social/emotional needs.  So this month they got to have a Rock, Paper, Scissors competition:)  They had a blast!

For our 10 year anniversary Mike got tickets for us to go to a Duke basketball game.  It was exactly what I had dreamed, but sadly we ended up missing the marriage of Mike's youngest sister Kati.  Due to Mike's mom being sick they bumped it up and it just happened to be the same weekend we had our trip planned.  
 Ironically a girl I spent many years playing basketball against lives out in Durham so we got to meet up with her for some drinks and dinner!  It was great and we were thankful for her hospitality! 


Day 2 we went over to Duke's campus and enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery.  Here are some of the highlights!


 The Chapel
 The Duke Gardens
 Of course we had to get some ice cream after all the walking we did:)
 The next stop we made was the rooftop bar at The Durham.  It was again gorgeous and a beautiful view!
 That night we enjoyed dinner at a steakhouse and found a tour at a Distillery.  It was delicious and we learned about gin!


Day 3-game day-we headed downtown and ate burgers at a burger joint before the game.  They were delicious!
 Next we headed over to campus and after waiting in line for quite awhile we finally got to go inside Cameron!  It was definitely a dream come true and one I hopefully get to do again some time in my life:)
 




 For our last dinner we had an amazing one at a new Seafood restaurant.  We definitely did not leave hungry!
 Funny story--Mike got gum stuck to his pants:)  So, when we were in the Duke game it was so crowded that I had spit out some gum in a wrapper and then set it on the bench.  I told Mike to watch out for it and that I would grab it later.  He obviously forgot and sat on it at halftime, but did not realize it was there until after dinner-so funny!!

While we were away the girls had two games.  They ended up 1-1. Proud of this score right here!  

Finally, very grateful that our kiddos were able to attend their Aunt Kati's wedding while we were away.  These were some pictures that were sent to me, which I was very grateful for!  Again, very sad we missed the wedding, yet at the same time are of course very thankful for Nate and Kati and their marriage!






Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
~Colossians 3:15

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Pure J.O.Y.

O.c.t.o.b.e.r 
Being positive is a daily goal of mine and in order to do so it is a must that I surround myself with others who embrace this quality. When doing so, each day is filled with much more joy!  This month definitely fulfilled this as we all got to spend time with those near and dear to our hearts:)

We started off the month with having Mike's sister Heather and our nieces here.  Sadly we do not get to see them enough so we very much enjoyed our time together!


Joden was teaching me how to set the table which he learned in school from their counselor!

 Reeve played learner league volleyball at the Y this fall.  She LOVES volleyball and it truly makes my heart happy watching her enjoy herself on the court!
 These two sure enjoy each others company!  Crazy to think how we embark on different journeys in life, which in the end lead us to such great friends:)  

 Enjoying a fall Saturday with two of my favorite people!  



 Took Joden on a date to the Explorit Center in Aurora.  It happened to be a day off from school on a Friday so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  What a great memory we will have together!

 Went to Olive Garden with my mom.  Tried to take a cute picture and of course Joden has to do this...but it did bring a smile to my face!

Sure enjoyed our weekend in Sidney to celebrate my sister-in-law becoming a mama!  This will be our first niece in 4 years so we are pretty excited:)  She is super cute and the shower was beautiful and it went extremely smooth!




 



 That night we also got to see our niece and nephew all dressed up for Homecoming!  I am sure we will blink and that will be our kiddos...cannot believe how fast Miss Lainey has grown up.  She is gorgeous!  And of course Grant is handsome:)




 
 Enjoyed a laid back night playing cards with the Schumacher crew.  We tried to take a group picture using a selfie stick:)



Random picture from my good friend Kelly of Reeve from school!  Don't grow up too fast sweet girl:)

Got my bridesmaid dress in for Kati's wedding....love it and it was only $50 on Amazon!

Picking out Christmas gifts!

For several years I have heard of Mossy Pond and finally went to check it out with my sister.  We had a great time and of course found some great items!

Enjoyed some Halloween fun!  Started it off with the Trunk or Treat on Saturday at our church and then bundled up for a cold night out on Halloween day.  Also down below I had my kiddos work together to create shoulder up Halloween costumes.  They honestly did pretty awesome with this task!



 
 So much candy!!  


Life is a journey filled with many challenges and we never know what others may be battling, so prayers for all to at some point, each day, experience joy or share it with others<3