Tiny Little Bundle of Thanksgiving Joy

Sweet baby Will

We love him!!!! 

Thankful on Thursday/Happy Thanksgiving

This is the last "Thankful on Thursday" post on a very exciting and happy Thanksgiving day. My family is so thankful to be spending this day together (not the plan) as we wait for baby Will! Usually I don't like changes in plans but for this one, I am so very thankful. More to come throughout the day!!!!

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances..." I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful on Thursday

• I am thankful for flannel pajamas with this cold weather. 
• I am thankful for running water, soap, etc. It is surprising how many people do without so many of the things we take for granted.
• I am thankful for my family (dad) who will go with me to get gas when it is dark and fill up my tank while I sit in the warm car. :) 
• I am thankful for sunny mornings to help me pretend to be a morning person. 
• I am thankful for nights with friends filled with talking, laughing, eating, movies/shopping, etc.

Thankful on Thursday

• I am thankful for this nice cool weather - so crisp and clean! I love this time of the year or really just the change in seasons. It is like having a fresh start! 
• I am thankful for so many hobbies to keep me busy - yes at times I am a little crazy - but I think it might be worth it. It is nice to have something to keep me going. :) Most are very rewarding, too. I will really be thankful when I get organized and caught up. Ha!
• I am thankful for the kiddos I work with who remind me to be thankful and also remind me of the things that are truly important in life. 

What are you thankful for? 

1st Birthday

A couple of months ago I received a call from a coworker...only it was not her, it was her little boy having a fun time with her phone...lots of babbling and squeals. I was about to go to a conference, so I sent her a text letting her know that I thought Max had called me that morning. Her reply was that he was asking me to make his cake. How could I say no to that? I had already agreed to make cookies for his class on his birthday and now he had twisted my arm to make the cake, too. ha! I had plenty of time to brainstorm and had a lot of fun with this one. Now I am finished with cake making until maybe 2011. :)

a little barn owl was a must

Every farm needs a tire swing! 

I tried to make the animals look like his party plates, napkins, and banner. 

The cookies for his party today! 

 The chicken and horse ideas came from a cake website I enjoy visiting and the 1 cookies were inspiration from a blog that is "All about the Cookies" 

Thankful on Thursday

For the month of November on Thursdays I will be posting things I am thankful for from obvious things like my family to random little everyday occurrences that bring a smile to my face. Some may be serious and others may just be for fun. Feel free to share what you are thankful for in the comments or on your own blog.

1. Yes, I am in fact thankful for my family. I am blessed beyond words. I know they love me for who I am and always encourage me to reach my dreams. My parents are even kind enough to let me live with them while I pay off my very large student loan bill from grad school - now that is something to be thankful for (a place to stay - not the loans)!
2. A random day off work to get some things accomplished but also relax a little, too. I am going to a continuing education course on handwriting this weekend and thought it would be a good idea to have a day off before going. I have been looking forward to the day off as well as a weekend with coworkers/friends for weeks!
3. I am very much thankful for my job and the opportunities I have had there. I have made great friends and work with an amazing group of therapists. I learn something new everyday!
4. I am thankful that owls are so popular now because they are so easy to find; however, it is not always a good thing when I feel the need to buy every owl I see (see #1 and student loan debt). I am working on just saying no to the cuteness but it is very hard.
5. I am thankful that in just a few weeks we will welcome a new little one to the family - I can't wait to be an Aunt!!!

So what are you thankful for?

Sweet Baby Harper

Oh the sweetness! Went to see this precious baby girl and her mom (and more friends) this weekend. Also, attempted a mini photo shoot while there.

More to come. :)

Friday Five

1. This weekend will be BUSY! Going to see/meet sweet baby Harper in middle TN and visit with some of my OT friends tomorrow. Driving back for smocking class tomorrow afternoon (I have almost finished smocking the back part of the dress! yea!). Also going to see Disney on Ice this weekend. :)

2. Lots of cookie making coming soon for football games and a bake sale. Also one more batch for a friend and then I am finished with cookie making for a LONG time. If you got your order in months ago before I was busy/knew how busy I would be, consider yourself lucky! ha! J/K

3. Sewing like crazy to try to catch up and get ready for baby Will!!!! Have been trying to buy an embroidery machine...they still have not gotten them in yet...told me end of August/First of Sept. It is now middle/end of Sept, and I just called to see if they got them this week. Not yet. Trying to be patient.

4. The months of Sept., Oct., and Nov. have filled up so fast! Lots of fun things scheduled with friends and family! Can't wait!

5. Still wanting to run in this. Waiting to hear if I will have any takers (possibly a coworker) and then let the training begin. :) If I was smart, I would just start training now so that I am ready. 

Look Whoooo's Crawling!!

One of my coworkers needed a family picture for her little girl's classroom, so while I was there I got a few cute ones of the little man crawling! He had just started crawling a couple of weeks before this picture, but I love how it captures this milestone. 

