Wedding!

The Gent's brother got married on Halloween weekend! Here are some phone snaps--not great quality but lots of fun.

Granny and all her great-grands


dancing with Papa Rick




cupcakes, the love language of my children




oh yes, these two had Daddy on the dance floor for the chicken dance




he found a flower for his sister


hanging out with Bebe at Nora's first wedding!


Twelve years since our first date.

One Thousand Gifts, 701-725

701. The fun Jacob has had playing soccer this fall.
702. Also that the end of soccer season is approaching.
703. Coffee in my favorite mug, made by the Gent each morning.
704. A morning to spend mostly at home.
705. Shopping with Honey.
706. Sunday afternoon nap while football plays in the background.
707. Looking forward to a weekend in my happy place.
708. Studying God's Word...even when I can't comprehend all I'm learning.
709. Hearing the joy my munchkins find in their siblings.
710. Playing and snuggling with a sweet little boy in the church nursery.
711. Opportunities to serve others (may I have a more grateful heart to do so).
712. Learning more about the Holy Spirit.
713. Reflecting on the true Light of the world.
714. Listening to Jacob's chatter.
715. That he is our boy forever and ever and always!
715. Watching Nora try to figure out crawling.
716. Teaching Annie to pray.
717. Singing with Sophie.
718. Smart phones.
719. A stack of library books for Mama.
720. Teaching my munchkins.
721. Planning Christmas parties.
722. Music.
723. Lunch dates with the Gent.
724. Help from Honey!
725. Jacob's framed adoption portrait hanging in the family gallery wall.

Trick or Treat!

We were out of town on Halloween (more on that next week). Instead of our usual neighborhood party and trick or treating, we went to a church trunk or treat. The traffic and crowd were awful but the kids got too much candy and enjoyed seeing other kids' costumes so it was successful on their end. :) Annie was Cinderella, Jacob was a superhero, Sophie was Aurora, and Nora was a ballerina. The only thing I bought was Jacob's mask--everything else came out of the dress up box at home.

all lined up and ready to go


superhero and Cinderella


little sisters


princesses


her first Halloween!

6 Ways to Speed Clean: Ann Voskamp link

Loved Ann Voskamp's post today; you can read it here!

One Thousand Gifts, 676-700

676. Making lists.
677. Hot tea on a rainy day.
678. Library story time.
679. New library books for the kids.
680. New library books for me.
681. Dinner made before 8am (yay crock pot).
682. A good workout makes a good start to the week.
683. Heartwarming stories about my alma mater.
684. More time with the Gent.
685. Celebrating the 12th anniversary of our first date!
686. Visiting an assisted living to hand out candy with the munchkins.
687. Jacob's outgoing and friendly personality as he brought lots of joy to the residents!
688. Milky Way candy bars.
689. Sophie's rapidly expanding conversational skills.
690. Nora learning to get from tummy to sitting.
691. A family wedding!
692. Annie, my deep thinker.
693. Safe travels.
694. DVD player in the van.
695. Zeke's thyroid medicine giving him an extra pep in his step.
696. That Annie and Jacob are continuing to love school.
697. Planting new azaleas in a formerly-empty flower bed.
698. Helping Annie and Jacob spell and sound out words.
699. Hearing Sophie spell her name and find the letter "s" all over the place.
700. Baby books.

Nora: Nine Months

Three quarters of a year old already. Nora weighs 16 lbs, 2 oz and is 29 1/2 inches long. Her weight is in the 25th percentile but height is 97th--she is as tall as Annie and Sophie were at 15 months. We will see if she remains my tallest girl as she grows! Nora is a happy baby and loves to play with her toys and can even play happily alone for several minutes. She is saying mama and dada sounds consistently and I think she is linking them to the Gent and me--maybe she will be my earliest talker, too? Nora likes yogurt and green beans and lots of other foods. She thinks eating is great and she is quite good at feeding herself. She is still nursing six times a day and doesn't seem interested in cutting back yet...though I would like her to drop that 5:30am feeding when she's ready. ;) Happy nine months, sweet baby girl!

One Thousand Gifts, 651-675

651. Daddy not having to work over the weekend.
652. Getting the front yard all cleaned up and ready for fall.
653. Carving pumpkins as a family.
654. Four little pumpkins sitting on our front porch.
655. Playing outside.
656. Kids' joy over being outside.
657. Sweet pictures of my babies.
658. Nora's grin and leg kicks when she gets excited.
659. Listening to her babble "mama" and "dada".
660. Sophie's decisiveness.
661. Listening to her sing lullabies to her baby dolls.
662. Jacob's goofy boy side.
663. Hearing about his shenanigans at church.
664. Annie's half smiles.
665. Hearing her recite poetry.
666. Freshly-planted pansies.
667. The Gent's homemade buttermilk biscuits.
668. Brie with my fig jam.
669. Having a supply of homemade dinners in the freezer.
670. A clean kitchen sink.
671. Annie asking, "Mama, will you cuddle with me?"
672. Catching up on magazines.
673. A morning at church with our whole family.
674. Rain, rain, rain after a dry spell.
675. Fun plans for the week ahead.