Happy Thanksgiving!

"Twas the night before Thanksgiving when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse..." Oh wait, wrong story. :) Although it is quiet here tonight. The kids are asleep (at least I think), the cats are napping with full tummys, D isn't home from Wed night church yet, and I'm sitting comfortably in my recliner with my laptop. Tonight at church dinner we all talked about things we are thankful for this year. As I reflected on the year, I realized that it has been a very full year. We did so much, have been so many places, seen so many people, and have been given so many things. It truly is a year with much to be thankful for. Of course there were many not so wonderful things this year, some little in the grand scheme of things, and some huge. I was trying to narrow it down tonight before it was my turn to talk. I finally said "God's blessings." God has blessed us with more immeasurably more than we could have asked for or imagined. But why should we be surprised, it says it right in His Word (Ephesians 3:20). Right away, the twins come to mind. We would have never guessed we would have twins, or 5 kids for that matter. Our house is great, the chapel family is wonderful, we even have more babysitters than we have days we need to go out! We are all healthy and becoming even closer as a family (homeschooling and shore duty has helped that!).
Speaking of homeschooling, H is doing great (although she's not really into math) and loving the time she gets to spend with her brother and sister. H and S have become really close this year, which wasn't the case last year. C misses preschool but also likes to have time one on one with me. The one on one time is H's favorite part! Yesterday C was doing an educational program on the computer while H and I worked. He got up and came over to us. He asked what we were doing. I told him math and explained that we were learning about numbers and how to add them together. He then asked if he could do school too. When H finished up her math and she got to take a turn on the computer, C sat down with me and we worked on numbers for at least 20 minutes. I learned that he doesn't have to point and count. He can look at a group of pictures and tell you how many there are (up to 5) without counting outloud. He also likes to tell me how fast I'm driving on base with the "Your speed is..." signs. I certainly haven't taught him how to read 27, but he always gets his numbers right. Not bad for a kid not yet 4. So it looks like C is taking after me with a natural gift of numbers, and H is taking after D with reading. It's days like this that make me confident in our decision to homeschool.
So enough rambling, we hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and has much to thankful for as well.