Thanksgiving Program

Yes, this is my fourth post in one afternoon...I'm behind.

This blog is dedicated to my precious pilgrim, Kendyll. She had a great time performing last week in her Thanksgiving program, and sang her little heart out. That girl was made for the stage and loves every minute of the spotlight. She was thrilled to have her Daddy, Gammy, Grandma, and Pops there to watch her too (along with anyone else in the audience who she thought might be watching her too!)
She has always looked forward to her programs, and even at a very young age (2 years old), sang and sang, while waving and smiling at us. This year, she gave us many performances at home before her big program day, and they are so classic Kendyll. Not only would she sing her songs, but then, she would "strongly encourage" Carlie to sing louder for us. She would then sing every word of Carlie's songs for her, since she wasn't into performing.

I really think we might put her in Casa for Kids next summer where you learn to act and sing in a real play. Who knows, maybe she'll find a new talent for the stage!

Now, read on in the next entry to see how different her sister is...

My Little Indian

In addition to my precious pilgrim, I also had my silly little Indian. While Kendyll was busy singing and entertaining on stage, Carlie had no interest in that kind of thing. Here is how her performance went:

See her excitement as she prepares for her entrance to the program...Then watch her stare at her friends as they all sing, and she wonders why on earth they would want to do such a thing. She also wondered why they would want to watch their teachers and follow along either.
In the finale, when the whole school sang their Spanish songs, Carlie decided to do her own thing....Yes, she was on the front row, and yes, she decided to twirl and fall down a few times instead of sing.

But, hey, at least she was entertaining!

Our Holiday Week

We had a great Thanksgiving week, both with the "extended" family, and with our little family of four. Since we had most of our celebrations last weekend and this weekend, the days in between were pretty open for us to use as we wanted. So, Mark and I made a "work around the house" list, and tackled quite a bit of the to-do list that we've been wanting to get done before baby number three comes along! So, we did everything from hanging pictures to cleaning out closets, then found time to repack the attic, organize his office, clean out my sewing (bye bye bag business!), do lots of laundry, and start the process of combining the girls into one room. Somewhere in there, we found time to play with our girls, and do a couple of fun things with them while we were out for the holidays.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day, we took them shopping, then to the mall for dinner at Rainforest Cafe, a carousel ride, and some dessert too. Kendyll got to get her favorite Starbucks hot chocolate, and Mommy got her Cinnabon cinnamon roll that I'd been smelling since we got there! We had a great night hanging out as a family. Carlie was amazed by the animals in the restaurant and spent most of the time with her mouth open in awe as the gorillas beat their chest and the lions roared. Thanksgiving Day was awesome----we never got out of our PJ's and play clothes, and spent the whole day together at home. We started with a big breakfast made my Mommy and Daddy, then spent the whole morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The girls LOVED it! We had lunch and dinner at home, made chocolate peanut butter bars, and none of our food came close to resembling a Thanksgiving dinner in any way! My favorite part of the day was our Thanksgiving "devo" together that night (although it was short and sweet). We read "Thankful Together", which talked about different things we are thankful for, along with Bible verses about being thankful. Then, we made a list out loud of what we thank God for, and each of us prayed. It was a special day for us, and a day that I was definitely thankful for!!

Friday, was our traditional trip downtown to the "spectacular" Parade of Lights (I'm being a little sarcastic! It's one of those "homemade" kind of parades where people put lights on their trucks as a "float".) But, the girls loved the parade and thought every "float" was the coolest. My favorite part was watching Kendyll dance to a "soul-filled" high school band drum line, with her friend we met at the parade, Jeremiah. Let's just say he was born with a little more natural soul than Kendyll. I wish I had a video of her shaking her hips to the beat. Pretty cute. Here are the girls singing while they tried to pose for a sister picture for me:To get to the parade, we rode the train from Grandad's house, which was so fun and convenient...and free! The only downside was when we missed the train to go back home and had to take a cab. Oops!! We were too busy chowing down our dinner and enjoying the downtown craziness to notice that we were late for the last train out!

Our last Thanksgiving celebration was yesterday with my dad's side of the family and we had another fabulous lunch where we were all too stuffed to move. So, it was a wonderful week, with two great celebrations on each end of Thanksgiving week. I am so thankful for my big family with multiple celebrations! 

Happy Belated Birthday!

Before I do the Thanksgiving catch-up blogs, I have a "makeup" blog to do. I neglected to post a very important birthday and tradition from almost a month ago....and I got in trouble for it! (Just kidding, Pops....I know I'm not really in trouble!) But, on November 4th, Mark's Dad, "Pops" or "Popsy", had another birthday....I think he's still 50 though, right?! :)

Anyway, the tradition started four years ago on Pops' birthday when Kendyll was nine months old...I think it actually started because we forgot Pops' big day (that has happened a few times over the years, unfortunately!), so, at his request, we sent a digital picture of Kendyll holding a "Happy Birthday" sign to make up for it. (I don't know if it really made up for it or not, but he made us feel good and said that it did!)

