I am thankful for....

Even though I just posted that I am trying to be better about being thankful everyday, I still want to do a little "I am thankful" post! There are so many things to be thankful for, but here are a few of my favorites....of course this is a thankful walk in pictures!

1. For Jesus dying on the cross
Without his grace and mercy every day I would be so, so lost!

2. My husband.
William and I have had some ups and downs like any average married couple, but I would rather do the ups and downs with him than anyone else! Love this guy!

3. Maggie. 
Look at that face. Enough said.

4. My family.
They have been a huge support to us with so many things! They come to visit us even though it's a 14 hour drive. They are awesome! My dad always helps us with things around the house when he comes and my mom just loves spoiling Maggie. I am thankful to have them in my life.

And I am thankful for an awesome brother who is as "chill" as he is- I wish I was more like him. I love is easy-going spirit.

5. My Inlaws.
My 2nd mom is a wonderful person who has given William and I great advice over the years. She is a great Memaw to Maggie and we have really grown close over the years. Love her!

My father-in-law has been so great to us and to Maggie! He is a wonderful grandpa and calls and stays in touch often.

6. A new sister (and 2nd brother). 
I got a new sister this past June. Michael and Liza tied the knot and I just love having them both a part of my family. They are awesome and I just adore Liza- she is the sweetest thing:) Oh, and Michael's pretty cool too. haha.

7. My grandpa.
I seriously love this guy so much! He is so funny and kind and I love his outgoing, contagiously fun personality. I don't know what I would do without him!

8. The legacy my grandparents have left.
My Grandpa and Grandma Miller were the most amazing christians ever! They gave up everything they knew to follow Jesus. I wouldn't be here if they hadn't been so courageous.

My Grandma Horvath was such a wonderful person. She was such a social butterfly and she spoiled us grandkids rotten. I loved sitting and chatting with her while she played cards. She was such a huge part of my life and she is missed every day. I am so thankful for the holiday traditions she has passed on to us.

9. My BIG family. 
I have a huge family and I love every one of them so much! I am so thankful to have been born to such an amazing family. I am so blessed.

10. My church family.
I moved here 6 years ago (almost 7, whoa!) and became part of a 2nd family I like to call Clearview Church. I seriously love everyone in my church so much. It is such a loving, kind, giving church and I am so blessed to be part of this journey we are on.

11. My honda. 
I love my car. Seriously. It's such a good, faithful car and I am so lucky that we have had so little problems with it. I am so thankful that it takes me from point A to point B every day.

12. My dog.
This dog drives me crazy 90% of the time but I wouldn't trade him for the world. He is a loving, snuggly little "goggie" (as Maggie calls him). He has his faults, but so do I, so I just love him through it:)

13. Facebook. 
Yeah, I said it. I love Facebook. I seriously do. I am such a Facebook stalker.

14. My house. 
We have a little, tiny house, but it is ours and we love it! We have working appliances and running water (and windows!) We have a great house with great neighbors that we just love!

15. Thanksgiving dinner! 
So, I am ready to eat! This has been fun, and I could go on and on and on about everything and EVERYONE I am thankful for, but I am ready to eat and I am so thankful for Thanksgiving dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for today?

How To Be Thankful Everyday- Not Just On Thanksgiving:)

I have a confession. I struggle with being joyful and thankful and positive. I tend to always think negatively. I am openly admitting that this is something I am trying to get better about and it is a continuous battle for me.

But in my defense, it's not always easy being positive, especially when negative situations keep coming our way. And in this day and age, with the economy the way it is, and the difficulties with finances and jobs, it can be really depressing.

Colossians 3:15 says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, AND BE THANKFUL." 

What does this mean? It means that when you have Christ in your heart, you can overcome negativity with his help. You can overcome the lies of the devil that it is "hopeless," that it "isn't going to get better," that there "isn't a light at the end of the tunnel." Because there is a light at the end of the tunnel...that's what we call hope!

It's not going to be easy, but you have to really make an effort (if you are like me) to be positive. You have to make an effort to "look on the bright side." God never gives us more than we can handle.

So when your dishwasher breaks and you have to do all the dishes by hand and you totally don't have time for that because you have kids that need to go to soccer and ballet and a husband that is working late and on, and on, and on, the list goes.....how do you look at the positive side? How can you be thankful for a broken dishwasher? That's a good question, and the only thing I can do is tell you what has worked for me...

