Best Thanksgiving Ever!

 I love Thanksgiving!  This year I hosted and my mom, Kim and family and my cousin, Cora and family joined us.  The Ausili's were missed but they were at Jenny's niece's house.  We truly enjoyed our day together.  Everyone was healthy, happy and the food was delicious.  Mike deserves a big kudos for the food this year.

 These dogs!  What can I say about this picture?  My mom, although she doesn't have a dog of her own, she sure loves our dogs.  Nana is Cole's favorite person.  Every time my mom comes over, Cole sticks to her like glue.  Doesn't my mom look fabulous?  She has lost over 50 lbs!

 And here's my soon to be 16 year old.  He was really helpful to Mike the morning of.  We had a lot to prepare and get ready.

 There's a funny story behind this picture.  Mike had just gotten the turkey out of the fryer and it was burning his hands but mom insisted she get a picture.  It's a good thing Mike and mom love each other.

 Here we are minus Nick.  Nick spent a lot of time playing with Carter, Luke and Lauren most of the day.  The weather was warm enough that the kids played hide and seek outside.  Notice the look on Mike's face.  By this time in the afternoon we were all so full we could hardly stand it.

 Mike made this very unique but good apple dessert.  He cored the apples with his drill.  He's so resourceful.  Then he filled the apples with a mix of butterfinger candies, dried cranberries, brown sugar.  Then he put them in a steamer and when they were done we served them with ice cream.  They were very good!

 This year Mike delegated and used every teachable moment he could.  Ha.  Me, Jay and Nick were his minions!  It actually worked like a charm this year.  The picture above is Mike and Nick figuring out what time to put the turkey in the fryer and calculating the pounds and the time needed.

 Mike made these amazing twice baked potatoes.  Even though we are smiling in this picture, our hands are on fire from scooping out scalding hot potato pulp!

 Nick helping dad scoop the potato mix back into the potato shell.  I seriously can't describe how good these potatoes were.  Ridiculously good!

 I had to take this picture of Craig.  He was decked out in his swede jacket, his cowboy boots and to top off the look he was wearing a huge belt buckle with a big C on it.  I called him Cowboy Craig all day.

We sat around our table yesterday and laughed and talked.  My dining room table is my favorite piece in my house.  There's a great story behind the table but most of all, I love the gift of having family and friends sit around my table.  It's big enough to sit 10 people.  I love the light that streams in from the window.  I love Grandma's book case (which you can't see in the picture) and my corner china cabinet.  It's often the little things with me that make me happy.  This Thanksgiving I'm so thankful for my family.  I realize that having my boys wake up in our house on Thanksgiving will one day be a thing of the past.  I am thankful that my mom is in such great shape and her health is incredibly good!  My sister's family is doing well.  I continue to be thankful for my job and the amount of work Mike has.  My mom and I joke that Mike doesn't let grass grow under his feet.  I'm thankful the Lord has blessed him with steady work this entire year.  I might be a little over the top with the title of my blog but for some reason this Thanksgiving just felt very special and I felt really blessed!

November weekends

 Time has really gotten away from me.  I can't believe we are four days away from Thanksgiving.  We are in full swing of basketball season.  Jay started early morning practices on Nov. 6 and Mike started right before Halloween.  Jay has a tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.  The picture above is really a good picture of how we roll in our household.  After having that chair for 13 years and after the dogs had pulled out most of the stuffing I decided it was time for the chair to go.  This is how the boys decided to dispose of it.  This just screams redneck to me.

 About a week ago Nick's school had a dodgeball tournament.  Nick and his friends participated and actually did pretty well, considering they competed against 8th graders.  I was at the tournament and after sitting in a middle school gym for a few hours, I decided the smell of body odor was about more than I could take.

This weekend the weather has been really crummy.  On Friday night, Laura, Jenny Abel and I went to see the movie, "Wonder."  I thought Nick would go with me but after some convincing Jay went with me and he went somewhat happily.  His friends were spending the weekend hunting and as I pointed out to Jay, he was just going to sit around in front of the TV on a Friday night so why not drive his mother to the movies?  I mean really isn't that what all 15 year old boys dream about.  Ha!  But by Golly he did it!  It was the best night ever, for me anyway.  Ha.  Last night I got together with my former co-workers.  My former boss, Jill, joined us.  She just retired and is loving it.  I still remember my interview with Jill.  I was a fresh faced 23 year old girl.  She was a 30 something wife and mother.  She was my boss for 16 years.  I spent a lot of time in her office talking about my weight, my struggles with parenting and then I remember the day I walked into her office and gave her my two week notice.  I think at the time she took my news personally, and I know it stung.  Now she knows it was the best career move I could have made because in the years after I left my entire department disintegrated.  Everyone was displaced and forced into different jobs.  I love my job.  I really do.  I always have.  I am very grateful all these women came into my life.  It was yet another example of God's perfect timing!

