A little bit of Thanksgiving and this and that.

Ruby is now 10 months old!

She has 3 teeth (and another well on it's way)
Loves to sit at the bottom of the stairs and call for Daddy.
Loves to be outside.
Loves to go on rides in her car (if you stop pushing her she cries immediately)
Loves her new trick of standing up at furniture.
Loves being left in on family activities (as opposed to left out--which is how Isaac explains it)
Loves to snuggle and kiss her babies and stuffed animals.

Unfortunately, Ruby has been very sick (which is why I put off taking her 10 mo. picture for so long...but just ended up doing it the other day). She is absolutely miserable. She was tested for the flu but it came back negative. Just a nasty mean old cold. She can't breath through her nose and therefore, cannot suck on her beloved fingers...this makes her frustrated. She usually sleeps with her hand/fingers resting on her mouth...I guess it is the closest to the real thing she can get right now. She has been crying an awful lot this past week and it breaks our hearts.

So sad.
We are all so thankful for this Ruby girl. The other day Isaac was starting to cryand explained that he just gets so sad when he thinks about Ruby not being in our family. We all love her so much. We are so thankful for all of our children. I am so sad for friends who cannot have children, have lost children, or who have very very sick children. This past week while Ruby has been sick, I have cried with her, wishing I could take away her pain. It makes me realize that some parents have to deal with this pain on a daily basis. It makes me remember the love our Heavenly Father has for each one of us. I want my children to be thankful for their many blessings. I don't want them to look forward to Halloween and then Christmas, bypassing the thoughts and joys and anticipation of Thanksgiving. I hope that I can get my children in the spirit of Thanksgiving through my thoughts and actions and our...

Thanksgiving Traditions!!

This is our second year doing our Thanksgiving tree. We have lots of pictures of things we are thankful for but we also have blank leaves that we can write on and add each day to our tree. I laminated all the leaves (we write on them with a dry erase marker) and we just gather sticks up from our backyard to make the tree each year. The kids love it and I love having a type of Thanksgiving decoration!

We started a new tradition this year too...our Thankful Turkeys. I made these last year for our Thanksgiving dinner (a tradition that my grandma started--put by our plates full of nuts and treats). I decided to use these cups all month long so that we can write little notes to each other about what we are thankful for about each person...sometimes with a treat and sometimes not. So far, it has been great.

I would like to start making gingerbread cookies this year for another tradition for our family (another one I remember from my Grandma)...My Grandma (and later my sisters) would decorate them to look like each member of the family...but we will see if I will get to that this year...What traditions do you do at your home?