We decided to take the kids to the Lynn Meadows Discover Center because we heard so many good things about it.  And it did not disappoint.  When we got there, it was pouring rain so we were glad that Biloxi has SO MUCH TO DO!

This Discovery Center is two stories and lots of interactive areas for the kids.  It quickly filled up since I'm sure everyone wanted their kids to have some fun inside while the storms were passing through.  Between the two stories was a climbing maze that we couldn't get Jax and Julie out of!

Fisherwoman Jules!

Playing vet.

Jungle safari!

This was by far the most popular thing-the TV Game show and Talk Show.  You could present to put on a show, have an audience, and work the lighting.

Julie on the green screen.

What's the weather today, Julie?

Jaxson and Julie tried their hand at wheel chair basketball.  They were pretty terrible at it. It was fun to watch.

Afterwards, we headed to Gulfport for the Shrimp Basket.  It is so yummy!  This was the shrimp basket with cheesy grits.  So not healthy-but totally worth it.

After lunch we asked the kids if they wanted to the beach or to the splash park.  They chose the splash park.  And it was really nice.  It was up by the beach and had a really nice playground.  They had fun jumping around and getting wet!

Biloxi was having some "Splash and Dash" showers.  So we opted to go to the beach in the afternoon.  And while it was overcast, it was really nice and cool.  The kids had a blast!

But first-we had to take pictures!

We took these at a fun little hot-pink tourist shop on the beach.  Jaxson really wanted a shark necklace so we had to check this out!

Julie takes the best pictures.  We know if we give the phone to her, she will get a pretty decent shot of Justin and I.

This is Jaxson's handiwork.  He thinks he's pretty funny pranking us by telling us he has taken the picture, but really hasn't.  And then snaps one of us afterwards.  We are onto him!

The kids had so much fun on the beach.  And we ended up taking ½ the sand back with us in the van!  That stuff gets everywhere!

Jaxson worked really hard on his sand castle.  I think it turned out great!

Julie has Justin wrapped around her finger.  She had him hunting for shells and helping her build a sandcastle.

She was pretty proud of her finished product.

It was a lot of fun to relax and unwind on the beach!

We woke up and our first stop was Beauvoir!  This is the house that Jefferson Davis stayed at/lived in after the Civil War and in his later years.

This house was considered a mansion back in the day.  But it really only has 5 rooms.  This is the entrance into the house.  It was absolutely beautiful.  A lot of the pieces inside the house were original, only a couple were replicas.  (Due to Hurricane Katrina.  More about that later.)

The ladies parlour.

The bedroom of Winnie.  (His daughter.)

The "man cave."

The hutch was also original to the house.  And if you look at the bottom you can see how high the ocean was when Hurricane Katrina came through.  Remember-the house is already high off the ground.  The water was crazy deep.  

After the house, we we walked around the grounds and it was really pretty.  Although there were signs to watch out for "snake crossings!"

This was a fun place to visit and had lots to look at.  Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina really did a number on Biloxi.  Lots of things were flooded and ruined.  The Presidents Museum with a lot of artifacts was destroyed.  They have since built a new one and you can see they put everything on the 2nd story-just in case.  The house was boarded up during the storm, but the winds blew the door open and lots of things were flooded and even moved out of the house.  Somethings went missing and still haven't turned up.  A piano was even found in a tree! Justin asked our tour guide why they didn't move the furniture out of the house and she said that they really didn't think the hurricane was going to be that bad.  They were really lucky more things weren't destroyed.  We noticed that even though Hurricane Katrina came through over 10 years ago, Biloxi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast are still rebuilding from it.  

Now onto the beach!

With a week off of work and school just getting out, it was time for us to take a road trip!  We decided to go somewhere close by-Biloxi, Mississippi.  We wanted to go to a beach and explore a city we haven't been to before.

Once we crossed the Mississippi River, we had to stop at the Visitor's Center and take our obligatory state sign picture.  One day we will have all 50 states!  (Goals to strive for!)

The Visitor's Center even had a cannon! 

We went to the Vicksburg National Military Park.  This is where the Vicksburg Campaign and Siege happened in March-July 1863.  The Union Army wanted control of the Mississippi River and knew that controlling Vicksburg was the way to go.  The park is 16 mile drive around to the different areas of where battles happened.  

Entrance to the park.