I try to think about how great it is that we have food for me to clean up off the dishes because some people don't have food. I try to think about how I have a car to run the kids to and from because some people don't. I try to think about how wonderful it is that my husband has a job to work late at....because some people don't.

I emphasize the "I try" because I am human. I don't always win this battle of optimism. In fact, the majority of the time I lose the battle. But I am a work in progress. And I am trying to get better about it. And every day God's blessings are new, so every day I get to try again and for that I am very, very thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, friends! Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Light Up the Town

We had a wonderful weekend with my dad. He helped us around the house, we went to the park, watched football, and went to "Light Up the Town" at Towncenter in Virginia Beach. Unfortunately, we got there a little late, so we missed a lot of the activities. But it was a pretty cool. They had an illuminations show, Santa was there, they had elves on stilts, and a big Christmas tree lighting. It was really neat! Here are some pictures we got:

The elves on stilts!  

 Will and my dad- Will looks thrilled to be there, doesn't he? 

 Maggie and me. 

 The illumination show.

I love the local events here in Hampton Roads! So much fun:)

Weekend Events 11/22 - 11/24

Friday
Music Mommy and Me Play Date/Meet Up
The Virginia Beach School of Arts is having a fun play date for kids ages 3 months to 36 months at 10:00 AM. There will be music, singing, dancing, and instruments! This is located at 3083 Brickhouse Ct. Virginia Beach. Click here to reserve your spot! 

Little Rockstars Preschool Music Class
This class for preschoolers happens every week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10 AM and on Fridays at noon. It is $7 per adult & child and $5 per additional child. There are a lot of great reviews about this class- great energy for preschoolers- check it out!! It is at the Farmers Market in Virginia Beach.

Storytime at Barnes & Noble
Both locations (Chesapeake and Virginia Beach) are hosting storytime.

Chesapeake at 9:00 AM: 1212Greenbrier Parkway
Virginia Beach at 10:00 AM: 4485 Virginia Beach Blvd. "The Day the Crayons Quit"
Virginia Beach at 7PM: 4485 Virginia Beach Blvd. "The Elf on the Shelf"


Get Fit Friday at the Children's Museum of Virginia
Head to the second floor of the Children's Museum in Portsmouth (221 High Street in Portsmouth) for a physically fit activity at 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM.

Anniversary of Blackbeard's Demise
Cape Henry Lighthouse will be hosting a celebration of the "Anniversary of Blackbeard's Demise" from 10 AM - 5PM. The program will include discussions on Blackbeard, the Man, the Myth, the Legend. This is located at 583 Atlantic Ave. in Fort Story Virginia.

Adults (13 and over) $5
Youth (12 and under) $3

Family Night Hike
Bundle up the kids and head over to Stumpy Lake Natural Area at 4797 Indian River Road in Virginia Beach from 8-9 PM for a park in the dark hike. This is for ages 5 and up with a parent.

Gobble till You Wobble at Potts N Paints
Kids Fun Night Out! From 6-9 PM there will be a fun night out for the kiddos at Potts N Paints (920 S. Battlefield Blvd. #102). They will be creating a cool Thanksgiving plate. They will also enjoy pizza, the movie "Chicken Run" and paint the cool plate. Drop off begins at 5:30 PM and pick up is at 9:00 PM. The cost is $25 per person.

Million Bulb Walk (November 22 - 27)
Come walk through the beautiful botanical gardens and see a million lights from 5:30 - 8:30 PM! Admission is:
$10 per person (Ages 2 and under are free)
$8 for members
Military Appreciation: $5 per person

Norfolk Botanical Gardens is located at 6700 Azalea Garden Road in Norfolk.

McDonald's Holiday Lights at the Beach (All Weekend)
On the Virginia Beach boardwalk between 2nd and 34th Streets there will be Holiday lights set up in the form of festive fish, jumping dolphins, frolicking porpoises- all in bright, colored lights. This is opened nightly:

5:30 - 10 PM Sunday - Thursday
5:30 - 11 PM Friday - Saturday

Admission Prices are:
(Cash Only)

Cars, Monday - Thursday, $12 per car
Cars, Friday - Sunday and holidays, $15 per car

Enter at 2nd Street on the Virginia Beach boardwalk.

