HALLOWEEN FUN

We have had a weekend full of Halloween fun.

We carved pumpkins on Thursday

Friday night we went to the Super Hero show at church.  London was so excited to see the super hero's one last time.  

Saturday we had a birthday party and then off to the Fall Festival at Nana's church!!

And a few pics from our night of Trick-or-Treating!!!

We had a great night and brought home lots of candy.  London was a little slow to warm up to going door to door but by the time the night was over she was running house to house with the rest of the kids.  Kinley was a trooper and walked up and down the streets dragging her candy bag behind her.  We got home just in time to sort through the candy, eat a quick dinner and even had a few trick-or-treaters come by.....we gave them all the candy we didn't want.  Ha ha!!

Now the hard part comes.....having the will power to resist all this candy.

getting ready to go

running for candy :)

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 19: SOMETHING YOU MISS

I MISS......

being pregnant. I know that may sound crazy but I'm one of those that loves being pregnant.  I even love the delivery part too.

breast-feeding my babies. Again, it may sound crazy but I am a huge breast-feeding advocate and nursing my babies for their first year and a little beyond (not past 15 months) was so amazing.

my Nanny and Papa.  They were my mom's parents and the most amazing grandparents in the world.  They were in the seats for every dance recital, piano recital, football game to watch me cheer, and any other event any of their grandkids had.  I miss them so much and would do anything to have them back so they could meet my girls and love on them like they loved on all of us.

my family.  I grew up in what I thought was a small town and my family, all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents lived in the same town.  We were all like brothers and sisters instead of cousins.  We would have weekend cookouts every week.  A week never went by where we didn't see each other 2-3 times and sometimes more.  We all had an open door and never had to call  before coming over or knock before coming in.  Now we are spread out over the state and I miss seeing everyone.  My closest girl cousin and I have kids now and I wish so much we were raising our kids together like our moms did.

our old town and house.  Matt and I had to move for his job a little over a year ago and I still miss our old town.  I also miss our house there and that is where my cousin and her family are too.  :(  I'd move back in a heartbeat!

OK, enough of what I miss.  It makes me sad to think about the things I don't have anymore BUT, I have also gained things by leaving those behind and moving on.  Remember.... No regrets!!

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 18: SOMETHING YOU REGRET

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE FROM KATIE'S JOURNEY

I try not to have regrets, big ones that is.  I have to live with the choices I make so I try and always make ones I can live with and not look back.  Each choice I make is one that is right for that moment or circumstance and is what is best for me at the time.  That being said, I don't really have any regrets.  Not big ones at least.  I mean, sure, do I regret staying up too late when I know I have to get up early or eating too much dessert?  Sure, but, I'd have to think really hard of something major that I regret.  I am where I am today because of my choices and I am perfectly content with my life.  


Life goes on and WE are the ones responsible to make our life the best possible.  Should have, Could have, Would have....blah blah blah, life goes on and make the best out of what you have and smile while doing it!!

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."  ~Erma Bombeck

Oh, and I will not regret letting my kids fill their pumpkins so full of Halloween goodies that they will leave a trail of candy behind them.  :)

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 17: WHAT I LOOK FORWARD TO and JUST CATCHING UP

Jump over to Katie's journey to link up to the 30 day blog challenge.

I look forward to.....

1. buying another house
2. being debt free
3. seeing London's big smile when I pick her up from school
4. nap time
5. weekends
6. holidays
7. being pregnant again
8. seeing God's plan for my life unravel
9. going on a family vacation
10. Thanksgiving at the ranch

Now, to recap what has been going on lately.

We stayed home for the weekend and enjoyed not having to go anywhere.

Friday Matt had a function with his firm that kept him out late so the girls and I had pizza with the neighbors.  I was introduced to Swamp People, and oh my.....did you know that a bull frog has to be at least 5" long to be legal.  I actually learned something from that show.  Useless information? YES, but new information for me!

He did end up at the office Sat. night but it was fun to have him around all day Saturday afternoon. Sunday we volunteered in Kinley's Sunday school class and we visited a Sunday school class for us.  I'm so ready to get plugged into a class and meet some fun couples to worship with and to make friends.  Matt wasn't loving the class this week so we will probably try a different class this  Sunday.

