26 Days of Thankfulness...days 25, 26

The last two days of my thankfulness posts are a little late, but that's because I've had a wonderful, relaxing 5 days without worrying too much about email, phone, blogs... It was nice.

1. I'm thankful for the opportunity to get out of town! We spent Thanksgiving with my parents in Shamrock, TX. Even though Shamrock is only about 3 hours away, it's still away; far enough to be considered "out of town", but not too far. We had a blast being out in the country where it's quiet and you can see ALL the stars, enjoying all of mom's home cooking, and just being with family. It truly was a retreat. Mollie absolutely LOVED the time with the grandparents and I'm so glad she got to spend so much time with them this weekend!

2. I'm thankful for my family! Over the years I've become aware of exactly how important family is, and who I actually consider my family. Just because you're related doesn't make you "family", and just because you're not related doesn't mean you're not family! After considering all of that, I'm very thankful for my family. I've truly been blessed. I was reminded just how much my family ROCKS this weekend! Also, I can't tell you how blessed I am to have great in-laws. I married into a family that made me feel welcome, like one of their own, from the very start. I'd go into details on just how much I love all of them and why they are so awesome, but I'll save the sappiness for another day. Just take my word for it! I'm excited about raising a family of my own because we're a part of a good one.

Back to Thanksgiving...we had a weekend full of fun including: Lots of great food! We ate a lot, and often, and I'm now trying to convince my stomach that it doesn't need that much food every day.

The boys recovering from Thanksgiving dinner with a football game

Lots of hanging out and visiting! We got to do lots of sitting around and talking, watching football, and playing with Mollie.

Helping with laundry

Being silly with Uncle Kyler!

Bread dough ornaments!! We brought back the tradition and made ornaments till our backs ached and our fingers were covered in paint.

Celebrated birthdays! That's right, Momma Shelly celebrated 51 years on Friday!!! Wahooo! We love our Momma Shelly :o)

The birthday girl in her new sweater!

Shot a deer! Yep, Jason and Kyler woke up early every day to do some hunting and Jason finally got one after Kyler went home. Sorry brother :o( But Jason was sure excited to take down his first deer! He and Dad field dressed it and took it to be processed, so here in a few weeks come on over and enjoy some deer jerky!

The great and mighty hunter!

That's what Thanksgiving looks like in the Fellers' Family!

26 Days of Thankfulness...days 23, 24

Today I'm thankful for West Texas!

I've grown up here, still live here, and it doesn't look like we're leaving any time soon. As much as I've wanted to move away at times, there's just no place like home. It's just a great place to live. Beautiful sunrises/sunsets, mild weather (mostly), not too many natural disasters (except for tornadoes which I find fascinating!!), and a somewhat small-town feel. Although I truly grew up in a small town (good 'ol Wilson, TX!), Lubbock isn't so big and uninviting that I couldn't make it feel like home, but it has all the modern conveniences that a bigger city should (except for some specific stores that I've love to have nearby...pottery barn...) It definitely has the best of both worlds.

However, I've come to realize that no matter where I live, as long as I have my Mollie and my Jason, I'm home. :o)

26 days of Thankfulness...days 21, 22

Today I'm thankful for football!

During the fall, you will rarely find our tv on anything else other than a football game, or a Saturday that we're not cheering on our Red Raiders and tailgating. Then Sunday we're watching and napping to a variety of NFL games. I can't even believe I've found myself enjoying football and even catch myself watching it when Jason's not around. I even know what's going on! I remember being so irritated when we'd have football on when I was growing up, but somewhere along the way I've morphed into a fan (thanks to Jason!).

I've come to realize that football is more than just a game. It's become a family activity, a tradition, a fun "thing" that we can all enjoy together. I can't tell you how much I look forward to Red Raider Football games when we get to hang out with the family, and now getting to bring Mollie makes it even more fun. I had a great time watching Tech beat OU, Dallas beat the Redskins (barely), and taking my Sunday afternoon nap to the faint sound of a game. We don't quite know what to do with ourselves when football season is over...I guess just look forward to next year!

Enjoying some football a few weeks ago :o)

26 days of Thankfulness...day 20

Today I'm thankful for Trash!

Not trash in the yucky, garbage sense, or the distasteful TV show sense. I'm talking about my favorite snack of all time that just happens to be called "Trash". Also called Chex Mix or Hot Cereal, we made it all the time growing up and it is spicy-addictive-goodness. I've had lots of other versions of it, but none are quite as spicy, quite as greasy, or quite as satisfying. It's cooking in the oven as we speak and it's making my house smell like what being 8 years old smells like! I haven't had it in years and I'm so excited. It's really quite yummy so I'll share with you in case you want a taste of something from my childhood :o) If you will be joining us to tailgate at the Tech game on Saturday you'll be in for a treat because I'm bringing some!

