Black Friday

We continued our fun Thanksgiving by going to black Friday. Since some stores opened at 10:00 PM, we did something a little different and let the kids go with us. I wasn't sure if it was the best choice but once we were there they did great and we all had a lot of fun.

Garrett and Ethan shared a birthday cake since their birthdays are only 12 days apart.Grandpa and Grandma Copeland let the grandkids open their Christmas present early so we could all be together.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving is how I would describe today. Time together with people I deeply love, eating delicious food and enjoying the beautiful nature of Florida made for the perfect setting.

We went for a walk after dinner and played relays out on the golf course. It was a good way to work off some of those extra calories (and made me feel better about having pumpkin roll AND pumpkin pie for dessert).

Arden and Ethan have been buddies since we first moved to Florida for dental school. They are both growing up so much!

Wednesday

Cannon is still on Washington time and he is up until after 2:00 each night, so Kent and I have been taking the opportunity to sleep in and it feels soooo good. We got up (late) and drove up to Green Cove Springs to stay at Kent's parents house. Craig and Cassie flew in from Dallas and Amy and Jeff live in Green Cove too so now there were 5 out of 7 siblings together for Thanksgiving. It makes for some beautiful chaos.

Disney World

I was so excited to finally be seeing my sister-in-law, Kim. It had been way too long since we were able to hug each other and have a good conversation face to face. Their family moved to Orlando over the summer and it has been so fun to be in their new home. The kids soaked up the sun in the pool while I soaked up in some good conversation that I had been craving for a long time. The weather was phenomenal and the kids got along perfectly.

There are those that love Disney and those that hate it. I'm a Disney lover. It has always been a magical place for me. We went with two of Kent's brothers and their families and it was great. I love building memories with my kids that I know they will remember fondly.

Take Off

If there is an easy way to get your kids up and going at 4:00 in the morning, it is with these words, "Wake up! Let's go to Disney World!"
Catching a 6:00 AM flight in the freezing temperatures is not exciting unless your destination has most of your family waiting for you in 80 degree weather. Traveling from one side of the country is no small task but the kids were pretty good and we had a good time watching movies, eating snacks and anticipating the week ahead. I decided to leave my camera home so I could worry more about enjoying myself instead of being so concerned about getting it all on camera so we will have to forgive the upcoming cell phone pictures.

The night we arrived in Orlando, we were exhausted but Kent insisted on taking me out for our 11th anniversary. It was nice to take an hour off and go on a little date- just the two of us.

Leaving on Jet Plane

All our bags are packed we're ready to go. . .

John Denver's flight right after dawn broke and so does ours, which means we have to be in the car on the way to the airport before sunrise. We are lucky enough to be spending Thanksgiving in sunny Florida with family. I am so excited to be catching up, enjoying some amusement parks, eating delicious food and soaking up all the blessing I have been given.

I am truly Thankful on this special holiday for the blessings I have.

It is almost time for me to wake up, so I better get to bed first. I wish you all a

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Traveling with three kids across the country is no picnic

so I've made this is my motto for the trip~

These Are the Days

This weekend I have felt that I'm treading water and slowly sinking. As fast as I seem to be picking up toys, folding clothes, throwing away garbage I see endless piles of fruit snack wrappers on the couch (and under it). I find socks and shoes everywhere, towels and headbands disregarded and left carelessly wherever. Graham cracker crumbs and half glasses of milk on the counter, wet mittens and boots left by the back door and dresser drawers left gaping open.

Ella cleaned her room all by herself today. I don't know why I was surprised when I found this behind her closet doors.

Not only do we have toys creeping out of their boxes from under the bed, we have hot wheels tracked actually taped to the wall! Yes that is a Halloween sticker from the dental office up there too.

Bay blades and Nerf gun bullets are left under foot all around the house.

As I was non stop packing, making sure not to leave a single necessary item at home, I made their beds and cleaned their rooms in order to come home to a peaceful home. Ethan and Ella have been wanting to sleep in the guest room instead of their own beds. They went to bed as I finished cleaning out the fridge before we leave for over a week. Once I finished that job, I went in to check on them and found that they both decided to sleep in their own beds- so now I have every bed in the house to make at 4:00 in the morning before we leave for our vacation. I know my family loves me and I am thankful to have them but sometimes I feel as if I am spinning my wheels in circles without making any real progress. I was expressing my frustrations to Kent when Ella brought me this picture and said, "I love you mommy. Thank you for doing so much for us. Don't be sad."