After he received the pictures, he told us that from that year on, his only birthday requirement would be a new picture of his grandchildren holding up a birthday sign---preferably on time, though, in the future.

So, the other day, he asked me where his birthday pictures were on the blog!! OOPS!! I never posted them! (although we did email them to him on his actual birthday, I just didn't think to blog them!) Sorry, Pops.

Anyway, Pops, (or Popsy, as Kendyll prefers) here are this year's pictures in all their glory. With the beautiful sign written by Kendyll, complete with a drawing of "Kendyll, Carlie, and Popsy". And, next year, there will be another little nine month old sitting on the couch too! That's hard to believe!


 

Our Weekend

Here are a few updates from the Jacobs world this last weekend:

*After a very fun brunch shower for my sweet friend Amy and her third child on the way, Carter, I headed home for Thanksgiving number one. We had a great time with family on Saturday for our early Thanksgiving. For some strange reason, I never took a single picture which I am very sad about! But, here is Kendyll the night before, with her decorated table and homemade placemats.

After a big and yummy lunch, we got to catch up with "girl talk" at the kitchen table while the guys watched the football games all day. Those times are always the best, as we cover every subject under the sun and still need hours to finish our conversations. The best part is the dessert break halfway through the afternoon too! :)

*Baby Jacobs decided to make everything a little bit crazy, by giving me constant contractions throughout the weekend. Most of these were the tight, Braxton Hicks kind of contractions---harmless, yet annoying. Some got pretty strong though, at which point, my sheriff husband made me stop and do nothing. (he gets a little paranoid about these things!) So, I sadly missed the biggest party of the year...Mia's "Gotcha Day" party. (here's an old picture of our cute Mia!)

But, Kendyll and Mark represented us well at the party, and of course, after the sweet tribute to this special girl, Mark is now ready to hit the road to China to have a "Gotcha Day" of our own. I told him "one child at a time"!

And, a follow-up to the contractions: I had a doctor visit yesterday and all is well. The baby looks great (and VERY active) and the contractions are not causing anything to change at this point, which is great news. So, since I already knew that I was a "constant contractor" from the last pregnancy, I plan to continue my plan for working on the house this week unless otherwise instructed by my overly-cautious husband. :)

*A big last update!!! Carlie is in a big girl bed! We had planned to make the transition over the Thanksgiving holidays since we would be at home alot, and I had it all planned out. Day One was Sunday and we were only planning to set the bed up, pick out her "big girl" sheets, and let her play around in her new room and get used to the changes--but continue sleeping in her baby bed, which was also set up in her room. Day Two was going to be laying in the new bed, pretending to sleep, or possibly even a naptime in the bed. Day Three was going to be sleeping alone in the big bed.

Most of this plan was generated because of my only experience in the past with my "slow to warm up" oldest child. Kendyll did a great job with the transition to the big girl bed, but only because we did it slowly and talked about each stage, which is how she likes everything to be when something is changing. Well, not Carlie! We set the bed up, and within ten minutes, she had her blankie and paci and was laying in the bed, telling us night-night and asking for us to go. Ummm, what? I thought she was pretending but she wasn't. An hour later, after begging to go to sleep earlier than usual, she took her first nap in her bed. She didn't make a PEEP, didn't try to get off the bed, and didn't have a problem at all. She has now slept in her bed for two nights, and two naps, and is doing great! I haven't even had to pull out the "rule-book for sleeping" at our house yet---Because she's following the rules automatically! (Our rules are 1) No getting out of your bed for any reason, except to potty, which doesn't apply to her yet. 2) Mommy and Daddy get you out of bed in the mornings when it is time. You do not get up yourself. )

So far, she has done both. And, I am thrilled. Now, the next transition will come in a month when she moves to Kendyll's room to "share" with her sister. That will be a whole new ballgame I'm sure! My baby is growing up! (And, I guess that's a good thing, since another baby is taking her place!)

With Thanksgiving...

