one thousand gifts

This week more than any other week of the year we are reminded to be thankful. We reflect on all the amazing things that we have been given, that we get to experience, and the people that we get to love. The weird thing is that so often we forget to be cognizant of being thankful all year for these things.

I'm reading this pretty incredible book (thanks Melena!) called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. In it, she struggles to live fully in the everyday, in the face of heartache and loss and fullness and joy. Ann started a list of everyday gifts. Her goal was one thousand and she ended up with many more. She has challenged me as a mother and as a woman seeking after God and his heart. In her book, she nails down the problem with us, with society and it is a lack of thanksgiving.

The real problem with life is never a lack of time. The real problem in life --- in my life--- is a lack of thanksgiving. 

We set aside this day in November once a year to give thanks when maybe life would be that much fuller if we could do that daily. So, that's what I've been attempting. Attempting to slough off the ingratitude, get rid of the complaints and instead look at all the things that life is full of, and start a list of my own.

a dog snuggled up beside me in bed
hot, non-reheated coffee
sweet little fingers curled around mine
the promise of a husband home early from work
singing Jesus loves me and Everett asking- again? again?
five more minutes under the covers
christmas music
Aaron's hand holding mine
soft dog ears
knowing what Everett's saying, even when I'm the only one
a weekend visit with Mimi and Pop
talking to Jesus (praying) with Everett
a warm house on a cold day
God's unending forgiveness
Aaron's good morning kiss and "have a good day babe"
Sundays with nothing planned
coffee with Aaron
cock a doodle doo! and other animal sounds by Everett
reaching a goal, finishing a race
a lunch date with Grammie
a girls night out
listening to a great sermon and feeling convicted
an afternoon to sit and read

The amazing thing about listing all of these gifts? It brings JOY. It brings a fullness to my heart when I think about the tiny little things, the big things, the everyday things. The thankfulness brings more thankfulness. It makes my heart full and it makes what I have more than enough.

via

Happy Thanksgiving all.

a month of firsts...

Everett made his first trip to IKEA with me and my good friend Sara Thomas. I always forget that they don't give you bags, so Everett was stuck holding everything. He didn't seem to mind ;)

It seems like we can never quite finish all of the bananas before they start turning mushy. This was one of those mornings, so I decided that the mushy bananas should be used to make some chocolate chip banana bread. Everett sat in his bumbo seat and watched me make it. He loved the noise of the little hand mixer and fell asleep watching me. First try at making banana bread "together" was a success!

First July 4th holiday.

Everett got to see fireworks in Downingtown, although he didn't seem all that impressed?!

First attempt at eating rice cereal.

He was unsure at first, but ended up loving it. We can't seem to shovel it in fast enough now!

First trip to the cottage. I spent my childhood traveling to Tionesta, PA (north of Pittsburgh) and playing in the river, hiking in the woods, and fishing with my dad. I have so many great memories of that little cottage on the Allegheny, and I'm thankful that Everett can have the same!

First tube ride. We dropped Mimi, Pop-pop, Aaron and the boys at the bridge about a 1/2 mile upstream from the cottage. Aaron was so excited to take Everett! He cried for a little bit, but Aaron said he really seemed to enjoy it! It was also Everett's first time wearing his life vest from Grammy. He didn't seem to mind it, which is good because I forsee Everett getting a lot of use out of that little vest :)

It's pretty amazing how much fun we've had with Everett. Watching him experience new and different things makes it that much more fun for us. He is awesome and we're loving every minute of being his parents :)

Cousins!

yeay for cousins!

Aidan (almost 8), Everett (2 months), and Ethan (4)

all smiles

Congrats Bro!

The last weekend in January Seth graduated from West Chester University. We're really proud of him and all his hard work and perseverence! CONGRATS BRO :)

the holidays

Aaron and I couldn't get over how fast the holidays went this year! December flew by and along with it Christmas and New Years. We spent Christmas in Pittsburgh and were so excited to get to spend time with everyone, especially Kels in from Nevada! We drove out to Pittsburgh on the 23rd, which made Christmas Eve and Christmas Day really fun and relaxing for us. Erika, Todd, and the boys moved in with Grandma to take care of her, so we ended up having our Anderson Family Christmas at Grandma's house for the first time in a long time. It was really nice celebrating in the house that I spent so many holidays in as a kid. We drove back to Philly on Saturday night and got to celebrate Christmas with the Windles on Sunday. Diane made chicken papikash, a traditional Hungarian meal, which is my absolute favorite! New Years was spent with 65 of our closest friends ;) haha Jess, Faith, and Revee threw a party at the Farm and we had lots of fun with plenty of sparkling grape juice involved... well at least for Sara and I.

our christmas card

christmas at our house!

only our dogs pose like this for food...

