Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, we're home from a long but fun day at Mimi and Big Mike's house and watching the second half of the Texas-a&m game. The kids had a great day with Tita, Uncle Andy, Uncle Jason, and the afore-mentioned grandparental units. Sitting here enjoying the Longhorn domination of the poor aggies, I'm thinking of all the things that we have to be thankful for.


We have a wonderful family. We have incredible friends. We live in a fantastic neighborhood, our kids go to great schools, and we have more material things than we need. We're thankful for our health. We are thankful that we live in a countery where we can say what we want, worship as we believe, and have more freedom than most people can responsibly have. We're thankful for our newest friend, Mr. John, who spent literally all day here yesterday installing our new U-verse and wireless internet service. (Trivial, but very true.)

This morning, without being prompted, Sammy told us "I'm thankful for Mommy and Daddy." While in the hustle and bustle of everyday life we don't always acknowledge this as we should, we are thankful for the greatest gift and responsibility we could ever have--our children.

Woodchip

At dinner last night, the kids were very excited about the prospect of staying up "late" to watch the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. Will especially was very vocal about remembering the special from last year and sharing his favorite parts. I thought that Cat was going to laugh until she peed when Will told her about two of his favorite characters from the show: "You know, Snoopy and Woodchip."

What a wonderful world it would be if everyone had a friend like Woodchip!

From the mouths of babes...

I am constantly amazed by what our kids pick up on, especially figures of speech or mannerisms they observe in adults. A few days ago, I had the unusual pleasure of driving alone with Sam and listening to him without the normal din and cry of his siblings. We were stopped at a light, and all of a sudden Sam--in a very grown up voice--says, "Dad, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

It was all I could do to not laugh, both at his grown up tone and at what he asked. After stifling my giggle, I answered "I don't know, Sammy, what are you thinking?"

Sam paused, evidently thinking about what he was supposed to be thinking about, and finally exclaimed "SNOOPY!"

Needless to say, I was not thinking about Snoopy but I was glad that his sweet, precious little mind didn't have anything more serious to think about than Snoopy.

Appreciation

A friend recently gave us a pomegranate, and the kids were asking us about it at the dinner table. Cathy gave a very descriptive, informative answer and at the end, sweet Jack said "Mommy, I didn't ask that question, but I sure liked your answer!"

Jack's new glasses

After an eye-opening trip to the eye doctor on Friday, Jack got his first pair of glasses over the weekend! He looks very grown up--I didn't recognize him the first time I saw him with the new specs! Jack is very excited about having them and wearing them to school for the first time on Tuesday!

Happy Birthday Uncle Sambow!

Artwork by Jack

The Whitest Guy I Know

Please go to www.wfaa.com/gospel and check out our good friend (and Annie's godfather) Jae Ellis on the Union Cathedral video on this week's Channel 8 Gospel Jubilee. If the spirit moves you, as it's clearly moved Jae in this video, please vote for Union Cathedral in this week's contest. Good luck to Jae, Pastor Richie, and our friends at Union Cathedral!

PS--Congrats to Richie for recently being named as one of SMU's Distinguished Alumni!

Little Ears

The kids were recently in the car with Cathy. While stopped at a stop light, Will became very concerned and whispered to Cathy, "Mommy, I see a bad word."

"What bad word do you see, honey?"

"I can't tell you, it's a bad word and I'll get in trouble." Five year old logic is irrefutable.

"That's OK, Will, I'm asking you to tell me. You won't get in trouble. What bad word do you see?"

Will looked around, and very quietly whispered "Gashole," pointing at the gas station on the corner where they were stopped and referring to the person filling his tank.


Struggling to keep her laughter in, Cathy responded "Willie, why do you think that's a bad word?"

Will explained that he'd recently been riding in the car with a certain grandparental-type who called another driver a "gashole," and that particular driver later had to explain to all the kids that word was not appropriate for use by or around children. It just goes to show you that you always have to be careful what you say around these little ears, because they pick up EVERYTHING!