The Family Picture

I know why photographers get the big bucks.

Not saying they don't deserve them, because a few hours ago, I was willing to pay any sum of money for somebody...ANYbody...to please come and take our family picture for our Christmas card.

Why is that? It's a camera lens and lighting and a shutter and a button. How hard can it be?

But people listen to photographers. They know what looks good and how to hold your hands and head...and what to do with your legs and feet. They can get people to do things that no family member can...typically.

We headed to the park...10 of us. 8 of us in the family, and 2 we treat like family. 10 pairs of eyes. 10 different attitudes. About that many different personalities.

(Hahaha...see what I did there?)

All in all, I think it went pretty well...all things considering. Holly and Faith took a ton of pictures. Holly looked at them quickly while on the way to dinner. She said out of all of them...there were only 2 that would be suitable. OH DEAR! We might should've stayed at the park a little longer!

After the picture taking episode, we all went to dinner with Jim's parents at a local restaurant. Table for 12 anyone?

We had a good time. They sat us at a long table, so I didn't really get to interact with anyone at the other end. I was pretty much involved in the ones right in front of me: Joshua and Jenni.

I had called Jenni's mom to see if she could come with us. I mean, Holly has Aaron, Logan has Morgan, Clark has Faith...and that leaves Joshua without a "special person." They are all really good about including him, so I don't think he feels the "I'm not a couple" thing every time we go somewhere, but my mother-in-law thinks he does. And, you know, I guess if he feels it once...it's one time too many. She is just very sensitive, sometimes overly sensitive, when it comes to him.

Jenni is a sweetie, but bringing her requires planning...because it's different. Just like when her parents invite Joshua to go with them. We know Joshua...and can usually predict what he will do...what he will like...what he can tolerate; how long he can go between potty breaks and meals; how much walking he will endure without complaining. We know what things set him off, what things make him happy. We can tell when he's full, when he's sick, when he can't hear. Bringing Jenni is...different.

And, we invite her and they invite him...and it doesn't always work out for them to be together.

But today it did!

Joshua and Jenni had a big time with us today. And even tho Jenni was not in our family picture, she had fun "helping" Faith and Holly taking them. And we took several of the two of them together...they are HAMS in front of the camera! But we knew that, of course.

Joshua and Jenni enjoyed coming to dinner with everyone, but NO ONE enjoyed it more than my mother-in-law. She grinned and watched them both like hawks. She tried to offer them more food every time we turned our backs and Jim had to shut that down because NO THANK YOU, Mammaw Jack. We have a 35 minute car trip ahead of us (taking Jenni home), and I am NOT wanting to get on that ride.

We all made it fine and had a great time! Didn't nobody die (name that movie) (Rush Hour) and no one got car-sick. AND, Jim and I may have permanently sealed our place in the WILL after tonight. His mom hugged me and said over and over, "you have just made.my.night." (you know, by bringing Jenni for Joshua). She said, "I always love seeing EVERYONE, but...you know..." and she nodded her head toward Joshua.

I said, "oh, I know..."

We ALL know.

"On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable..." 1 Corinthians 12:22

The Eye of a Soft Rabbit

In other news, I wrote about Joshua's Thankful November posts he's doing on Facebook. He is doing these all on his own. Let me just type exactly what he wrote yesterday about his GIRLFRIEND OF 8 YEARS, Jenni:

"I Am thankful that Jen is a nice sweet caring woman who has brown hair and eyes. Sweet natured young talented woman who is fearless. Who has a eye of a soft rabbit."

WHAAAAAT?

A(n) eye of a soft rabbit? What in the world? What about her other eye?

Oh, you can just bet that we've had a lot of laughs over this one. Not in front of Joshua, of course.

"In God we have boasted all day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever." Psalm 44:8

Happy Thanksgiving!

Not gonna lie, I thought today was going to be sad...but it hasn't been too bad.

It was quiet, laid-back, productive, restful. Just a little lonely...but not much.

My heart is full as I think back on my many blessings. I read this blog post this morning that really took me back to when Clark was born.

I could SO relate to this young mother. I remember being the same way with Clark. PRAYING he would stay inside my body for 3 more months. Or 40 more days. Or one more day. Thanking God for his birth, every breath, every milestone. Most people don't "get" why we are so excited over everything this child does...whether he excels at it or not. It's just the fact that he's HERE that is the miracle...and everything else is God blessing us far and beyond what we deserve.

