Thankful

This year I really wanted Tyler to get the meaning of being thankful for what we have. I made a garland of leaves and everyday this week, Tyler has put on them what he's thankful for. He's woken up each morning asking to do that right away. At first, he wasn't sure what to say when I asked what he was thankful for, but when I asked him what made him happy, he rattled off a bunch of things, first being Mommy and Daddy. Yea! He has listed, Mommy & Daddy, Grandparents, friends, Ivy & Wrigley, our house, his toys, God (along with Noah, Jonah, Daniel, and Jesus), our church, and our health. I helped him with health. He only needed one more. The first and last leaves have a bible verse on them about being thankful. Tomorrow, I'm going to put the garland down the center of the table.

Spurs games

Scott got awesome tickets from work for the Spurs game last night. We were in the second row on the floor. Here's a few pictures. You can tell I have a little belly in them.

Great Neighbors

Mike and Linda are our neighbors from around the street. They are such wonderful people. They've watched Tyler a couple times for us and he loves playing with them. They even helped out at Tyler's birthday party. They have been our dog sitters for the past year. The dogs get so excited to see them. Unfortunately, they are moving back to IN. Their house has not sold yet, so Mike will be staying here for a little while longer, but Linda will be leaving on Sunday. Wednesday night, we had them over for dinner and then had some other neighbors come over for a surprise going away party. It was a fun time. Mike and Linda will be missed! Luckily, their daughter still lives here, so they'll be down to visit a couple times a year.

Giving

I've always tried to teach Tyler about giving to others. Last year and this year, we did Operation Christmas Child. We fill a shoe box with toys and things that Tyler picks out for his little boy. I explain how not everyone gets presents for Christmas like we do and that we are very lucky. He enjoys shopping to fill up his shoe box and dropping it off.
Also this year, our church was collecting food. I took Tyler to HEB and again explained that we were buying food to donate because not everyone can buy food like we do and have a big Thanksgiving dinner. I explained again that God has blessed us with so much. That night at dinner, I tell Tyler to tell Daddy what we got a HEB. He tells him he got a HEB buck. I said, yes, but what did we buy. He tells Daddy about his prize. Scott was like-good job, you really got through to him. I make Tyler stop playing with his food and look at me while I explain to him again what we did. He still wasn't paying much attention. I didn't know if he took away anything from what I told him. A few days later, I was making dinner for a friend of mine that recently had a baby. When Tyler got up from his nap, he asked what I was making. I told him chicken because we were going to be taking Erin and Morris dinner. And just like that, he goes, Mommy, why do Erin and Morris have no money. Ha! He was paying attention somewhat. I explained that Erin and Morris do have money, it's just nice to help out when you have a newborn baby. He is starting to understand!

Drum roll please...

Halloween

This year Tyler was a fireman for Halloween. His friend, Emily came over for pizza and then trick or treating. Tyler really understood it this year and was on a mission going from house to house getting candy. Near the end though, he was tired out and just rested in the wagon while Emily went and got the candy. Once they finished trick or treating, the two of them had fun passing out candy at our house.

The only picture of him with his hat on. He had to have this hat and wore it all day the day we got it, but didn't want to wear it Halloween night.

Pumpkin Carving

Last night, we carved our pumpkin. Tyler just watched. He wanted no part in getting dirty. He barely would look inside the pumpkin-that might be because Scott kept teasing him that there was a snake inside. He also thought it smelled really bad. He did think his jack-o-lantern looked neat all lit up.