God's footprints

Dear Mike, Jay and Nick:
Recently we were in church and our dear pastor looked out at our congregation and reminded us that we all have stories to tell, that many of us have experienced profound transformations with stories of miracles in our own lives, but life goes on, and often those transformations and miracles become a part of our past.   The daily hustle and bustle of our lives takes over and our stories often get placed aside or forgotten.  I have found this to be true of all four of us.  Two years ago Mike unexpectedly lost his job in what I describe as a never saw it coming moment.  I wrote last year that I wish I knew what Nov. 11, 2017 looked like.  I am not concerned with what Nov. 11, 2018 looks like, because God has proven over and over again He is faithful.  I write this today as a simple reminder of our family can look back over the last two years and see God's footprints all over our family. 

Mike: Your wife loves you!  You have handled the last two years with integrity, honesty, humility and hard work, both physically and mentally.  We prayed feverishly for a job that would not take you away from us, that would use all your skills and abilities (we just didn't know God would take us literally with this request) and that would provide for us financially.  God's footprints have been all over your business.  I rest in knowing your eternal future is secure.  God's footprints were all over that!  He will continue to build character in you and He will be faithful in all your endeavors.  Your   hours in the sanctuary on Nov. 11, 2015 are sacred and personal, never forget them and cherish them always.

Boys, I pray daily for you that even if you should ever stray from Christ one day, the seeds that were planted in you during your childhood and our most challenging times as a family will blossom at just the right time, and remind you of God's everlasting love.  Going through hard times is part of life, and as Christians we are absolutely not immune to them.  Eventually, both of you will fall on hard times.  God will help lead you out of the hard times and when the dust settles and you're able to see things with a little more clarity, you, like your dad and I, will see God's footprints all over your own lives.

Building a bridge

The other day I typed a blog about my boys that I did not publish.  I wrote it in anger and frustration and I knew I needed a few days to mull it over before I decided whether or not I should publish it.  I deleted the post today, opting it was too personal to publish.  I want my blog to reflect who I am and I want it to be authentic, but I don't want it ever to be written in anger......frustration, yes, but anger, no.  God has a way reminding me daily of my blessings and more importantly gently reinforcing that I can do nothing on my own.  I desperately need His guidance.  My boys are really struggling in their relationship and it's been the same battle for years.......years I tell you (see the frustration part is still with me)!  However deceiving the picture above may be, it's giving me just a wee bit of hope.  My prayer these days is that a bridge is built for Jay and Nick.  A bridge sturdy enough that will secure their relationship even when turbulent times try to break it apart.  They are certainly a work in progress and so is their relationship.  I have never expected them to be best friends, but it's always been my goal for them to have mutual respect for one another.  At the moment, I'm failing miserably at that, but I'll keep pushing forward and praying for that bridge to be built. 

Fall weekend festivities

 Time marches on, doesn't it?  I can't believe it's almost the end of October.  We've had an unseasonably warm October until this weekend.  The cold reality has hit us hard.  It was 70 and warm on Saturday and rainy and cold on Sunday, and so it begins.  On Sunday we had Nick's XC banquet.  Full disclosure on XC, I made Nick do it, hoping he'd enjoy it.  He didn't, but to his credit he rarely complained.  He says he's returning to his first love next year, football.  Nick is at an age where as a parent you can still force him to do things.  By the time kids get to Jay's age, it's a fine balance.  I'm glad Nick tried it, but it looks like I'll be cheering him on at football games from here on out. 

 Can this picture be any cuter?  On Saturday we went to Erin's house for a cook out.  Our family loves and looks forward to the Douglas cook out every October!  For all the years we've gone I simply can't believe these boys are this grown up.  All of them are driving except yep, you guessed it, Jay. 

And here are some of the littler boys, although Nick would not appreciate that I wrote that.  I really don't consider Nick so little anymore, trust me!  I'm entering another week filled with basketball practices (Nick), conferences (Nick), and small group.  We are entering our busy time of year.  I'm so thankful for my job which allows me the flexibility and balance I need for work and family! 

