Halloween 2013: The Round-Up Gang

I know I am behind on posting about Halloween, but I've been a little busy...it's that time of year!!  So......we had a BLAST dressing the part of Toy Story characters AND we have an AMAZING family, willing to be silly and dress up with us!!

Woody

Buzz

Jessie

Pizza Planet Guy

Little Bo Peep and her Sheep...the cutest little sheep you've ever seen!!!

Stinky Pete

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head

Stinky Pete conferring with Uncle Zach (do you remember that character in Toy Story?  No?  Oh well!).

The Children's Director at Grace Baptist...Stephanie Waldo!!

And we were lucky enough to have friends from the neighborhood join us at Grace!!  In front...Hannah, Keegan, Keegan J and Joshua!  Such cutie patooties!!

I will eventually do a tutorial post on the Potato Head costumes!!  Anywho...it's almost THANKSGIVING!!  YAY!

Photo Dump...Week of October the 14th

This particular week ALL the big kids (including the bff's) had Columbus Day off and the next day off for good measure.  Hmph.  Of course it was raining both days, but I made them play outside anyways!!  Here are the little ragamuffins in all their wet, played-out glory!!

In this picture you can see Aidan holding his arm up by his belly...which he had been doing for about a week at this point.  He had fallen at school and landed palm down.  I had pushed and pulled, poked and prodded and knew it wasn't broken.  But after almost a week of him not using it, I got worried.  Joey came home from work and took him to the doctor.  Long story short, should've stuck with motherly instinct, BUT we found out he DID have strep!  Ha!  Poor baby.  

I love her in all her toothless beauty!!

While playing outside, the kids kept bringing me little flowers...so sweet!!  

Ashlee and I are going to have a FULL day of shopping come November 15th...so I thought I should put in on my phone calendar!!  What can I say?  I'm a nerd!!

Wednesday...new clothes...thanks again Grandma!!

Praise team practice that night....

And then basically my emotions went on a roller coaster from Friday through Sunday.  I discovered our "a/c" unit was never shutting off.  After turning it to the off position, I could still hear the fan running.  We put in a new thermostat...but that wasn't the problem.  Saturday my dad came over to check out Joey's wiring work on the stat...while he and my mom were here I received our TXU bill.  $720.00!!!  Seriously!!!  Apparently our fan had been running for a LONG while!!  Anywho, we were able to get some AMAZING people out to fix the problem....and for a very minimal price!!  Thank you Lord for providing for our family!!

Joey and his twin...Kevin...the giant!!  They've matched multiple times at church...and I think it's hilarious!!  I had to take a pic this time!!

That afternoon I did the photo sessions with this precious family.  Again, so emotional...so touching.

By Sunday night I was feeling run down again...so soup, crackers and water were on the bill!   

Whoohoo...another week down!!  :)  

Photo Dump...Week of October 7th

And here we are...another week in photos.  I can feel the anticipation in the air!!  Hahaha!!  :)

Wasn't feeling so good this Monday...sore throat and rundown.  Boo.  

I have THE BESTEST DADDY ever...when he is willing to put his body through this, to tear away layers of my shower floor and fix the cracks...that means he is pretty awesome.  And why is the pic so small you ask?  Because I'm hoping you will avoid noticing the "gross" details of said shower.  Your welcome.

This was a battle, so I needed to photo document it!!  I might have purposefully made her gum bleed during teeth brushing, so that I could "wipe" it with a rag and "accidentally" rip her tooth out!  

I love love love our Wednesdays together!  I am going to miss this so much, so I am trying to enjoy each day with this little man!  

  

We went to the park...he played, I laughed.  I lurve a good head of static hair!!!  

Notice the fear?  Yeah, me too...hahahaha!!!  ;)

So a couple of little boys spit chewed up Goldfish at my guy during school on Tuesday.  :(  They both apologized, but one even colored him a picture to say sorry!!  So sweet!

