Thankful on…Friday

So I did the “30 Days of Thankful” on Facebook. Here’s my list from the last month!

Day 1: Thankful for my fabulous husband.

Day 2: Thankful for my awesome parents watching the kids so we can go out for a date night!

Day 3: Thankful for beautiful fall mornings at the park.

Day 4: Thankful for our fabulous, fabulous child care provider, Mrs. C. She's taken care of our babies since Logan was 4 months old! She treats our kids just like her own and it means so much to know how loved they are by her all day long!

Day 5: Thankful for an incredibly successful parent conference day. And delicious food provided by fabulous SES parents!

Day 6: Thankful for my amazing first graders. There was even glitter involved today and I still ended the day with a (tired) smile. They are a super bunch this year!

Day 7: Thankful to work with wonderful people. You all know I adore my team, but the rest of our school is full of fabulous people too. Great teachers, great people, great friends!

Day 8: Thankful for movie and pizza nights, in jammies!

Day 9: Some days I am really, really thankful for nap time - for everybody!

Day 10: Thankful for LOVE! Off to a wedding today for a great couple, at the same place Peter and I got married!

Day 11: Thankful for all our Veterans, those currently serving, and their families. A special shoutout to one of my favorite military wives, Ashley. I know you just "do what you have to do" - but girl, you are awesome!

Day 12: Thankful I get to wear jeans the rest of the week! It's the little things, right?

Day 13: Thankful for a fabulous best friend (who will never join Facebook). When you've known someone since you were 11, lived with them in college, and they still live only 15 minutes away and put up with your insanity? So, so blessed. Love that Bestie!

Day 14: Thankful for in-laws who don't mind a messy house and offer to pick up take out!

Day 15: Thankful for a great reason to celebrate. Happy Birthday to my fabulous husband.  We love you!

Day 16: Thankful for two ladies who are the best friends I've made as an adult: M and E (blog edited!) , love you guys!

Day 17: Thankful that both of my fabulous kids decided to sleep until 7am yesterday AND today! Pure craziness I tell you, unheard of in the Z house!

Day 18: Thankful for my favorite smiles. So, so thankful (pics were included).

Day 19: Thankful for all the parents who have trusted me with their kiddos over the past 11 years. And so lucky to call so many of them my friends now - they have taught me a lot about parenting too!

Day 20: Thankful for a year when I've spent more time on me, not just the kids. And it's been good for everybody!

Day 21: Thankful for our fabulous neighbors on L-side. We not only got a great house, but some incredible friends as well (when I trust them with my children, you know how incredible they are!).

Day 22: Thankful for girls nights!

Day 23: Thankful for books! It's one of my favorite things about teaching first grade, all the BOOKS! I love to read and I love to see kids get excited about reading - especially my two!

Day 24: Thankful for a warm house and bed, things we take for granted so often, especially needed on these cold and windy nights.

Day 25: Thankful for short work weeks!

Day 26: Thankful that my class remained calm when the fish died in the middle of the day today. 2 weeks was apparently enough of first grade for him.

Day 27: Thankful I totally held my ground and made it out of Target alive, despite a very, very mad 19 month old (mean, mean mommy made her sit in the cart). Also thankful that I've finally learned most people weren't judging me as a mother - they were just thankful it wasn't them! Oh, and so sorry if you were at the Parkway Target around 5pm...she really is a wonderful little girl...

Day 28: Thankful for...everything. If you had told me 15 years ago life would be this good I would never have believed you. My incredible family, wonderful friends, health, and a job I enjoy. So, so thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 29: I say this quite often, but I am so thankful for my work "family." SPES is a special (interpret that as you will bunch of people, especially my fabulous first grade team.

Day 30 (for tomorrow!): Thankful for long weekends and the fun of Christmas with little kids.

And so there you have it. A very, very long Thankful on Thursday. Here are a few shots from our great day of THANKS yesterday!

Aubrey was quite excited that we were going to eat in the dining room. Big chairs and all (ahem, she didn’t know she wasn’t going to get a big chair…).

Look, a pilgrim came to dinner too!

Here’s our lovely little group!

And this is what I made…exactly the same stuff as last year (sweet potato casserole, stuffing (nom, nom, nom, it was delicious!), broccoli rice casserole, turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and there was cranberry sauce too. Mom made the rolls and desserts!

There’s the face behind that Pilgrim!

So the kids were done way before us, and we let them go play in the family room while we hung out in the dining room. It got really quiet for a while and we didn’t think much of it…for a few minutes. Then it was still really quiet. And this is how we found them. Hiding under a blanket, just hanging out. Oh my, how I adore these children!

There we are, the picture I always force everybody to take. One day they will thank me!

Logan telling Aubrey good night…

This was our lovely centerpiece. Isn’t it awesome? I especially love that the turkey has two different size eyes.

All right, so that’s it! We had a great November. But now…drumroll…December!!! And we put up the tree today! Because we get way too excited about all of this. But oh, it is exciting!

Happy LONG weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had a special Thankful on Thursday post planned for tonight, but I am so tired...I slept terribly last night and was on  my feet all say cooking and doing dishes, and eating and enjoying family! So, tomorrow. Until then, here's what I posted on Facebook today: 

"Thankful for...everything. If you had told me 15 years ago life would be this good I would never have believed you. My wonderful family, fabulous friends, health, and a job I enjoy. So, so thankful." 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I Think I Can

Year 2 of hosting Thanksgiving. I should be a pro at this. 

According to my mashed potatoes, I am not. But thanks to google, they may be okay. 

