A Season Of Celebration

In case you're looking for September, it's gone....outta here! And October has already made it's appearance. Our chalkboard says so.



In our house, the arrival of October means the beginning of a season of celebration for our family. And I'm not talking about the number of shopping days until Christmas. Well, maybe a little.

At the beginning of October we celebrate my middle son's Gotcha Day. What is Gotcha Day, you ask? Well, our kids are adopted and that is the day we celebrate that they became part of our family. Gotcha Day.....because we are the blessed ones that "gotcha."  Some adoptive families call it Family Day or Adoption Day. And some celebrate the day when the adoption papers were officially signed. For our kids, we've chosen the date when we were finally all together. For one son, that means the day when Hubster and I finally met him in Kolkata, India. For the other two, it's the day they arrived home on the airplane and were finally united with their new Mom and Dad and siblings.

Of course October also brings Halloween. We've never been HUGE into Halloween. Mostly we've just done the trick-or-treating thing. Because it's really just about the candy for us. Ha! I've been known to slave over a costume or two though. But the kids are getting older and I am WAY over the whole costume thing. So hopefully we are starting to move on.

November brings my daughter's Gotcha Day, our wedding anniversary, and one son's birthday. And of course, Thanksgiving. (I think Abraham Lincoln knew what he was doing when he put Thanksgiving smack dab in the middle of our Season Of Celebration.)

We start December by celebrating my other son's birthday as well as the Hubster's. And by then we are in full-blown Christmas mode...getting ready to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. In between all of this there is also a sprinkling of extended family member's birthdays. And we end the Season of Celebration by welcoming in the New Year.

And then we take a deep breath.

Because all this celebrating can wear a mama out!

But it's good. I love that we give these days importance in our lives. It shows our kids that we honor them and that it's of value to set aside and remember days that are significant and meaningful in the life of our family. And we create even more memories along the way.

Today's THANKFULNESS.....

* For wonderful and caring teacher's at our kid's school.

* For a quiet house to myself on school day mornings.

* For God's mercies to me that are new each morning.

What are YOU thankful for today?