Halloween 2013

 

 Ryan had his harvest party at school today!  He was SO excited to dress up as a construction worker!  He even wore it to bed last night!  All from the kid who does not like to wear any kind of costume!  He had been saying for months that he wanted to be a construction worker for halloween.  Perfect!  Thankful he was excited about Halloween this year!

Every morning of preschool we have to look for Miss Jillian!  The boys always get so excited to see her and Mr. Mike.  She is as crazy about them as they are about her.  They are so cute!

I had some time to kill before Ryan's harvest party so Colton and I headed over to Panera and shared a pumpkin muffin.  Colton kept saying "mmmmmm yummmmm" and he was right, it was very yummy!  Loved spending some quality time with him!  He is such a sweet boy.

My sweet friend Claudette watched Colton for me while I helped with Ryan's party.  Colton had a blast playing with our friends Noah and Chase.  

Ryan and his class eating snacks!

Playing some fall/halloween bingo.

I loved getting to watch Ryan in his class.  He has a great class and awesome teachers this year.  So thankful for a great preschool.  

Tonight I wasn't sure we would have trick or treating since it has been raining all day and there were more storms and rain predicted for tonight.  We decided to brave it with our neighbors and do just a few houses.  

We had a slow start however because our power went out right before we headed out the door.  It was a little chaotic getting pictures before going.  

Again Ryan was thrilled to wear his costume and Colton tolerated his, ha!  It was a little big but he was the cutest cowboy I've ever seen.  They were so, so cute!

Despite all the rain the boys had THE BEST time trick or treating with our friends Josh and Jake.  I love that they were divers... how perfect.  They loved running house to house saying trick or treat and thank yous.  Colton was thrilled and ran with them like he was four!  

I'm so glad they had a great time despite the rain (you can see how soaking wet they are), the wind and power outage.  They were troopers and it will definitely be a halloween we won't soon forget.  

Lately

 

Our week has been pretty quiet so far but we are gearing up for a fun Halloween tomorrow.  Ryan has his preschool party and depending on the weather we will hopefully trick or treat tomorrow night.  We are supposed to have severe thunderstorms so I'm kinda thinking they will postpone to Friday which is cool with me.  Who wants to be out in the rain anyhow.  

Although it's been pretty uneventful there are a few moments in these precious days that I want to remember.  

The other night the boys were having hot dogs for dinner.  Colton was trying to eat his from the middle and I told Ryan to show him how to eat it.  He said "Colton, this is how you eat a hot dog...you have to concentrate".  

Today at school Ryan was so proud that he earned a green sticker for helping clean up.  He is pretty good about picking up toys at home but his teachers always tell me how he loves to help clean up.  He is a typical first born type A and a rule follower.  Thank you Lord!

Colton, the typical baby, is very talkative and likes to be the center of attention.  He is glued to me right now and even gets jealous of the dogs if they are sitting in my lap.  Really?!?  Every morning when he wakes up he asks for daddy and throughout the day will ask where is daddy.  He smiles so big when he sees daddy, gives him a big hug...then runs over to mommy! What?!? Ok I'll take my momma's boys as long as I can!

Hayrides, Disney and Family

 

We had a wonderful fall weekend!  Saturday I took the boys to Shaw Farm while Matt worked on some school work.  It was coooooold so we didn't stay very long.  Long enough for Ryan to ride the train - Colton had no interest, and ride the hayride.  It was fun but we were excited to come home to daddy and get some hot chocolate.

Saturday night we went to eat at a new restaurant called Chuy's.  It's tex-mex and I know how much Matt loves mexican food plus the kids are usually pretty good at mexican restaurants since they just munch on chips and salsa.  It was a success and Matt loved it and the boys did well.

  We walked over to Gigi's cupcakes afterward for a little something sweet.  

Someone I know has a serious sweet tooth!

Sunday was a busy day.  We were SO excited to take Ryan to Columbus to see Disney on Stage.  It's like Disney on Ice but it's on stage and in my opinion it's way better.  

Matt's cousin Isaac and his girlfriend Stacey live in Columbus so we thought it would be fun to meet up for lunch before heading to the show.  We don't get to see them often so it was so nice to hang out and see them.  Ryan really liked Stacey!  Maybe it was because she shared her chocolate milk with him.  Love them and can't wait to see them again soon!

