OH my gosh I'm so behind on blogging! We had a great Thanksgiving despite a few sad moments. It was great because we just have so much to be Thankful for. I was talking to my husband about all that has gone wrong lately (dryer breaking, pipes bursting, etc.) and he pointed out how well I've been taking it all. He said these things would have effected us more 5 years ago. I guess we are finally growing up and have learning to be grateful for all we have.

We've been trying to stay on top of school work through all the distractions. Emily was slipping for a while (entirely MY fault by not being consistent) but she is doing better now. I've just got to make sure I don't let several days go by between lessons.

The puppies we were blessed/cursed with came down with what I believe was parvo. We could not save them though we tried. They first showed signs of being ill the night before Thanksgiving. The last one was buried Sunday. To lessen the kids loss we have agreed that after we bleach the house and yard and wait about 6 months or so we'll get a puppy. However, it will have to have all it's shots before it ever comes home. I can't stand the thought of helplessly sitting by watching another animal just slip away.

We started decorating for Christmas on Thanksgiving as is our tradition. We've already watched a couple a Christmas movies and listened to some Christmas music. I have every reason to be in the Christmas spirit but something is missing. May be it is just too early. It may just be that I haven't been able to go buy anyone a present yet. Nothing puts the spirit in me like picking out that something special or better yet giving to someone in need. I love to buy clothes and toys for my kids but then their rooms reflect that. Nothing compares to the joy you can get from giving to a child that doesn't have a lot. We are far from wealthy but around Thanksgiving I realized we have so much more than many. We are truly blessed and I'm looking forward this year to sharing our blessings with others. Hmmmm... may be I am feeling the Christmas spirit more than I thought! LOL

Since the last post the kids have done a couple of crafts and other photo worthy things. I'll try to get some pictures of those posted soon. For now I just wanted my blog friends and family to know I haven't permanently stopped blogging!