Praise and Thanksgiving

What did this Mama give thanks for this year? 

 Subject #1.  My not so little, curious, musical, compassionate, smart as a whip, habit prone, shirt licking, sister loving, inquisitive, skinny, cautious, chill and so so happy dude.  An almost five year old blessing from above. 

Subject #2.  My little giggling, spitting, crawling, mess making, appetite driven, squealing, stubborn, snuggling, dancing, adventure seeking, cheeky princess.  Our almost one year old and newest reason to give thanks. 

Reason for Thanks #3:  This family I call my own.  Without that handsome devil in the dark blue shirt, this charmed life I live wouldn't be so charmed.  My Tim is the reason for my peace of mind, my joy, my heart beating in the rhythm it does, my sanity, my all.  I know it's all very nauseatingly cheesy, but I have to remind myself just how blessed I am that God lead this patient giant of a man into my life.  Parenting these two little gems is that much better with him by my side (even if we don't ever actually get to speak to each other while in their presence).   

There are a slew of additional items I give thanks for.  We have a shiny red box in our kitchen, filled with scraps of "thankful" papers.  They range from the following:  health, loving and supportive family, little friends who we hold so dear, boxed wine (not your parent's Franzia anymore), cozy blankets, amazing friendships that stand the test of time and grow each year, closets full of colorful clothing choices, green grass, flippy swings, heaven, gogurts, stable careers, Daddy's white mm3 car, Squirt's cheeks, chai latte, airplanes, digital photography, clean sheets, the dust buster....I could go on until I put you to sleep. 

We sure are blessed over here at Casa Vogel.  More so than we deserve by any measure of the imagination.  It's my prayer that our kids will grow up to appreciate all of these little treasures and give THANKS to our God above for smiling down on us and causing our cups to runneth over.  And over.  And over.   

 Dude's Thankful Tree from Pre-School.  He listed our neighbors dog who died a few months back as one of this thankful items.  And the sky.  Of course we should be thankful for the sky.  Where would we be without it? 

 Thanksgiving morning football with the co-op dudes.  Only one emergency injury this year. 

 Squirt's future neighborhood gal pals.  Aren't they precious?

 Dad gets his chase on. 

 One of those "little people" we're thankful for. 

 Mr. Chris fist bumps Dude for his valiant effort on the football field. By "valiant" I mean, his ability to run around and put all the cones on his noggin.

 Squirt cashed out in the stroller for much of the action, but woke up full of toothy smiles. 

 Moving over to the Syers for additional Thanksgiving fun.  Lando, yet another "little person" we hold dear.  There are a bunch of yummy shots of Squirt and her little boyfriend, but another post will be necessary for their pure cuteness value. 

 Our best bud, Bradster and Duder take our newest ATV purchase out for a very long spin.  I'll do another post on Tim's ATV obsession another day.  This one talks and lights up and runs over stuff quite effectively. 

 Cara's creative table centerpiece.  She's a crafty one!

 Wes decked out the basement for the day, which turned out fantastic.  Kept the dudes of the party quite entertained, young and old.

 Like I said, entertained.

 Noly and little bro, Heath, are expecting their newest bro any week now!

 The group left Wes and I up to our own devices to open this bottle.  We never said we were suave or coordinated. 

 Bruce and Barbie took on the turkey again this year.  Thank heavens for that.  This 32 year old has never even pretended to think about cooking a big bird. And I kinda hope I don't have to for another 32. 

 Lovely ladies of the hour. 

 Oh how we adore this family.  And all their charm and grace.  So much like my own breed. 

 The kids table - I can't believe I have a dude old enough to sit at a "kids table."  Doesn't mean he ate a darn thing (other than a roll) while sitting there, but he did sit there none-the-less. 

 Looks peaceful huh?  It wasn't.  We have all have kids who like to scream, demand, spit, scream some more, kick each other, bang on things....but that's what we're thankful for.

 And I wondered why I didn't feel so great that night.  Thank you God for food.  A ridiculous amount of food.

 Squirt's very first Thanksgiving dinner.  She took it all in, literally.  Anything we put on her tray.  At Dude's first Thanksgiving, I'm pretty sure he had formula and maybe a couple bites of a roll.  Do you see the "roll" trend? 

 The reason behind this lovely family gathering. 

 Wessums love his babies.  He does call her "buddy" and "dude" but that just comes with the territory of being surrounded by males. 

 I was with Wes on this one.  Turn your back and ignore the total dorkiness taking place.

A baby dance party.  We're not lacking for babies - or adults to play with them for that matter.

THANKS to our fabulous friends for hosting a crazy blessed day of fun and love.  We miss our fams on days like these and are so glad to have a place to call home. Hope all your readers out there had a fantastic Thanksgiving as well. 

The video below isn't what most people would call "totally appropriate" but it sums us up in a rather consise nutshell.  Ignore my obnoxious commentary - it's just what I do.  And regret after hearing myself talk later.