Thankful

First of all, I decided that tonight I would post about some of the things for which I am thankful. The pictures are from Reed helping me clean the bathroom. I came to realize tonight that Reed is probably going to be a manager, because most of the time he pointed to things that I needed to clean.



1. I am thankful for salvation and that every time I ask Him to forgive me, he does.
2. I am thankful for my wife and the fact that not only supports my calling but shares it.
3. I am thankful that God chose Reed to be a part of our family.



4. I am thankful that even though I would never choose for us to have suffered miscarriages, without them we would never have found Reed.
5. I am thankful for God's timing: 5 years ago this week we suffered our first miscarriage, 4 years ago this week we suffered our second miscarriage, and 3 years ago this week we got our first glimpse of Reed.
6. I am thankful for family. I love that they are always there for us.



7. I am thankful for our friends who are more like family. It's nice to know that even though our families are far away we have friends who love us like family.
8. I am thankful for my house, even though it might not be the most fancy one in the neighborhood, it feels like home to me!
9. I am thankful for laughter.



10. I am thankful for gmail chat. It's a lot of fun and very helpful.
11. I am thankful for Spring. I'm love seeing new life.
12. I am thankful for bedtime. It's always nice to get sleep.



13. I am thankful for Encores and More North Consignment Sale. It is the most amazing way for us to get Reed awesome clothes.
14. I am thankful for laundry. It means I have clothes.
15. I am thankful for my Jeep. It's 10 years old, has high miles, but I still love to drive it. Back in my less "financially smart" days, I would never have kept a car for so long.



16. I am thankful for my Sunday School class. I love those kids.
17. I am thankful for Facebook. It takes up too much of my time, but it is really cool to stay connected to people.
18. I am thankful for my team at work. They are awesome, creative, capable, confident, and totally dependable!
19. I am thankful for my job. I love it.
20. I am thankful for Dave Ramsey. He's helped change our lives.

We have SO much to be thankful for. I hope that you are thankful today.

A Visit from Lola

Lola was having a bad week, so she decided that she should come and see Reed.



Abbey decided to get Lola some flowers to help cheer her up.



Of course, she loved the flowers, but she loved getting to see Reed even more.



Reed has been practicing riding on his bike a lot lately.



The other day, we practiced riding at Mia's house.



Reed likes riding his bike, but he doesn't really get the idea.



I had to go to teach at a conference in Kentucky, so Abbey, Reed, and Lola went to the zoo.



Reed loves the zoo. He loves to see Margarita, Savannah, and Congo—the giraffes.





Reed also loves the carousel.



While they were at the red panda exhibit Reed heard some Asian music. He asked where they music was coming from and Abbey told him that it was from the speakers. Reed was intrigued by the speakers, but not the music. He didn't care for it.




Later when asked what Reed's favorite part of the zoo was, he responded with "Speakers".



Apparently we have a sound guy on our hands.



Does this picture of Reed sort of make you think of Curious George? For some reason, I keep thinking that it looks like Curious George.



Tonight, Reed was hitting Lola with his "carrot bat."



Abbey said to Reed: "Don't hit Lola with the bat."

Reed looked at Lola and said: "You breakable?"

He cracks us up.

It's a Beautiful Day!

I mentioned a few posts ago that Reed loves for me to blow-dry his hair sticking straight up. Every night I think that maybe I can get away with just blow drying it normally, but still every night he asks for me to "bwow dwy his hair fraight up in d air".



And man does his hair stick up! It sticks straight into the air.



For the past couple of days, it has been AMAZINGLY beautiful outside. Just amazing.



Reed and I had a great time the other day walking and riding bikes and then today, he and Abbey had a good time playing outside. Britton, Paitynn, and Tamara came over later and played outside with Reed.



I think that Reed was trying to get bubble to go through the "target".



Reed loves to be outside.



He had lot of fun playing on his swingset.



Right now, the picnic table top is functioning as a chalkboard.



Reed is pretty much happy with that function of the picnic table.



He also has been enjoying playing baseball. The other day, his favorite thing was to throw the ball over the fence into the neighbors yard.



Reed has a favorite new saying or response when you say something to him: "What you had said?"

We're trying to work with Reed using correct grammar, but it is really funny when he says this.



We're blessed.

Land Family Weekend Update!

Uncle Bill came over and apparently neither he nor Reed were ready to this picture. He helped us work in the yard and also clean our messy garage!



Reed and Uncle Bill like to be silly.



Last night we went to Chili's (which we told Reed was called Chili Bells, because he wanted to go to Taco Bell). After Chili's the "HOT" light was on at Krispy Kreme so we went over for some donut dessert. Reed LOVED the KK donuts which is funny because he's always loved dunkin donuts on to eat the tops of them, but he devoured the Krispy Kreme ones.



Today we woke up and headed to church, but of course, Reed was not ready for a photo shoot.



He did sit still for a few minutes for a drink of juice.



This picture was actually taken this evening. This morning Reed had a green and white plaid shirt under the sweater, but he got peach juice on it at lunch.



This week isn't going to be too terribly busy for us, I think. We are going to Kentucky at the end of the week for me to teach at a conference, but thankfully, Abbey and Reed are getting to go with me.



Reed and I took a self-portrait tonight. I had to take the time to teach Reed about the different angles at which you can take pictures. For instance, when you have more than one chin as I do, you should not take a picture like the one above. The camera needs to be at or above face level.



Reed has been extremely sweet lately. He's started telling me and Abbey that we are the best, which of course, we love.



Every night when we get out of the tub, I blow dry Reed's hair. He loves it when I make it stick straight up. Tonight it was great!



And then it was time to go to bed, and yes, he is wearing Christmas PJs, but only until he gets to bed. Reed prefers to sleep in undies only!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane ...

No, it's SUPER REED!



Okay, so the next few photos are going to be a little blurry because Super Reed is faster than a speeding bullet.



Our quite imaginative little boy thought that his news flyer cape worked well.



In case you are wondering, yes he does move this fast ALL DAY LONG! Sometimes he sleeps.



Click on the picture above to see why there is a rut in our living room. He runs this circle 400 times a day!



Reed says he is a "Super Hero!"