The light was also perfect that night which makes for great pictures!!

Precious Family! 

Orlando Trip #2 of 2010 - Part 5

On our last day we headed to the MK. We had lunch and dinner reservations there plus the 4th of July Fireworks that night! I had heard that with large crowds (specifically holidays), parks will stop letting people come in, so we planned on staying all day. 

The lady who took our pictures knew just when the fireworks would launch for the stage show!

One

Two

Three!

We got some fast passes then headed to our favorite place for lunch reservations. It was pretty empty which is unusual especially for a holiday weekend. 

We also got our favorite dessert there!

We went to a few attractions before finding a spot for the afternoon parade. I had on sunglasses and took a little power nap while we waited since we were not going back to the room for a nap like we had the other days. This is a cute parade for sure! 

We went to a few other attractions before heading to the castle stage for the show. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to rain, so we went on to something else.

We came back for the Celebrate Street Party. There are floats, characters, and lots of dancing in the street. We just watched. :)

The video is a clip at the end of the Street Party.

After that it was time for our dinner with the Princesses!

The castle was so pretty inside. It was fun watching all of the little princesses meet there favorites. One family behind me was very entertaining and annoying at times. 

Another good treat! 

Our view! I was soooo excited to get a window seat!

After dinner we made our way in the mass of people to watch the 4th of July Fireworks...AMAZING!! It was about 10 minutes long with fireworks in front of us as well as behind us the entire time. This is a clip of the end with the fireworks all around us! 

We again made our way through the mass of people to some random attractions. When we came out we had the perfect spot for the parade. It was at the end of the route, so the floats stopped at times right in front of us as they waited to go through the gate. 

Mom had fun taking these pictures with my small camera until the battery died.

We did a few more things before calling it a night. We headed to the front for last minute souvenirs. When we came out we saw the second showing of the Parade but it had already started and was about half way through. This time we were at the beginning of where all the floats come out!

The other 2 times we saw this parade they were on one of the first floats. I wish we would have seen who was on those floats! I thought they were so cute coming out holding hands! ha!

It was another magical trip, but after being away from home for 9 days, I was so very ready to get back. 

As soon as we landed, we headed home for a fun 4th of July party. I had made star cookies weeks before and put in the freezer, so I would have them for the party. I forgot to take pictures, but they were really cute! 

Orlando Trip #2 of 2010 - Part 4

Friday morning was another early morning for a character breakfast...Supercalifragilistic Breakfast to be exact. One that I was looking forward to doing but after going will not need to do it again. 

Oh how I love the Mickey plates...it's the little things in life. 

Tigger was a suprise! Did not know he and Pooh would be there. While I am not a fan of Pooh apparel, I do think Tigger is pretty darn cute in person! 

                                

                                                

The Mad Hatter is just down right funny! I don't even remember what he said, but he is a hoot! Even watching him in the parades made me laugh out loud. 

                                                  

                                                

Mary was the reason for this breakfast (one of my all time favorite movies), but I was not really impressed. Sad but true.

                                        

She was kind of strange but so is her movie. 

                           

After having a minor panic attack when looking at our receipt at breakfast to see less meal plans than I thought we should have had, we found out they had already taken off meals for the Luau because I had already gone to pick up the tickets at the front desk. We did have the correct number of meals after all.  Minor crisis was resolved and then we carried on to our next adventure. 

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Animal Kingdom

We took several pictures in front of "the tree" but will spare you from having to scroll through all of them. It was also starting to rain...oh joy!

A few pictures from the Safari: 

Pictures with characters: 

Festival of the Lion King

Video clip from my favorite part of the show - AMAZING!!!

This 3-D show is so creepy and yet I continue to go to it. 

After lunch at the AK, we headed back to the room for our much needed afternoon nap. 

The rain held off, and we were able to attend the Luau!!

Seriously the portion sizes are out of control. There was way too much food and if you wanted more you could have more...no thank you! We had enough for 3-4 not 2!!!

It was very good though!

After dinner we went to the MK to enjoy the summer parade and fireworks.

I am sure my settings were totally wrong on the firework pictures, but once again I did not have a tripod to get the desired effect. The picture above was during the part of the "show" where the pirates are invading the castle...so cool and it was kind of red! 

This is one of my favorite firework shows that they just did for the summer. At one time it was used for the Pirate/Princess Party. It starts out with a princess theme and goes through various movies. 

This clip is from a scene of one of my favorites where the fairies fight over what color the dress will be - pink or blue. 

The Pirates then invade the castle! I only got a small portion of that part on video because I was taking pictures, too.

We tried waiting until the park closed to listen to the "Goodnight Kiss." It is a sweet, sweet song played when the park closes. We waited until after closing time and never heard it. :( 

We were soooo very tired and ready to go to bed because we had another long but wonderful day ahead of us. We needed lots of rest to tackle the last day of our magical trip.