Turkey, Ham, Family and many THANKS!

We had an early Thanksgiving at Uncle Johnny and Aunt Shannon's. Uncle John, Leigh and Claire came too. My girls followed them around everywhere. Uncle John cooked gumbo that was better than any I've tasted. Maddie and Grace each had two bowls. The weather was perfect and Cameron was happy that there were no pumpkins at Aunt Shannon's! (last time we put him in a pumpkin for his 1st Halloween picture)

Thanksgiving Day: We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. All of the family came to visit, the kids played and painted Christmas ornaments. As usual Aunt Nancy's ham was to die for, Aunt Paulette's corn had me at hello, all of Aunt Mary's mississippi mud pie was gone within 5 minutes, Angie's sweet potato casserole was heaven sent for Todd.

There was a moment when I looked around at all of the kids running through the house, the women looking at Black Friday sale papers and the guys outside talking about the weather, hunting and only God knows what else... and my heart smiled. I'm grown up and I have an amazing life filled with the most amazing people. I have more to be thankful for than I could have ever hoped for!

Happiness

Frick & Frack

Maddie Lou & Gracie Bug

Sweetness

How sweet he is! Thank God for giving me a BOY after those two girls!

Thanksgiving...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for three healthy children that can make even the worse day seem great with nothing but a smile, or a little drool or a big kiss - a wonderful husband who loves me the way that I am, who I still find sexy and who can still make a laugh - my parents for being a part of my life and for still believing in me - my sisters who teach me something new every and who still make me want to be a better person so that I can be a good role model - my friends for enriching my life beyond words as some of my cherished lessons were learned from them - my job - my home - for the best teacher a mom could ask for in her daughter's first year of big girl school - for books - for my prayer journal - for good wine and warm fires - for cajun chicken egg rolls from Bonefish - for the best co-workers a person could ask for - for freedom of speech and the right to choose my own religion - for Greys Anatomy - for comfortable sheets and plastic cups - for digital camera's and carseats!

My little man

Piper & Cameron (2 weeks apart)

Cam's first picture... (Thanks as always to KIMI!)

Lesson learned...

Just when I thought I was becoming a better friend, I realized I still had a lot to learn...

Sometimes we encounter people that we mesh well with. This was in fact that case and she'd been a great friend. I'd sort of started feeling sorry for myself lately and assumed she just didn't care because for a while we only talked when it was convenient for her or when I made the call, or so I thought. I stopped calling for a while with the "she'll call me when she's ready, I'm tired of initiating" mentality. Boy did I get it wrong! It wasn't a lack of regard for me or my feelings. She had a lot going on and really couldn't call. Actually, she was sick and back & forth with doctors.

Lesson learned - We should do things without expectation. We should be a good friend because it is what we are meant to do. We should call even when we're not being called. We should say hello even when no one is saying hello to us. We should smile when no one else is smiling. We should inquire about another persons day even if no one has inquired about our own.

It is unfair to assume how someone else feels or that they don't value us. Everyone has their own opinion of the "value" of a friendship and/or what validates one. We each have our own idea of how to be a good friend. For some it may be calling or emailing daily, it may be saying "hi" once a week or once a month. For some it could be not talking for 3 months and then meeting up and taking off as if you'd never missed a day.

The world doesn't revolve around us, we revolve around the world. Do onto others and you'd like done onto you...