Merry Christmas from our family! Fun to compare this year's photo from Josh's family's Christmas to last year's.(This must be Josh's annual Christmas shirt) I had great time at all our celebrations!  Lots of fun family times with all!  We are so blessed to be near our families! ...

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I am a mother. I am a diaper changing, boo boo kissing, animal cracker eating, hug giving, cold coffee nuking, laundry washing, daddy skyping, toy tripping, Christmas tree ornament wrangling, grey roots up-touching, apron wearing, hubby kissing, muffin baking, sometimes dinner making, often takeout grabbing, quickly praying, Pinterest pinning, ABC's singing, highchair wiping, dishwasher loading, little girl rocking, hesitantly entertaining, sippy cup giving,...

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27.  christmas music 28.  cinnamon rolls & mocha flavored coffee 29.  little girl napping 30.  mom here to keep me company Ahhhh...  I think my 30 days of gratitude is suddenly complete. ...

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18.  I am grateful for a beautiful sunrise today! 19.  I am grateful for my husband making me waffles for dinner! 20.  I am grateful I could rearrange our living room in ten minutes. 21.  I am grateful for a bowl of honey nut cheerios, mmmm! 22.  I am grateful for Christmas lights. 23.  I am grateful for a warm bed to crawl...

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8.  I am grateful to finally have a dishwasher! 9.  Even more so, I am grateful for a dishwasher that works so well!  Many times I see dishes in it that obviously were not rinsed an inch, and I think, "Oh, no way that's gonna get clean!"  And a couple days later after the load has been washed and I'm putting dishes away,...

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6.  i am thankful for nap time. 7.  i am thankful my daughter cracks me up. ...

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5.  I'm so grateful that God knows better than I do. I was driving home from Aldi this evening when a song came on the radio that took me back to a time long ago and to a former crush.  Man, seriously, God protected me from so many lousy relationships.  I look at how this former crush has turned out, and I think...

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3.  I am thankful for Target's policy that allows me to get the sale price of an item after I bought it at regular price a couple weeks prior. 4.  I am thankful for a husband who does so much for our family - tending to Catherine when she occasionally cries in the middle of the night or frequently cries in the early...

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i write this on a friday night not from my own home, but from the home of my in-laws. i am thankful for my in-laws.  they raised a great son in my husband, and they are great grandparents to our little girl! we are so blessed to have them nearby.  tonight josh is with his dad at a mens retreat.  catherine & i...

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so do you think i could actually post a little blog of something to be thankful for every day in november?  or at least until thanksgiving? hmmm, we'll see.  maybe it will last a day.  ha. i am grateful for my new job.  as trying as it may be - and believe me, it is - i am truly grateful that i can...

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I am so grateful for our vehicle(s).  Granted, only one is currently working, but that is ok.  Josh now walks to work, and we are managing to get by. We are in no hurry to get rid of either vehicle, especially the one that is working. However, with that said, I will say that our next vehicle will be a bigger vehicle. We...

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Things I Like Right Now chevron grey & yellow burlap pumpkin candles fall actually being chilly nap time muffins cookbooks coffee mugs having a dishwasher sitting on the front porch baby Halloween costumes consignment shops/thrift stores weekends family cuddle time pinterest craigslist deals catch-all baskets pumpkin recipes ...

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Internet til whenever Catherine wakes up from her nap...  Considering she's already been down an hour, I'm not sure how long it will last. This will be all over the place and random. Updates: we have moved to Goshen!!!!! Josh is back at work! I quit my job in education! I am now a full-time stay at home mommy!!! Phew, is that all?!? ...

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Had a GREAT 4 day weekend in Wisconsin!!  I love being back there. We went with Jen and Andy and of course the girls.  It's awesome when we can borrow my folks' mini van and all ride together.  Well, except for the fact that long car trips with babies are hard, and sometimes they just take turns screaming and crying.  But other times...

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Josh & I were super excited to see a new house hit the market just about a week and a half ago.  I'll call it The Yellow Farmhouse because that's what it reminds me of - even though it's not on a farm. The pictures looked GREAT.  The house sounded GREAT.  We did a drive-by and couldn't wait to see it on the...

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Not only is our house much more organized, picked up, orderly, cleaned up, but I took a moment to do the same to my blog.  My "Blogs I Read" is updated.  If friends hadn't posted in a year, out they went. Maybe one of these days I'll update my profile.  And I suppose I should add some pictures of Little Girl in the...

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I'm calling these treats Rhubarb Bars because it's fun to say.  Go ahead, try it.  Rhubarb Bars.Told ya so! I have loved anything with rhubarb since I was a little kid living in Minnesota (that was a L O N G time ago!!) where we used to grow it in our garden.  But this is the first time I've actually done anything with...

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It's officially Summer Break! And we are already busy! Josh was in Chicago last night to celebrate his brother's birthday.  Today he's taking him golfing, and then we're all going over to his place for dinner. Tomorrow's a cookout with Josh's family in Michigan. One week until Josh runs the Sunburst half marathon. Two weeks until we host a wedding shower for Jeremy...

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I can smell sweet relief.  It's so close I can almost taste it.  Just one more day. And then... no more pumping 3 times a day no more preparing bottles nightly no more scrambling around trying to find a room to pump in and praying no one interrupts no more 5:30 alarms no more leaving my sleeping daughter on a daily basis At...

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