My update - with pictures this time!

A LOT of pictures! So, I’ll try to keep the words to a minimum. I’ve been so bad at keeping up with the blog! Sorry!

This year it was MY turn for a NICU reunion. I was born 8 weeks early weighing 2 lbs 14 oz. I have shared before about Sydney and Jared’s times in the NICU, but I often forget I had the same journey. Well, 33 1/2 years later, it was time for a reunion apparently! My mom still works at the same hospital that I was in and has kept in touch with some of my nurses. We were able to find two that day! Crazy! I’m so thankful for their care! And as you can tell, my kids got to join in on the fun, too!

As promised, a quick Halloween picture. Corban was a ninja and Jared was Spider Man. Two happy boys. Sydney was confused but happy. A while ago their cousin’s mom said she’d like Gabe and Sydney to dress as people from the 50’s, think James Dean and a Poodle Skirt. On the one hand I wanted Sydney to be able to pick out her own outfit, but on the other, who doesn’t love a cute girl with a pony tail and a poodle skirt? So we talked about it a few times but then Gabe’s mom changed her mind. I had been having  a hard time finding an outfit I liked anyhow. So, we found ourselves at Toys R Us in the dress up section. I found a “Victorian” dress that was far cheaper (and cuter!) than the princess dresses, so I bought a tiara set to go with it (still cheaper than the “real” princess dresses!) and I told her she could be a princess for Halloween. She is always happy to be a princess! But, after having heard me talk about the poodle skirt, read the label for the Victorian dress and tell her she was a princess, she mashed it all together and kept telling everyone she was a “1950’s Victorian Princess”. Yes, confused about sums it up – for Sydney and the people who asked her what she was! LOL! We also made it to Boo at the Zoo for the first time ever! It was cold and drizzly, but the animals were out and the kids had a great time!

Sydney and I went to our church’s Mother Daughter Tea at the beginning of November. What a sweet, sweet time.

When I went to pick up the kids at school, this little guy’s teacher told me he crawled up in her lap and asked her to pray for him because he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. There just aren’t words for that! So thankful!

Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving found me visiting the school 3 separate times for Sydney, Corban and Jared’s Thanksgiving parties. What a treat!

The kids’ school has done a fundraiser by putting on a “Donkey Basketball game” the last two years. We didn’t go last year, but made it this year. And by Donkey Basketball, they truly do play basketball with donkeys! You have to lead or sit on your donkey to move around the court and you need to be sitting on the animal to take a shot. This is a real thing, folks! Teachers vs. Students. The kids were quite amused. The donkeys, not so much. Corban brought his church buddy, Zach, along and Sydney met up with her friend Gabby. Jared was sad his buddy wasn’t there that night, but he had fun with the big boys.

We went to Mike’s Aunt Joanne’s for Thanksgiving. Joanne is an incredible hostess and we always look forward to the years we celebrate with them. She is so thoughtful and always has a fun little project for the kids. This year she was super brave and let the kids decorate cookies. LARGE cookies. They were on cloud nine. And Dad just had to encourage the XL amounts of icing!

Mike’s birthday and our anniversary are both November 26th, so we often go out of town the weekend after Thanksgiving. Thanks to my parents watching the kids for the weekend we were able to get away again this year. What a treat! And a celebration dinner at Melting Pot is the perfect night out! Especially when they surprise you with some extra chocolate covered strawberries! Yum!

With Thanksgiving over we quickly moved into Christmas mode. I needed this because I’m not sure we are going to do much decorating this year. The kids’ Christmas concerts were last Friday for Sydney and Jared and yesterday for Corban. It’s always loud and crazy, before and after, but so worth the sweet singing from the kids. Sydney and her cute friend Lauren posed for a quick picture before their big performance.