Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving with the Gent's family this year!

the Gent and his brothers


checking out Timmy Turkey!


a full Thanksgiving table


making a wish on the wishbone


reading with Granny


computer time with Bebe


Mama and Sophie


reading with Daddy (do you sense a theme?)


excited about some leaf-raking


JJ was really good at this :)


jumping in the leaves


Sophie and Papa Rick


getting an early start to Christmas celebrating


First meeting with Santa this year. Sophie wanted nothing to do with it!

One Thousand Gifts, 103-107

103. Thanksgiving to spend with family and friends
104. Christmas is coming!
105. Lighting my Fresh Balsam candle
106. Beginning our family advent devotions
107. Honey to help out with sick kids when Daddy is out of town

One Thousand Gifts, 96-102

96. Hubby who came home from work to take care of the kids when I was sick.
97. Wrapping Christmas presents and anticipating family opening them.
98. One final family tailgate to finish out our home football season.
99. Listening to Annie's made-up songs.
100. The rare chance to rock Sophie till she falls asleep
101. A clean house
102. No major projects looming

Munchkin in 4D

There's a real baby girl in there! Excited to meet her in about nine weeks!

New Orleans Weekend

The Gent and I enjoyed a lovely weekend in New Orleans--with no babies. And the munchkins had a great time with Honey and Poppa. Thanks!

One baby got to tag along :)


WWII museum was very interesting (though I should have chosen better footwear--too much walking for boots!)


Coffee by the Mississippi


There was lots of delicious food to be had. Cochon Butcher was definitely our favorite, but no pictures there, so this one of beignets will have to do.


Jackson Square


Hurrah for time away! I would say I now feel relaxed and recharged, except I came down with a horrible cold Sunday night and the Gent had to go out of town for work (thankfully he's back now) and it's taking all my energy to not crawl back into bed and leave the kids to their own devices. Wonder what my house would look like if I did?!

One Thousand Gifts, 91-95

91. a weekend away with the Gent
92. delicious food on our trip
93. generous parents who kept up with our munchkins
94. studying some obscure parts of the Mosaic law through BSF and actually finding interesting parallels
95. hot tea with lemon and honey

A Little Light Reading

I love to read. I don't dedicate as much time to reading as I used to, but I still try to read at least a chapter a day in my current book. Each year I re-read a few favorites from growing up (this year, Burnett's The Secret Garden, Alcott's Little Men, and L.M. Montgomery's The Blue Castle). This fall I finished Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend. Classic book on when to say no and how to not feel guilty about it. I don't have much trouble with that; I know my limits, ha! But still, good reminders and principles. One of my favorite recent reads is Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves. Reeves takes what is often a heavy theological topic and makes it accessible. This short little book deepened my faith--and delight--in how rational and orderly God is. And showed how the Trinity underlies the whole of God's Word and the Story He's been telling us since time began.