Cannons ready to go!

This is the USS Cairo Gun Boat that was sunk in the Mississippi River during one of the battles.  They brought it back up almost 100 years later and displayed it out in the park.   

The Shirley House is another stop on the tour.  Can you imagine that this house was on the battlefield?  The occupants hid in this house for a couple of days before they waved a white flag.  The Union Army took them out and put them in a cave so they were safe.  

Each state that fought in Vicksburg had a memorial.  We had to get a picture of Arkansas!

Can you believe that tour took us about 2 hours to drive through?!  Crazy. It was real interesting but the kids weren't too impressed.  (Sorry kids!) 

After that activity, we drove straight to the beach.  After we ate dinner our first stop was the sand and water!

Monday

Scrappy Caps.  This thing about did me in.  But apparently, Jaxson's class is reading a book and they need to make a scrappy cap to use their "imagination" when they are reading the story.  Which really means that the parents have to be crafty and come up with something-quick!  Jaxson decided on a Star Wars theme (shocker!) and chose Dagobah which is Yoda's swampy home.  I stapled some leaves to the hat and some figures of the characters.  And for good measure-Luke's X-Wing that was stuck in the swamp. Add couple of lightsabers that were really glow sticks and....voila!  Done.  And Jax was very happy!

Tuesday

Justin had to go to Little Rock to deal with the car business.  While there he went to Starbucks and found out this deal was happening.  Yes!  I miss having my Apple Music so this will kinda be the same thing.  Especially when Julie will request songs from the radio and I have to explain to her over and over again that the radio just plays the songs.  I can't chose them.

Wednesday

There is a lot of germs going around the preschool.  Which makes me thankful for it being the second to last week of having to be there.  I ended up with an old fashioned cold.  Man, I felt terrible.  I stayed home from Wednesday night church to take care of myself.

Thursday

Muffins for Mom at the preschool!  This was our photo booth picture.

Friday

I was still recovering from my cold.  Which makes me sound like a baby.  But it really got me good. I ran a couple of errands and parked myself on the couch and enjoyed my day off.

Saturday

The Compassion Experience was in our town and I really wanted to see it. (It's basically a recreation of what a child's life is like in extreme poverty.  Compassion helps get those children sponsors so they have adequate medical care, food, and education.)  I also wanted to take Jaxson so he could see how other kids lived in other countries.  We ended up all going and Julie wanted to see it too.  Well, we went to the first child's story (An actual true story of a real child!) and it was based in Africa and the little boy had to go to jail for stealing.  Poor Julie started crying because she got scared.  It really wasn't scary, but to her it was.  So Justin held her and the boy's story did get much brighter-once he was sponsored. Afterwards, Jaxson and I went to the little girl's story while Justin and Julie went to the car.  We really enjoyed it and it helped open Jaxson's eyes to see that these children didn't have much and lived in very tiny homes.  His bedroom is bigger than the homes these children lived in with their families!  Jaxson asked a lot of questions about that afterwards.  Julie wouldn't talk about her.  She may need therapy after all that.  (Sheesh.)

Sunday

Happy Mother's Day!  Also, stomach bugs are the worst.

On Thursday, the preschool had a Muffins for Mom for Mother's Day.  I got to go in Julie's class and see that she made a cute card and painted a nice flower pot.  It was pretty cute.  She was happy to have me in her classroom, but she really hurried to eat her muffin so she could play with her friends.  Luckily, since I work there, I just slipped back into my classroom and visited with my student's moms instead.  It's funny how she wants me to be there-but only on her timing.

On Friday, Jaxson came home with a cake and pretty cute card.  He decorated the cake by himself.  He's done this every year at school and this is the best he has ever done!  Usually, there is about a million sprinkles and six inches of icing on it.  Either way, I've always enjoyed them though!  Just funny to see how he's growing up-even in his cake decorating skills.

Inside the card he had filled out questions about me.  That seriously was the most entertaining part!  I like how he put that I loved to see Star Wars with him a bajillion times.  (We do share that in common!)  And I like the quote of me saying to him, "That he's my favorite boy."  That's totally true!  I always tell him that.  And he always rolls his eyes at me when I say it.  But apparently, it must of stuck with him and he actually does appreciate it.