TRASH

-1 very large baking pan (I use the disposable, foil kind that you would make lasagna in if you were feeding a whole army...a big pan!) Or two slightly smaller ones.

-3 boxes Crispex cereal (I use a box each of rice, corn, and wheat)

-2 sticks of butter

-1/2 c. Worcestershire Sauce

-1/2 c. Louisiana Hot Sauce

-1/2 c. Lemon juice

-2 teasp. Seasoning Salt

-2 teasp. Garlic Powder

Mix all sauce ingredients (except for the cereal) and heat over the stove until well melted and stir well. Pour cereal into the large baking pan and spread evenly. Drizzle sauce mixture over cereal and mix well. Bake at 350 degrees, turning and stirring every 15 minutes until about 45 minutes or until it's your desired consistency. Enjoy and share with your friends because it makes a lot :o)

26 Days of Thankfulness...day 19

Today I'm thankful for the opportunity to crawl up on the couch with my warm cup of chai tea, still in my pajamas, before the little one wakes up, and enjoy the peacefulness before I begin my day. I've never been good at waking up in the mornings, and would prefer to sleep in every day if I could, but lately have really enjoyed being up early. It's amazing how much I enjoy the quiet and just how much a difference it makes in my day. Hopefully this is the start of something new in my life...becoming a morning person!

26 Days of Thankfulness...days 16, 17, 18

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Our lovely little neighborhood: I've absolutely loved all the walks and runs we've been going on lately. On our little trail through the neighborhood, we get to see lots of animals including donkeys, emus, mini horses, and big horses, lots of other babies in strollers with their mommies, lots of runners, people walking their dogs, and if we're lucky one of the several friends we have that live over here...it's just a friendly, active neighborhood.

2. Comedy on TV: With all the scary, serious things happening around the world, sometimes it's just nice to escape from that and have a little laugh. I'm not sure what I'd do with out my nightly dose of Jay Leno, Conan Obrian, Chelsea Lately, or my new favorite The Soup!! And of course The Office...Jason wouldn't let me forget that one :o) It's good to end the day with a laugh.

3. Mollie's "Happy Noises": This includes laughing, squealing, making that sucking-in-frog-like noise, babbling, and screaming. Yep, screaming is her new favorite way to communicate, or just to entertain herself. We're talking high-pitch, piercing, blood-curdling screams. We have no idea how to teach her the difference between quiet and loud at this age, but will keep trying. Any of you have any suggestions? Until we figure it out, just know we're not torturing our child even though it sounds like it!

26 Days of Thankfulness...days 13, 14, 15

This weekend I'll give you 3 reasons why I'm thankful for my husband!

1. Awesome Daddy: That's right, Jason's an amazing Dad. (Although I would have never thought otherwise really). I've always seen him interact with kids in such a playful, loving manner that just draws them in and makes Jason their immediate best friend. It's the same thing with Mollie. She absolutely lights up when he comes home and she proceeds to laugh and giggle as they play. I also LOVE the fact that he's so involved with her daily activities; It's a blessing knowing I can be gone for a day and he knows what she needs, where it is, and how to do it. I've talked to other moms who have to do EVERYTHING or the whole place just falls apart. Bathtime, bedtime, dinner time, playtime, and everything in between is taken care of! I can't wait to see their relationship develop as she gets older and they can do more stuff together.

First smile was at her Daddy!

2. Awesome Husband: I couldn't have searched the world over and found anyone more perfect for me than Jason. He balances me out; where I'm weak he's strong, and where he's weak I'm strong. I'm thankful that he's willing to work hard on our marriage and won't let complacency be enough. We've grown so much over the past 6 years as a couple and I can't wait to look back 50 years from now and see how much we've really grown! He's funny, sweet, and loves his family more than anything. What more could a girl ask for?!

Husband of the Year :o)

3. Hard worker: This boy works hard to provide for our family, serve the church, and to better himself. He currently has a full time day job, entertains Lubbockites on the weekends, just started serving as an elder at church, teaches the 2 year old Sunday School class with me, is in graduate school, and is training for a marathon. WOW! He definitely works so hard and I'm so proud of him for that. I'm thankful that he has the work ethic and integrity that he does and won't settle for less.

He's a running machine!

Mollie and I are very thankful for you and love you very much!

26 Days of Thankfulness...day 12

Today I'm thankful for Friends!

We really are blessed to have lots of great friends, old and new. We just had dinner with some of our newish friends, The Gibsons. They live just a few houses down from us and we love getting together to eat dinner and watch football quite often. This just reminded me of how important friends are! It sure is nice to get together with other couples to just talk about life, laugh about stuff, and to just have the relationship. It's nice to change things up a bit and instead of sitting at home with the 3 of us enjoy some conversation with other adults. Also, I sure do love my girl time. I've been blessed with some awesome girlies, both old and new, that I just don't know what I'd do with out.

