It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas....

We have been busy with Christmas programs, baking, decorating, and digging out of the snow! Thats right we had about a foot of snow this past weekend. The kids absolutely loved playing in the snow and we even took them sledding. We had bought them sleds for Christmas and gave them early so they could play.

The kids can hardly wait for Christmas to get here. We are planning on having a lot of family time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I really want to just enjoy spending time together.
Unfortunately Dalton no longer believes in Santa Clause. He came home from school today and told me. I was really surprised he hadn't figured it out yet but he said a kid at school told him and he thought about it and agreed. I asked him what made him think Santa wasn't really real and he said that it was because reindeer really couldn't fly. When I asked him how he knew that he said "Because they don't have wings" LOL! Thankfully he has agreed not to tell Lyric or Samara yet!

Lyric continues to keep us laughing. Here are just a few of our recent conversations with her.

We put up a nativity set with the kids and each night we would put up one piece and read a story about that character. Lyric was so excited and everynight she would say who it was i.e. Mary, Joseph, the Shephard, etc.. then the night came where we pulled out the baby and she said.."It's baby Moses!" We gently informed her that it was baby Jesus!

Lyric came home from school and asked me if I knew the song, "Jesus born in Buffaloham"!

My mom sent the kids a package with Christmas ornaments and new toothbrushes. I was putting their new toothbrushes out and putting their old ones in a plastic sack to throw away when Lyric asked, "Mom, are we gonna send those to Kuper?" I informed her that we would not be sending Kuper their old toothbrushes! I wonder if she thinks he sent them his old toothbrushes?!

Much more to share including pictures but for now I have many present to wrap! Wishing all our friends and family a very Merry Christmas!

Santa

Getting Samara to quit crying while sitting on Santa's lap......DIFFICULT!

Getting Lyric to stop talking to Santa for 5 seconds.......CHALLENGING!

Getting all 3 kids to all look at the camera while seeing Santa........IMPOSSIBLE!

Thankful...

I am thankful for a love like this......

I am thankful for a miracle like this......

I am thankful for blessings like this......

I am thankful for joy like this......

.

I am thankful for moments like this......

and this........

and this.........

but most of all I am thankful for a family like this ..........

This post is a bit late. But I am truly thankful for all that God has blessed me with. We really enjoyed Thanksgiving this year. It was filled with great food, shopping, and relaxing at home together.

City Life!

So you might be wondering just what our city life is like....

On weekdays Dustin and I wake up around 4:30 a.m. (That's right a.m.!) I wake the kids up at 5:35 and we are out the door by 6:15. Generally I ride with Dustin and the kids and they drop me off at the subway station by their school. Dustin and the kids go on to school and I take the subway to my office where I begin work at 7:30. The kids all go to school with Dustin and Samara stays in the class next to Dustin's classroom. There are 4 one year olds in her room and she loves going there! I get off work at 4:00 and I take the subway home, Dustin and the kids drive home after school and we are usually all home by 5:30. Then as most working parents know its a race to get supper cooked, homework finished, lunches packed, baths, books read, hugs, kisses, prayers, and all kids to bed by 8:00. One of my favorite times of the day is when the kids are all in bed asleep and Dustin and I have an hour or two (depending on how tired we are) of quiet time alone! One or two days a week I work from home instead of going to the office or working in the field. This really helps me keep things in order at home.

After school and work we head to the church on Friday evenings where we have services for kids, youth and adults. Dustin and I are currently helping out with the youth. It is neat to see some of the kids we had 6 and 7 years ago now in youth. Saturday mornings we have about an hour or two of "cleaning the apartment". Then we spend the day having family time unless we have something special going on at the church. Sundays we go to church which is close to an all day event here! Our church is located on the lower east side of Manhattan and we absolutely love our church family here. We usually leave church around 2:00, stop somewhere for food, and end the day relaxing at home and preparing for the next week.

That's just a quick run down of our new life. The kids are all doing so well. They are trying new things, eating new foods, and learning. Last week we purchased necessities, candy, and toys for needy children and Dalton and Lyric took the boxes to school. Dalton told me after school that day that he got up during Chapel and spoke in front of 2nd through 5th graders about how he felt about giving. Too say I was so proud is an understatement. Lyric has been memorizing memory verses at school and comes home so excited about what she has learned. I feel so blessed that they are going to a school where there is such diversity but also where they have teachers and staff that love them and where they can learn about God. I see Dalton and Lyric growing and changing so much. It is amazing to see this new life for them. A life where there is not constant uncertainty or worry of what will happen tomorrow.

This Saturday we are having family pictures made at Central Park. I'm really excited because it will be our first family picture with all 5 of us. Afterwards we will be going to the church and helping with Boxes of Love. A church in Greenwich, CT partners with our church and we pack about 40 to 50 boxes with a turkey, pies and canned goods to take to needy families in the area around our church. We break up in teams and deliver the boxes and pray with the families. It is a very rewarding experience and I am excited for Dalton and Lyric to be able to participate.

There is so much to do this time of year, baking, christmas shopping, decorating, etc...... and I still haven't finished hanging stuff in our apartment. Oh well! It will eventually get done. I'm looking forward to having some time off of work next week...to spend time with my family, eat some delicious food, and to decorate for Christmas. It will be a fun time and a sad time. We will definitely be missing all of our friends and family back in Oklahoma. Wish we could be with you all!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Last Tuesday we celebrated Dustin's 32nd birthday! We had dinner at Dustin's favorite restaurant, Edo's. We also had cake and Samara had her 1st taste of Chocolate Icing! She is doing so well and has been off of her reflux meds for over 2 weeks. No problems...just a very happy baby! The week was full of preparations for our church's Fall Festival. Which was on Saturday evening. The kids could not hardly wait until it was time to dress up. They had so much fun! Dalton was a super cute Mario!

