Living in Thanksgiving

Today I had to speak in church. Normally I despise speaking in church, and as much as I hate to admit it, this time around was a breeze. I was given the topic of living in Thanksgiving. The topic was great. Our ward never has the couples speak together, so Kevin spoke months ago and it was nice to sit on the stand and watch Kevin wrestle with the kids. I heard Josie squawk/squeal several times and saw Conor get lost trying to find his way back to the seat after a trip to the drinking fountain...It is a different view from the stand. Josie was having a very off day at church. She can't hold still for anything so I took her into the nursery to try her out since she can officially join in January. She did OK...she would have been fine if I left her alone, but I didn't dare leave her in fear of the havoc she would reak. She does not know how to share...she is very determined and I am afraid she can be a bit bossy. We are too lenient with her at home I guess. We will be working on that for the next month.

I have once again managed to escape learning how to cook turkey, I know I am pathetic. We spent Thanksgiving with Kevin's family and had a much better dinner then I could ever produce. We came home Friday evening to a bit of snow so the kids went out and played in it for a few minutes. Josie thought it was great-aside from the fact she couldn't walk very well with all the winter garb. We put most of our Christmas decorations up and I even talked Kevin into putting lights on the house and they look great! He was very reluctant, but once he got started he couldn't stop. :)

Happy December to everyone. Good luck with the Christmas craziness, and a bit of advice from my talk: It's not having what you want that counts, it's wanting what you have, and less is more. I need to live in Thanksgiving daily, and never take for granted the little things in life or assume that I deserve them, or created them on my own. The Lord has provided all.

8 Years!

Yesterday marked 8 years of wedded bliss for Kevin and me. We actually attempted to celebrate together. In our 8 years of marriage we have either been on a plane, in a car or with extended family on each of our anniversary's. So this year we almost didn't know what we were suppose to do, but we got a babysitter (flakey girl-1/2 hour late,) but babysitter none the less and we went out to dinner just the two of us. It was great to get out and reminisce about our courtship and early years. I giggle a little bit when I think about how we couldn't get enought of each other and how we lost much sleep, just to be together...look at us now, sadly things change. But, in some cases this change is for the better. On the day we got married I thought I loved Kevin as much as I could. I never imagined that I could love him any more. Boy was I wrong. I love Kevin a million times more today, and as we roll through life together I fall in love with him more and more every day. I am so grateful and blessed to be Mrs. Kevin Kellogg. I love you Kevin!

Conor quote

Today Conor was eating some red hots and he walks up to me and says "Mom feel my breath," he opens his mouth and blows all over me and says..."Isn't it HOT?" So cute. He is also referring to cinnamon bears as Hot Bears. Kevin keeps trying to correct him, but I think it is adorable. I hope he always calls them hot bears.

1st Time Out

Josie is in trouble! What to do with a 16 month old who thinks she is 5? Josie has to do everything Conor is doing, yet she still refuses to talk. She makes it a point to be in the middle of the action or else she will scream until there is no action. She is very very determined. We were playing a game at our tall kitchen table (counter height) because we wanted to keep it away from Josie. Well she figured out how to climb up on the tall tall chairs then proceeded to climb on top of the table. After pulling her off several times, we abandoned the game. Small problem. She now knows how to climb up on to the table and she thinks it is great fun. Josie is an accident waiting to happen. She always has a bump/cut or bruise on her head and now I am waiting for the broken arm or leg. So after struggling with the table I finally put her in her 1st time out. Oh was she mad. I even pulled out the camera to document so you could all see. It seemed to work for a while, but we still have the late afternoon stretch ahead of us.

Halloween Costumes

Conor/Luke Skywalker

Josie Bumblebee

Halloween at our house this year was great fun, we had a bumblebee and Luke Skywalker to keep us safe. Josie loved trick or treating. At the first house Josie just kept going back for more candy, then she saw their dog and dropped all the candy and we had to drag her away, the 2nd house she tried to give them candy from the last house, and when they declined, she decided to take a few extra from them. The next couple houses she had it figured out and she took as much as she could in the first offer and then would try to sneak into the house if she could see or hear a dog in the back. She is fascinated with dog's since we don't have one. Fortunately the neighbors all have one so she can get her fill from them. We trick or treated in the neighborhood and then Dad and Josie went home and Conor and I went and met a friend in their neighborhood and trick or treated some more. It is incredible how much candy he hauled in. At first it was hard to resist, but he is getting to where he will choose a treat after meals now. I guess he realized he didn't need to eat it all at once. All though the good chocolate mysteriously disapears if he doesn't get to it first? Hmmm...

Pumpkin Carving

Conor was begging to carve pumpkins for weeks and weeks before Halloween and he was more then ready when the time came. He carved this entire pumpkin all by himself. He did a great job! Thank goodness for the new pumpkin tools that are pretty non lethal, I remember back in the day trying to carve a pumpkin with a butcher knife.