What I'm Thankful For Today...................

            

This Guy.  That is what I'm thankful for today, and I felt it required a whole lot more than a few words on a facebook post. 
I cannot say enough about  how truly grateful I am that I married Chad Jacob Graber.  He is an amazing man.  He has a heart that loves Jesus like nothing else.  And right after Jesus, come me.  He loves me in a way I never thought possible.  He loves me in spite of me being myself!  He loves me when I'm grumpy, when I'm being stubborn, when I'm bossy, when I'm tired, when I'm just flat out being unlovable, he loves me unconditionally.  He has eyes only for me.  No matter how I see myself, he always tells me I'm beautiful.  And then he loves his kids.  He is a great daddy, who plays and talks and prays with his kids.  He provides for his family and works so hard so that I can stay home and be a mom, homemaker, and wife.  He leads us all in prayer and teaching, he is wise beyond his years.
Now, I am not saying we have a perfect marriage or a perfect life, far from it!  But, God is good to us, always, and even though there are times, when Chad makes me want to scream, and then scream some more, I am still thankful.  I wouldn't want to feel that way about anyone else.   We struggle, but he's the only man I would want to go through these struggles with.  I love you babe, you are the love of my life!  Thank you for all the sacrifices, all the hard work, and all the love you give us!

I've been feeling the need to create.  This is what I made last night.  





Not my best work, but I like it.  I am debating about whether to have a table at a local craft fair.  Its in less than two weeks and this is the only thing I've made so far.  I might be stretching it!

Ella turns 4! Better late than never....

Ella had a princess party for her birthday.  In December.  Yes, I know its April, I'm a slacker, but seriously people, my husband was gone for a year, and its taken just a bit to get back into the swing of things.  In fact I'm not even close, but its snowing today, on April 23rd, so why not post about a December birthday?  It will make you smile.

It was a great Fancy Nancy party for a super sweet girl!  I love you, my sweet Ella! 

Tis' the Season

December has been kray kray!  Full of fun though!  We had birthday's, school parties, Christmas concerts, and cookie making. 

I thought my boy would just stand there in fright, but he did an awesome job!!!

Noah holding our sweet precious niece Lydia.

Benjamin and Noah getting super excited about Skylanders on Christmas morning!

Ella and her LaLaLoopsy!

This was Benjamin's expression for pretty much everything!  Man, I love that kid!

 This is from the balcony of my parents lake house, there are thousands and thousands of geese.  It was amazing, they took off right after we stepped back inside.

This is my parent's lake house, it isn't finished yet, but already its so beautiful!  I can't wait until its done!!

Benjamin loves the super cool hot-wheels track that Grandpa and Grandma got him!

It was a great Christmas and the best part was having daddy here the whole time.  Everyone have a Happy New Year!

a mish mash of stuff

The boys started school in September, Noah in 5th grade and Benjamin in Kindergarten, we are back at CPLS, which is so awesome!  Such a great school, and the boys are so happy with their teachers, Noah has an awesome teacher, a man, which is working out so well for him!  Benjamin has the sweetest teacher, he loves her!

This year Noah went through one of the many rites of passage that he will experience at CPLS.  This year was his Latin Naming Ceremony.

Noah's Latin name is Motus, which means motion.  Very aptly named.

This year we have been lucky to have Kindergarten/5th grade book buddies, its nice that we have a Kindergartner and 5th Grader!  Out first outing together was the Pumpkin Patch.

 Benjamin and his book buddy Caleb.

 Noah and his book buddy Spencer.

 Brother and sister.

 Such a big girl!

 Ella and her sweet friend Reese.

Me and my girl!

Big Boy!

Seven years of bliss....

Ok, it hasn't been all bliss, but its been pretty darn good.  In October Chad and I celebrated our 7th anniversary.  This one was extra special because over the past 9 months we've only seen each other a handful of times, so getting him all to myself for an entire day was pretty sweet!

We started our day off in KC and The Legends, got some coffee, and then headed to Charming Charlies!  My man is awesome, he walked all around that store with me and totally spoiled me, it was great!  After window shopping there, we headed to City Market for some lunch.  We decided on a Middle Eastern cuisine and shared some shwarama, yummmm.  The falafel was excellent.

After lunch we browsed some antique stores and then headed to the Vera Bradley store to pick out my anniversary gift. 

Isn't she beautiful??  I'm in love!
Finally, we headed to the Plaza and did a lot more window shopping, but had to stop at the Better Cheddar so my sweetie could get his cheese fix.  They have the best cheeses there, if you are a cheese fanatic like my man, that store will blow your mind!  Then it was time for our anniversary dinner, we didn't want to go somewhere that we'd been before, so we tried out Fogo de Chao, it was awesome!  They bring you more meat than you can shake a stick at, and its literally all on a stick!  It was delicious and we were both stuffed, but our amazing server knew it was our anniversary, so he brought us this.

I licked the bowl.  Enough said.  Don't judge, you would too, if you tasted the creamy goodness!

I love you Mr. Graber.  I am truly a blessed woman.  Its been a wonderful 7 years and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with this awesome man!!

8 Months

Its been 8 months since we hugged and said goodbye to my sweet man, as he left for Tennessee.  In that 8 months, he has switched companies, moved to Chicago, been promoted to production manager, again promoted to sales manager, and visited us 4 times.  In the past 8 months, we have started kindergarten and 5th grade respectively, celebrated 7 years of marriage, had a 1st camp-out, lost teeth, made ER visits.  Life still goes on, its a new life, a different life, one where you cram all the snuggling, hugs, kisses, playing, and talking you can into the few short days that we have him here with us.  The drive to pick up daddy from the airport is exciting and fun, the drive back to the airport is gut wrenching.  The goodbyes never get easier.  That being said, I am abundantly proud of my husband.  It is not easy working hundreds of miles away from your wife and kids, but he does it every day, without complaining.  He is sacrificing so much to provide a better life for us, and for that, I am very thankful.  I miss him, so much, every day, but I am trusting God that this will end soon, and we will all be together, and that He will reveal His glory through these sacrifices.  Until then, we will continue to cram lots of kisses, hugs, and snuggles into a few days a month.