Thankful

This year we have so much to be thankful fo. I thought I would make a little list...

-Josh is exactly the person I have always needed to spend my life with. He is patient, thoughtful, and so handy! I will soon be putting pictures up of our new bathroom upstairs. It is gorgeous and worth the wait! We see eye-to-eye on the important issues like money and discipline. He is my best friend.

-Davey amazes me everyday. He is at a great age of absorbing everything and trying to figure the world out. He minds his mama very well for a 2 1/2 year old and is just so adorable. He is excited about being a big brother. Sometimes it is shocking that Josh and I made such a wonderful little boy.

-Baby Boy #2 (still no name)...we had many trials early in the pregnancy and I am very thankful to know that everything is as good as we can expect. God has made us lean on Him many times through the past 6 months. This is very difficult for a strong-headed, nonemotional girl to do! We eagerly await meeting him and having Baby become part of our happy little family.

-Of course, we couldn't go a week without the help of my in-laws. Between Karen's cooking, Dave helping Josh on the house, and Lisa hanging out with Davey at a moment's notice I am blessed to have such a wonderful family within 2 miles of my house.

-Can't forget the Watterson clan. Each day I realize how wonderful my parents are since I get to go through some of the same struggles now. My mother is the most patient and pure-hearted person I have ever met. She is a perfect balance between level-headedness and stright-up goofiness! Davey and Dad are obsessed with each other that just melts my heart when they are together. I am very thankful to have them as my role models. I hope I can live up to their example.

-Grandma Geneva had a rough patch over the summer. I am thankful that her stubborn Kentuckian ways served her well and she survived encephalitis. She has now been cleared by the neurologist and is getting more back to normal each day. I am glad to be able to spend time with her this holiday season.

-I am also thankful for my church family. Since Pastor Don has come to Vernon Baptist, our family up on the hill has gotten closer. It is wonderful to have others from the community to serve with. I am confident that God will continue to bless our church.

-I am thankful that I have a warm (soft of) house that we own. Though it is frustrating to see the parts that need work, I look at from where we came from and I am proud to live here. (Also refers to my pride/thanksfulness of Josh again!) We love the yard that Davey can sfely roam and the river in the back where we can canoe and watch the wildlife. Sometimes it is almost too much for us to take care of, but we will keep doing our best!

-Josh and I both have jobs. That is tough to say in this economy for many families this year. I love my job. Though day-to-day there are frustrations, I enjoy my time teaching my kids the complexities of Biology and help my AVID kids through the college process. Each morning, I wake up and look forward to hearing the crazy stories of life of an MCHS freshman. Josh's job is more stressful and I know he gets pulled in many different directions. However, he is great at it. He loves the days that he gets to solve problems that helps the asphalt plants work better. His company has been good to him (and us) for almost 15 years.

-This year has been a struggle for me to stay healthy compared to most years, but I am thankful that overall we are all in good health. The flu was no fun and the pregnancy has brought struggles of its own, but overall all three of us are well.

I know there are many more, but Davey is tugging at my hand so we can go and look at the 2 Christmas trees in his room. I don't want to miss a moment. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! Be thankful!

Halloween 2009

Cowboy Davey

Waiting in line to throw sponges at Pastor Don

Sliding down the slide every which way!



Crying about someone bumping him in the bounce house.

Judith gave these teeth to him. He would put them in and try to scare someone. Then he would quickly take them out and say, "No scared! It's me!"

Blame it on growing up in the country with no neighbors to trick-or-treat to...blame it on never really liking to play dress-up or even pretend games as a kid...blame it on how annoying I think it is the candy greed that comes out in some kids on Halloween. Whatever you take...I have never been that "in" to Halloween. Add to this problem the fact that Davey has no idea what the "holiday" is, has no interest in a character to dress up as, and really doesn't get that excited about candy. Apathetic Halloween was the theme this year. I was busy making sure the Fall Festival at Vernon Baptist Church was planned and organized.

Figuring out what to dress Davey up as was low on the priority list. But of course Mother Guilt set in Friday. I was talking to another teacher who has 2 boys (David is the oldest for her, too!), she was going on about how thankful she was to have those pictures from when they were young. Now they are too old to want to trick-or-treat, but she can still remember what they dressed up as each year.

So Friday night, Josh happened to find a cowboy hat that he had when he was a little boy at his mom's house. Then the costume was set! I bought a red bandana at Wal-Mart and Josh dressed him in jeans and a plaid shirt. He was a cute little buckaroo!

He had a great time at that Fall Festival along with about 150 other people. One Sunday School class pitched in to rent an inflatable bouncy house with a slide and it was a big hit with everyone. There was also a golf game that Davey loved and an opportunity to throw sponges at the pastor. Then we headed over to Josh's grandmother's house (Mamaw), Judith's house (the babysitter), and the spent the rest of the evening at the in-law's. They live on a very busy trick-or-treating street and probably had over 400 kids come through. Davey helped passing out candy with his Aunt Rachael and Cousin Mackenzie.

So now that it is all said and done...I am glad we got Davey into a costume with cute pictures to remember it by. But I am also glad that I didn't spent $20 on a cheaply made costume that he doesn't care about. Best of both worlds?