Thanksgiving 2017

Thanksgiving 2017 was sweet and special. Plus super delicious and tasty! We had a great time celebrating with both of our families and enjoyed all the food, fun, and family time. It was full day of giving thanks and enjoying our blessings. His faithfulness and grace are abundant!

We started the day pretty early by dropping off a super simple dish at my parents' house and then posing for our annual party of 5 Thanksgiving Day family photo. ☺

My babies are growing so fast. And it's so bittersweet! 

Thanksgiving 2016... 

2015.... 

And Layton's first, 2014....

While we were there we were able to check out the massive turkey. The boys were super impressed.... and maybe a little weird-ed out. Ha! They've never seen one like this before since it's always carved by the time we partake of it. It was soo good!

We quickly headed over to Terrell's parents' house Thanksgiving morning after the quick stop by Granna's and Papa's. This year Terrell's sister and her fam were here so we enjoyed the first half of the day with them. We watched the parade together, the kids played a ton, and then we ate a delicious meal prepared by my mother-in-law. Everything was amazing!

I remembered to snap this picture of the kiddos while they got ready for dessert!

After we were all stuffed and most of the mess was cleared away the cousins wanted to go outside. It was chilly but a really pretty day. They had a ball playing together.

Then we decided to attempt a Thanksgiving Day family selfie and I love how it turned out! So thankful for each and every member!!

 Around 3:00 or so we headed over to my parents' house where they host an all day feast. ☺ Most of the family comes for lunch but my aunt and uncle typically stay for supper and so does our family of 5 and Anna's family. Even though I didn't get to see the spread in person, Anna grabbed these pictures for me. YUM!! There is a ton of food and everything is pretty much perfect. It's definitely my favorite meal of the year. 

My boys with Granna and Papa.... 

The best examples of hosting and generosity I know. They have set the bar HIGH. 

The boys enjoyed a little more dessert and some time with their cousins inside before changing into play clothes and spending the rest of the afternoon outside. 

They had so much fun. And then we enjoyed another amazing meal and quality time with family. It was a blessed day we are so thankful for. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

Pre-Thanksgiving Fun

I am finally ready to post some festive updates! Yay!! Modern technology is a perk I really appreciate!! ☺

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving Break so much. It was really fun with some crazy mixed in too. But before we even kicked off our break (way back on Friday the 17th), I got to go watch my sweet little man in his Thanksgiving program at school. It was the cutest thing ever and I smiled the whole time! Layton did great!! I was SO proud of him. 

My little pilgrim with his letter I. His class held up the letters to spell the word Thanksgiving and they all had a speaking part. Layton's line was "I is for ice cream on top of the pie!" He said it loud and clear and did sooo good! 

Presh!!

After the program everyone went to the gym for their feast. It was so cute. 

My favorite little pilgrim. ☺ I was so thankful to get away from school to go watch my baby. It was the sweetest, cutest program. Big thanks to Granna and Piper for coming too and taking this pilgrim home with them.

On Friday night and Saturday we enjoyed lots of Christmas decorating. I was so busy, (and tired!), that I completely forgot pictures. Terrell made this one because Layton was so proud of his tree. He has been so excited about Christmas and his joy is just contagious! We are looking forward to the season big time!!

Then on last Sunday afternoon we surprised the boys with one more trip to Six Flags using our season passes. We really wanted to experience "Holiday in the Park" so we made it happen even though it was super chilly. We had fun, enjoyed the lights, decor, music, and rides, and made lots of memories. It was a cold, kinda short, successful surprise outing!

Our routine the past couple of times we've gone to Six Flags is for Garrison and Terrell to go ride a roller coaster while I take these 2 to Boomtown. 

Once we met back up with Terrell and Garrison and they all 3 rode some things together they wanted to play on the big playground that we usually skip over. They loved it.

3 Selph boys plus Porky Pig. ☺

Layton requested his picture with this Christmas tree. #lovehim

We usually ride the old fashion cars back to back trading off drivers and I finally got to enjoy a front seat ride with my biggest. ☺

And then we got to see daddy driving the brothers. Haha! When they left I'm pretty sure there was a different driver!

