The day after Halloween...Day 1 of Gratitude

It never fails that as hard as I try to resist... the day after Halloween seems to bring on the "Holiday Season". Both my husband and I have resisted plenty of times in reverence of Thanksgiving... hoping that this unsung holiday will receive it's proper devotion (rather than just being the day we eat tons of turkey and watch football, lol).

This year for some reason I thought rather than to resist... I would embrace what Target and Walmart advertise and enjoy the Christmas season a little earlier... after all it would make decorating a whole heck of a lot easier :)

I still want to give Thanksgiving it's thorough accolades, so this month I will follow the tradition of many and celebrate a daily devotion to gratitude.

Today... November 1st... I am thankful for my God given blessing of my family.


This picture above was taken at our friends Jannie and Andy's house this past Sunday. My original Halloween costume was a long beaded gown and well... after wearing it once.. I realized that it was not exactly -trick or treat friendly. With this, I decided to bust out my old college cheer uniform and to my surprise it still fit. As I walked down stairs to see my kids in their costumes it struck me that I haven't worn my cheer uniform in 12 years and this was the first time that my kids ever knew about me being a cheerleader. At this point it felt like two parts of my life suddenly collided. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the last time that I wore this uniform 12 years ago, that the next time I would wear it... would be in front of my children.

I suddenly was overwhelmed with the feeling of happiness and pure joy. My husband and my children are my world. And to think that 12 years ago I was a single working college student... just blows me away. It is amazing how quickly time flies. Looking back the past 12 years, it has dawned on me that although these past 12 years have been tough... the outcome is what matters most. Looking at my beautiful family makes it all worth it.

I hope that you will join me this month in celebrating the unsung holiday of Thanksgiving and take a moment each day to celebrate the things in your life that make it ALL worth it. Taking a minute to look back and reflect might be tough, but even with each trial... the beauty and blessing of the gift of perseverance should be celebrated.

Here are a few pics of our last week of October as me and my family celebrated with friends here in Colorado.

Our little hot dog... a comical little boy. I am so proud that he is comfortable in his own skin and loves to make people laugh.


Our own little super hero... Our middle child who was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at age 2. He never ceases to amaze me with his determination. This year he and his "BFF" (those being HIS words) planned to be Mario and Luigi. This alone warms my heart. Children on the Autism spectrum have a hard time making friends. So to hear him not only have this amazing plan, but to also have a "BFF"... makes me so proud of him.



This is a picture of one of the juice boxes that one of the parents from our daughters class donated for their fall feast. This picture reminds me of just how blessed I am to be a stay at home mom again and have the opportunity to share these special moments with my children and their classes. This is the first year that I can actually be a room mom for one of the kids classes. It is these little things that make me so very happy.

I hope that you enjoy this next month as I share just a few things I am grateful for and I hope that it encourages you to make a similar list that you can cherish.

And if you are "getting into the holiday spirit" early... check out this post I just did on the Crafty Power Blog.

Thanks for checking out my blog today :)

~Liz ♥