Ryan LOVED it and was on the edge of his seat the whole time.  He enjoyed Dr. McStuffins and Sophia but his favorite was Jake and the Pirates.  

My sweet in-laws kept Colton for us.  I think he would have liked the show but I'm pretty confident he would have gotten antsy and fussy.  It was nice to have some one on one time with my sweet first born.  

After the show we headed back to my in-laws to get Colton.  We celebrated Papau's birthday with a great dinner and lots of family.   A great end to a fabulous weekend!

Five on Friday

1. I am loving all the fall recipe's on pinterest lately!  I can't go on there late at night because it makes me hungry.  There are so many pumpkin, apple and cinnamon recipes I want to try.  

2. This is the last weekend in October and our last chance for pumpkin farms!  We went to a pumpkin farm while in Memphis a few weeks ago but I hope that we get a chance to visit one this weekend here at home.  It's the last weekend of pumpkin season so I'm ready to make it the best! 

3. I LOVE fall fashion.  I wore my new riding boots for the first time this week and I practically floated in them, maybe it was just me, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them.  So after reading Sheaffer over at PinterestToldMeTo.blogspot.com post about leggings, I'm now busting at the seam to get my first pair of leggings along with some fall sweaters and cardigan's and maybe a few scarfs for fun.  I never really thought I could wear leggings with my body type but after reading Sheaffer's recommendations I think I can pull it off!  We shall see!  I ordered some stables this afternoon and I cannot wait to get them!

4. I am still on a high from my MOPS trip to KS last week!  It was such an incredible trip!  God is doing amazing things in and through of MOPS group and I am SO excited about that!  What a privilege to be apart of such an amazing group of women in this sisterhood we call MOPS!

5.  A big happy birthday to Papau today!  We hope you had a wonderful birthday and look forward to seeing you this weekend!

Pumpkins

Matt is getting his fill of pumpkins and one on one time this week!  On tuesday night he had pumpkin painting at Colton's school and tonight him and Ryan are pumpkin carving at his preschool.  The boys are crazy about their daddy!  They both had a blast spending quality time with him.

(Ryan and his girlfriend Jillian - aren't they cute?)

On of those things I want to remember:  This morning while I was getting Ryan up I was asking him to get his clothes on and go potty.  I said "baby" as a term of endearment and he promptly stated "I am NOT a baby".  I said, "oh, excuse me, sweetheart".  He liked that much better.  He told me he likes me calling him sweetheart.  I few minutes later I was fixing his breakfast and said baby again (out of habit) and he said "mommy, it's sweetheart, only call me sweetheart".  I laughed!  That boy is so funny and sweet!

Colton had me laughing at dinner tonight.  Matt and Ryan were trying to hurry to finish so they could take off to school so it was a little loud and crazy and Colton goes "Hey guys, hey guys".  His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds lately!  He is more clear and communication is getting so much better!  Praise Jesus!

Back in the Game

 While I was away with 3,000 other MOPS leaders I was learning about being a better wife, mom and MOPS leader while Matt was holding down the fort at home!

My trip was not restful but it was refreshing in a different manner.  We went to bed late every night and got up super early each morning, however, we renewed our minds and drew in every drop of Jesus calling our name we could.  

I felt as thought I cold focus on the things God wanted me to hear without the distractions of daily tasks like making dinner, laundry, feeding kids, shuttling to and from school.  You know, the usual for a mom of preschoolers. 

Mom's have a hard job!  We don't get a day off in their week.  We are everything to everyone.  This weekend was great to refocus and remember what is truly important.

I am God's masterpiece!  He sees through my mess and sees beauty in my brokenness!  I need to never take my eyes off the master!  If I do I will miss His wonderful plan He has for me.  He is there to guide me and use my brokenness for good!

So I come back regretted, not rested, but renewed that God is doing a mighty work through me and around me!

MOPS Conference 2013

For the last four days I have been with sisters in Christ in Kansas City, MO at MOPS convention.  To say it was an amazing experience is an understatement.  