Saturday
MacArthur on Ice (All weekend)
Right outside the MacArthur Center (on the corner of Freemason Street and Monticello Ave.) is an ice skating rink that is 7,200 square feet. Enjoy public skating sessions, private lessons, ice hockey clinics, figure skating exhibitions and more!

Regular admission is $6 for skating, $6 for skate rental.
Military personnel and their family members receive $1 off the admission price.

Click here for more information. 

29th Annual Grand Illumination Parade
Spend the holiday in the city at 7 PM for the Grand Illumination Parade. This is a FREE event! The theme this year is Jingle Bell Jungle! This will begin at 201 Granby Street in Norfolk.

Light up the Town
Head over to Town Center for an Illumination show at 7 PM. Visit with Santa, countdown to the lighting of Town Center and its 30-foot tree, balloon artists, carolers, and more! This is from 5 - 9 PM and is free to the public.

She's ALL girl.

William and I didn't find out if we were having a boy or a girl when I was pregnant. I was all about being surprised, I thought it would help get me through labor and it did. But those last few weeks I was like, "I just want to know what we are having!" And, for the first 8 months of my pregnancy I definitely thought it was a boy. I mean, I thought "boy, oh boy, I am having a boy!"

I am a nanny to three boys so I know what to do with boys. I also lived with my friends when I first moved to Virginia and they had three boys...so I knew how to take care of boys! I had never really been around baby girls and I was nervous to have a girl, so I had pretty much made up my mind that we were having a boy because that's what I knew and it would all be fine and dandy.

Sometime in that last month I started to think about how there are pros to having a boy AND a girl. If I had a girl, I could dress her really cute (they have such cute girl clothes out there) and play tea parties and Barbies. And a little part of me decided, "Okay, I think it's okay to have a girl."

Then the day came when we were in labor and I'm pushing, and out comes the baby and William said, "..............." yeah, he said nothing because he was so in the moment and totally stunned that we just had a baby, so it was dead silence. I had to say,

"WHAT IS IT?!?!"

"...It's a GIRL!" 

A girl. We had a girl! And a super cute one, at that.

And as she is growing we are experiencing all the joys and difficulties that come with a girl, and we are loving every minute of it!

She loves jewelry. She loves stuffed animals. She loves music. She loves dancing. She loves whining...yep, she's all girl. haha.

I love playing dolls with our sweet girl. I love playing kitchen and dressing her in giant bows that she hates. I love it when she walks around the house wearing every scarf I own and getting a kick out of it when we laugh at her. I love how she dances when music comes on. I even love how she is bossy- already- and yells at the dog when he is doing something bad. There are so many added bonuses to having a girl that I didn't even realize! Plus, no mud pies, no insects being brought in the house, no meltdowns over a lost Tonka truck.

But there are challenges with every child, of course. So instead of the "dirty" challenges, we have whining...a lot of whining. We have meltdowns when "mommy won't let me wear jewelry to bed because she's afraid I will hang myself." We have particularity over clothing ALREADY! We have anger when I try to put her tiny curls into a ponytail....yeah, she is ALREADY having meltdowns about the way I fix her hair (that brings back memories to my childhood).

There are challenges with every child, boy or girl. But regardless, as parents, we love our kids for who they are and we wouldn't change a thing...even their gender!

One day, we will probably have a boy, and we are so excited for that day! But until then, we are ALL Girl in this household and wouldn't change it for the world!

Enjoying the last few days of nice weather!

If you are anything like me, it's hard to keep the kiddos busy all the time. Mainly because I am tired. I love taking Maggie to fun events, but sometimes I just want to do something simple. These are the days when we go to the park! We love going to different parks and playing on the playgrounds, swinging, and going for walks. Our favorite park to go to in Virginia Beach is Mount Trashmore! Their Kids Cove is HUGE! Plus they have the big hill to climb up and it is cool to look out and see the pretty lake. If you get a chance to go there before it gets too cold- definitely check it out!

For more information about Mount Trashmore, click here! 

Here are a few pictures of us enjoying Mount Trashmore:

This is the view of Towncenter from the top of the hill. 

We like to go to the top of the hill and blow bubbles! 

Sliding! 

Definitely take the kids there for a picnic and a fun time on the playground. Have fun!

Sincerely,