It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Stuffy noses kept us from church, that and being so darn tired from this weekend. We decided to go ahead and decorate.

Our family ornament with the foster babies that were here this year.

Pre-Christmas fun.

My men fresh from hiking the hills to find the perfect tree ;)

The first year I've trusted them to unpack the ornaments.

Attempting the star.

Christmas Village.

Jackson's mini tree.

JC Penney gives out one of these snow globes every Black Friday...I have 10 now!

Shane's tree.

Shelf 'O Tackiness.

I told him if he hung them in the house, I would decorate them....so yeah!

Tooth or Dare!

So Jackson's teeth have been wiggly for over 6 months. At the last checkup the dentist said he would be losing them soon. It's been over 6 months! He's had one really gross wiggly tooth for about two weeks. It finally came out. Here is how it happened:

Gross tooth.

Nanu trying to pull it. She promised him $5 if he'd let her pull it.

Then Shane gave it a shot.

Then mommy made it worse.

So he decided to try himself.

He didn't care for it.

Nanu gave it one last shot...and crack, no more tooth!!!

And he got his $5! The other one is loose now too.

November Thankfuls 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25

So my darling husband took care of me for over a week. My medicine is working 90% of the time and I'm feeling much more cheerful and human like. During all this time, our foster daughter had to leave. We made the decision to let her leave 8 days early. Her family was in town and there was a clause stating they could have a 30 day visit. So since her hearing is on the 1st, they are keeping her in a hotel until the hearing. It's good for her to be bonding with them. I hope she's doing well. So in the mean time: I'm thankful that my symptoms have subsided and I was able to come home for Thanksgiving. I'm thankful my dear friend Brandy was able to stay with me an extra day when Little Miss had to leave. I'm thankful for all the love and support our family was shown during all this time. I'm thankful for the help I was offered last week. I'm thankful my husband was able to take off and stay home with me. I'm thankful Little Miss will be able to go with amazing people who so desperately wanted her. I'm thankful for all the amazing people that I'm so blessed to have in my life! <3

November Thankfuls Day 17,18,19

I'm going through a lot right now. I've been diagnosed with anxiety, and in and out of doctors and even the ER. It's been scary. However, my children have been praying for me and Johnny took the whole week off to care for me. I'm not sure what I would have done without him home. So for the coming good days, I'm thankful.

November Thankfuls Day 16

Today, I'm thankful for my happy place:

My husband is home for the next SIX days!!!!! I wasn't feeling well this morning and he called in, and just decided to take the rest of the week off!!!!!!!!!!

November Thankfuls Day 15

I got up and got dressed and all that jazz and I opened my curtains. When our neighbors destroyed all the trees and built as house, I wasn't all that happy. We bought a house surrounded by trees and now we had a neighbor. Anyway, they are seriously nice people. They tolerate my kids and my annoying dogs, so all is well :) Steve (the neighbor) blew all the leaves into a pile last night. My first thought was that he was bored or sick of looking at our leaves. He's mowed our lawn a few times when he saw me push mowing. He's a really nice guy. So yesterday he was blowing the leaves and I saw Sam starting to jump into the pile. I felt badly he did all that work and my three boys were going to destroy it in minutes. (remember this, I'll get back to it)...anyway, upon opening the curtains, I saw a site similar to this:

But bigger. The lab next door has ELEVEN puppies. I walked out onto to the deck and squealed, they told me to come over. So at 8am in flip flops walking through the frost, I spend 15 minutes with sweet baby puppies. She had ELEVEN, mostly chocolate with a few black ones. They are sooooooo cute. I love puppies. Okay, back to the leaf story. So I was telling them about Steve blowing the leaves and that I was sorry that his work would be wasted. And she said that he probably did that so that they could jump in them. She went on about how he raves about my kids to people and how they are 'real' kids, always playing and getting into stuff. And how polite and well mannered they are. She said "he's always singing your praises" I've barely talked to this man. It was so nice to hear a good thing early in the morning, and the puppies didn't hurt either! So for all that, I am thankful!

November Thankfuls Day 14

First and foremost, I am thankful for my husband's job! The shipyard went through layoffs last Friday and his job is safe. Granted he's only 1 of 2 men out of 16,000 that are qualified to his job, but you never know. His crew was also safe. So that's the biggie for today. I really am sad for the over 300 that lost their jobs right before the holidays.

But aside from the serious stuff. I was able to get ten whole minutes alone this morning before my crew starting waking up. My kids go to bed early. I get night time alone, but rarely get morning time alone. I prefer it this way, but sometimes it's nice to get ready without kids running amok. I was able to make my favorite breakfast. Before you eww, you must know I don't like breakfast foods. My breakfast is fairly simple and usually comes in bar form. I was that person at Burger King when they had the "Burgers for Breakfast" campaign. It's not that I don't like to cook, I just don't care for the food. I like leftovers and real food for breakfast. All this to say, my breakfast time was quiet this morning and for that I am thankful. And for the invention of my favorite morning things.

Since I don't drink coffee and I quit soda almost two years ago, Crystal Light with caffeine has been a life saver. I love love love these Caramel Corn Rice Cakes, I usually top them with peanut butter. So yummy. So  to you the breakfast of champs, I am thankful.