30 weeks!

after 7 years of asking, Erika finally gave in and let Aaron buy Aidan a gun ;)

to which Aidan was obviously excited about

Ethan too!

and Bebe :)

all of the Anderson cousins at Gram's house

prego for new years ...

only Aaron...

 New Years with Bry and Sara... haha and as Aaron said... hmm, one of these things is not like the others (in a sing song voice) ---hey, we can't all be 6'4!

We are looking forward to quite an eventful year and are starting the countdown to the arrival of our little guy - only 8 weeks to go! Happy 2010 Everyone :)

crazy, busy summer (august)

August was full of vacations... we went to Canada with Aaron's family. We had some great weather and enjoyed our time up there as usual. It was really nice seeing our Kewley cousins since they live in Virginia and Oklahoma! The dogs loved being in Canada because they were allowed off leash and were able to roam where they wanted. It was awesome just seeing them be dogs and made us feel bad when we had to leash them after we left! We left Canada a few days early and headed to my parent's cottage in Tionesta, PA. We were there during the Indian Festival and got to go to the parade and of course golfing. We feel so blessed to have such incredible families and cherish our time spent with them!

kai getting a stick and logan pretending to be just like him :)

aaron getting ready to take off from the dock

boo ya

love!

marley throughly enjoying the boat :)





logan throughly enjoying marley :)





boat ride at night

the windle fam

The end of August has brought soccer season and the start of rugby for Aaron. Soccer has been fun and exhausting. I am enjoying the opportunity to coach- it reminds me how much I miss soccer and playing! We also purchased an SUV!!! We bought a Honda Pilot and are loving all of the room, as opposed to our 2 little sedans. I know, I know, it's not very earth friendly, but I figure having a hybrid balances it out ;)

our new car!

After such a crazy, busy summer I feel more tired than refreshed, but it's okay because we had so much fun in all of it! I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe, life will slow down sometime soon :)

sisters

She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child. ~Barbara Alpert

My sisters and I are now spread all over the country, but I love them and value their friendships more than ever. I feel bad that people don't have sisters the way I do. Love you Erika and Kels!

CONGRATS SISTA!

A long overdue thank you...

Some of my best childhood memories I remember through photos. Crazy outfits worn by kels, pictures of halloween when we were little, and of course pictures of my sisters and I in matching dresses. Every Christmas and Easter until I was about 10 my mom made Erika, Kelsey, and I matching dresses. It was always fun to help mom pick out the fabric and wear our pretty dresses on special holidays. Everyone at church waited to see what my mom would come up with next. Since then, I have turned to my mom to make me clothes, bedding, fix Aarons pants, hem my pants, etc. She is always trying to get me to sew... but I'm not the seamstress she is. When we moved into our house, she told us she wanted to make us a quilt for our bedroom. So, when her and dad came to visit in June we spent a day running around Chester and Berks counties to find the perfect fabric for our quilt. My mom worked tirelessly on the quilt (and curtains, pillows, and bedskirt!) and had it done for me the beginning of August! It is beautiful and we LOVE it! Mom, thanks for the many gifts, but especially this one. We love you :)

pictures of mom's handiwork:

instant family of four... make that five

A few weeks ago, Aaron and I got to watch our nephews Aidan and Ethan for the week. It was crazy :) But we loved it! While the boys were here, I was telling a friend on the phone that we had become an instant family of four... to which Aidan chimed in "family of five kiki -you forgot Marley!" We did everything from Chuck E Cheese and boating to cookouts and dirt biking. Yes, dirt biking, Aaron took both the boys out seperately and they loved it! We went swimming 3 different days... the boys are such waterbugs! Aidan and Ethan were both jumping off the diving board into "untle awin's" arms. The boys and Marley got along pretty well. With all of his crazy energy he can be intimidating but the boys told him "no mawlee dog!" when he jumped up or tried to take a chicken nugget ;) Marley got neutered and was at the vet's (or doggie doctor as we called it) overnight. When we went to pick him up, Ethan said... Mawlee dog we missed you. (it was the sweetest thing!) Erika and Todd (my sister and brother in law) came in for the weekend to see our new digs and pick up their boys. We had a great time out on the boat and just hanging out. Erika and Todd both got up on the wakeboard- it was impressive! And Aidan went out tubing with Todd. All in all it was a pretty fun week. We had a blast being a family of five with the boys! Here are some pictures from our adventures and from our weekend at the cottage before:

marley dog

ethan being cute

the boys on the dirt bike

the boys and mawlee dog watching diego

dad and ethan "floating"

kisses for bebe!

Aidan after floating down the river

CANADA

A few weeks ago Aaron and I traveled to Canada for a family vacation. Every summer we go to Aylen Lake which is in Ontario. Aaron's grandfather owns a cabin on the lake and the whole family goes. We had a great time, even though the weather didn't cooperate all the time. Here are some pictures from our trip.

beautiful view from our walk

the best windle family picture we've ever taken!

me and my hubby out to dinner