Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have to admit that before 2011, I was able to fully engage in the holidays. Sure, I had grandparents and family members that had passed that I missed but my "bubble" was still in tact. After losing Jason, I honestly wondered if there would ever be a Thanksgiving or Christmas that I didn't want to just skip over. I can't honestly say that I embrace the holidays with full force like I once did but I'm trying my best to be intentional and enjoy life. It's hard. Losing someone so close gives you another perspective and opens your eyes to pain and especially pain that others feel. Looking back, I feel guilty that I lived in my bubble and wasn't as sympathetic as I should have been. The holidays provide laughter and joy but it also brings pain. Pain for so many that will somehow slap a smile on their face tomorrow and pretend that they are okay. I want to encourage each of you to pray. Pray specifically for those that have an empty seat at the table tomorrow and the tomorrow after that. Although many of us are blessed to have additional seats join the table, it never replaces the ones still empty. 

We had Thanksgiving at my sister's house this year since we were unsure the status of our house situation (still trying to sell/show it, etc....)

My mother-in-law, Faye and my sister-in-law, Jennifer

My boys and their cousins- McKenzie and Colton

Jennifer and her dad, Jerry.

My sister and her husband, David.

How in the world is my 13 year old now taller than ALL of us??

Watching the Cowboys play.

If you've never played Lolz before.....I highly encourage you to do it.  Not sure I have laughed this hard, ever.

Playing other games too!

Love all these people!

Hope everyone had a great day!

More House

Last Friday, my boys had Grandparents Day at school.  Jason's mom and stepdad went.

A friend of mine texted this to me on Friday and it made me laugh so hard!  As much as I love this fun tradition, I do admit that I get tired of moving this thing.

We got a contract on our house last Thursday!  We have our inspection tomorrow so I'm praying nothing serious shows up.  The amazing part is that the buyers are willing to let us lease back until mid January....which will get us that much closer to our new house being ready.

In the midst of the craziness.....sometimes you take an hour to yourself and get a mani/pedi.  Ahh!

Brick/stone should hopefully start in the next week or so.

This week they started the trim....

The ceiling in the dining room.

Starting the trim around the windows.....

Pillars in the media room.....

Eek!  We are excited for granite and backsplash!

This guy discovered an issue in a section of our wood floors.  That got fixed on Friday so he went around the whole house and made sure it was all level.

Things are coming together!

House Updates

You guys, this thing is finally feeling like a home! We came in the other day and saw the walls taped.....

......and the wood floors being laid. 

These boys love playing with all the scraps laying around.

Several months ago, we went to the design center and picked most of our stuff.  We found a granite we really liked and even saw it in a kitchen (which helps because lets be honest- choosing granite from a small 5X5 square is just hard)  When it came time for us to go and choose the actual slabs for our kitchen.....the slabs looked NOTHING like the sample or the kitchen.  I believe those were about 3 years old and the granite had really changed a lot.  The sample we originally saw was light and the actual slabs were a dark gray.  We have spent the last 2 weeks jumping through hoops trying to get the granite company to let us come and browse (don't even get me started on their crazy rules) and this has had me beyond stressed.  We built our entire kitchen around that granite so every back splash, tile, paint, stain was coordinated with that.  Finally, after several trips and phone calls, we found a granite yesterday that will work. 

 Building a house is not for the weak.

So after our appointment we went to lunch and celebrated with table side guacamole! :)

Last night, they started installing all of our cabinets.  We had our meeting with our trim guy today and this concludes the last meeting or appointment where we have to make decisions.  Now we can sit back and hopefully watch it all be installed correctly.

While digging through some boxes last week, I ran across this picture.  I was probably about 23 and it was my 2nd year of teaching I think.  This sweet girl and I reconnected on FB a few years ago and she is about to get married.  Makes me feel really old!!

Packing and Selling

This last week we spent our days clearing out each room and getting it ready to list.  Our entertainment center in our playroom was packed full of Legos.  We knew we needed to declutter this area so we had the boys remove them and make a "keep" and "sell" pile.  I will say that I'm sad to see this Pac Mac scene go.  Cooper made this a while back and it makes me smile every time I see it.

This whole time I've been thinking that we would have a huge garage sale before we moved.  But time is not on our side.....we are getting close to the holidays......and we decided to just donate it all.  We made several trips this week.

Sometimes I let my guard down while entering the boys rooms.  Ha! Boys crack me up.

I don't like getting political on social media.  But this I can post and feel good about......

Yes.

I purchased this dry erase board for Hudson a while back so that he could get organized with his assignments.  I was cleaning his room out the other day and grabbed this to put into his closet.  I found these goals that he had written.  Awe, sweet boy!

Sometimes you have to stop packing and play some Jenga!

Saturday was Shawn's mom's birthday so we went to their house to hang out.

Shawn with his sister and parents.

And all the crazy kids!

We listed our house Saturday morning.  We had an open house Sat and another one today.  Can't wait to see how this thing goes. :)