And, I may need to become a vegetarian. OMG raw turkey are so gross. Especially when you almost, almost make the brine overflow. Can you see how close it came? 

This? This is just from the mashed potatoes. 

But oh, it is just SO fun. And you know what happens after Thursday? My most favorite time of the year. I mean,respectthebird and all, but squeeee! December! Love!

Now I just need to make it through tomorrow morning with that raw turkey.  

Sneak Peek

Coming soon to a Christmas card near you…the Z family pics for 2013! This year I did not want to pay for a photographer, because well, money is not falling off of these trees lately. Or if it is, I have other places to spend it. So, as usual, Bestie to the rescue! She agreed to act as photographer for us, and my mom and dad came along to provide some entertainment to keep everyone smiling. I’m saving the best, since they go on the card, but here are a few cute ones!

And these two, because we all know I love a good mess up picture.

Hard to believe those aren’t even the best, right? With no editing tools! She may be charging soon! Glad we caught that awesome photographer when we did!

Hodgepodge

I'm running out of ways to say random. But let's do a phone dump, shall we? 

I think Aubrey's trying to tell us she wants a dog. 

Aubrey is currently obsessed with pushing up her sleeves. You might say wierd, we'll say quirky. 

Why yes, that's Logan on the floor. He wasn't ready to wake up from his nap and so tried to continue it on the floor, all snugly. 

Aubrey's rat tail. Most prominent when her hair is wet. So fabulous. 

Logan wanted me to take a picture of his crazy hair. Such a wild man! 

It is SO cold! Well, by November in VA standards. We were stuck inside all day today. But we survived! 

Short week, here we come. One of my favorite weeks of the year! Bring it on!

Thankful on Thursday

• My face is getting hivey. I have no idea why. I’m glad I have medicine that gets rid of it though!
• Thankful for my fabulous hubby taking charge of a situation this afternoon and getting things all straightened out when I was at a meeting.
• Thankful the meeting is over because I am not a fan of late night meetings!
• Mr. Fin Flippy is still alive. You do not know how much I worry about finding that fish belly up when I come to school each day. And I may have put my eyes right up to the tank today to really, really talk to him. Why yes, I’m crazy.
• Oh the kiddos. I do adore them. Sometimes coming home later is a little fun because they are SO.VERY.EXCITED to see me. As if they have never seen me before, ever.
• This has been the longest week ever. I am oh so glad the weekend is coming!

Wordless Wednesday: The Waiting Game

Wants and Needs

That's our current unit in First grade social studies. I'm sure you can guess why. It's the season for..."I neeeed that!" 

I love, love, love Thanksgivihg and Christmas. It is so important to me that my kids grow up with traditions in these areas.

My goal this year is to make both holidays about tradition. And I suppose this is one I just have to accept is tradition: 

Yep. Toy catalogs. I remember doing it as a kid. I'm calling it bonus reading material. He loves seeing all the toys, and is pretty good at saying "look at this!" And not just "I want this and this." Though he does that too. 

I'd love to follow the Pinterest rule - one thing they want, one thing they need, something to play with and something to read. We'll see how that goes. 

But really, my goal is to get lots of tradition in there. Blog worthy tradition. Challenge started! 

Some Days

Some days are smiles. Full, full of smiles.

I love those days.

Days where we run, giggle, and chase.

Days when we can’t stop moving we are so excited.

We stop for an airplane spotting…

And we stop to grab mommy’s hand and take her to see every little special thing.

And mommy goes along on the walk, while daddy fishes the ball out of the pond…because soon these days will be memories we’ll wish would last forever.

Some days the quiet, the slow,  the everyday is so, so good.

A whole lot of random...

I got a fish for my classroom. 

The students voted to name him Mr. Fin Flippy. I know, I know, awesomest name ever. I am not a fan if animals so it kind of makes me super woman that I got it. He's cute. But slimy. I mean, probably, I haven't touched him or anything. And, now Logan wants to ask Santa for a fish. Santa is contemplating this request. 

Wow! Fake food! Even better than what mommy makes! 

Why yes, she is already a better cook than me. 

Way too much fun for 6am on a weekday.

Yesterday was Peter's birthday! 

No, we did not get him a dog. That's grandma and Grandpa K's dog, they were up visiting. 

He was so excited by the perfectly expected gift we got him.  

But the surprise gift was really the fun part. 

Who doesn't love a Spider-Man mask for their 36th birthday? 

Then we found Logan Rescue Bot underwear today at Target. 

And the world was complete. The end. 

Thankful on Thursday

I'm going to keep it super simple tonight. I am thankful for good childcare. There was an awful story today about a center near us and abuse that was going on there and it appals me. What disturbs me even more is that other teachers were witnessing it and did nothing. 

I hate that this has sparked a debate of, "This is why I stay at home, children shouldn't go to daycare." Way to make people feel bad. We have a great, wonderful daycare provider and my children thrive as a result of her care. I still question what I do every.single.day. 

We are so blessed to have Mrs C. She even came to Logan's birthday party at our house! And you know who Aubrey wanted to hang out with the whole time our house was full of people? Mrs C. She got right in her lap and ate with her. 

Yes, they know how to count in Vietnamese. But more than that they know they are LOVED, and I know they loved, all day. Every child deserves that, whether their parent works or stays at home, whether they are at a center or with grandma. 

Thankful for that Mrs. C, and one of my teammates whose recommendation led us to her. So, so thankful.   

Attempt 12,847

That's how many times I've tried to get a picture of both my children smiling at the camera. Often I get this: 

Uh, just in case you aren't sure, that's not a smile on Aubrey's face. 

Sibling love. Ah, I love it.