giving thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, here with just our little family. Usually living far from home, we've spent quite a few holidays without extended family. We always miss them and always talk about and tell the kids about the traditions we grew up with. But still, we always enjoy it. It's a time that is relaxed and fun and sweet. And a time to make our own traditions that hopefully our children will talk about one day to their children.









We always start our day with a yummy breakfast casserole reserved especially for holidays. We spend the morning cooking with oh so many hands to help. In the background, we watch the Macy's parade and in the kitchen the radio plays Christmas music. We set the table with the finer things that we only see a few times a year. One of the children reads the 100th Psalm. We pray and offer thanks for bountiful blessings, more than we can count, before enjoying a meal that could feed an army. The little ones nap, the big ones play. We play football in the yard then come in and watch some football on TV. Pie and leftovers flow freely all afternoon. We pull out Christmas decorations and already the excitement begins to build.













Thanksgiving day in and of itself is reason enough to be thankful. We have been given so much. As our pastor reminded us last Sunday, we live in a world that has Christ! No longer, as in the days before Christ, is the world shrouded in darkness! Our God really does reign and salvation has come to us. What a perfect way to start the Advent season.... with a feast of Thanksgiving.

flyboys

this face

This face.  How I love this face.

This is Nathan's newest expression for anything and everything exciting.  Usually trucks.  When I took this picture, we were standing outside and he heard a fire truck (also called "pire-truck").  He makes this face and does a high pitched, inhaled gasp (you know, the sound you make when you see your child about to hurt themselves).  I think he must have learned this sound from me.  Anyway, whenever he sees a truck on the road, in a book, on TV... he looks at me and makes this face and that noise.  It totally cracks me up every time.  

staycation

Ever just need to get away?  Well, we did.  Actually it was more of  a staycation than a vacation, but still.  A few weeks ago, we spent the weekend at a cabin down on the beach here in town.  The military has cabins down there that are very affordable and great option for a little family getaway.  We had a beautiful view of the water, and even though the weather was beginning to cool a bit, it was perfect for playing on the beach.

One of my favorite parts was the (very) few minutes of quiet in the morning, watching the sunrise over the water while sipping a hot cup of coffee.  That would be my happy place.

The time spent on the beach was perfect.  A beautiful way to wrap up the summer.

Surf's up, dude.

The kids all had a blast running around, digging holes and riding the waves with Daddy.

Finding treasures in the water's edge. 

And, of course, none of this fun would be possible without the Daddy.  The best Daddy ever who hauls all of the beach gear to-and-fro, with a smile no less.

And this little guy had so much fun.  This is pure mischief in the form of a boy.

One night we went down to to the boardwalk, heard a bit of jazz band, had ice cream.  And this is what your hands look like if you play in the sand right after you eat ice cream.

And I was there, too.  Ken took this picture from our balcony.

This is my other happy place.  :)

photo shoot

Although I am a far cry from what anyone could call a "photographer"... I do like to play one on TV.  I love taking pictures, especially of families.  And as much as I like snapping my own kids, it's nice to get some practice with other families as well.

Last week, my neighbor asked me to snap some pictures of their family for their Christmas card.  I took some more "formal" family photos that they used for their cards, but here are a few of the snapshots I got while the kids were running around in the yard.  They are a beautiful family and easy to photograph... and my first (non-related) "photo shoot".

I so enjoy doing it and appreciate them letting me practice on them.  :)

why

Going.....

Going....

Gone.

And this, my friends, is why I have so few pictures of all of my children together.

vaccines

This week, I took Nathan to get his MMR shot.  If you're shot savvy, then you know that this is usually one that is given around 12 months.  If you know that Nathan is now 20 months old, then you also realize that we are behind schedule.  We have chosen to spread out some of Nate's vaccine's to avoid getting multiple live virus vaccines at once.  This choice has made things much trickier than I had expected.  I really didn't realize that making such choices was so unusual or would be met with such resistance.

