The Band Plays On

Here is Ryan holding his beautiful tuba. Ryan has been a proud member of Beckman High School's marching band for 4 years. A few weeks back they had a special call out to the seniors in the band, but tonight's game was their last. Beckman made it to the CIF playoffs, but unfortunately they lost tonight.
Here is the band on the field. Because it was Thanksgiving weekend, the whole gang wasn't here (normally they number about 150). Being a part of the band has been a huge part of Ryan's high school journey.

The next steps for Ryan are seeing which college he is accepted to, his 18th birthday in May, graduation and then off to college- I can't believe our boy is all grown up!!

Traditions

If I am honest, there isn't many traditions that I have. I have friends who have so many traditions it boggles the mind. Decorating gingerbread houses is one tradition that I love.

It started in 2001- my mother invited her grandchildren and their mothers (and me and my sister too) to come to her house to decorate houses. We learned that first year that each person needed their own house since the kids had very strong opinions on the way they wanted to decorate. We have also brought our own toppings to the house and have since made awards to judge the houses when we are all done.

This year, our 8th one (we missed a year back in 2004), we had a large crowd. My mom, Desiree, Christine, Kalika, Sherri, Gracie, Gidget, Myself, Ryan, Nathan and Jason were all present. The houses turned out great and their was lots of fun to be had by all. And of course, lots of candy was eaten- YUM!!

Thanksgiving 2009

Here is the gang on Thanksgiving this year. We were a smaller crew this year, but it was a lovely feast at Grandma Mary's home. Marie Callendars' provided the meal and it was delicious. There was a lot of laughter when this picture was taken. My brother in law, Steve, was the photographer of all these great pics, but his camera is new and he could only do a 2 second delay so he ran to get into this photo- we laughed each time he had to jump in.
Here are my sweet boys with their sweet Grandma. I am thankful for my two precious boys. They bring me such joy and wonderment. Every time I am with them they remind me of the love God has for me, His child. They each have such unique personalities and I think I have them figured out and then they mix it up- definitely keep me on my toes. I wouldn't want it any other way!!
Here is a picture of my beautiful mother in law, Mary, and myself. She and I have our birthdays one day apart- it is fun to have someone to share it with every year!! I love this wonderful woman. She is so generous with her love and time and gives freely to her three sons, her three grandsons and her 2 daughter's in law. She works hard and spends her free time with her family or friends. She is a true gift and I am so thankful for her this year!!
Here is my man and me. I can't believe we have been married for almost 7 years. It has flown by and it is also feels like I have known him my whole life. The kids are off to Grandma's this weekend and Dan and I get a little "stay-cation" for 2 days- can't wait!! I am thankful for all the hard work that Dan does each day so that I can be a stay at home mom to our kids. He makes me laugh and loves me for who I am (inside and out).

Thankful

I have a friend and fellow blogger who has been writing every day in the month of November what she is thankful for- What a great idea. I am always thanking God for the many blessings that are in my life and I even journal about them sometimes, but I thought I should write a list of all the things I am truly thankful right now in my life.... here it goes!

~I am thankful for my salvation and a very personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For the Bible and the truth that it speaks to me life.
~I am thankful for my amazing husband who loves me so deeply, supports me, encourages me, makes me laugh and is there when I cry, who I share everything with!
~I am thankful for my awesome kids (all three of them). Thankful for Ryan and what a nice young man he has grown into and for the way he loves his little brothers, for Nathan who brings me joy and amazes me with the gifts God has given me and for Jason who makes me laugh, who wants to cuddle all the time and tells me he loves me every 5 minutes.
~I am thankful for my wonderful mother (Suzanne Reinhart). She is my best friend, my confident, my biggest cheerleader, the best babysitter, my "hand and foot" buddy, my favorite traveling companion and much more. I don't know where I would be without her- I love you mom!
~I am thankful for my beautiful (inside and out) girlfriends. God has blessed me with so many that I cherish and who genuinely care about me and my family.
~I am thankful for my church family (Creekside Christian Fellowship). We have been a part of this great fellowship of believers for almost 5 years and I love that we feel at home there, that my kids are learning about Jesus and have friends that they have known their whole lives.
~I am thankful for Dan's job and that he can provide for our family and that I can do my job of being a stay at home mom and homemaker- a dream come true for me.
~I am thankful for my extended family- My 2 sisters, 2 brothers, 3 nephews and 3 nieces, uncles, aunts and cousins- God has blessed our family so much!!
~I am thankful for a healthy body and mind that allow me to walk my kids to school, walk with friends, collect recyclables, study God's word, read lots of books, play cards with my mom and many more great things.
~I am thankful for the internet and getting to stay in touch with friends near and far and learning lots of stuff that I don't have to go to an encyclopedia to find. I am thankful for Netflix, Hulu, Facebook and You tube!!
~I am thankful for my children's teachers. For Ms. Donna at ICNS and for her faithful service and teaching to both my sons these past 3 1/2 years and for Ms. Ferguson who is the best 1st grade teacher and an answer to prayer for Nathan- she is a jewel. I am also very thankful that my kids get to have an education and have the ability to learn.
~I am thankful for CA CRV and that for every bottle I pick up (or scrounge through the trash) I get 5 or 10 cents and that it DOES add up. I LOVE RECYCLING!!

I could go on, but this is it for now- Needless to say, I am thankful and my cup runneth over!

Jason Writes

Jason has written his name before, but mostly with help or it was hard to read. This is the first legible writing of his name that has happened. I thought it was worth writing about myself.

When Nathan was Jason's age I was panicking about him being ready for Kindergarten and I am so chill about Jason. I figure he will get there when he gets there. I have friends whose children read by now, who recognize their letters, write lower and upper case letters- that is not Jason, but I am OK with it (and so is he).

Recycling #3

My sweet boy helped me recycle this week. It started with picking up bottles on Sunday together. Some kids were snickering at us and asked what we were doing. Nathan proudly proclaimed, "We're bottle collectors". I was so proud of him. The fruits of our labor were enjoyed today as we visited our local recycling center and turned in our treasures. We give God the glory for all the bottles we found or that people so generously donated to us. We had $36.50 last week and $31.15 this week. Our goal is to get $20 a week (which should get us to our goal for our trip in 3 years). Every bottle and can makes a difference!! Hallelujah!!

What's in it?

I posted awhile back this marvelous creation that Nathan made with K-Nex. As we took it a part a few days ago, I marveled that you can turn a intricate creation into a pile of stick and joints. So, below are all the pieces that went into making the carousel. It doesn't look like enough pieces, but there you have it!

"So Happy Together"

Although this isn't the picture we chose for our Christmas card- here is a glimpse of some fun shots of the Crout family- Fall 2009.
I love this one of Dan and his three sons. They are all so handsome and happy.
I love this man so much. We are coming on our 7th wedding anniversary and it feels like we have been together forever. We complete each other's sentences, we laugh and cry together and are having so much fun parenting our kids. He is my best friend and the love of my life!!
Look at these cool cats. My boys are growing up and I love all of them so!!