I also like that he put that if I could go anywhere in the world it would be Shell Ross.  That's a local nursery store around here and I love looking at all the plants and flowers they have.  But I do have to say that if I could go anywhere in the WORLD, I'd probably venture out of state.  Or country even.  But it's sweet that he remembers I like that store!

So on actual Mother's Day, Julie woke up not feeling the greatest.  Not bad.  But just not herself.  She was fine at church but later on in the day she was sick with the stomach bug.  Yuck.  I just counted my lucky stars that she is old enough to tell me when she was going to be sick and I could help her.  Poor girl. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Today we went on our Preschool Field trip to the Wonderplace.  Only Julie was calling it Wonderland which I guess is about right since it was pretty fun for her age.  It's basically a place to play with water tables, sand, dress up, art, and lots of climbing structures.

I think the water table and sand area were her favorites.  When she did grant me permission to check in on her (ha!) she was always at those places.  She had a blast with her friends and didn't want to leave.  However, I was hungry and had a lot to do so we left as soon as her bestie had to go.

Julianne has been wanting a pretzel for days now from Sam's Club.  But I didn't want to go there just for a pretzel so I was glad they had them at Target too!  She was so happy with her pretzel and coke.  I never heard a word out of her while I was shopping and getting everything I needed.  I need to do that more often!

See?  She is happy as a clam while I check out the clearance aisle real fast!

Jaxson had his awards assembly today.  And he was very proud of his awards!  He got the Super Star award (no tickets) and the Silver Award for all A's and B's. 

Unfortunately, he did not get his Perfect Attendance award.  He woke up with the stomach bug one day this past quarter and threw up right before school.  He was very upset that I still wouldn't send him to school in his condition that morning!  

Shocking, I know. 

Tonight, while Julie was supposed to be in bed sleeping, she was actually playing a memory card game with Pink Panda.  (Pink Panda is one of her very nearest and dearest stuffed animals.)  And Julie was losing to her panda!  After I caught her playing instead of sleeping, she told me that Pink Panda was winning and that "Pink Panda is just beating me up!" 

It was too cute not to correct her!  I just had to laugh.  And sadly, Julie lost to Pink Panda two times in a row.  She just couldn't believe it and neither could I!

This past weekend was so gorgeous out!  We decided to take the kids fishing and see if we had any luck. 

Even Julie wanted to try it out!

Just waiting, and waiting, and waiting.......

While we were waiting, a bunch of ducks came over to us and were extremely friendly.  They quacked and ducked in and out of the water.  Julie was in awe over them.  I wish we would have brought some bread for them.  I'm sure they were a little disappointed in us.

And finally the kids' patience was done with fishing and we headed to the playground.  Jaxson was very proud of himself for climbing to the top of the rocket ship.  It is pretty tall.  Poor Julie tried to keep up but got a little scared.  She tried the first level and got a little freaked out.  She climbed back down.  Then she mustered up the courage and tried again and made it to the second level.  But then she had to get down again.  She tried one last time and she made it to the third level.  There, she was convinced she was stuck so I had to coach her back down.  After she was on the ground (and safe!) she told me that she will wait until she is 6 years old until she tries that again. 

It was a fun little morning adventure.  We did not catch any fish and I was secretly glad because I didn't want to deal with the whole mess of cleaning them up!

It's that time in Cub Scouts-the Pinewood Derby!  This is the first year that Jaxson has participated in it and he was pretty excited. Of course we pulled up some youtube videos to see any tricks to making the car fast. Btw-there are, but some people get really serious and we just weren't ready for that kind of investment!  Yikes!

So Justin and Jaxson put the car together and they probably put a total of 40-60 minutes. Jaxson painted the car in a Star Wars theme and it was ready to race.

At the Pack Pinewood Derby, Jaxson's car held up great!  It actually beat some cars and much to my surprise he got second place!  He was so happy and we were too, just because there were some fancy cars. But it seemed the fancier the car the slower it would go. 

Yesterday we went to the District Pinewood Derby. Now, we warned Jaxson that there will be a lot of cars there and not to expect a trophy. And again, his little car won some rounds! 

 He ended up racing several rounds, but didn't end up placing. But he had fun and was happy with a participant's ribbon. 

Then last night Jaxson showed me that he made a Pinewood Derby track in his room and he was racing cars. It's actually pretty smart because he modeled it off the track they used yesterday. So he's been racing cars all night and getting Julie involved. Funny how in his pretend derby he always wins first place.....