I am still cracking up at this picture!

We all rode the hot air balloons and froze as we flew through the air. Ha.

Carousel fun!

My favorite display. 

Our very last ride was Layton's favorite.... the choo choo train! It was cold and the big boys were ready to be done and get warm but we enjoyed our ride and loved seeing all the lights. 

It was a fun trip that we topped off with Waffle House for supper on the way home. ☺

We slept in on Monday and got ready for our new septic system to be installed.... which meant our backyard was under construction! Our pool is coming soon!!!

On Tuesday we pulled off a super fun birthday party for my Granny! She did really good at her party and blew out all of her candles, which represented 89 years! It was a special night with family. We sure are thankful for her!

And to wrap up our pre-Thanksgiving fun, we went our town's illumination celebration on Thanksgiving Eve! We hadn't been since Austin was a baby but made the effort to go this year. Our town is just one of a kind-special. We had a fun night ringing in the Christmas season. 

Phew. It was a full week but we enjoyed it lots! Next up, Thanksgiving! Praying we can all get back into the swing of things today and enjoy our school days leading up to Christmas. Happy Monday!

Festive Updates Coming Soon

I was so looking forward to blogging more this week, but it wasn't meant to be. We are having tons of work done in our backyard as we tackle the beginning stages of pool-prep and now we don't have internet until Friday morning at the earliest. Boo!!

So I will have to try my best to manage several updates next week I suppose. In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy our break, savor our extra time at home and with family, and look forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas trees, decorating, and giving thanks. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!! I'm looking forward to getting back here soon!

Little Notes from November

*Soccer season is officially in the books. It was fun, it was busy, it was exciting, it was exhausting, it was a blessing. I am thankful for the season, thankful for the opportunity to watch my boys play a sport they love, and thankful for the friendships and fun that come from our teams. And now I'm thankful for the off season. Mama is ready. ☺

*This week has felt sooo long and s   l    o    w. #whenisitFriday? #bringonThanksgivingBreak We started off the week with daddy going out of town, 2 out of 3 boys needing to go to the doctor, mama feeling under the weather, and me preparing for my first ever state audit as a PreK teacher. (Daddy is now home. YAY!!! We miss him so much when he's out of town! My boys are on the mend. Thank you Jesus. I still have the crud but we've almost made it through the week. And, our audit... that we were randomly selected for... went super well.) But it's been a long week. I'm about checked out already. Ha. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. 

*Even though I'm worn out and ready for our break, I am looking forward to a teacher feast today at school, a fun party/feast tomorrow with my students (we're recreating the 1st Thanksgiving and my class is the Pilgrims and yesterday we invited our Native American friends to join us as we celebrate our harvest so generously supplied by our wonderful parents. ☺), AND I get to go see my baby in his very first Thanksgiving school program. He has a line to say and everything. I am so excited to be there and watch him and his class. I had to miss his first little program of the school year so this one is super special. 

*Our Christmas decorations are coming out soon!! #happydance #alltheChristmascarols #allthetwinklelights Most years we pull out a little at a time over the span of a couple of weeks and finish up with the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year, with me working, I think we're about to do some heavy duty decorating starting this weekend.... or today? or immediately! ☺ 

*My hubby is home and I am sooo thankful! He really is the best and does a TON for us around here. And last night, when I complained of my sore throat driving me crazy and a longing for ice cream, he went to DQ for me. My only regret is that I didn't request a large. Haha. It was delish and soothing! Now I need a whole carton of vanilla bean ASAP!

*We use a video monitor for the boys during the night (we have 2 cameras, 1 for each room) and we can monitor any shenanigans going on if needed but mainly it's because we can talk to them through it and because our room is far away from their rooms. So this way we can hear them if they wake up crying, sick, from a bad dream, etc. Well, the cameras still work but our monitor quit working over the weekend. So we've been without for days. Boo. So bedtime has been a little more challenging and I haven't been sleeping as well because it's too quiet. The new monitor is on the way and I'm counting down. Clearly I'm dependent on modern technology. Haha.

