T ~ Travis….I’m thankful for a man who is still in love with me after 17 yrs of marriage, keeps me laughing, is my biggest cheerleader, puts me in my place when I need it but does it in love, is an interactive, fun dad, works hard to provide for his family, loves Jesus, has a wonderful sense of humor and is very particular about his coffee!  Travis loves his job and next week starts with his own clients.  His job is flexible and he pretty much makes his own schedule except for a few meetings that are on the calendar every week so he will be able to work from home a lot if he wants.

H ~ Home…..Over the years I’ve come to love and really cherish these four walls around me.  They are not just a house to place our stuff and come back to every night.  These walls….they are a home.  A cozy home filled with six noisy people who love each other very much and like to have fun.  We’ve spent a lot of time lately dancing, playing charades, laughing, doing devotions together, spending time curled up on the couches talking about life, living it out together through the good, the bad and the ugly with forgiveness, acceptance and grace.  My kids and husband are my life and I am so thankful we have a loving, warm home to share…together.

A ~ Appointment…..Next Tuesday is Ryan’s appointment with the surgeon.  They should have insurance approval by then so we can get this next/last surgery on the calendar in the next couple weeks.  We have decided to wait until February if possible to schedule the surgery so Travis will have vacation time he can use since he just started a new job two weeks ago.  For those of you who may not remember, he needs a corpus callosotomy (cutting the nerve connections between the right and left frontal and temporal lobes so his seizures can’t jump from one side of the brain to the other) which means a six-hour surgery and four days in the ICU.  I’m ready to get this surgery over with because it will hopefully provide some relief from these awful seizures that always make him thrash and cry out like he is in pain and often times he falls over.  We can’t stop the seizures completely, never will, but hopefully we can decrease them to a point that is manageable.

N  ~ Nosey kisses…..Ryan still hands out his nosey kisses numerous times throughout the day.  He is well-known for them, and most people who are around him know that if he shoves his head toward you and gets in your face, he wants to give you a nosey kiss.  It’s his way of giving acceptance and showing you love.  You know, through everything we’ve been through, everything he’s been through, I am beyond thankful we still have a little boy who knows how to love.  He can’t love and express emotion like most people, but he can still come sit by us on the couch, give us nosies, make eye contact and giggle at our silly expressions and songs.

K ~ Kid one….Who else but Brad?  He’s a giant now and is already 5′ 9″ and still eats constantly, rummaging for food every time I turn around.  And I’m not sure where he puts it all.  He’s also doing well but has had some issues with socializing because he thinks the only important thing in life these days. The real issue is that until now he has been able to get all A’s and a couple B’s without studying at all and now school is getting a bit harder. So we are having lots of conversations that school has to be his first priority and not his friends; it doesn’t go over well with a very social teen who will be 14 next week.  I’m not sure how he got so old so fast but at least he’s not getting his permit and learning to drive this year!

S ~ Sidney of course!  She is doing well and had all A’s and one B on her progress report that just came home this week.  I used to worry about her and at one time thought she had dyslexia like her dad because she struggled so much with school.  But this year she has really taken off and is now in four dif classes and really doing well in all areas.  She’s growing like a weed and even though 12 yrs old often means hormones and emotions, she is happy and content.

G ~ Good food, good company…..Thanksgiving already!  Tomorrow Travis’s parents and my sister (Amy) and her family are coming over.  There will be 13 people here and I can’t wait!  I love to host the holidays and spent today making three dozen rolls, sweet potato souffle, green bean casserole, an apple cranberry dish and chex mix.  Tomorrow we’ll do the turkey, gravy, stuffing and mashed potatoes.  I’m going to be one of those moms who tells her kids to bring everyone home for the holidays when they are in college so I can bake and cook up a storm.  To me it’s not stressful but fun!  And of course we’ll spent the afternoon playing cards which I can’t wait for.  My sisters and I have a tradition of playing Nerts when we are together which is a card game we are fiercely competitive about and played for years with our mom when she was alive. The day would be perfect if only Carrie was here to play with us!

I ~ Infection…..Ryan spent the entire day in bed.  Literally.  He didn’t wake up til nearly 9 am which is  unheard of for him and when I got up at 11:00 today (nap after working all night) he was sitting in bed and refused to get out.  He fell back asleep and didn’t wake again until after 3:00 this afternoon.  I finally pulled him out of bed and saw his red eye and knew right away he has pink eye which everyone knows is very contagious.  Not the best to be thing to be spreading around with 13 people in the house tomorrow.  Thankfully after a 4 pm call to the doctor and a visit to make sure nothing else is going on since he can’t tell us, we started him on eye drops.  He’s acting more normal tonight but having a massive amount of seizures.  I’m pretty sure a hefty dose of Ativan is coming his way soon.

V ~ Velvet….OK totally random but my tired brain isn’t coming up with anything for my attempt at creativity with this Thanksgiving acrostic.  Now go figure out what that word means if you don’t know!  But velvet is nice and makes me think of Christmas which is coming very soon.  But one holiday at a time as I like to say and tomorrow is turkey day!

I ~ I as in me….I’m good!  My life is rather boring these days and I think boring is good.  I’ll take it.  I’ve enjoyed all the holiday planning that comes with this time of year and can’t wait to put the Christmas tree up this weekend, start singing along to Christmas songs blaring from the computer, make loads of peanut butter balls, create Christmas lists…..

N ~ Number three…..Trevor that is!  He’s doing great and decided no for sports this winter after playing basketball for the past two winters.  He’s simply decided football is his thing and has no interest in anything else which is fine since I’m sure that will change next year in jr high.

G ~ God, my Heavenly Father…..He knows what I need when I need it and has never let us down providing for our every need.  It’s been a very humbling year as I look back to all the help we’ve received to get through Ryan’s surgeries, hospitalizations, therapies, Travis’s school and my work schedules as he finished up his masters degree.  And all along the way, the God who promises that even the birds of the air who do not put away and store food are always fed, has provided what we’ve needed in so many areas. We have been blessed and are so very grateful.