A Must-Read Novel!

This weekend I had the pleasure of reading a new book ("The Senator's Youngest Daughter by Kelley Rose Waller) that was such a page-turner, I finished the entire thing in a 24-hour period. It was not only an easy read (with suspense, action, drama and a little romance weaved in), it was also a novel that makes you think.

Is America today what our forefathers envisioned? How have we gotten to a place where someone's name recognition means more than what he or she stands for when running for political office? What happens when America sits back and refuses to vote or be heard because what can "just one person" do? Can anyone make a difference?

What happens when we believe we are entitled to rights versus working hard for what we should earn? What happens when we believe all the lies the media spoon feeds to us?

This is a story in which absolute power corrupts absolutely. We see inside the propaganda and the masses being discontent with what the government is doing but not willing to act. Both disbelief in the power of the people and sheer laziness make this nation waver toward an extremely destructive path.

In this novel, one family works together to try to stop the madness and bring true liberty back toward America. "The Senator's Youngest Daughter" is captivating and fast-paced and makes you want to finish the next page and then the next. A family's love and conviction for our nation and true liberty help inspire us to be more aware of the current political climate.

This one is a must-read! Find your copy on Amazon.

Caleb's Preschool Thanksgiving Program

The week before Thanksgiving, Caleb's preschool had its annual Thanksgiving program. Notice this cool turkey hat he made!

Daddy took off work to be there, and Ryan sat with him. Mamaw also came to see the show, but I somehow missed getting a picture with her there. Here's Caleb's class!

He was excited to sing the songs and say the verses. At the end, the turkeys ran off and he LOVED running of the stage!

After the program, we went back down to Caleb's classroom for a snack.

I loved my little buddies in their matching sweaters. :)

I helped Caleb go through the line, and Shawn stayed for a couple minutes before heading back to work (and Mamaw left then as well - the classroom gets packed with all the kiddos and parents!).

The little boy next to Caleb is one who told me, "You're SO pretty!" when I helped in Caleb's classroom the one day. He's a little charmer. :) I could see Caleb saying something like that to a mom.

Ryan LOVES to be in the classroom. He begs to go to preschool, too, like his older brothers.

I love the season of giving thanks - just like I love my little turkeys! :)

SickER

The Saturday night after Isabella's party, Shawn took Joshua to the ER. He was experiencing severe abdominal pain, and we just wanted to make sure it wasn't his appendix or something else major that needed to be treated immediately.

The ER doctors didn't think it was related to his semi-persistent bouts with constipation and discovered trace amounts of blood in his urine so they ordered a CT scan to look for kidney stones. None showed up on the test, and everything else looked good (gall bladder, appendix, etc were all checked via this test). Since they determined it wasn't life-threatening and the ER was packed, they allowed Joshua to go home.

We followed up Monday morning with the pediatrician who thought it was strange that they told us that there were trace amounts of blood in his urine. She said that was normal. She looked at the test results herself and said nothing looked out of the ordinary. She tested his urine again and said it was free from bacteria or anything that would cause alarm. She pushed on his belly and examined everything closely and said other than his pain, it's really a mystery. She wants us to get him on a more regular schedule with his constipation and make a follow-up appointment with his former GERD specialist, but she said this is more precautionary. She said that if it were food allergies, he would have vomiting and weight loss (neither of which he's experienced).

So, her best assumption is that they pain will just go away. There was no treatment and told us to follow up if he was still in pain after a couple more days have passed.

I was skeptical of the doctor's report at first, but within a week, I experienced the worst abdominal pain I have felt since having a c-section. I was supposed to run a 10K race in Lebanon the following Saturday and I was in so much pain I had to text my friends and say I wasn't going to make it. I was SO sick! Since I had my gall bladder and appendix removed already - and because Joshua had just had similar pain - I never did go to the doctor. But, my pain was bad enough that we talked about the possibility of going to get checked out. I didn't vomit or have other issues, it was just make-you-double-over in PAIN! That said, I was actually grateful for the sickness. I had been so worried about my little Bean and was thankful that it was most likely just a virus. We were all fine within a couple weeks. Praise God!

Will We Survive?

On November 13, Joshua came home from school and exclaimed "It's getting so cold out! I hope we survive the winter..."