It finally snowed in Arkansas!  After having a very mild and warm Christmas, winter finally showed up!

Even before the snow showed up, we received word that school was going to be closed the following day. I still can't get over that. In eastern Washington state-we barely had school delayed for snow, let alone closed altogether!

Jaxson loved the snow and played with the neighborhood kids for most of the afternoon. Julie wants to like the snow and she did play in it-but she gets cold and when she is cold...that girl is cranky!  She came in a lot to drink her hot chocolate and get warm. I don't blame her. 

I'm still amazed on how much snow we had!  It was about 4-5 inches. Enough to cover my snow boots!

Now, next weekend is supposed to be warm-almost in the 70's!  I tell you, this Arkansas weather is crazy!

Personal

Keep up on the Bible Journaling eCourse

Mail package

Home Management

Follow prompts from The 500 Things Decluttering Challenge

School

Help Julie with her HIPPY homework

Activities

Text a couple of people about the Cub Scouts Day Camp

Help plan Blue and Gold

Get Jaxson's party decorations

Hello 2016.  I guess it's time acknowledge that another year has gone by. 

It was Founder's Day weekend and it rained. A lot. You see, Founder's Day is when our town celebrates with many festivities. They include a parade, yummy food at the park, venders at the park, and a concert. In otherwords, all outside stuff!  

Jaxson was going to be in the parade for Cub Scouts with his friends. And that morning, it just poured. I kept getting ready and telling Justin that we wouldn't be able to do it. But when I showed up at our meeting spot, the rain let up. And then it stopped raining. So while it was wet outside and humid (my poor hair didn't stand a chance!) we wouldn't get soaked!  Yay!

Our preschool went to the pumpkin patch this week. Julie was so excited to go even though I'm not entirely sure she remembered what it was from last year!

First, we went to look at the animals  Julie found some bunnies she could pet and it just made her day.  In fact, she came up to me after petting them and told me that she had always wanted to pet a bunny and now she has!  I guess it must of been one of her life dreams or something!  Ha!

We also went on a hay ride. This ride was elaborate!  First, the driver told us all about this "bad guy" who broke into the town bank and stole money. So while we enjoyed the backdrop of trees, pretend animals, and scarecrows-we had to be on the lookout for the bank robber. And after we did the full size maze (Julie got claustrophobic!) and the tree house, surprise!  The bank robber showed up!  Of course, our tour guide was also a deputy Sherriff so we were in good hands. It was cute because some of the kids were quite spooked by the bad guy. We had to remind them that it was all pretend

But most of all, Julie loved the bounce house, swings, and finding her pumpkin. She made sure to pick up a pumpkin that she could lift and carry. Which is funny since boys are always wanting the biggest item. Girls are quite different!. 

Jaxson is very proud to be in Cub Scouts.  He joined last year and was a Tiger Cub.  This year he is a Wolf!  A lot of his friends have joined and he just loves it.

We finally bought the Wolf part of his uniform.  Each year we have to swap out the hat and the neckerchief.  And he was so happy to have all of it put together.  So happy, in fact, that he was taking a bunch of selfies on the iPad with different faces!

Who taught him this?  Is this just something ingrained in the younger generations?  I told him how we didn't have internet when I was a kid and that just astounded him.  And his teacher told him that phones used to be hooked to walls....how medieval!

Anyways, this weekend we had a car wash to earn money for the troop.  It was a little cold and windy, but those boys worked hard!  And there was always a constant line of cars just waiting to be washed.  It was amazing.  In the end, we earned a bunch of money for the pack to buy awards the scouts will be earning later this year.  And while he was tired of washing cars, I think he enjoyed hanging out with his friends and getting all soapy!

(And notice all us parents had to join in to get the tops and bottoms of cars!  There was always a spot that was missed!)

Julie says the funniest things.  Here are some samplings below:

• I was putting Julie to bed and she was very mad about it since she was NOT tired.  After her fiftieth time of coming out of her room I really got after her saying that if she got out of bed, we would have to close her bedroom door.  As she stomped away to her room she muttered, "I am not even tired and I don't want to go to bed.  I can't even yawn yet."
  