Yall are just good for my soul :o)

On a very different note, Mollie went in for her 9 month check up today and here are her stats:

17.2 lbs ( a gain of 4 lbs in 2 months!)

26.75 in. tall (grew 2 inches in 3 months)

18 in. head circumference! That girl has quite the noggin! I'm pretty sure all her weight gain has been in her head. But that big noggin sure is cute :o)

26 Days of Thankfulness...day 11

Today we're thankful for Veterans

By Jason Fellers

This is the first time that I have ever "blogged" before but felt that I should today. I truly can't begin to express the gratitude for our men and women who serve in the armed forces. They truly have made America what it is today, and I hope that all who are currently serving or have served can have a day in the year to know how grateful we are for them. The sacrifice that they have chosen to make is very humbling to me and I often forget just how much they have truly given up to serve this country. I find myself frustrated throughout the course of my day for the petty little "things" that make me irritated and yet there are soldiers in way rougher conditions than me who do their job and don't complain. I truly have no reason to be complaining. I think of the soldiers in current and past wars who experienced hardship and grief that is beyond explanation and I can only say Thank You. Thank you all who serve or who have served to make this country a safer place. Thank you that I can live in a country where I can raise a family and worship God without persecution. Thank you for fighting for the rights of the oppressed in different lands so that they may be able to experience true freedom. You are appreciated more than you know and I pray that you will be safe and continue to serve with such amazing dedication. Happy Veterans Day to all of you and God Bless.

26 Days of Thankfulness...day 10

Today I am thankful for 9 months of being a mommy!

That's right, Little Mollie Michelle is 9 months old today. She's getting to be such a big girl and doing so many new things! I am very thankful to have a happy and healthy baby girl. She has her 9 month check up at the doctor's office sometime this week, so I'll have official stats for her later, but in the meantime here's 9 things Mollie's up to this month!

1. Teeth: Yep, two tiny crooked little teeth have finally come through. Friday evening she was having such a rough time with the teething pain; I felt so bad for her! So after a frozen banana and lots of distraction, we laid her down for a good night's sleep and she woke up with two little teeth that finally broke through her gums. I think she's experiencing some relief now, but I know that's just the beginning. 2 down...lots more to go!!! (How many teeth does one typically have, anyway!?!)

Frozen bananas feel really good on sore gums!

Look really closely and you can see her two front teeth about to break through...

I'll take more pics of her "official" teeth later

2. Pre-crawling: She's not quite figured out how to crawl, but she's close. She can now scoot backwards when she's on her tummy and turn around sideways. She can even get her little legs going, but just can't quite coordinate things with her arms. She'll be there soon enough and I'll be wishing she was no longer mobile...I sure do like being able to just sit her down and not worry what she's getting into!

3. Eating: Mollie is just a good eater. As we continue to add new foods, she's yet to find something she just really doesn't like. She's now to the point where she'll eat (at dinner for example) a serving of cereal, vegetables, and fruit after she nurses! So she's obviously growing as well, or is planning to grow soon!

4. Fine motor skills: Each day it seems like she's mastered something else using her little hands. She's recently discovered our eyelashes! She'll get her little finger and very gently move her finger back and forth over them (usually with out poking your eye, but I'd keep them closed just in case!) Also, she's mastered getting her little Gerber Puffs into her mouth. She's really good at holding them between her finger and thumb, studying them, passing them to the other hand to study, then eventually into her mouth.

5. Sippy cup: I think she looks like such a big girl holding her sippy cup and drinking from it all by herself! She's finally using her cup for it's intended purpose, not just as something to chew on and throw off her highchair (which does still occur sometimes!).

6. Good kidney function :o) With all this extra liquid she's been drinking from her sippy cup, we're changing diapers like crazy! She's been soaking through her diapers at night and even sometimes during the day...this is making me look forward to potty training hehe!

7. Talking: She's a little chatter box! Always talking about something. She now says baba, dada, ooh, aah, uh-oh, and sometimes I think she says HI! It's kind of funny, but when I walk out of the room for a little while then walk back in, she seems to forget she just saw me, gets really excited and says HI and waves her arms excitedly. So cute!

8. Waves bye-bye: She does this more often now and most of the time with just one arm like you're supposed to. However, if she's really excited you get waved at with two arms :o)

9. Makes sweet little happy sounds: My favorite thing she does right now is make a funny sound when she's happy/excited about something. She kind of sucks in air and laughs at the same time? Not sure what it is but I think it's cute. I actually got it on video! Here she is being a happy girl:

26 Days of Thankfulness...day 9

Today I am thankful for new life!

I think it's safe for me to say now how excited I am to be an Aunt again!! Lacye, Brad, and Maddox are expecting a new little one into their family in May 2010! I can hardly wait to snuggle with the new little munchkin!

