Thankful!

About 7:30 this morning, I heard a few noises from the other room. I got up and this is what I saw. All 4 of my kids squooshed together on the little couch watching a cartoon. I had to snap a picture. There is nothing like the sight of little kids with PJ's and messy hair.

We will be headed "home" after church tonight to spend Thanksgiving weekend with family. I realize that this year (as always) I have a lot to be thankful for.

• Christ's sacrifice
  
• A new home
• A new ministry opportunity and Jamie loves his job
• A new church that is growing and on fire for the Lord
• Micah's salvation
• Health
• A new baby on the way in the Hughes family (no, I'm not the one pregnant this time!)
• God providing our needs
• A Godly husband
• 4 beautiful children
• Jordyn's foot is healing really well
• Denisha and Trevor are married!

This is just the short list of things that are in my mind recently or this year. I have many more things to be thankful for and feel blessed.

Fancy Nancy, Pilgrim, and Native Americans

Both of my girls have had "Fancy Nancy" parties in the past few days. They earn different fun days as rewards for good behavior, and both classes just happen to choose the same one. The girls loved it!
Imagine my surprise when I opened the Friday email newsletter and saw this picture at the very top of the page.

Last week, Hannah had a feast in her class to represent the first Thanksgiving. They made both Pilgrim and Native American costumes and got to choose which person they wanted to be at the feast. I remember doing something similar when I was about her age.

I'm getting the house clean today, because we are headed towards "home" tomorrow after church to spend the long weekend with family. We haven't been back that direction in 2 months, and that was not an enjoyable trip, because half of us were sick. Hopefully this weekend will be a better time for all.

Abbi's Award and the Icy Cold Christmas Parade

Abbi was bouncing off the walls yesterday afternoon, because of the phone call and she got the Principal's Award of Excellence, which earned her a certificate and a dog tag. They collect dog tags for different achievements and wear them on Fridays, so she can proudly wear her very special dog tag. We are very proud of her and she is proud of herself. I know my kids are smart and polite, but it is exra special for it to be recognized by others.
We went to our first Christmas parade here. It is in the evening, so it is nice to see all the lights and all, but it was so incredibly cold! I cannot believe it is this cold in November!!! The temperature was supposedly 33 degrees, but I would have sworn that it was much colder. The kids were excited and we bundled up with some extra layers.
Abbi decided that her face was cold so she decided to use her scarf for some warmth. We also just watched the movie "Penelope" so she was trying to be her.
When Micah got really cold, I put my arms around him. He would never admit, but I think he was embarrassed for his mother to be bear hugging him in public He didn't complain, because we were trying to heat each other up.
Chloe was in complete awe of the whole thing. She thought it was just fantastic and even though I know she had to be cold, she never once complained about it!
Well, we were out on the sidewalk for almost 2 hours! There was still no end in sight of the parade, and Hannah was starting to meltdown as a result of being so cold. She was crying and just wanted to go home. So, this is why we missed the last half hour or so of the parade and to be honest, no one cared, because we were all very frozen. We saw a lot of other people leaving too, and they were probably thinking what we were, "when is this stinking thing going to be over!?!?"
We are all warm and toasty in our home right now. I also know that I'd never be happy further north where winter is the longest season of the year. BLECH! Give me hot weather any ol' day, but keep me away from the cold!

A Call From the Assistant Principal

You know those moments in life where your heart sinks to your toes and you expect to hear something terrible? I had one of those moments a few minutes ago.

My phone rang and it was a number that I didn't recognize. I cautiously answered it and it was the Assistant Principal at the kids' school. So, my heart started beating a bit faster in preparation of whatever terrible news he had to pass along. He introduced himself and immediately said that I was on speaker phone, and my mind was going to very bad place as to where all this is leading. I mean, why else does the Principal call your house in the middle of the day unless it is bad?

So, then he tells me that he had Abigail with him and that her teacher had been noticing some things with her. He finally told me the reason for the call was to tell how she had been excelling wonderfully in school and is very respectful and a great addition to her class and the Highland Family. WHEW!

I'm so proud of her, and she said, "Hi Mommy" as she listened to our conversation. Maybe if I get another phone call like that in the future, I won't automatically anticipate the worst. Of course my kids are smart and wonderful...call and tell me something I don't know. Sheesh people!

Snow!

It is snowing here! I'm so not ready for winter!

A Good Monday and Spaghetti Dinner!

Today we went to Story Time, then did a little more shopping for the kids at Target. This will probably be the last year that we can get by with sneaking presents while Chloe is in the cart. Jamie would distract her with a toy and then I'd shove the selected item under the cart. Then Jamie handled checking out while I took Chloe to Starbucks to get a juice box and sit by the window. Worked like a charm!