*Our county approved a new school calendar for next year that will change things up a bit. It's not the calendar option I voted for so I'm not thrilled, but we'll make the best of it. We get an extra week of summer but a shorter Thanksgiving Break and shorter Winter Break. I may be in the minority but as a teacher and as a mama I prefer all my breaks. Week long breaks. I'm fine with starting a little earlier in order to keep them. But it'll be fine. I'm a little concerned about a Monday start (we've done a Friday start the past few years) but we'll survive and make the best of it. School calendar problems really are first world problems. #keepitinperspective

*Our Christmas card is officially in the works!! Yaaaaaay!! We chose our picture, chose our line, and now my bestie is working on doing her thing! Christmas cards in general are just one of my favorite things! I can't wait to see what she comes up with. And to share our family photos this year. I love them!!

*I'm so excited to wrap up this week of school, enjoy our weekend and our break, and welcome Thanksgiving and the Christmas season! It's my favorite time of the year!! Happy Friday Eve!

***Happy Anniversary to my sister and brother-in-law!! This date 4 years ago is one of my very favorites EVER!

Friday Favorites: Busy, Busy, Busy Edition

Well this week has been a doozy. I think I've reached my busiest stretch of the school year yet. Eeesh. Unfortunately it's been a little stressful. I really just want to plan for Thanksgiving and Christmas and start decorating my house and Christmas shopping but I am CONSUMED with all things school right now. Boo. It'll all work out and be fine I know, but I love November and this is the first time in years I haven't been able to truly enjoy the start of the holiday season. So that's disappointing. But TGIF!! Yay for Friday and weekends and soccer wrapping up and plans for decorating soon! ☺

Here's a look at my faves from our week of BUSY....

*But first, going back to before Halloween, Austin and I were able to enjoy Field Day at school. It was so much fun. I'm super thankful we get to be at the same school for a few years!

*And then the day after Halloween, we let Layton stay home with Granna because he woke up exhausted and moody and emotional. #blessit He stayed in character as Bat America almost the whole day. Hahaha. He is already talking about what he wants to be next year for Halloween.

*Layton Thomas wrapped up his very first soccer season this past Saturday! He was the youngest on his team and I believe the most improved! ☺It was so fun watching him play. And funny. 

*Garrison also wrapped up his regular season of soccer on Saturday. He had a great season and loved every second. We have a tournament this weekend and then that's a wrap! I have LOVED watching my boys play. 

*Since mama is overwhelming busy right now, the rest of the family has to pick up my slack. So we taught our firstborn an important life lesson on Sunday night.... vacuuming! He did a great job and mama was thankful!!

*We celebrated Austin's soccer season this week with his team party. Even though he had to miss a few weeks during the middle of the season due to HSP, he had a great one! 

*We had a super fun party and loved celebrating his undefeated team with his coaches and teammates. 

*This is the only team picture I got, which another mom sent to me, and you can't even see Austin's face. Haha. But he's right beside Garrison. Who wasn't even on this team. ☺Austin did amazing all season long. Watching all 3 boys play was just so fun. I'm ready for the off season but treasured all those game days.

*The very next night we celebrated Layton's season with his team right here in our neighborhood. It was a fun night for all of us.

*We got to roast marshmallows and everything. ☺

*Garrison was the only one who wanted a s'more but all of us had a great time. Layton was part of a sweet team with sweet families.

*First Christmas pjs of the season came on last night!! Thanks Granna! They all requested them after baths/showers last night because it's chilly here.... yay!!

*We had chili and baked potatoes last night and enjoyed a quiet evening at home thanks to a rainy day and a cancelled soccer practice. 

*And now Garrison and I are almost done with his school project! #allthepraisehands #mamaloathesaschoolproject

We are so thankful for the weekend! It's going to be full of soccer, Georgia football, more soccer, grocery shopping, a little school work, and extra rest! 

 Happy Friday!!