I've been busy getting the girls' halloween costumes ready.  London decided to be a 50's girls so I got off easy on not having to make her a costume!!  London already had a poodle skirt from the sock hop last spring, so I just had to make Kinley one.  I'm just about done...just one more trip to Hobby Lobby for the ric rac / leash for the poodle and some purple ribbon for another project.  Oh, and I would like to find a white button up shirt for Kinley to wear and some white canvas tennies to paint like saddle shoes!!  Her white t-shirt and everyday tennies might have to do though. I'll post pics of the finished product!

Matt has been so busy at work and he's working even longer hours this week than before.  Ahhh, I already miss his help at bedtime.  He did find time out of his busy schedule to watch Kinley so I could volunteer at London's school.  They had a science lesson about measurement using bananas today.  The kids absolutely loved it.  They measured their height and weight in bananas and also measured out ingredients for banana bread...mmmm, I can already smell it cooking!!  Here is a pic from today.

I look like a banana myself.  I didn't plan to wear yellow to coordinate with the lesson, it was what was clean and ironed!!  ha ha :)


London was 7 bananas tall and weighed 93 bananas!!!  The kids loved being weighed...They got to sit on a see saw and we loaded bananas on the other end until they were even.  I kind of wanted to do it myself.  ha ha!!

London's dress (above) is one I made last week.  Its the other side of the pumpkin one seen here!

Other projects we've had going on is pumpkin decorating.  London's school had a pumpkin display and the students could decorate a pumpkin like a storybook character.  London picked Pinkalicious.  Of course my OCD kicked in and I just couldn't let her do the whole thing by herself so this is what WE did.  OK, I admit, I did most of it but London did have the final say on how she wanted it to look and she did help with some of the hair and painting and she did the cupcake herself.  I think Pinkalicous turned out pretty cute!  

I think that is about all.  Tonight London has gymnastics and this weekend we are busy with Fall Festivals, a birthday party for my niece, volunteering in London's Sunday school class and of course trick-or-treating on Sunday.    

I hope you all have a great end of the week !!

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 16: DREAM HOUSE

This is going to be a fun post for me.  Since we built our forever house and had to move due to Matt's job less than a year later we are renting and let me just say I am so ready for a house that is mine again.  I house hunt ALL the time and am ready to get to start looking for real when our lease is up.  We also are renting out our 'forever' house and hopefully it will sell after the lease is up on it so we can get on with the show and have a house of our own.  Get ready, this is going to be long...

That being said, here is a look at my dream home which I will have to move out of suburbia to build....a girl can dream....right?

I grew up on 3 acres and loved having so much room to run, play, ride my bike.  We had a pool and trampoline and horse stables and still had more room than we needed.  I would love to have a few acres for my big planation style home to sit on.  (i know that isn't much but it's more than what we have here in the suburbs)   I love the big columns and wrap around porch.  


A few interior features would be....

• 5" plank hand scraped wood floors everywhere, except maybe the bedrooms and utility
• double crown moulding and big baseboards everywhere
• lots of windows
• fire places in the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen/breakfast room
• butlers pantry to store all my extra holiday dishes and serving pieces
• a mother-in-law suite...maybe over the garage that has a small kitchenette and full bath and its own entrance but still connected to the house too
• stainless steel appliances, sub zero fridge
• oil rubbed bronze light and plumbing fixtures
• 5 bedroom
• 4 bath...the girls would have a jack and jill bath, i love them

My kitchen would look like this.....

would you look at all that cabinet space.  Say goodbye to all my storage issues and bring out the good dishes!!

I would definitely have to have a craft room...here is my idea of lovely!!

I love this!!  It is so fun and whimsical.  

OK, the laundry room.....with 2 girls, I do alot of laundry. I would love to have a laundry room that could double as an overflow storage room for all the extra paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies.   A big wall of cabinets and

a front loader washer/dryer would be a must.  Also, in the middle would be a big island with cubbies underneath to hold laundry baskets and a space for ironing and a hanging rod!!

I would have a mud room off the utility room, at the back of the house.  I love this unit with the big drawers on bottom and extra storage on top!!

OK, more storage....in my closet.  I don't mind sharing a closet with Matt but to each have a side and not have to half the closet rod would be great!!!  Oh, and in my dream home closet would be my dream wardrobe too!!  :)  Would you look at that!!  It would be like going shopping every time you went in your closet!