• We were on a walk/bike ride in the evening and Julie asks, "Daddy?  Can you pump some gas in my wheels of my princess bike?  Jaxson says they are getting flat."

• On another walk, we were going up a hill and I said that my legs were burning.  Julie looked at me and said, "no they're not."
  

• I was explaining to Julie how to pick up her room.  I told her to find a toy, pick it up, and put it in it's home.  Julie responded to me by saying, "That's a great idea-but.....I don't want to."

• On any given day- Julie:  "Jaxson pushed me."  Jax:  "No I didn't!"  Julie: (singing) "You're pants are falling down and hanging on a wire!"

• And lastly, this was in her book she made at preschool:

Her life long dream is to be an ice cream truck driver when she grows up.  In fast, she told Justin and I that when she drives by our house she will see if our car is there. If it is-we can buy ice cream from her. If not, then we don't get any ice cream.

On the bright side, it looks like a college fund is not necessary for her.  Ha!

Every since preschool has been out, I've had the itch to do some DIY Pinterest inspired stuff.  I rearranged my furniture in most of the house, made myself a gallery wall, hung up new (to us) curtains, made a welcome sign for the front porch, and put new edging in the flower bed.  (Much to Justin's dismay!)

First up-my welcome sign.  I was inspired by this picture and wanted to replicate it. 

I just used some leftover pallet wood and paint that I already had.  For the lettering, I printed out a font on my computer and rubbed chalk on the back of the paper.  Then I laid it down on the sign and traced the letters with pencil.  The pencil tracing made a chalk outline on the sign-very easy to paint!  I found the burlap at Dollar Tree and used it to make the burlap roses and to hang the sign up.  I was pretty excited how it turned out since I winged it in all.

Next up-the flowerbed edging.  I showed this idea to Justin and he wasn't on board like I thought he would be.  But then a brick paver sale at Lowe's helped him changed his mind.  We purchased 150 bricks and started away on it.  This was actually kind of a pain.  You had to use a level to make sure the bricks were straight and lined up.  It was hard to make a curve with this design.  And then we ended up having monsoon rains (as it seemed) so we couldn't finish the project right away.  What should have taken a day to do, took almost a week and half to complete.  And then it rained some more so some of my bricks sunk in.  Which we thought might happen.  So I do need to fix that part.  But that's easy!  And I love the result.  It looks more polished and really defines the flowerbed. 

And now-my pickle jar vase!

Justin bought this humongous jar of pickles at Sam's.  And I knew that I wanted to do something with the jar once the pickles were finished.  So after some nagging for EVERYONE TO EAT THE PICKLES...it was finally empty.  I had some leftover white spray paint and decided to paint it with that.  I actually read somewhere on Pinterest to paint the inside of the jar to make it look more like a ceramic item.  Nope.  Don't do that.  It was a mess and for some reason when I painted the second coat on, it bubbled up the paint and it looked awful.  So I painted the outside of it and it turned out just fine.  I actually liked it better.  I used some flowers we had lying around the house and put some leftover burlap ribbon around the jar.  And I ended up loving it.  It's super bright and cheery.  Now I have a big pickled jar of okra sitting in the fridge.  I'm a little excited to get that finished off so I can paint again!

And of course, I still have more projects on my mind.  I would love to paint my dining room table like this.  I would love to make the "Do it all for the glory" sign for our dining room.  Or maybe this one about breaking bread?  I'd like to try to make this faux coral.  But I think my next project is this drop cloth rug for the dining room.  This would definitely help define the space.  Now, wish me luck!

It's the last day of school for Jax!  Well, not really.  They still have to go Monday, but considering that his desk is all packed up and there is absolutely nothing to do, I'm not going to make him go.  So I took a picture today of him.  

Julie has been out of school for about a month now.  Here's the picture from her last day of school.  

I did an interview video of both of them.  Enjoy!

I like how Jaxson couldn't think of anything to say about what he didn't like about school.  I can answer that pretty quickly.  HOMEWORK!  He hated the homework and spelling words always did Jaxson and me both.  I was luckily enough to find Spelling City because we both were miserable when he studied spelling.  After finding this app, it made studying much more bearable.

And Julie loved everything about preschool.  She misses her friends and still talks about school a lot.  It was her social life-she could have cared less about learning her alphabet and numbers, she just wanted to play with her friends!

And now...onto summer!