Each of our children have been and are our greatest blessings, and we don't need one day a year to remember that. Our parents...the fact that they are still here...blessings to us. Jim's job was up in the air this year, and yet God has provided for us. There are many things on our prayer list regarding our children and their futures and all of that. We have seen this year that God leads us step-by-step. He doesn't show us the future...he doesn't tell us how things will all work out. He guides and strengthens us as we go.

I did some Christmas decorating today. For our Thanksgiving lunch, I warmed up Joshua's left-over chicken sandwich from our meal at Outback last night. I know, right? I made sausage balls...because they sounded good. I ate one of them and put the rest in a bag. They did not hit the spot. Then, I saw a partial bag of FROZEN mozzarella sticks that I sometimes fix for Clark after football practice. He comes in starving half to death and can't wait 10 minutes for dinner...so I try to have something ready to soothe the beast. Anyway, there were 6 in the bag and I made them. Nope...they weren't what I wanted, either. I gave up and made myself some hot tea.

Jim never ate lunch. He was busy putting together furniture. We finally bought a kitchen table and chairs the other day. We have been using a table from Jim's mom...and my Grandma Ellen's chairs. Every one of the chairs is broken in some way. Jim's chair was missing the entire back. I couldn't find exactly what I thought I wanted anywhere. The other day, we found a table and chairs we liked at a furniture outlet place (we're classy like that) and Jim picked it up yesterday. It was all in boxes and needed to be put together. That's what he did ALL day. He was trying to get it done in time for dinner, so that we could eat at our new table...but it was taking so long and I finally served dinner at the bar. We sat on our new bar-stools that we bought at Target last week. I mean, there were just 3 of us here...no sense being all fancy-like. I warmed up all the left-overs from the week, and, as Joshua says, "cleaned up the stuff in the frig."

I guess it wouldn't have been too good to have our first meal on our new table be frozen cheese sticks and sausage balls, right?

Oh, that sounds disgusting now.

It was a pretty good day. I've loved looking at everyone's pictures on social media....all gathered with family and friends for this holiday. Makes me happy to see.

Well, Clark just walked in and Logan is on his way home...then, Lord willing, all the bowies will be in the nest tonight. Holly and Aaron are still out-of-town.

So very thankful today.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Yeah...about that...

Remember when I said I was soooo happy after our family Thanksgiving meal that it wouldn't bother me at all that no one was here on Thanksgiving day?

Lies...all lies.

Well, maybe not a lie...it wasn't an intentional lie, anyway. Maybe I was just being optimistic. Maybe it was the Tryptophan from the turkey. Yeah...that was probably it. Let's blame the turkey.

All I'm saying is that Holly and Aaron left this morning. Jim has taken Joshua and Logan to a movie, and then Logan is leaving after that. And Clark will be leaving after his morning's football practice and spending Thanksgiving day with his girlfriend's family.

That's 3 of our 4 children spending Thanksgiving day with other families.

*sniff*

But, after typing this all out and taking some time to think rationally...technically, when all is said and done, Joshua, Logan AND Clark will all be sleeping in their beds here tomorrow night. They will just have plans during the day.

That doesn't sound as bad.

I think I'm gonna be okay. :)

"...I will not forget you." Isaiah 49:15

Thankful

Well, Thanksgiving is in 2 days, but here at my house? It's already happened. We had our Thanksgiving meal on Sunday night, because that's when all the kids could be here.

But each day that goes by, I am overwhelmed by thankfulness. It's been so cold here and I sit here in my warm house, with my family, safe and snug...and my heart is full with our many blessings. And my heart is heavy for those who are cold and hungry and alone. And in fear.

This is an ordinary day post...no funny Joshua story, no drama going on. Just real and every day life this week. Joshua is enjoying the break. Believe it or not, he is liking that we don't have a schedule. Now, he still wants to know what we are doing, and when, but so far he is having fun. He typically gets very out-of-sorts without a routine, but he's good for now!

Holly came over and helped me with a couple of our Christmas trees. I love using mesh, but I'm not very good at it. Holly is VERY good at it and she made everything look so pretty. She and Aaron are leaving tomorrow to head out-of-state for a few days...spending the holiday with Aaron's family.

It is great to have Logan home. You know, each child brings a different dynamic to our home. We are so thankful he is here. Things are definitely livelier when he's around!

Clark is having football practices every day. He was kind of grumbling about it the other day, and I told him that practicing and playing during Thanksgiving break means your team has made the play-offs...and that there are about 90 teams in our state who would LOVE to be in their position.

I just love this time of year. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow, so I plan on taking advantage of each day with my family! Love them all so much!

"...I will give thanks to You forever." Psalm 30:12