Later I came across this quote and it couldn't have been any more fitting than the moment in life that I am in right now.

I love my little babies and I am thankful that I had this gentle reminder that I will not always be "blessed enough" to have these sweet kids in my home forever and that I don't need to worry so much about how I am lacking on having the perfectly cleaned house. When my children leave my home I want them to remember the love I have for them. I will miss these days "profoundly" and I don't want to regret the time that I might waste being frustrated that I cannot keep up. I am glad to have inspired people that remind us of what really matters.

Ella Jane Photography

Seeing as how this new business venture has taken up a lot of time, I thought I should blog about it. Brittany and I both found ourselves taking time away from our families to snap pictures for others. It was great to be creative and help out when people needed pictures taken. It came to a point when we had to ask if the time spent away from home was valued. We decided to make it official so we could use the income from pictures to put toward equipment and software. It has been a lot of fun. Brittany and I have a good balance and it is easy to "work" together. Here are some pictures that we have taken over the last couple of months. You can see more pictures at www.ellajanephotography.com Enjoy!

Ethan Hot Wheels Party

Party Planning "Don'ts & Dids"

1. Don't use a vinyl table cloth

2. Don't hang a plastic banner

3. Don't make construction paper art for decorations

1. We did use vinyl table cloth (TAPED together in the middle)

2. We did hang a plastic banner

3. We did home made arts and crafts for decorations

As my children get older- I get wiser. I love having the "perfect" party down to every last detail, on occasion, the unnecessary, expensive, stressful details. Ethan turns NINE this week and this year for his party, he wanted it to be all about the Hot Wheels. It was just as important to me to have the perfect party, until I realized I was looking at it all wrong (along with some "keep it small" encouragement from Kent). Ethan didn't want me to do it for him- he wanted to help. Cannon took a good nap yesterday so I let Ethan and Ella do what they thought would look cool. We cut out flames for the mirrors out of construction paper, colored wheels on chargers with crayons and voila- we had a pretty great day!

This pinata was a "one hit wonder". Luckily we let the birthday boy go first. One swing and it was over!

Hot Wheels and Red Hots were for each Hot Rod at the party

Pump up the Juice

Since we moved here, we have enjoyed the delicious grape juice that Katie Martin has always been so generous to share. This year, a couple of my friends were going to juice their own and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn a new skill and hang out with my friends. Overall it isn't a super complicated process but when you do it for 10 hours straight, two days in a row, with our little kiddos, and buckets and buckets of grapes (not all grapes shown in this picture)- it can make for a long couple of days.

After washing all the grapes, you put them into the steamer, stems and all- DO NOT forget to keep the boiling water below full. Then. . . you wait. While we waited, it was great to get to know these two women better. I respect them both so much and had a great time bonding with them while working hard. We had some real conversations that helped me feel good about the things we are doing in life and the people I surround myself with. Thank you girls for letting me join you- I can't wait to do it again. What should we learn next?

Okay so waiting time is over, the grapes have been steamed and the juice starts flowing! It really amazing to see how this works.

Look at that gorgeous deep purple!

Once the jar is filled to the "second ring of the neck" you switch out the jars and make sure not to spill one drop of this precious juice. Once the juice is all out, we dump the compost and start a new batch.

Placing the lids and rings on top you put the bottles into the water bath to process. We had two juicers going inside and two water baths outside on the camping stove. So fun!!

Don't mess with us moms! We can handle anything!

Jane found creative ways to use the tongs. We started first thing in the morning so, as you can see, Jane didn't have her hair done yet; but you better believe she had her princess dress on. I just love our Janie girl.

Cannon was an angel and fell asleep so we could plug along. Tara's boy, Jordie (only 3 months older than Cannon) babysat Cannon for me. He did a great job- he gave Cannon a binkie, which he doesn't know how to suck, and yet Cannon was content and fell asleep on the couch. Precious little children.

Voila! The finished product. We ended up with almost 100 jars!!