Well, we had an ice day over a week ago.  And now we had snow!  We got out of school on Monday around 1pm and haven't been back since.  I guess February is giving us a taste of what winter should really be like!  I don't mind it though. Even if we will be going to school until July 4th!  Ha!

This was the most perfect snow ever.  Fluffy, wet, and easy to make snowballs with!

And snow angels!

The kids each had to make their own snowmen.  They were really proud of them!

It was a fun day.  I enjoyed sleeping and watching some daytime TV.  I never do that.  But when you can't go anywhere or do anything, I can justify watching Dr. Oz and Jeopardy.  I had fun playing outside with the kids.  It was great because once we got cold, we came inside for some hot chocolate!

We woke up to sleet and freezing rain this morning.  This ice storm had been hyped up all week and you just never know if what they forecast is really going to happen.  

So when the kids woke up this morning, they were so happy to see snow!  They couldn't wait to build a snowman.  I had to bring down their hopes a bit by letting them know it was sleet and ice-not snow. 

But you know what?  Jax didn't mind at all that is was ice.  In fact, he enjoyed sliding around and hunting for big icicles.

The kids begged that Justin and I go out, so we promised we would after lunch.  But brrr....it was so cold!  Ice was everywhere. 

My poor plants:

The swingset:

And the trees-boy were the tree branches heavy with ice!

And poor Julie.  She wanted to play outside.  She wanted to like the ice and enjoy it like Jaxson did.  But it was just too cold and too wet.  And when her boots somehow got ice in them and her mittens were a little wet-she gave up and went inside where it was warm.  I don't blame her cause I followed along right after her!

I'm just taking this brief interruption to say that posting this gratitude list has been challenging.  I ended up sick with a cold.  Julie did as well.  Then we both got really sick and are now on antibiotics.  I'm dealing with asthmatic bronchitis which my new inhaler is working wonders on as well.  And then last night, Jax woke me up because he had a stomach bug.  And for three hours poor Jax and I were back and forth to the bathroom.  (I was basically there for moral support, I guess!)  All this to say-I'm a little behind on blogging this list.  But I'll keep counting and chugging right along.

354.  Clean bed sheets

355.  Jaxson reading to Julie while she was napping.

356.  Julie actually taking a nap on the couch.

357.  Cartful of groceries

358.  Having the day off to run errands and then hang out on the couch

359.  Packing cough drops in my purse

360.  A warm house cause it's freezing out there

361.  Being able to go to bed early

362.  Buying some warmer clothes for Julie

363.  Getting some hand-me-down clothes on our porch from family

364.  Baby announcements (Not me!)

365.  Weddings (My sister)

366.  Julie singing Frozen songs when she supposed to be sleeping

367.  Scholastic book orders

368.  Quiet Friday nights with the family

369.  Rotisserie Chicken

370.  Chex cereal

371.  Tylonel

372.  Watching Frozen with Julie

373.  Julie finding her Tiny Kittie stuffed animal again

374.  PJ hand-me-downs for Julie

375.  No spelling words for Jax to study tonight

376.  Jax didn't have his reading comprehension test today

377.  Letter in the mail for health insurance

378.  Justin getting a health magazine from bodybuilding.com.  Exact conversation:  Me:  Why are you going on bodybuilding.com?  Justin:  Do I LOOK like I've been on bodybuilding.com? 

We are still not sure how this website found him to send him a free magazine issue.