I got to see the sonogram pics the other day and it reminds me just what a miracle life really is. For being soooo tiny, baby Voda already looks like a baby with it's little baby head, arms, body, legs, and looked to be sucking its thumb! So sweet and so amazing!

Please keep them in your prayers as the little one grows big and strong and as they transition to life with two kiddos!

26 Days of Thankfulness...days 6,7,8

So, today I decided to post what I'm thankful for this weekend. It's all related and is worth 3 days of thankfulness (and much much more!)

6. God's Love: As I've been reading through the Old Testament, I've been amazed at how much God really does love his children. He did great things to and for his children in order for them to receive his blessings. He also disciplined them so that they could learn right from wrong. And he did these things on such a huge scale....we're talking splitting the sea so his people could get to the promise land, bringing plagues, wiping out nations as a time, commanding the earth to swallow someone whole, and so so much more. Why would he go to all that work if he didn't love who he was doing it for?

But he also loves on a small scale. The same God that did these huge, earth shattering things for NATIONS of people, shows us his love on a very intimate, personal scale every day. He shows me how much he loves me by giving me a wonderful family, a husband who is my perfect companion, and a baby girl who was made in His image especially for us who taught me a whole new kind of love!

7. God's Forgiveness: Oh boy does He forgive. I can't even begin to count the times that I've doubted, ignored, cursed, etc...the God that love us so much! Yet he still loves and blesses us. If we could all have just a little bit of that in our hearts...

8. God's Blessings: I am amazed every day not only how much I am blessed, but in how many ways I am blessed. He's blessed me with relationships with others, personal strengths and characteristics, and financial needs (not always in abundance, but always enough!!). I've been blessed by others, and by blessing others. We can find blessings in the darkest times, and in the joyous of times. In the quiet of the morning, or in loud craziness! Just by sitting down and reminding myself of all the ways we've been blessed is a blessing. This may sound corny/cheesy/whatever, but it's something I'm VERY thankful for. It reminds us that God loves us and forgives us!

So there is something to think about this weekend. I'll leave you with a video of a song that speaks to this in such a beautiful way, I think (just click on the link and it should take you there). Have a blessed weekend :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJyW55AXJAk

Countdown to Thanksgiving...26 days of Thankfulness!

1 Chronicles 29:13:

Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

So as Thanksgiving draws nearer, I've decided to start thinking about what I'm thankful for a little bit sooner. So I hope to list something each day that I'm thankful for up until Thanksgiving. So since it's already November 5, here are 5 things I'm thankful for today:

1. At the moment, a peaceful sleeping baby. It makes me happy when Mollie gets the rest her body needs so she wakes up ready to play and grow some more!

2. Health: With all the concern about H1N1 flu going around, I am very thankful that none of us has it. Lets hope it stays that way!

3. Beautiful weather: I've loved the nice warm sunshine lately and the mid-70's temperatures. We were able to enjoy a nice walk this morning and it was just perfect.

4. A baby girl that likes to snuggle! Oh how I love it when she starts to get sleepy and snuggles up with me to read a book and rock for a moment before she lays down. God knew I needed that when He made Mollie :o)

5. Lunchtime: One of the things I look forward to most each day is when Jason gets to come home for lunch. Even though it's only for an hour, it sure is nice to see him and it breaks up the day...it doesn't seem like he's gone as long. Even though I don't always have something homemade from scratch waiting on the table when he comes in, I do enjoy making lunch for us and being able to sit and eat together (even if it is just a sandwhich). Also, Mollie sure does love it when her Daddy comes home! The days that she isn't napping when he comes home is great because you get to see the huge smile on her face when he walks in the door. I love it.

What are you thankful for today?

Fun times with the Boyers!

Oh what a great weekend it's been! We had the pleasure of spending it with Philip, Jocelyn, and sweet little Levi Boyer. They came all the way from Fort Worth to stay with us and to watch some Red Raider Football! Our semi-annual Boyer/Fellers weekend just happened to fall on Halloween this time as well, which was so much fun with the babies. Here's Mollie dressed as a Giraffe! (She also had a Penguin costume from cousin Maddox, but unfortunately it was too warm outside for that one).

Oh how we love ourselves some Red Raider Football. It was a beautiful afternoon at the Jones and we all had a great time watching the game together!

I think "Tailgate Trick-or-Treating" should be the new way to do Halloween...more fun for the parents :o) Levi was super cute as a little Pea Pod (or edamame hehehe)! It just made me want to squeeze him even more...

I hope these little ones grow up to be great friends! Mollie sure thought little Levi was pretty cool and loved having another baby to look at and talk to. Not sure if he was too interested in her yet, though :o)

I really could care less about Halloween, but when it's spent with good friends, good football, and cute babies, it can't get much better! We had a wonderful time with the Boyers and look forward to more fun times together! Cow Town Marathon here we come!!!!