Shifting gears

So this happened!  Jay's first truck.  After sweating like a slave in a cotton field, Oh wait, that was Jay, sweating like an pig in a corn field this summer, detasseling.  All that hard work came to fruition last night when he was able to buy his first truck -with his mom and dad's help too!  Mike actually found the truck in Peru, IL.  It is a 2005 Ford F150 and Jay is in love.  Now he gets to stare at it for three more months until his 16th birthday.  The truck came in under budget, it's clean and no body rot.  It has some mileage though, 177,000, to be exact, but with extra tender loving care, we hope Jay can get another 100,000 out of it. 
All moms say they can't believe their children are the ages they are and I'm no different.  This morning Jay drove us to church in his truck and as we were driving the new song by Lee Brice, "Boy," came on.  Note to any mom out there, Do Not, I repeat, Do Not, listen to that song with your teenage son driving, especially when he's a hop, skip and a jump away from turning 16 and he's driving his first vehicle!  I think I might have bit a hole through my lip to keep from crying.  I figured that having an emotional breakdown before church might not send the best message and Mike would really question my mental stability.  I have really had to shift gears with Jay the last year.  He's turning into a man right before my very eyes.  I wasn't prepared for the changes I would have to make, although to be honest, Jay has been preparing me for them for years, I was just hoping I could ignore them and not have to actually implement them.  Often I look at my little family and I wonder where the years of walking around the block went, where the nightly baths went, the bedtime stories, hearing the boys yell "mom" and running to me as I walked in the door from work.  Those years were physically exhausting, but there's an element of mental exhaustion these days.  I don't spend a lot of time worrying but I do spend time wondering what my life will look like in 5 and 10 years.  I told Mike the other day that in 10 years (actually maybe even less than that) we will be right back to where we started, at the beginning, when it was just him and I.  I find myself thinking about my mom too.  She probably thought that also, but then when it was all said and done, she had to do life on her own as my dad had left.  Talk about shifting gears.  One thing I know is through my life I've had to shift gears on more than one occasion.  Life is a series of gear shifts.  It's all in how you adapt and handle those changes.  During these times I rely heavily on my faith.  In every season of my life God has been there.  He will lead me into this next season and prepare me for my upcoming series of shifting gears because ready or not, here they come! 

Technology 101

In our town there is a store that has been in business since 1954.  The name of the business is "Hobby Land."  It sells electric trains, remote control cars, doll houses, etc....Mike worked there part time during our early married life.  The other day I drove by the store and noticed it had a going out of business sign out.  I was heart broken that this iconic land mark was going out of business, but as Mike pointed out no one does anything anymore.  Kids don't make model trains or RC stuff.  Instead they set up snapchat, Instagram and facebook accounts.  Adults are just as guilty.  I'm appalled at how many times a day I check facebook.  I have a love/hate relationship with technology.  I love texting.  I realize it takes out a certain element of socialization, but in the busyness of life, texting really is a gift!  I love google.  Google maps has saved me on more than one occasion.  What I hate about technology is when it doesn't work which in my world is 80% of the time.  Right now I'm dealing with an old cell phone that locks up at any given time.  I think this is a conspiracy driven by cell phone companies.  They deem the phones as "old" after you've paid them off so that you are forced to go in and buy the newest model.  I'm digging my feet in this time and keeping my old phone.    Then Verizon decides not to renew a lease they had on a nearby tower in our area, therefore my cell phone only gets 1x.  What does this mean?  It means I don't have 4G which translates to I can't send picture text or download group messages.  The other night I had to drive in my car down onto another road in order to download a text.  Don't even get me started on our internet.  My internet provider, Frontier, hasn't been able to fix my email for over a month.  I can't get email on my phone or my laptop.  Everyday I have to log into frontier's mail center in order to retrieve my email.  And that's only if my internet is working.  It cuts in and out all day long and in the evening when the boys are home from school and everyone is home from work, it really gets challenging.  There is no such thing as paper homework anymore.  Everything is done on line.  Nick has his own google chromebook provided to him from the school.  All of Nick's homework is done on the chromebook which requires internet access.  Jay's assignments are done on google docs which require internet.  It's mind boggling to me that as a society we have become so reliant on the internet.  My job requires it, much of Mike's job needs it and the boys' school work depends on it.  Whether I like it or not, technology is here to stay.  Now if I could only get it to work!