379.  Finding Cheetos in the pantry that were buried behind other snacks

380.  A very full pantry

381.  Asthma inhaler

382.  Blankie from my mom that Julie tries to steal

383.  My white poofy coat

384.  Jax writing his own story

385.  Julie hanging up her artwork in her room

386.  Finish reading the whole New Testament.  That only took 11 months....

387.  Julie crawling into our bed with her blanky and stuffed panda.  Like it wasn't crowded already!

388.  Jax got new boots

389.  Pillowcases

390.  Mattress pad

391.  Underbed storage

392.  Google

393.  Grocery shopping

339.  Putting backpacks on kids

340.  Preschool car line

341.  Getting some groceries-our pantry was bare!

342.  Being able to go back to work after being sick

343. Finding time to work on next week's school plans

344.  White noise when I sleep

345.  Cold air that reminds me of Washington State

346.  Kids coming in all bundled from the cold

347.  My favorite skinny jean pants and cardigan

348.  Reading Revelation

349.  Watching the kids play golf and tools at school.  They had fun.

350.  Good deals at the grocery store.  Especially butter.

351.  Picked up a cute scarecrow for 1.50 on clearance.  Not too bad.

352.  Decorating for Thanksgiving

353.  Gave Julie my blanky to keep warm tonight.  She was so happy.

271.Leaves blowing in the wind

272.  Cough drops

273.  Jokes from 1st graders

274.  Hot liquid on my sore throat

275.  Hebrews 11 Hall of Fame

276.  Hebrews 12:15 praise verse

277.  The internet

278.  2 Timothy 2:16

279.  Tomato soup and grilled cheese

280.  Mild temperatures today

281.  Bees always on my marigolds

282.  Sweeping the carport

283.  Julie watching Strawberry Shortcake cartoons like I did when I was a little girl

284.  Being able to rest today.  Julie had her blanket and pillow on the couch.

285.  Raking leaves

286.  News apps

287.  Humor section on Pinterest

288.  Moonlight

289.  Chicken noodle soup

290.  Taco Bell for dinner.  Easy and quick.

291.  Facetime

292.  Sky turning dark

293.  Napping when sick

294.  Watching Aladdin with Julie

295.  Playing kitties with Julie

296.  Julie's marker mustache

297.  Mountain of blankets

298.  Jaxson dribbling the ball

299.  Coats

300.  Military service

301.  My memories of my great grandma

302.  Whidbey Island

303.  Basketball shoes

304.  Scarf

305.  The energy of kids

306.  Gas for the car

307.  Watching Jax shoot a basket

308.  Jaxson's coach taking the time to volunteer

309.  Carpet cleaner

310.  Jaxson photobombing Facetime

311.  Playing games at Cub Scouts last night

312.  School for Jax to practice in

313.  Being able to stay home when I'm sick

314.  Getting gas for the car

315.  Giving Julie a bath

316.  Julie wanting to sing the Cubbie's Songs before bed

317.  Princess and Pirate toothpaste

318.  My voice

319.  Justin taking car of dinner

320.  Cleaning out the repo car

321.  Sprinkling rain drops

322.  Acorns on my driveway

323.  Raking up big piles of leaves and Jaxson jumping in them

324.  Carpet

325.  Tissues

326.  People investing in the life of my kids

327.  Jaxson sneaking a chocolate chip cookie out of the freezer

328.  Recliner chair that rocks

329.  Goosebumps

330.  Shoes with laces

331.  Jaxson excited about chapter books

332.  Getting the winter clothes out

333.  Jumping

334.  Justin's dirty work clothes

335.  Smell of clean laundry

336.  Folding laundry

337.  Boiling water

338.  Grocery list

240.  Shoes scattered

241.  Sunlight on the floor

242.  Sonic half priced drinks

243.  The sunset against the fall-turned trees

244.  Glasses when my eyes are tired of contacts

245.  Bananas

246.  Corn

247.  Carrots

248.  Alarm Clocks

249.  Drinking straws

250.  Holding hands

251.  Chatter of the three year olds in Sunday School

252.  Goldfish crackers and juice for snacks

253.  A baby's smile

254.  Playing ping pong and foosball with Jax and Julie.  I am getting better!

255.  Planning our church's Thanksgiving outreach and Christmas play

256.  Dinner at a friend's house

257.  Brainstorming of ways to reach people for Jesus

258.  Friendly kitty who sat in my lap

259.  Julie all bundled up in bed sleeping

260.  Julie talking during the children's sermon and said that her favorite thing is swinging and that she can do it "all by herself."

261.  Seeing Jaxson's text books online along with grades

262.  Review week in Jaxson's spelling test

263.  Winter gloves

264.  Left over pizza for lunch

265.  Back pain relief

266.  To do lists

267.  Fresh out of the dryer towels

268.  Electric toothbrushes

269.  Everyone going to bed and I stayed up to enjoy the quiet

270.  Counting the gifts of the day

210.  The kids Christmas lists-Julie ballerina doll...Jax-lego and wrestling figures

211.  The hum of a dryer

212.  Cuddling on the couch with Julie

213.  Julie singing the Fruit of the Spirit song complete with motions

214.  Lego building

215.  Carry out pizza

216.  Different translations of the Bible

217.  A verse speaking out to you

218.  Text from my dad

219.  Did a little Christmas shopping today by myself

220.  Longer sweater cardigans with hoods

221.  Bug spray to keep out the pests in my house

222.  Cuddling with Jax on the couch

223.  Store brand seasoned tortilla chips

224.  New fair trade coffee by Sam's Club. 

225.  Almost done with Halloween candy

226.  Made my own frosting for the pizza cinnastix

227.  We ordered a personal pan pizza for Jax and they had ran out so they gave us a medium size instead for the same price. 

