Mostly A Mommy: holidays

I think I am a little backwards this season. Today I am feeling thankful. I think I am about a month and a week late for this feeling to be coming on strong, but that is me these days. I am thankful to be alive, I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for this week of not-so-busy schedule and for my two sweet children to be playing together so nicely. I am thankful to have had many Christmas parties to attend, even if I had to skip a couple, because that means we have many friends and family who love us. I am thankful to have had another year with the people I love.

I am thankful for this beautiful girl. She amazes everyone around her with her crazy smartness, even as she cracks us up with the funny things that come out of her mouth, like in this picture, she is singing:

And in this one, she is thinking about what she wants for Christmas: hmm.....

I am so very thankful for my son, and his maturity and kindness. I forget sometimes that he is five years old, sometimes we have conversations as if he is an adult. He had a Christmas list for himself, of course, but he was just as excited to pick out gifts for other people in the family, as well. He wanted to find a Cowboys action figure for his aunt Sonya, and Twilight action figures for me(seeing a theme here?) He is such a special soul and is going to be an amazing man someday.

And then there are these two crazy kids:

We have been together 14 years now and are approaching our 10th wedding anniversary, already. A long time ago from these days:

(In case you missed this picture from a couple posts ago, or wanted a better comparison picture.)

How time flies when you're having fun! My, how we have grown up. Just the other day we were talking about the ways we had changed, and the ways we'd stayed the same. We have learned a lot about ourselves in the last year or two. We have learned how to stick together in times of crisis, and what it takes to endure hard times when they seem to be never ending. We have learned to embrace the fun and joy in life, even when you only get tiny glimpses of it in your day. We have gained a new appreciation for each other, and the different things we do to support each other. We love the family we have created together, and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I am thankful for the boy in this picture, as well as the man in the picture above. They are the same, but different to me. I love them both. The boy always had a smile on his face. He had many friends, but managed to make me feel like I was the only person in the world. The man is still a dreamer, like the boy, but now he takes action. He works hard to make his dreams come true, then he always has a new dream ready to work toward. He handles things with maturity. He is loyal and selfless to a fault. He is an incredible man. Being the boy and having that side peek out from time to time is so precious. Seeing him play and joke with his son and being wrapped around his daughter's tiny little pinkie finger warms my heart. He is an amazing dad.

So this is why I am feeling thankful today.

Daughter as Snow White Ballerina and Son as THE HULK!

I suppose I must explain why Daughter has a made-from-scratch costume and Son does not. I had an entire homemade family costume set in mind for months, but Son just would not commit to it. He kept changing his mind! So dear sweet Grandma found him the Hulk costume, and his torture of indecision was ended. So that left Daughter. I saw a picture online of Cinderella Ballerina that was just too cute, I had to invent a costume for her!

Here she is in her curlers that lasted about 5 seconds after I took these pics:

And here is her end result...

She had a headband, but wouldn't keep it on! You'll just have to picture her without the popcorn ball in her mouth, I could not get her to part with it! On the 30th we went to our traditional Pomerene School Carnival, 5 bucks a family...you can't beat it! We played games...

And went on the spooky Haunted Hayride! It was dark, so Grandma couldn't see what she was taking a picture of until she had taken it, sorry Son!

We had so much fun that we were pretty wiped out for the partyin' the next day! But we got up and Son got to wear his costume to preschool, came home and got ready for some more Halloweenin'! We went to a quick trunk-or-treat, then to Veteran's park for a movie and some games. The best thing about that night was Daughter trying on the Hulk hands and Mask. She did her impression of the Hulk roar(which sounds a bit like my impression of static!) and it was just too funny!