Date Night

Luminary Path

Dancing Christmas Trees (yes, there were real people in them!)

Trees on the Pond

Self-taken Picture

Chris and I had a few rare moments to ourselves this past weekend. I say rare simply because the Air Force has kept him quite busy lately. Thankfully, we were able to enjoy some time together as a family over Thanksgiving including a visit from Chris's parents.

Since our trio did have Grandparents in town, Chris and I went on a couple of dates. One was simply going out to eat. However, I will take that!! For the other afternoon/evening, we had a lot of fun. We first completed Christmas shopping for our kids. How fun not to have to do it all by myself and to find some fun things at the same time. Of course, we threw in a bit of shopping for ourselves :) We then hit Chipotle for some favorite food. Finally, we went to our local botanical gardens to enjoy luminaries and Christmas lights. Thankfully, it wasn't terribly cold. No wind makes the biggest difference. It was just fun walking around, following the luminaries, watching lights set to music and just enjoying the ambiance.

My Outing

About a week ago, I went shopping for an entire day. Now, I don't mind a little shopping here and there, but this was for one. entire. day!! I went with several ladies from church. We loaded onto a charter bus and headed three hours down the road to bigger and better shopping opportunities (I must admit, I'm quite content with what we have). Honestly, I didn't have any shopping expectations. I went for the fellowship. It was fun, but I ended up being very tired by the time I pulled in the garage at nearly midnight.

Since I was gone all day, Chris had the kids all day. I think this may have been the first time - ever - that he'd had them all day. They had a good time. Who wouldn't have fun when the day starts with breakfast at Krispy Kreme. I don't take them there :) They also did a bit of flower shopping and I came home to this nice surprise above. Flowers from all three. It was fun to find them and see that Luke wrote his own name and Hannah wrote most of hers. Andrew left me a cute scribble note. Chris even finished a minor painting project that we needed to have done. I think the day was a success.

Just as a fun little side note. When they were getting the flowers, Chris said an older gentleman stopped him, admired our little gang and then gave them each a dollar. That was a highlight for the kids and a good lesson in what we should do with money that is given to us.

Chink in My Armor

Luke and his new friend

Giving the horse some TLC with his little sidekick underfoot

A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of visiting our dear friends. At that time, they were taking care of a little stray dog - Luke was in love with this little nameless beauty that we affectionately called Rosie during our brief stay. She was so very compliant and patient with him as he picked her up and tried to make her run and play with him. She was loving all the attention.

As many of you know, I have said an emphatic "no" to dogs at this stage in our lives. I don't even want to begin to imagine what that would be like. It would definitely add a new and unfortunately, stressful dimension to moves and travels - not to mention, taking her for walks in the middle of winter with 20-30 mph hour winds with my little trio in tow when Chris is out of town. That is just NOT my idea of fun. Anyway, I must admit seeing my little boy fall in love really did put a chink in my "no" armor. Thankfully, Chris was the voice of reason and reassured me and reminded me as to why we don't have a dog. It is the right decision for our family for now, but it was very fun to see him enjoy and love all the animals!

ps. Please excuse whatever was on our camera lens!

Hannah's Beloved Sidekick

Since Hannah was about 6 months old, this little blue elephant has been her trusty and beloved friend affectionately called her "special baby" and her "sucker baby". At one point it said the children's prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep...". However, after much love and multiple dips in the washing machine, it no longer talks to his caretaker. It's traveled a few thousand miles across the country as we've traversed the country either on vacation or moving. Her very favorite part was sucking on the tag as she fell asleep or now she sucks where the tag used to be.

Well, she is nearly four and much of the time she is only allowed to have him when she is in her bedroom. The two of them are pretty sneaky, though, and he has seen other parts of the house on multiple occasions. I think she is growing out of this stage of her life, though. Recently, in an attempt to make her more independent in using the bathroom on her own, she had to do everything by herself in order to be able to sleep with this beloved creature. However, the last couple of days this plan has backfired on us as she has flat out told me that she didn't want to sleep with him and would I help her go to the bathroom. So...on one hand I'm kind of thankful she's beginning to give him up on her own. Yet, on the other hand, I'd like her to use the bathroom on her own. All that to say, she will quickly grow out of both of these stages and in a blink of an eye she'll be way more independent than I'm ready for her to be. I will keep her precious "special baby" through the coming years to remind me of these special days.

Sweet Thoughts

Today, I had a sweet friend bring me a couple of thoughtful gifts - these cheery gerbera daisies and a very yummy blueberry muffin. Thoughtful and loving friends are such a gift from God!