Our Thanksgiving holidays begin tomorrow around here, and I am so ready for this time. This last week, as I reviewed the story of the "First Thanksgiving" with my preschool class, I was overwhelmed for just a moment with the responsibility I have to "honor" the holiday of Thanksgiving with my children and those children who I teach. They deserve to know what a great holiday falls in between October 31st and December 25th. It frustrates me every year as I watch the stores go from Halloween craziness right into Christmas craziness, with half an aisle dedicated to the already-marked-down Thanksgiving decorations by November 1st. (As you can probably tell, I am not one of those who already listens to their Christmas music and decorates the house before November has ended. In my mind, each holiday deserves its month of honor. :)

Don't get me wrong----I really LOVE both Halloween and Christmas and go "all out" for both. But, somewhere in between there is this wonderful holiday that should represent time with family, time to pause and give thanks, and time to quit the hustle and bustle of already shopping for Christmas, to just reflect and rest. And, I hope I pass on those ideas to my kids, as they grow.

Tomorrow, we have our first Thanksgiving with my sisters, mom, and grandparents and today has been spent preparing for the company. We are having the traditional Thanksgiving feast with more turkey, vegetables, and desserts than we could ever stuff in our mouths. Kendyll and Carlie helped me shop today for the groceries, picked out little pumpkins for the table, and helped decorate the table with their homemade placemats they painted all week. As we painted, we talked about what we were thankful for, and the answers are always precious. Everything from their stuffed animals, to their grandparents, to their houseshoes (which they were wearing), to their new baby sister...children sure remind us how easy it should be to thank God for everything...and I do mean everything!

After this weekend of celebrating, we have the big Thanksgiving program at school on Monday, dinner with Mark's family that evening, and celebrations with my dad and his side of the family later in the week. Thanksgiving Day is actually WIDE OPEN for the first time in our married history, so we plan to celebrate at home with just our children. I'm looking forward to that so much! We also plan to take them to the downtown Fort Worth parade the day after Thanksgiving, which is a long-standing tradition in our family. So many exciting things about this upcoming week! I'll be back with pictures of all the festivities, as well as my cute Pilgrim Kendyll and Indian Carlie from their show on Monday.

Blog friends, have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord...Let us come before Him with thanksgiving!" Psalm 95:1-2

H is for Hat Day!

Yesterday was hat day at school. Although at least half of the school DID NOT participate, my girls still loved their hats and wore them all day. Carlie's hat looked different every time I saw her, and she wore it backwards all through chapel, but she sure is cute in her "Shortcake" hat. Kendyll got a surprise visit from Grandma with a special chick-fil-a lunch delivery, which absolutely made her day. The best part was that she got to leave after lunch and go home with Grandma for a sleepover. She was absolutely giddy.


On another note, we have officially started the decision-making process on school options for our little kindergartener-to-be (even though the prayer process was begun long ago!). We had our first open house for one option last night, and I am overwhelmed by the excitement I feel about this road we are starting down. Especially if you are family, we would love to have your prayers as we make such big decisions for our precious Kendyll....and for our family. I'll have more to blog about later on that topic, I'm sure....

I hope everyone has a great weekend. We will be spending alot of it with our extended family, as we celebrate Lil' Mama's life together. It will be a blessing to all of us, I'm sure. 

Sweet Lil' Mama

Tonight, our family lost a matriarch like I have never known before. Lula Teague, known as Lil' Mama by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and "great-great's", left this earth to join her Lord in heaven tonight. She was my great-grandmother and my children's great-great-grandmother, which is a rare blessing that I feel fortunate to have had for as long as I did. Five generations don't happen very often, and I could not have asked for a better example of a Godly wife and mother than Lil' Mama was.

She would have been 96 years old this month, and lived a full life, dedicated solely to her God and her family. She had five children, one of which was my grandfather, and has countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her "great-great's", as she called them, were Kendyll, Carlie, Braden, and two other cousins, Brennan and Liam. She was incredibly proud to have "great-great's" and she glowed every time they were around. Even at her age, she could hold a baby and comfort them like she was still 30 years old and a young mother herself. I have many pictures of her holding each of my girls, and will treasure those always.

Although I could go on and on about the life she lived, I will save that for another day. Tonight, as I told my dad earlier, I pray for her grandchildren and children, as they deal with the loss of their sweet grandmother and mother. I have never witnessed a mother and grandmother have such sweet relationships with her family, or be the kind of example and living testimony to her faith in the Lord than Lil' Mama. She had such a profound impact on each one of our lives and I am so proud to be her offspring. I only hope and pray that I can be an ounce of the Christian woman she was. And, I look forward to being with the family this weekend as we celebrate her precious life.

And, Lil' Mama, I know you are loving on Grandaddy tonight and finally in the presence of God Himself, praising Him as you always did here on earth. I will never sing the old favorite hymns of yours without seeing your sweet face and hearing your unmistakeable singing voice. As Cortni and I talked today, we realized that we had both sung "The Old Rugged Cross" for you today at different times. And, now you're there! "I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown." I know yours is a beautiful crown full of every jewel. We love you, Lil' Mama.