Lyric was an adorable Strawberry Shortcake!

Samara was a beautiful Butterfly! I really wanted to get a picture of all three of the kids together but Samara wasn't having it. She is on the move and doesn't have time for pictures. Oh well...maybe next year!

Here are the kids and some friends from church...I couldn't believe they kept their costumes on all night and they totally had a blast at the Festival.

Here is Samara and me during the Fall Festival. Dustin and I helped organize volunteers for all of the games. It was a lot of fun and exhausting! There were so many kids and families from the neighborhood that came. It is really an awesome outreach. The last time we were in New York we held the Fall Festival inside the church but it grew so much that now they rent the outside area of a nearby school and all the moon bounce activities. They also provide cotton candy, popcorn, and a sack with goodies for every kid. I don't know what the total count was but I know there were a ton of people there even with the rain that came in around 8:00 that night.

I had to add this pic. Isn't this girl adorable. She was all dressed up for church on Sunday! Dalton and her were mad that they didn't have Sunday School this Sunday. It was cancelled due to the Fall Festival and clean up. They earned extra Sunday School dollars this weekend by helping out so much. They are really excited about that!

Hopefully this week will be back to normal. We are slowly getting into our new normal routine. Can't believe it is already November and Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

Where Does the Time Go?

My goal was to update once a week....but I am already behind! Time is definitely precious and I've learned that my time with the kids is more important than being on the computer so I blog when I feel like it after the kids are in bed. The week before last we had visitors! I know we just moved and we barely had unpacked but it was sooo much fun! Dustin's cousin, Tanner, and his wife, Amanda, and their precious little girl, Ava.We had beautiful weather and then they came and brought all the cold and rainy weather they have been having in Oklahoma. We really enjoyed our time with them. Amanday and I went to see Mamma Mia while the guys stayed home with the kids. We had a blast! Especially because we had awesome seats in the 2nd row right behind the conductor! The next evening Tanner and Dustin went to a Yankees playoff game while Amanda and I stayed home with the kids. We watched the movie Mamma Mia and decided that the play was much better. On Saturday we took the kids to a Children's Museum in Manhattan. Here are the kids all bundled up waiting on the train (Subway). Dalton loved building things with blocks at the museum.
Samara is one crazy driver!

Lyric surprisingly did not cooperate this day for pictures. Here's a pic of Samara on the train. She's a true City Girl!

Tanner and Amanda left that Sunday and with them went the bad weather! Last week we enjoyed our first full week in New York without any visitors! It was nice to get into a regular schedule. The kids are doing wonderful at their new school. Our days start extremely early but the kids hardly complain. They are experiencing new things. Dalton loves watching all the cars and Lyric is curious about all the different languages that people speak. She asked me the other day if she goes to a "Spanish School"! I told her no but that she goes to a diverse school that has children from many different countries so they may speak different languages. There are not many blond haired blue eyed kids here and she is definitely noticing the difference! I think she really likes it because all the older girls at the school think that Lyric and Samara are SO CUTE! I do too! Dalton has to fix his hair by himself everyday. It is quite interesting because he takes forever to "fix" his hair and when he is finished I sometimes have to hide my smile. Let's just say he has been having some "fun" hairstyles.

I recently took Samara off of her acid reflux medication and this past weekend we gave Samara Spaghetti with red sauce for the 1st time. She did wonderful! She slept all night and I did not notice any problems!! She really enjoyed the spaghetti!

She loves macaroni & cheese too!

So we were busy this weekend looking for a 2nd vehicle. We didn't find one yet. I attended a bridal shower for a friend that is getting married in December. It was at a tea house in Manhattan. It was lots of fun getting away for a while and enjoying the tea party! Dustin took Dalton and Lyric to see Where the Wild Things Are. I think they had a great time. Samara stayed with a sitter. The rest of the weekend was spent going to church and preparing for the church's Fall Festival this coming weekend. I will share more about that later. We are all doing really well. I can't tell you how proud of the kids I am. They are really amazing!

Columbus Day Apple Picking

My friend Deidre and I used to go apple picking every year on Columbus Day. It is hard to believe that 4 years ago to the day we signed a contract on a house in Mustang. After we got back home from apple picking that day we faxed the signed contract to our realtor. Now here we are back in NY four years later picking apples with 5 little helpers! The kids had so much fun picking and eating the apples. Even Samara and Marcus, Deidre's little boy, loved eating the apples. The weather was perfect fall weather and the leaves on the trees were absolutely beautiful. After apple picking we went to Chilis to eat dinner and then finished the day with some shopping! It was a great end to our weekend. It was even better when we returned home and found out that Daddy had finished all the house projects that needed done! I'm truly married to the greatest husband and father. Samara loved the Molten Lava Cake at Chilis. Got to love that girls' crazy hair!
Isn't this the most perfect picture. She loved sitting on all the apples that had fallen off the trees! The only problem was she tried to eat them even if they were yucky.

Dalton said he found the best tasting apple ever!

Samara and Marcus taking a break from apple picking to tast there hard work!

Lyric trying her apple.

All the kids with their apples!

Today was the kids first day at school. They all had a great day! I had a great first day of work as well. Didn't do much since my computer hadn't come in yet so I got to go home at noon! Can't beat that for a first day at work!