Thursday I came out to leave for work...only to find an awesome screw in my tire!!  Whoop!  It wasn't losing any air, so I went to school.  Long story somewhat short...my dad and Grandma came and got my car, took it to get checked, determined the screw was in a bad place and I would need a new tire, then brought my car back.  Yay.  Again, I have THE BEST DADDY ever!  He came over that afternoon to patch it.  He carefully pulled the screw out....and what do ya know...it hadn't even punctured through the tire!!  It was just stuck in the tread!!!  Thank you Lord (and dad)!!!

Then there was some of this...a rousing jam session with one beginner trombone player and one french horn player, who hadn't picked the instrument up in at least 15 years.  

It was enough to make a grown man cry.

Then it was Saturday!  I was so excited to do another senior photo shoot with a gorgeous young lady from church!!

This man...seriously?  

I then came home to edit, edit, eat and edit some more!!  

The kiddos were a little bit worn out from spending the night with Gaga and Grandpa...and notice her ensemble...floral pants, coral, black and white skirt, grey school shirt, tennis shoes and pink necklace.  I was not a part of that outfit.  That is all her!!  Thank goodness I dress her for school!  ;)

There you have it....just a few more posts about October and I will be caught up!! Hahaha!!  

The 7 Experiment: Food

So, I'm leading this little Bible study at church.  I chose The 7 Experiment: A Mutuny in Excess.  It is based off Jen Hatmaker's book "7"...basically it is a charge to the reader to get rid of "our junk, so that God can move in".  It is an incredible book, and I knew that the workbook would be just as good. 

Last Wednesday we started our Food Fast.  The premise for the entire book is to purge/fast from 7 areas in our lives where we typically have excess.  She chose to explore Food, Clothes, Possessions, Media, Stress, Waste and Spending.  She spent a month fasting from each of these areas so that she could make more room in her heart and life for God...to do His Kingdom work!!  

We only have one week to fast....I am calling that a cop out!!  Too easy.  However, I pray that the Lord will make more room in my heart for him in this shorter amount of time.  I'm even pondering doing each area again for a full 30 days (by myself...starting next year).  Anywho...FOOD.

Well, I like food.  I love food....don't mess with my mac n cheese obsession.  Or powdered donuts.  Or gum habit.  So I knew this month would be a challenge.  We had many options to choose from, for example...we could eat only 7 foods for 7 days, or not eat out at all for 7 days, or choose to fast from one meal a day...etc.  I chose no eating out (no sonic runs, nuthin')...if it didn't come from my house I didn't partake in it.  

I stumbled the first day with pretzels.  I know, right?  Seriously, I got to work and I decided that my boss bought these snacks for the kids and us...FROM A GROCERY STORE, so I am fine eating them.  Well I hemmed and hawed over each bite.  After 4 pretzels I couldn't take the agony guilt pressing from the Holy Spirit and I threw the rest away!!  That was my one and only cheat.  

In the end I followed the rules.  Someone from the outside looking in might rate this a success.  But I do not.  I was never hungry enough to draw closer to God.  I was never burdened enough to cry over the 16,000 children that die EVERY DAY because of malnutrition.  So..for me..I failed.  I feel I might have been more challenged if I had chosen a different option, but I cannot go back now.  I must just pray that each and every other challenge will offer that closeness to God that I so GREATLY desire.

So what radical area of excess am I on now?  Clothes.  I will report on that next week...but let's just say I chose 7 pieces of clothing to wear for the next 7 days, and I am definitely being challenged!!  Haha!  

First Mini Session Sneak Peek!

To say the weather was great on Saturday for my first (EVER) Christmas Mini Sessions would NOT be true...the wind was horrible.  I was terrified the pictures wouldn't turn out.  Thank you Lord there actually were some pretty good shots...despite the "wind-blown-hair"!!  Here are just a few pics!

Happy Monday everyone!!  I am gonna go do more laundry, clean my house....maybe even put up our Christmas tree {all while listening to CHRISTMAS music}!!