I also have realized that I cannot get 100% on 3rd grade science worksheets. It is pretty darn terrible when Micah brings his worksheets home with "x's" on them when I helped him with his work with the textbook in front of me. Can you say difficult? Some of them we even got Jamie in on and we still missed them! How is that even humanly possible for 2 college graduates to miss 3rd grade material?!?! I swear those answers are NOT there! Sometimes I drive myself crazy reading the same page over and over again trying to find it. Sometimes I know the answer without the book, but I still can't find the word! Of course, his teacher loves to use the red pen on the papers and he missed one because we put "plants" instead of "green plants". Jamie swears that she wouldn't know the answers without the key in front of her. Can you tell that I am just loving the 3rd grade?

Speaking of school. I had forgotten to relay this cute story. I can always tell how the day was by the look on their faces as they get into the van. A few weeks go, Abbi look distraught. I asked her what happened and she said, "I got a B!". I told her that a "B" was a good grade and it was fine. She promptly told me that she only like "A's". We looked at what she did wrong and I told her how great she did. She takes the paper (still upset) and rips it to shreds and throws it in the trashcan in a very dramatic fashion. I couldn't help, but laugh. I am also hoping that I'm not glimpsing into a future of stress over not being "perfect". The apple didn't fall too far for her, I'm afraid to say!

We also had spaghetti for dinner. Nothing too exciting and a pretty regular meal for us. Chloe loves spaghetti, and was quite a sight at the end. We looked over and she was literally licking her bowl clean and was rather proud of herself. Perhaps we should've waited to give her a bath after dinner. What was I thinking?!?!

Gloomy Saturday

It's is one of those days that I'm happy that I'm inside with no where to go. It is rainy, windy, and coooooooold. I'm not a big fan of cold weather and an even lesser fan of cold weather with no sun.

I got woke up last night about midnight, because Abbi was sick. Her stomach wasn't feeling very well, and needed a bit of cleaning up. So, she is just laying around and eating crackers today. She did manage to crack a half smile when she saw me with the camera in my hand.

Micah is watching TV with Abbi (surprise surprise)

My baby girls are in the other room playing games. I will probably join then here in a minute. Don't let the little size fool you, that Chloe can play (and win!) those games with the best of them!
So, I fully anticipate a lazy day of doing a bunch of nothing, and that is OK. We are all still in our P.J.'s with no hurry of changing out of them and there is really no reason to fret it since we have nowhere to be (except Jamie who has a youth event). If it is this gloomy in November already, I'm not looking forward to January!

Jamie and I did do a little Christmas shopping last night. Don't you love that you can "shop" wrapped up in your robe with no crowds to fight and everything comes to your front door? Amazon has many things on free shipping with a purchase of $25 or more, so I did not pay 1 penny to ship my products and many were cheaper than Wal-Mart!

Micah Was Baptized!

This has been an exciting day. Micah was baptized. As a mother, this is a moment that I will never forget and one that I have always prayed for. It is just so sweet to see children come to the Lord. It is comforting to know that Micah has Christ with him to help guide him through those tough years ahead of peer pressure and worldly desire. I sat in the front row and could not have been any prouder as I watched my husband baptize my son!

We had both sets of grandparents come up and my sister and her bunch, so 9 people in all. They all drove 150 miles (or more) to be here for Micah's special day. We gathered over here and had a good lunch and a great time of catching up and laughing with one another. I ate way too much and I'm a little tired.

The next time we see the family will be Thanksgiving and we really know that we have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Electionitis...Do you have it?

This is the day we've anxiously awaited for a long time. The day that we actually can go cast our ballots and get this thing moving forward and leave the mudslinging behind. No matter who gets the president-elect after today, I will pray for him and support him. God won't be surprised and it is all in his hands anyways.

My children had a mock election at their school. I loved that they were learning about the political parties and candidates this year. When it came down to the final day, they got to cast their own ballots in their classroom. Here were their choices and the reason why they chose them.

Disclaimer: My kids have no idea who Jamie or I are voting for, so their choices do not reflect our vote in any way: Disclaimer over


Abbi--Obama, because he looks nice

Micah--McCain, because his guidance counselor is named Ms. McCain and he thought they might be related

Hannah--McCain, because he is old and she thought that he might not have another chance to be president before he dies.

I can't help but just laugh when talking to them about their choice. The sad thing is that many people will vote for Obama because he looks nice (or is good looking), many people will vote for McCain because his name is more familiar to them or he is older. These are not "good" reasons to vote in reality, but we all know that it happens!

And, if you have a Starbuck's near you, you can stop in for a free cup of coffee after you have voted. Jamie is very excited to have his morning dose of caffeine for free!

Our New Church Home and Micah

This was the first Sunday in our new building. You could just feel the positive "buzz" as you entered the halls. I think we were all just like little kids on Christmas (even the adults). We actually had 80 more in Sunday School this morning, so we know that God has blessed us with this space for many reasons. It is hard not to just be giddy about the whole thing. We've never been a part of a big church move like this.

Micah also went forward to make his public profession of faith this morning and will be baptized next Sunday morning. We are all just over-joyed and how special for Jamie to be the one baptizing Micah. It will be an awesome day and another Sunday filled with anticipation and excitement.

So, things are new and different this week, but that has sort of been the story of our life for the past 5 months anyways. We are up to the challenge!