Thanksgiving with Hunters

Boy oh boy! How was everyone's thanksgiving? Pleasant I hope, as was ours down in the southern region of Indiana. Spent 5 days with Joe's wonderful family and had three big Thanksgiving meals! You gotta love family get togethers around the holidays cause it usually means great food and good conversation. At least on our ends of things it is. Thanksgiving in Bedford is planned a little differently from Thanksgiving in Chicago.  Well, I guess it isn't much different except for the fact that we plan to eat after dark vs.early to late afternoon.  The reason for this is because it is hunting season and most hunters will hunt early in the morning, come home for a few hours and head back out until they can barely see their way out of the woods. Dinner's aren't planned to start until dark, but we are usually not serving up until more like 7pm or sometimes later depending on whether someone killed a deer or not. Joe ended up getting a couple of doe around 4:15pm on Saturday and we didn't start eating until 7pm that night due to having to gut, clean, check in and hang them before we could all eat. I had my very first hunting experience Friday afternoon with Joe. We didn't see anything the first two hours. I was freezing cold by the time we spotted our first doe and unfortunately we sat there watching them walk further away from us giving us no possible chance of adding them to our deep freezer. It was nice to be back in the woods with Joe regardless of the lack of action.
Thanksgiving in Chicago... well, we have at least one hunter in the family but he is married to my cousin so he has only been in the family for about 5 years so we usually gather together for meals early in the afternoon, eat til we are sick, lay around like pathetic stuffed turkey's and then eat some more.
Coming home is always nice, sometimes... I usually miss my bed, but I can't say the same for all the endless things I have been wanting to get done stare me in the face day after day. First thing that gave me the death stare was my empty fridge. NO FOOD! It is always nice to leave the house for a few days knowing the fridge is not full of food that will be spoiled by the time of your return, but once you return the last thing you want to do is get right back into the car and shop for an hour as did I yesterday evening while Joe was out hunting for a third deer.
I managed to avoid going out on Black Friday. My sister-in-law worked hard to get me to go out toWalmart at Mid-night. Knowing I probably wouldn't get to bed until 2am or later I politely refused and headed to bed early, trying to kick a cough and sore throat I had been fighting all week last week. Black Friday can be somewhat exciting for me knowing how many good deals stores throw at you so you will buy more. I tend to only like going if there is something specific that I really need. I would rather avoid large crowds of greedy people and waiting in extra long check-out lines and spend a few more bucks on the few items that I would have bought anyway. I am not much of a shopper! I kind of wish I was better at bargain shopping, but alas, I hate wasting my time running from store to store just to find the cheapest price.
All in all, thanksgiving was more than relaxing. I only wish Jake could have spend more time with grandparents and cousins than he did. He is the only Wisley cousin that doesn't live within 45 min of each other. I pray he grows up to be pretty good buds with them regardless of the distance.
Below are some pictures from the weekend gatherings.

All 10 Wisley side cousins

 Jake's cousin closet in age

Papaw and Grandma Wisley

Cancelling Cable...

Well Joe and I decided to cancel our cable TV when our contract is up at the end of December. Oh the time I will have to get projects started that I have put off, the number of books I will read, the quality time spent with Joe after Jake goes to bed and the time I would have once wasted during Jake's nap being bored watching crap TV when I could be cleaning, doing my quiet time, learning to knit, exercising etc. I can't say that I am going to love it for the first several weeks. I am sure that I will miss some of my favorite shows such as The OFFICE, SURVIVOR, ELLEN, SUPER NANNY, MAN VS WILD, MAN WOMAN WILD, PAWN STARS... just to name a few. I am looking forward to washing myself clean of my love for TV as well as the amount of money it will save of per year not having it. I think it all adds up to be $636 per year just to have cable TV! That would have taken care of our property tax for the last 6 months! It also relieves me to know that Jake will grow up not always wanting to have the TV on and will use his time being creative and active! Yeah for making life changes. Time to get out my puzzles, books, yarn, cook books and workout clothes!

Pregnant for 23 weeks already!

Just a quick update on this new little pea pod that I already can't wait to hold, to nurse, to kiss, to read too, to introduce to Jake as well as the family and friends. Being pregnant this second time around has been a breeze. The only difference between this pregnancy and Jake's is the fact that Jake wasn't here yet and I had all the time in the world to cook, clean, nap and read! The great thing about a second pregnancy is my ability to relax and let the time pass without worrying about what labor is going to be like, finding all the baby crap I may need when it gets here(since I already have all the crap I can possibly store) and Jake takes up so much of my day that the time flies by giving me very little time to think about how much longer I have to be pregnant. Besides that there really is nothing different about this pregnancy from the first one. Even though we are not going to find out the sex of this baby, I have a strong feeling that it is going to be a boy, but only because I feel the exact same I did with Jake and this baby moves around a lot like Jake did. Girl or Boy I only pray that baby number two will like to snuggle a little more than Jake did, and that it will nurse a little faster as well. Jake seemed to take a good 45 min when he ate. Oh and I can't forget all the throwing up he did too! I have to add at that the, "let's not repeat that all over again" list. Jake has been a joy and I am excited to add another joy to my life. I would post a preggo picture but I have yet to take one so you will just have to wait. I do have a belly though, in case you were worried that I wasn't showing yet. I most certainly am and it has been getting harder and harder to put my socks and shoes on. Thankfully I can still cuddle with Jake before naps and bedtime. I will miss it when my belly is too big for me to hold him while I read him a book and sing him a few bedtime songs.

Not that I need it, but I want it!