OK, and for Matt....a home theater.  

and the garage...

Now for the girls.....

A spacious playroom....with storage of course

look at all that room!!  I would have carpet in the playroom for sure!!

And the backyard...

get ready, its a dream for the whole family....remember I have some land that my dream home sits on!!

click HERE to peek inside!

and of course a pool!!

The topic was DREAM house wasn't it?  Well, There you have it...my DREAM house and a few things in it!!

Oh, and of course my dream home would come with these too....

a maid...

and a landscaper to keep up the lawn/pool

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 15: BIBLE VERSE

These Bible verses are probably the ones I fall back on the most.  Whenever I start to question 'why is this happening to me' these verses whip me in shape and remind me that God is in control and he already has all my problems worked out and that I can indeed get through whatever the circumstance may be.  

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  

Jeremiah 29:11

 

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 14: A PICTURE I LOVE

This is a hard one.  There are lots of pictures I love, wedding pics, pics of me and my family, pics of my girls, pics of me and my girls, pics of just Matt and I, pics of Matt and the girls, more pics of the girls.... but here is the first one that came to mind.  I'll stick to one picture because I'm not sure where I would stop if I posted more!  I don't know why it is so grainy looking, maybe I took it with my phone.  But it is still so sweet!!

My sweet girls.  

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 13: GOALS

A few of my goals and a bit of a bucket list too ....

1.  Have baby #3 next year, preferably after August!!

2.  Buy a house I love as much as our old house

3.  Get new bedroom furniture
our master bedroom is pitiful at best 

4.  Go on a mission trip  

5.  Travel to Europe

6.  Find a best friend in our new town
I miss my old friends :(

7.  Get more involved in church and the Women's ministry

8.  Be debt free

9.  Take a sewing class
everything I know has been self taught


10.  Work out more

11.  Go on a family vacation

  

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 12: WHAT YOU BELIEVE

HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL!!!

What do I believe?  There are lots of things I believe.  When I first read the topic for today I immediately thought...spiritual/religious beliefs but then the more I thought about it the more I thought of other stuff I believe so here goes...

I believe these two girls melt my heart.  

another failed attempt to get them both smiling an looking at me!  Oh and check out Kinleys bump-it look!!  ha ha :)

But most importantly......


I believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has each and every one of us here for a reason and had a purpose for us before we were even born.

I believe he died on the cross for our sins and that if we accept him as our personal Lord and Savior that we will be saved and have eternal life in Heaven.

 God has a plan and will for each of us and  if we would seek his will the best we can and seek his plan for our lives, this world would be a better place.



and I also believe ................

marriage is forever, that family dinners are important, sleeping on clean crisp sheets and a cold pillow is amazing, there is nothing like a new pair of shoes, you can never smile too much, I worry way to much, every mother should have that one dish their children will always come home for, attitude is everything...........

and so much more!

What do you believe?

30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE DAY 11: FAVORITE TV SHOWS

OK, I don't watch TV much but here are some of my favorites if I'm looking for something to watch.  Usually the only time I have the TV on is after the kids are in bed so mostly I watch TLC or A&E.  I only TIVO Survivor (since Matt convinced me to) and by the end of the show I couldn't tell you what happened....I am always doing some sort of crafty project, sewing, folding laundry or playing shopping online while I watch TV.  Basically I have it on for background noise.

This show make me gag.  Anytime I watch it I want to clean out and throw away everything in sight.  I just don't understand how people can live with so much trash and not realize it.  It is one of those shows that I ran across and ended up watching a whole episode before I even knew what I was watching.  

I love this couple.  Jen cracks me up and well, they are just cute.  It is probably the only show that I have followed close enough to know what is going on right now.  

I loved loved loved planning my wedding and sort of wish I was a wedding/event planner.  I actually thought abou it while planning my wedding.  I love seeing all the dresses and hearing the stories of all the brides.

OK, The Duggars.....19 kids.....REALLY? This family seems so sweet and down to earth.  I love watching how they make having 19 kids look so easy.  I'm sure  'off camera'  there are the typical fits and fights but all of them always seem so happy and willing to help.  I can hardly get my two out the door on time, I don't know how they make it out with 19.  And most of all I love how they love the Lord so much and kudos to TLC for not editing that out.