The reason behind delaying some of Nathan's vaccines is due to the possible correlation of vaccines to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).  Please note that I said possible.  I know that this has not been proven (and have been reminded of this fact by more than one health care professional as of late). However, I think there are enough studies out there to indicate that there is at least the possibility that these two are related.  

I have read about all this in depth, I have friends who have dealt with these issues personally, and unfortunately we are dealing with some of these issues ourselves.  I won't go into what all factors would/could line up to make multiple vaccines dangerous for some children, but I really do believe that it's not the best thing for our kids. 

We haven't always felt this way, but over the past 2 years we have come to realize that one of our children does have some developmental delays that are symptomatic of an ASD.   Without going into all that, I will just say that we have what I believe to be justifiable concerns.

Anyway, when I broached this subject with our healthcare facility, we were told that all vaccines were mandatory and have to be given on schedule.  Not alternate schedule.  No flexibility.  If I wanted to do something different, I would have to go through the Public Health Dept.  If I brought him into our normal facility, he would be given ALL of the shots he needed, no matter how many that may be. 

 (By the way, the typical 12 month old is given around 9 vaccinations at once.  Nine.  In the form of 3-4 shots.  And here's a fun fact: 3 of these are live viruses... if you get a live virus vaccine alone, you have to wait 4 weeks before you can get another one.  Unless you get them all at once.... then I suppose you can get as many as you want??  Does that make sense?)

Anyway, we have jumped through the hoops.  I have waited for 2 1/2 hours in the waiting room of a local health department, just so I could be treated like nothing short of a child abuser by the nurse who accused me of neglect for not "fully" vaccinating my child.  I didn't even bother explaining again that I will be vaccinating my child, only not all at once.  Besides, she was so busy judging me, I don't think she would have heard me anyway.

Well, by hook or by crook, Nathan is vaccinated now, and we did it in the way we thought was best for him.  But I had to jump through flaming hoops to get there.  Did it make a difference?  No idea.  Will this prevent some type of damage to his brain or his immune system?  Maybe, maybe not.  The point is that I don't know.  And as long as I don't know (and no one else does either), we're going to do what we think is the safest for our children.

What has bothered me most about the whole situation is being treated like a criminal because *obviously* the government knows what's best for my children.  And *obviously* I don't.  I haven't enjoyed this small peek into "the good of the masses" superseding the rights of the individuals.  I am a parent who is trying to do what is best for my child, and I would like to be free to do that.  

Socialized medicine, anyone?  No thank you.

Things I like about fall...

The falling of leaves....

and the raking of leaves.

The crisp air....

and sweaters....

and the crunch of every step.

And the giggling children in leaf piles?

Yes, the giggling children.

That's my favorite part. 

Trick-or-treating

On Sunday, we had a trick-or-treating good time.

Of course I tried to get a picture of all of my trick-or-treaters, but the little one is fast.

Just a blur, he would be.

But he was there.  A Chicago Bears football player.  He fits the part.

Hannah was a Princess from the Reformation period.... the same outfit that she wore for the Reformation Day celebration at school on Friday. I think she's getting so grown-up looking, don't you think?

Jake was Spiderman, of course.  Although he's never seen a Spiderman cartoon or anything else, he's seen toys and thinks he's the coolest.  It's a boy thing.

As Jake was strutting around as a super hero, the girls kept calling for him to "rescue" them.

He was more than happy to oblige. 

And here's the Prima Ballerina.  Every year Claire is some form of a ballerina.  It's just her thing.   But that makes costumes easy, right?

And Grace... who was going to be a Reformation princess until 1 hour before trick-or-treating... became a fuzzy caterpillar!  This was the best I could do on such short notice, but I think she turned out pretty darn cute.

The kids hit the streets and this year, this little guy was right there with them.  Rather than the stroller, we used his monkey-leash (I didn't get a picture of it... but it's cute and practical and used often these days).  Regardless of what anyone might think of such contraptions...he loved the freedom and we came home with the same 5 children we left home with.

We were obviously the first ones to hit the streets in our neighborhood.  But soon the streets were bustling and a fun time was had by all.  A memorable family night.  And Claire's already counting down the days until next year.