THANKFUL.

Hi everyone!  It's December again (can you believe it??)  We literally just got home from Ryan's annual Holiday party for his work at Ocean Shores.  We had such a great, relaxing time with wonderful people!  I finally got a chance to meet Ryan's buddy's fiancee, Jessi, and she was AMAZING!!  She was a blast to hang out with - so sweet and funny!  Our great friend's Brandi and David came this year (every year is ridiculously fun with these two!)  Brandi is such a breath of fresh air for me.  She is totally into health and fitness and motivates and inspires me to try my best.  On top of being my health yoda, she is SO FUNNY!!  Another year in the books because of Ryan and Heather!  Those two came down to our house again this year and spent the entire weekend with the kids and 4 dogs.  The kids had such a great time and absolutely love being with Ry and Heather!  It is such an amazing opportunity for us to do this weekend every year and they truly mean so much to us.  We are beyond grateful!  

November was very busy but filled with a lot of fun activities and family.  We had 3 Thanksgivings this year - I loved it because each dinner was relaxed and full of quality time instead of us rushing around and panicking.  The kids were surrounded by lots of family and friends this month and they looked so happy!  We are definitely looking forward to spending more quality time with family and friends in December.

Cameron had his conferences for school in November and of course he did amazing!  He is reading at a 3rd grade level as of right now, 2nd grade level for Math and is thriving in art, PE, music and socialization!  His teacher had nothing but wonderful things to say about him and it made my heart swell!  We are beyond proud of our little guy and look forward to everything he does and tries.  

Natalie is also thriving at school and absolutely LOVES every minute there!  We are shocked at how detailed and talented she is with art, drawing and coloring!  Her pictures, books, comic books (she makes them all by herself) are so advanced for a 5 year old.  When Cameron is doing his homework after school, Natalie pulls out her sight words and Kindergarten prep book to do "her homework."  She is excelling at her sight words and knows 33 words already by sight and can read 6 BOB Books by herself!  She loves learning and wants to be just like her brother.  I'm so proud of both my babies!

Natalie's preschool teacher offered me a job as a substitute teacher at her preschool!  Of course I accepted the offer and it's going very well so far.  This gives me the opportunity to earn money, play with adorable kids and hang out with Natalie too!  It's fantastic!  I'm volunteering in Cameron's class every Tuesday afternoon, which I love!  I get the chance to quiz the kids on sight words, pack their read at home book bags and help the teacher with office work and organizing.  I also volunteering in the Kindergarten department on Thursday afternoon (Cameron's Kindergarten teacher from last year - LOVE HER!)  I love quizzing the littles on their sight words - they are adorable and oh so sweet!  I love being involved with both schools and offering help wherever and whenever I can.  Teachers work SO HARD and ask for nothing.  Their jobs are so important.  They are responsible for educating our children and deserve respect and support from parents.  

Ryan is doing well!  He has been working like crazy these last few months and is finally in a bit of a lull (which is welcomed).  January, things will speed up again.  He is such an amazing dad to Cameron and Natalie.  He literally drops everything at the front door when he gets home and drops to his knees to greet the kids.  They rush to him and love on him - it's adorable!  They are so lucky to have such a supportive, loving Dad in their lives.  

I hope everyone has a great December!  Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!  HUGS!