What's Coming Up

Sorry I haven't updated lately. Guess there hasn't been much to blog about the past few weeks.
I seem to blog in spurts, so maybe this is the beginning of a new spurt? We'll see.

Here are some random writings of things going on and things that are coming up soon in our life.

*Kane's job is going well and I can't believe this semester is almost over. After Thanksgiving he has one more day of class, then finals (which he only has one to give), then he's on "Christmas Break" from around the first week of December through the first week of January.
I think it could be really great having him home for a month or maybe tough?! Kane is a man who needs a plan and purpose for his day. So, hopefully we'll be able to work well together, enjoy our extra time and work as a team while he is "off". I'm hoping we can enjoy that time to the fullest, because during the semester he works a lot of hours and we don't see him as much as we'd like.

*I am so ready for the holidays---Thanksgiving, Mara Kate's birthday, Christmas & New Year's Eve!! I can already taste the turkey and stuffing and all the other fixin's you have on Thanksgiving and I'm so ready for that yummy meal. I'm also ready for all the yummy foods my mom traditionally makes for New Year's Eve!

*My family grew up with the tradition of writing "Thanksgiving Lists" of literally everything you can think of that you are thankful for. We worked on them sort of in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, then we would read them aloud together on Thanksgiving day. When we aren't all together (which is the case this year) we usually email our lists to one another or read them over the phone when we can all set aside time to do so. I need to get to work on mine. I've started it "in my head", but need to get it down on paper soon. I also will help Mara Kate write one, and I look forward to hearing the things that she is most thankful for. I love this tradition and really am thankful my parents started it. It really makes you slow down and think about and actually take time to thank God for the blessings in your life. We should take time to do that more often, really.

*Mara Kate's 4th birthday is the day after Thanksgiving. Since we have NO family in town and we don't know that many people locally yet, we decided this year we'd do a low key celebration while we are in Knoxville for Thanksgiving. We'll wrap her presents and take them with us and let her open them on her actual birthday. I think this will be the first birthday she's actually gotten to celebrate on the actual day. Last year her b-day was ON Thanksgiving, so we partied the next day.
She has been in love with Dora the Explorer most of this year (thanks to Aunt Heidi and Olivia---which is who she was with the first time she ever saw a Dora show) so we are doing a "Dora theme". I bought a roll of Dora wrapping paper and am wrapping several presents in the same paper. She is getting a Dora doll, a Dora puzzle, a Dora jump rope and Dora's backpack, which I think will be a huge hit. It even comes with "The Map". Kane is going to hide her presents around the house and give her a "map" to help her find them. So, she'll get to go exploring, just like Dora does. I hope she "gets" it and has fun finding her Dora presents!
We've also been working on sanding and painting her furniture in her room. It was all various shades of wood and now it's all WHITE! Her main Birthday gift from us is some new bedding and it will look really cute with her newly painted white bed. Once we get home from Thanksgiving I'll post a picture of her bedding and her furniture once it all comes together.

Mara Kate is SO excited about her birthday and she keeps asking WHEN it's going to be. I think it's time to make one of those construction paper chains to help her visualize the days as they tick by (over the next 16 days).

*I'm also ready for Christmas/New Year's to get here. Very ready, except for the fact that I still have shopping to do and am not finding myself very motivated to get it done. I LOVE wrapping the presents once they are purchased, but it's the figuring out what to buy that is sometimes overwhelming for me. In the 5 years we've been married we've never woken up Christmas morning at our own house. It's been that way by choice, but this year we are starting a new tradition! Mara Kate will be 4 and I think that' s a great age to start your own traditions at your own house for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We actually had never done "stockings" at home either, so it has been fun this year buying stockings for our family. I ended up getting them from Pottery Barn Kids. Love them---they are so cute!

As soon as we get home from Thanksgiving we'll be putting up our tree and decorating for the holiday season. If I'm going to go to all the trouble of doing it, I want to be able to enjoy it for as long as possible! I can't wait to sit on our couch and watch the twinkling lights with all the other lights off, while drinking hot chocolate. One of my favorite things to do during the month of December. We'll also be adding daily to our advent tree and get to work making our annual ginger bread house together.

I'm thankful that we'll get to have our own Christmas morning time together, but I'm also thankful it is working out for us to also spend time with Kane's family and mine over the holidays. I guess that is one HUGE benefit of Kane being off basically the whole month of December---time to travel! It will be great to have extended time to be with family!

Oh, and I'm also excited to be able to go to the Country Club Plaza while we are in Kansas City to see the Plaza Lights. Kane and I already have a date planned to spend the evening together there. It'll probably be FREEZING, but it'll be be so fun!

Are any of you also bursting at the seams for the holidays to arrive?!!