The Thanksgiving Sleepover

We started a new tradition this year.  On the night after Thanksgiving Alexa and I will do a sleepover in her bedroom.  The plan was a movie and to stay up late.  We even hung some pink X-mas lights for the occasion.  We chose the movie, A Christmas Story because neither of us had seen it and we had won it in a raffle a couple of years ago so we thought we would give it a try. You can see the box on the bedside table.  We hated it...I am pretty strict about what Alexa watches and this was not on the list but I thought, okay she is getting older so we'll just see how it goes.  Swear words galore, meanness, just awful.  It's funny because Alexa does not even know any bad words so every time they would say one I would sort of gasp a little and she would say "what mom?"  Thank goodness for her innocence.  So after 98 long minutes, Alexa was pretty sleepy at the late hour of 8:20 so she fell asleep.  The deal was I would sleep in her bed all night which normally is okay with me as her bed is super comfy.  But once the post nasal drip coughing started every 15 seconds from my little one, I was wide awake and wondering how I was going to fulfill that promise.  I snuck out to the couch but a few hours later, she awoke and realized I was not in the bed.  Needless to say it was a long night...but fun anyway.  Here we are all snuggled up with Tika ready for the movie.

The Chief says he will start a tradition with her for the night after Christmas.  Wonder what their night will be like?

We are thankful.....

 We are thankful that our paths have been chosen by God to be a family.  We live, learn and laugh together always remembering how truly blessed we are to have each other.

 We are thankful for the sunshine that lights up our days just about every day here in our beautiful home.

 We are thankful to raise this amazing child who teaches us everyday that we really aren't as smart as we thought we were. ; )

 We are thankful for our pets, those who have just joined our family and those we have lost.  They teach us so many things about caring, patience, silliness and responsibility.

 We are thankful for the beauty that surrounds us.  Everyday we find the wonder in the sunrise, mountains and landscape, never forgetting how blessed we are.

 We are thankful for our health, even though we have known struggles, we continue to go forward with a positive spirit.

 We are thankful to share and enjoy good food with each other.  I am thankful my daughter will eat anything I put on the table ( with gusto) and The Chief has embraced gluten free cooking.  It's a blessing to have eager mouths to feed when you love to cook! ; )

We are thankful for our family.  We are blessed to have my parents so close by and active in Alexa's life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Musical

Here are some photos of today.  Alexa had a little Thanksgiving musical at school.  She did not want to wear her Thanksgiving dress and chose this one which we have gotten tons of wear out of.  I'll take some photos tomorrow of her in her smocked dress.  I have realized that if I wait to edit my photos, they will never get on the blog so here they are unedited.  Alexa wanted her hair to be down today and curled like the girls on "Dancing with the Stars".  I'm not used to even seeing her much with her hair down.  Almost every single day it is up in some style and off her face. She insists on keeping her long hair which is fine with me as long as it is not hanging in her face all the time.  We are looking forward to tomorrow. We have so much to be thankful for!

~My New Business~

Stella and Dot

Independent Stylist

I am so excited to launch my new business as a Stella and Dot Independent Stylist.  If you have not yet heard of this amazing jewelry line, then you are in for a surprise.  Stella and Dot is a new exciting company that sells celebrity coveted, on-trend, irresistible jewelry at in-home trunk shows.

I have been feeling the urge to go "back to work" for a few months and really wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  I enjoyed a successful career as a teacher before becoming a full time mother and really enjoyed it.  I attended a trunk show that a friend was having and absolutely fell in love with this jewelry. I placed an order that day and kept perusing the website.  I was hooked.  Soon after, I decided that this was an opportunity to set my own hours and do something fun and make money.  Plus, wearing all this amazing jewelry every day is a added bonus! 

If you love jewelry, take a peek at my website at www.stelladot.com/suekroger.  I know you will fall in love with it too!!