A Date with Daddy

After his last soccer game, I had taken Joshua on a date to Sweet Frog to celebrate. We've been trying to be more intentional about having one-on-one time with the kids. So, on November 16, Daddy took Caleb with him on a date. They went to Sweet Frog (the boys LOVE it!) and enjoyed some ice cream before hitting the grocery store. The boys love this special time together with us. :) We love our little men!

Happy birthday! :)

We were invited to Nonie & Poppy's house to celebrate Jordon's 11th birthday with Aunt Alicia and the 'Good' side of the family. We sang to him, watched him blow out his candles and enjoyed seeing him open his gifts. The boys LOVE Jordon (so do we, of course) and they follow him around. Joshua even told Jordon about a bad dream he'd have. Jordon is very patient with the younger kiddos, which we appreciate. They always have so much fun!

After this, Ryan kept telling us every day that it was Jordon's birthday. He wanted to go celebrate Jordon's birthday again! It's Jordon's birthday today! Imagine his surprise when I told him that we were soon going to celebrate Jesus' birthday (with Christmas around the corner). Ryan wasn't too sure that anyone got to have a birthday but Jordon.

On the 16th of November, we celebrated Isabella's 6th birthday at That Bounce Place. Here are Daddy with Ryan and Mr. Chris with Aiden when we first arrived.

Ryan didn't really want to bounce, but he loved playing basketball with Daddy!

I didn't get too many pictures there, even though the boys were having a blast! It's hard to take pictures while kids are literally jumping up and down. Most of them were downright blurry. The boys loved climbing the big slide and going through the mazes and meeting new friends and playing with the kids from the party.

Ryan loves to bounce at Universal, but he wasn't too sure about it here. I think he also just wanted to be close to Shawn.

Caleb would sometimes go and play with Daddy and Ryan, too. He was a big helper!

I chatted with our friends and walked back and forth, making sure I could at least find the boys at all times.

Then we went to the party room where they served pizza for lunch, we sang to Izzy and her cousin (they had a double party) and watched them blow out their candles. She handed the boys little goody bags as thank you gifts when we left, which the kids LOVED. They had had so much fun!

Lisa and I also planned a date for just the two of us on November 21. She picked me up and we went to Carrabba's without the hubbies or the kids. It was FUN! I love going out with girlfriends. She asked me if she should bring me flowers for our date, and I giggled and said only if she wanted me to put out. We agreed no flowers needed - ha! :) :)

Thanksgiving Crafts

The above picture is of Caleb's preschool creation, which I thought was SO cute! It's an apple with the "feathers" being grapes and marshmallows and the head is a craft stick with a turkey head on it stuck in. Loved it! Caleb immediately ate it when he got home. :)

Mamaw & Papaw (used to be from Florida and now it's Tennessee) sent the boys Pilgrim & Indian crafts in the mail.

The boys enjoyed taking these little wooden dolls out and using markers to color them in.

 Here was Caleb's finished Indian:

Joshua picked a Pilgrim to decorate.

Here's his finished product:

Ryan also got markers and colored an Indian:

He colored himself and the table cloth, too! Good thing it's washable. :)

Here was a picture of him with his finished product. He wouldn't hold it up for us, but you get the idea.

Later in the month, Aunt Becky offered to come over and bring some Thanksgiving crafts with her for the boys to complete. These were little "Thankful" wreaths, and they were so cute!

After pulling apart all the foam leaves, wreath and other pieces, she told the boys to write on each one something that they were thankful for. They had to really think!

Becky asked Ryan what he was thankful for. He immediately responded, "BREAKFAST!" We laughed. He does indeed love breakfast. :)

Joshua said he was thankful for family, food, oxygen to breath (a good one for him!), water to drink, school and friends, and God.

Caleb said he was thankful for preschool, his brothers, Mommy & Daddy, food and God (if I'm remembering correctly).

Becky wrote down anything Ryan said he was thankful for, which included his brothers and family. :)

Then we used these glue dots that she brought to adhere the leaves to the green wreath.

After gluing the leaves on, we glued on a bow.

Then we glued on the holder to keep the wreath up.

After that craft, Aunt Becky gave them each a Thanksgiving scene where they could put stickers on to complete it how they wanted. They both enjoyed doing that as well.

Before she left, I tried to get some pictures of the kids and their crafts with her. Enjoy!

Thanks for the crafts and fun times!