Free Range Family

We had a pretty mellow Thanksgiving this year, it was surprisingly wonderful! My parents and siblings all went to Townsend to see family for Thanksgiving, so we spent it with Lon's family and my father's relatives in the Heights. We were hoping to go up to Townsend to see my mother's relatives this year but as that sounded good in the summer, we just didn't have the funds to actually be able to make it happen. With my car breaking down in August, we spent more money then we had originally planned and couldn't afford to save up for a trip. I am sad about it, but hopeful. Lon reminded me that it only meant that we would have to postpone the trip, not cancel it entirely. We can probably save up for it again after Christmas is over and go in the spring, maybe for our anniversary. That would be cool because we would be able to see everyone AND it would kind of be like a "surprise" or "spontaneous" trip for my family. We usually only try to go up to T...

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my wonderful readers! <Via> I am very thankful for all of you! You are all so wonderful! I hope that your Thanksgiving is full of happiness, love, laughter and family. No matter who you are, where you live, or what your situation is, everyone has something to be thankful for. My family has a list so long, it keeps growing the more I think about it! We have had a rough year and some months, but we are getting back on our feet again. That is one thing to be thankful for right there! All of the support we have received from family and friends is another thing. There are many, many more! We are about to head out for our Thanksgiving festivities, so I will have to drop back in tomorrow and share my "Thankful List" with all of you. But I do hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and that everyone is able to spend it with someone they love and care about. That is all Thanksgiving is really about… Being thankful and being with tho...

Did you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and/or a great first day of Hanukkah? We did, that's for sure! Oh, our families are all so good to us, they love us no matter what. I get so sentimental around the holidays (or maybe I am all the time lol) and I remember all my fond memories with my family members. We are so lucky to have such a great group of people who love my children and surround us with security, happiness, hope and love. They help us with so much and we are endlessly grateful for them! Love you guys! We started out our Thanksgiving morning with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the tv. We had toasted bagels with strawberry cream cheese and cereal for breakfast. Alan and Anna both enjoyed watching the parade. Alan really liked the Power Rangers, Finn and Jake, the Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles and Spongebob. He was also quite excited to see Santa at the end. Anna enjoyed watching all the marching band performances with the dance teams, the Mad Hatter dance gro...

Happy Thanksgiving Day! Gobble, gobble says Alan's little turkey! For Thanksgiving this year, we plan on going over to Grandma Amber's house for a Thanksgiving lunch. We hope to also stop by Great Aunt Marnie's house to see Great Grandma Marcia and cousin James! Then we will be headed up to Great Aunt Carolyn's again for Thanksgiving dinner. It should be a beautiful, amazing day of love, family and thanksgiving! I hope everyone is also prepared to have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be thankful for! I know that we as a family sure do! I am so very thankful for my awesome family! We are truly the Fab Four, always together no matter the weather! I love my husband so much! He has been working his butt off at work and recently got a promotion! Great job Lon, we are so proud of you! Both of my children are so wonderful too. I am so thankful to have such loving, smart, silly children! Alan is such a little smartie, he is always asking qu...

I have been neglecting this blog bad this month, and I have no real excuses for why I haven't been posting.  :/ Sorry! I have been quite busy at work, I guess, we finally got a new boss at the daycare. She has a lot of big plans for the activity scheduling and for me, I am very excited to work with her! I was also sick this weekend, everyone else had it the week before. Everyone but Mister Alan of course, I don't think that boy ever gets sick. He's lucky! :) Yuck, I hate being sick and usually am only once a year myself. But it always stinks! I am glad that today I am finally starting to feel normal again. Anna and I have officially started our weekly Mama and Daughter dates while Alan is in preschool on Thursdays. We usually just go play in the YMCA Open Gym for an hour, but she just loves it! I enjoy spending time focusing on just her too, it is quite special to us both. I love that I get to spend individual time with both of my children! That way, both Alan and Anna h...

I have so much to be thankful for, I am still realizing this everyday. I know I have been MIA, but we are still getting our new place figured out. Earlier last week, my cousin Blake and his girlfriend Maddie had their beautiful baby boy. He was born at 5:30 in the evening and is a healthy seven pounds! They named him James. :) What a sweetheart he is! We have yet to meet him but cannot wait! I bet he is just gorgeous! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The children let Lon and I sleep in some and when I woke up, I made a big breakfast of eggs and bacon for everyone. Alan and I made four dozen pumpkin cookies for everyone, it was quite a bit harder than making cupcakes with him. There is a lot more to making pumpkin cookies than just mixing everything into one bowl. But they turned out fabulous nonetheless! Everyone enjoyed them, a complete success! First, we went to Great Grandma Carol's house. Aunt Carolyn and her whole family were there, including the adorable Miss Sophie. My...

Happy Thanksgiving!  I thought I would participate in this on my Facebook this year and also post them on here. It is always a good idea to be thankful, not only over November but everyday of every year. But for now, here is my 22 days of thankfulness! November 1: I am thankful that my family is not affected by Hurricane Sandy. I cannot imagine what some people are going throuhg right now because of that storm. Even though my family is struggling with our move etc., we are at least safe and sound. I pray for anyone affected by Hurricane Sandy. May you all find your way home. Our family does not have alot to give, but we have already donated to funds helping these people. I urge everyone to do the same! Our American brothers and sisters need some help! November 2: I am thankful for the gas man and MDU today. If not for him stopping by during his lunch break because they were so busy yesterday, we may have moved into our new house too soon and been in somewhat of a dangerous situ...

Still fixing and figuring out A LOT of things with our new house and I still have yet to get our internet set up at all. Plus, I am so busy dealing with everything, I barely have time to sit down during the day, let alone write a blog post. Le sigh...  But we are still here, still alive and still HAPPY, so that is good. Here is what has been happening with us this week. Let me say, I love where I work!!  I love that my job has occasional little perks like getting ballon swords and shields blown for your three year old... FOR FREE!!!!  This was Alan's treat I brought home from work this last Saturday. Yeah, I knew there was a reason I worked there lol! Not really, there are many  other reasons, but the perks are just wonderful! One way to find out if you stay at home too much??? You take pictures of fallen towels because they look artistic to you. Check! We have been having unbelievable amounts of problems with this new house. I do not even want to ful...

I have a wonderful family that was just created two years ago (when Alan was concieved) and there was once a time where I thought this family would never have been. My husband and I have been married by common law now for eight months, and what a great eight months its been. I'm endlessly blessed and thankful for my beautiful, smart and amazing son who was born just fourteen and a half months ago. Alan Miakel, we love you so! We are blessed to have such a wonderful apartment to live in. It may be old and a little small for this family, but after living here for almost half a year now we are grateful to have it. I am thankful that Lon has a good paying job as a supervisor at the Village Inn and that I also have a good paying job that I love as an art teacher and Child Watch worker at the YMCA. Lon's been at his job now for almost eight years and I've been with the Y for almost three months now. I am thankful that Lon and I both have supportive families. Both of our...