God has been working on my heart as of late when it comes to my needs vs. my wants. When I open up my drawers or look into my closet and wonder what I am going to put on for the day little voices start to pop into my head that I need more clothes, or I need to have a black pair of flats as well as a brown pair...  Most girls are like this! We feel the need to have 5 or more purses, 4 belts, 6 pairs of high heels, three pairs of gym shoes, several pairs of sandals(all different colors), 4 pairs of jeans(all different washes), 10 dresses, 5 sweaters, 5 sweat shirts etc. I think you get the idea. Why is it that we think we need all these things? Why are they so important to us to have so many things? Why does fashion matter? I am certainly not saying I think we should all wear sweat pants and a T-shirt everyday, but the amount of clothes and accessories is way more abundant than it should be.
I was doing my laundry today and as I was separating the colors I noticed a maternity shirt I had not worn in a few weeks! I was excited to find it but the fact that I forgot I owned it made me stop and think about why I think I need more clothes when I can't even remember the ones I do have. I do about 3 loads of laundry per week. One dark load, one light colored load and a small white load. This does not always include the load of towels and sheets that I do every week, but I humbly think that is a pretty fair amount of clothes to be washed on a weekly basis. However, I think I have enough clothes that I wouldn't have to wash any for about a month. This to me is very sad!
I took a trip into Kokomo this weekend with my sister-in-law and Jake. My mission was to find a heavy winter coat for Jake. We made a stop at TJ Max but no luck in finding his size. I haven't been shopping in a long time so I decided to browse the shoes, scarves, and purses. This was somewhat of an unwise decision since it only made me want everything I saw! It is hard to browse when you have no money to buy so I won't be doing that again. Our trip ended at Old Navy and a $20 purchase for my little Jake. Now he was in definite need of a coat!
Christmas is coming up and I always struggle with this time of year, especially this year since I have been so convicted about money the last couple of months. Tis the season to want more, get more and spend more! Why? I have no problem giving more, but I hope my giving this year will go to those who need more. I plan to give a present or two to Jake and Joe, but I am much more excited about what my family can do to help others that have true needs. I am beginning to learn that the best way to lose the way money has control over our lives is to have less and give more. Joe read me an excellent quote that comes from a book called, "The Hole in our Gospel" which explains that idea better.

"We must never for a single moment lose sight of the stark realization that whenever we deal with money, we are dealing with dynamite. What is one day that which we control, the next day becomes the controller. Such dynamite must be defused, and the greatest diffuser that we as Christians have at our disposal is the opportunity to take that which seeks to dominate us and simply give it away. Think about it. There is no greater expression of money's total lack of dominance over us or of its low priority in our lives than when we can with joy and peace, give it away for the Lord's work. You cannot worship the God of mammon and be a free and cheerful giver. Likewise, you cannot serve the living God and be a hoarder of his resources. Giving, both how we give and how much we give, is the clearest outward expression of who our God really is. Our check stubs speak more honestly of our priorities than our church memberships."

The less I have, the less I stress and worry about because I learn to rely on God provision for me vs. losing my need to rely on anyone but myself. I am thankful for the things I have and I don't need more because I don't want my things to control me.

1st Birthday Pics

These are a little late but better late than never!

This is Jake's first birthday card/mail from Aunt Janice and Uncle James, Kate and Luke

Playing outside on his Birthday. You want to Play with me?

Getting started on his cupcake!

Sugar Coma!

So BIG!

Pics from Tate's Apple Orchard with my parents

Cleaning and Showing our House

Today Joe, Jake and I spent half the day at our house in Anderson. The old place looked like it needed some freshening up. As I did my first walk through I thought, "not bad. The previous renter did what he thought was an acceptable clean up job," but as I started to open cabinets and the oven and microwave it looked as though food had exploded inside. I think it took me two hours to get the kitchen cleaned. Then I had the bathrooms, which weren't that dirty and then all the windows and the fireplace, which was full of ashes. All the doors and baseboards were filthy too! .Definitely was not show ready! That is why you can't always leave these types of things up to men. Some men have been blessed to know how to clean a place the right way. Not this guy! He does not have an eye for detail like I do. Joe spent the day outside trimming bushes, weed eating, sweeping and clearing out what should have been an already cleared and swept garage, but alas, one more thing our renter did not get done.
Jake was a little gem the whole time! He explored all day while we frantically cleaned. He barely had a decent nap but was as happy as could be. We showed the house to two people today! First couple is interested but made a really low offer of 35,000 dollars lower than our asking price and 15,000 dollars lower than the lowest price we would take for it. Next couple didn't make an offer because the guy said he was one of the greediest people ever and would make us a super greedy offer so Joe had to give him a number of what we had to get out of it. They are going to think it over and give us a call back! We are so hoping the second couple will go for the number we gave them.
On my way home tonight Jake threw up all over himself in the car! It was so gross but a quick clean up. Not sure why he threw up though? I hope it was just because he was finishing an 8oz bottle of coconut milk and it was too much for his stomach to handle.  He fell asleep shortly after that and after I got home and was transferring him to his bed he threw up all over me twice! It was pretty gross but throw up doesn't make me gag like it used too. I quickly re-dressed him and put him down before I went back in to clean up the floor and the rocking chair. I really hope he sleeps well tonight and eats a good breakfast in the morning. That would at least tell me that his tummy was just upset from too much food and milk and that he is not coming down with a flu bug.
Well, I am too pooped to write anymore and should head to bed just in case this ends up being a rough night for Jake and me. I will keep you all updated on the progress of our home!