Giving Thanks

As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the things I am thankful for. God has blessed us tremendously and I am grateful and humbled by his goodness.

I am thankful for Michael and Maggie and our little family. I can not even begin to scratch the surface of gratitude I have for being blessed with such a precious little girl. Maggie has brought so much love and joy into our lives. I just never knew it was possible to love someone so much. I am so blessed to be her mother and I think God every day for the privilege. I am also so very thankful for Michael. I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband and friend. I am thankful for his love for me and Maggie. He is a great daddy!

I am thankful for our families. We are both blessed to have such great families who love and support us and provide such great christian examples for us. It is my prayer that we can provide the kind of Christ-centered home for Maggie that our families provided for us. We love you all.

I am thankful for our friends. We have been blessed with many great friends - both old and new! We thank you for your friendship and for loving us just as we are!

I am thankful for our jobs. Especially in a time when so many are being let go from theirs. I am especially thankful that I have a job that I enjoy. And I pray that Michael will enjoy his new job as much as I do mine!

And above all I am thankful for our Lord, Jesus Christ without whom none of the above would be possible! I am thankful for his grace that surpasses all understanding and for his unending love for us, in spite of ourselves. I am proud to call him a savior and a friend. God is good. All the time.
Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

School Days

Maggie graduated to the toddler class this week at school. I must admit that I have been struggling with this transition since I got the notice from her school. When did our MagB become a Toddler? Yes, I realize that by standard definitions she is in fact a toddler. But to me she is still a little bittty baby. My little bitty baby. She's far too small to be taking a nap on a mat on the floor, and she's far too small to have to wear a uniform to school! But apparently some toddler, somewhere wore gang colors, or other inappropriate clothing, to day care one day making uniforms a necessity starting at 17 months. Whatever the cause I find it a little ridicaloo. But she does look so sweet don't you think? I just love the first picture. As I was snapping the pictures this morning (and fighting back tears looking at my grown-up girl) I would tell her to "Say Cheese" and she would say: "Sheese." I look at that picture and I can just see her saying "Sheese." So. Darn. Cute.

Today was the Turkey Feast Extravaganza at work. I am stuffed. In all honesty, I was stuffed by about 10 a.m. when we started snacking on Mexican Fudge and Artichoke Dip and Oreo Balls. It's the same thing every year - we just eat all day, until we are sick. We always have a ridiculus amount of food - and good food at that. Not a whole lotta work gets done on Turkey Feast Extravaganza day. Ahhh, and I get to do it all over again next week! I just love this time of year - starting with Thanksgiving and through New Years - it just seems that everyone perks up a little more during the holidays. Perhaps it's the knowledge that Santa is watching, or the festive holiday music playing everywhere. There's just something magical about the holidays.

That's all for now. Food coma setting in....

Trick or Treat

Maggie had her first trick or treating experience this Halloween. Here are some pics:

Here are some picks from Maggie's Fall Festival at school. She had so much fun just running around and playing. She LOVES to be outside.

Here she lays out all of the treasures (in this case, wood chips from the playground) she has collected while playing. She likes to collect things. When we go for a walk outside she will have her hands full of acorns and rocks and leaves and whatever else that catches her eye and she will carry them the entire way and when we get home she will put her newfound treasures in her toy shopping cart for safe keeping.

This was at the Fall Festival our neighboorhood had. It was unseasonable warm that day so we decide to forgo the costume for Mags. Here she is with daddy watching the critters.

And here is just random cuteness of our punkin with the pumpkins....

While we were at The Oaks this weekend for the game we celebrated Kate's mom's birthday on Saturday night at the Anderle homestead. Kate put Maggie at the piano and I snapped some photos of our budding musician. Now I don't want to brag, but I am quite certain that we may have a child prodigy on our hands. It would not be unusual as there are several talented musicians on Michael's side of the family. (Not to say that my side of the fam does not have any talents...they're just different talents :-)) Seriously, I was really taken by how she seemed to know just what to do. She did not bang on the keys like you would expect a small child to do (heck, I still do that!) but she had the whole one finger on the key thing down. She seemed to know what she was doing. Here are some pics:

And lastly, 'tis the season for tights! Hooray!!

Hope you all have a great weekend.