228.  Hair ties made from fold over elastic

229.  Guidepost magazine

230.  Teaching Jaxson that he needs to protect and watch out for his sister.

231.  Kids watching a movie in Jax's room

232.  Our house

233.  90% of Halloween clearance

224.  Toothpaste

235.  Rolls of toilet paper

236.  Sweater dresses

237.  House plants

238.  Ballet flats

239.  Jeans

160.  Unrushed morning

161.  Julianne doing a puzzle all by herself

162.  Shopping carts

163.  Short lines at Walmart

164.  Waiting for the truck to sell

165.  Finding a lost library book

166.  Building block towers with Julie at the library

167.  Potato chips

168.  Play doh with Julie

169.  Brinner-breakfast for dinner

170.  Firday evening with the family-no outside obligations

171.  The Middle TV show

172.  Reading about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego to Jax and Julie

173.  Teaching Julie about shapes

174.  Soap

175.  Mail

176.  Purple heart flowers

177.  Swing set for the kids to play on

178.  Walmart app savings catcher

179.  Julie cuddles cause she doesn't feel good

180.  Jaxson telling me a secret

181.  Weekends-rest from the hustle and bustle of the week

182.  Cleaned closet

183.  Storage space in the attic

184.  Long couch to stretch out on

185.  Blogs to read

186.  Air drying clothes

187.  Fruit flavored marshmallows

188.  Sandals in November

189.  Weather forecast

190.  Twitter

191.  Gray painted walls

192.  Necklaces

193.  Julie making faces

194.  Julie and I singing to Let it Go on the TV

195.  Jax's teacher getting her spelling words up on Friday so we can study this weekend

196.  Jax's new teeth coming in

197.  Black out curtains

198.  Leggings

199.  Juice pouches

200.  Hard boiled eggs

201.  Nail clippers

202.  Taking out the trash

203.  Lots of blankets on the bed since it will be a cold night

204.  Beautiful sunny cool fall day

205.  Sunglasses

206.  All ready ground coffee to use

207.  Coffee grinder

208.  Living close to family again

209.  Frozen food section

151.  My hairdryer worked after not starting

152.  Another fun snack today

153.  Thursday which is really my Friday

154.  Lunch with friends

155.  Basketball practice

156.  Having extra clothes for Julie in the trunk

157.  Frozen pizza for dinner

158.  Halloween clearance at Walmart

159.  Bottle water

I didn't get to 30 gifts today.  To be honest, it was a harder day and I was tired from the week.  I ended up in bed around 9pm.  I actually was so tired that I did consider going to be at 8pm, but thought that might be a little lame.  This just puts me counting more for tomorrow.

121.  Cookies and cream Hersey bar.  Didn't know they were still made?

122.  Snack time at school

123.  Painting with Julie

124.  The sound of rain outside our door

125.  Umbrellas

126.  Kids jumping in mud puddles

127.  Leftovers for dinner

128.  Being locked out of my house and being able to get back in!

129.  Jax made it through the first round of the Spelling Bee!  (The Bee-Semi's as Gus would say!)

130.  Quiet night at home with the kids at Awanas and Justin at work.

131.  Blogging

132.  Watching Psych again and again....

133.  Hand to head

134.  Laughing

135.  Clean toilets

136.  Sitting down to read a devotional

137.  Gift of time and getting stuff done

138.  Glow from a lamp

139.  Fragrance and flicker of a candle

140.  The lingering smell of a candle even after it is burned out

141.  Allergy medicine

142.  Ice cubes

143.  Snoring

144.  House plants

145.  Bubble beards on Julie in the bath

146.  Friendship mended

147.  Drop off bin for our clutter

148.  Sharpened pencils

149.  Excel worksheets

150.  Finding lost things