One of our former MOPS mentor Jayne helped take care of the boys on Thursday and my neighbor Melanie watched Colton Friday so Matt could take Ryan to his first field trip to the pumpkin patch.  SO thankful for such sweet women who made it possible for me to go on this amazing trip.

The convention consists of phenomenal general session speakers including Beth Moore, Jen Hatmaker, Lysa Turkurst and more.  In between general session there are breakouts and workshops.  

My friend Emily and I flew to Kansas City where we met up with my best friend Rachel who came in from Connecticut.  

We stayed at the Marriott downtown across from the convention center where the conference was held. 

After dropping off our luggage at the hotel our next mission was to find something to eat.  We found this amazing hamburger joint that was fun and really yummy!

It was great start to out trip and so nice to sit and enjoy talking with each other without kiddos around.

My friend Emily from my MOPS group. 

Thursday started off with a bang.  After lunch we headed to the convention center for two workshops.   They were both great and exactly what I needed to hear.  

Our theme this year is A Beautiful Mess - Embracing Your Story.  All the sessions and workshops centered around this theme.  All about how we learn from our mess and share our story with others. 

Rachel and I before one of the general sessions. 

We got Friday morning started with Beth Moore.  Oh my word, LOVE HER!!!  She always has so much wisdom and knowledge it's just so good.  Plus she has so much energy you just feed off of it.  We learned so much the whole weekend!  It's like trying to get a drink of water from a water hose.  It's such amazing stuff but it's SO much to take in. 

 Raych, Emily and I before general session Friday.

We were so thankful this year that we got two nights where we had free time and dinner on our own.  It gave us a great time to catch up and talk about the breakouts we did during the day.  

Kansas City is known for their BBQ so naturally Rachel and I had to weigh in since we are BBQ experts from Memphis!  We had been told numerous times about this restaurant called Jack Stacks and their amazing BBQ so we headed there Saturday night.  

Here was our dinner, plus the pulled pork sandwich and fries!  We split this three ways just so you know!  I've never seen ribs so big in all my life.  They were crown prime ribs and they were DELICIOUS!!!!  So tender and juicy!

Memphis BBQ has a real hickory taste and these were more of a sweet and tangy but they were really, really good.  I would say Kansas City BBQ is a close second to Memphis BBQ.  (Of course I'm going to say Memphis BBQ is better since it's my hometown, ha!)

It was the BEST trip and so memorable.  Can't wait for next year in Louisville!  Woot, woot!  I learned so much and I can't wait to bring back everything I learned to my MOPS group!  

 

Dinosaur and Boo Cookies

 

I made these dinosaur cookies for my friend Monica's little boy Matthew who turned 3 last week!

I had my first order for Halloween cookies last week!  These "Boo" cookies turned out real cute!

Weekend Wrap Up

What a great fall weekend!  

Saturday morning we had our family pictures bright and early at Sharon Woods.  Our wonderful photographer Amy did a great job and I cannot wait to see the proofs.  We were all decked out in orange and navy - hope we don't look like a bunch of Auburn fans, not like that would be bad but we bleed orange around these parts!  

 

Ryan is a complete natural in front of the camera!  He was smiling and turning this way and that, putting his hand on his hip, oh my, he was cracking me up and having a blast.  

Colton on the other hand had to be bribed with fruit snacks and CFA mints - let's just hope they don't show up in the pictures, ha!  I think Amy got some fab pictures of the brothers and hopefully at least one good one of the four of us!

After our pictures we headed down to the Children's Museum for our friend Matthew's birthday party.  His adorable party was full of dinosaurs and fun digging for dino bones.   The boys had a blast running around playing so hard plus eating birthday cake!

We went to this fun place called Zips for lunch.  It's this small, tiny pub that has a train that runs around a track on the wall above your head.  The boys were fascinated and loved it.  I didn't get a picture because it was dark inside plus it was packed like sardines.  Fun place and great burgers!

After lunch we came home for naps then packed up to head to a MOPS Weenie Roast get together.  They boys had the best time running and playing in our friends back yard full of rope swing, trampoline, bounce house and swing set while the adults stood around talking and munching on the food.  It was a great evening and we all had a great time.  

Sunday was spent recovering from all our Saturday activities.  Ha! That's the way it's supposed to be right?!?