Pumpkins

We carved 2 of our pumpkins last night! Samuel loved it! Ellie Kate also really enjoyed watching and squishing her hands in all the insides. And once again, Jeff did a great job carving!

trying to get a pic of all 3 kiddos
(this was a preview of trying to get a christmas card pic...it's not going to be easy)!

The final products!

I wanted to share one of my favorite pumpkin recipes that is low fat and super easy...

WEIGHT WATCHERS PUMPKIN MUFFINS

1 box of spice cake
1 can of pumpkin
1 cup of water

Mix together and pour into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Yields 12 muffins.

NOTE: You can also try adding applesauce, raisins, pecans, chocolate chips etc to spice the muffins up!

YUMMO!!!! I love them. My kids love them. Jeff gets tired of me making them this time of year, but they are so good!!!

please excuse the nastiness of my muffin tin...i'm going to get a new one today!

Fun at the Fall Festival!

On Sunday, our church had it's annual fall festival. Samuel had a blast running around and Ellie Kate was a little overwhelmed but she had fun. You will get a little preview of our Halloween outfits as well as a certain someone's 7th Birthday Party theme on Saturday. This weekend is going to be crazy (and then I get to do it all over again next weekend for another big birthday)! I got the idea for the girls costumes in Parenting or Parents magazine. I thought it looked so cute and easy so I gave it a try and I think they looked so cute!

check out that crazy hair!








ellie kate did this once and that was enough for her!


as you can tell, she was not quite a fan of the big slide



samuel pretty much did this over and over again and then he ended up helping behind the booth! that's my boy!


ellie kate loved the jumpy house


the dirt on her mouth is from those filthy balls that were dirty from the black asphalt. nice.

The Birthday Boy

Today Samuel is 7 years old. I cannot believe it! He has loved getting cards in the mail and all the happy birthday wishes! He is having his party next weekend because I just couldn't figure out how to fit it in this weekend with the big home game and we had our fall festival at church today.

However, we have still been able to celebrate a lot! On Friday, I went to his school and spent about an hour in his class. It was so fun! I brought cupcakes and they all sang happy birthday and then he got 7 hugs from his teacher, which he loved. Sadly, I forgot the camera so I didn't get any pictures of that. But I did take pics of us making the cupcakes the day before...

you'll notice that ellie kate's baby was right there with us the entire time we made the cupcakes

mmmmmm....

and the little peanut was right under my feet the entire time just wishing she was big enough to enjoy the batter like her big brother and sissy

And here is Samuel this morning opening his presents from us.

We sang happy birthday a lot today and he got to blow out a candle on one of the leftover cupcakes. I am so proud of my big boy. He is such a special kid. I am so happy that I can say I have now spent more birthdays with him than without him. I HATE HATE HATE that I missed his first 3 birthdays. I hate that I have no memories or pictures of him as a baby. I hate I can't tell him his birth story. But I am so thankful for the woman who kept him and sustained him in her womb so that he could be ours one day. I pray for her especially on this day as I always wonder if she remembers.

So, what is this handsome boy like at 7 years old...

• He has a very sweet heart and spirit
• He loves animals
• He still loves to dig and play outside
• Samuel is really into pirates right now
• He loves his sisters and is a huge help to me!
• He still has lots of energy and misbehaves a lot mostly because he is very impulsive
• Samuel loves Jesus and just the other day realized he could read out of his children's Bible. He was so excited and had the sweetest look of awe on his face as he said..."Mom, I can't believe I can read the Bible!"
• He is good at math, but struggles with language and reading
• Samuel loves to fish, hunt for turtles, and play with other peoples dogs
• And apparently he is quite popular with the girls:)! Last year he had a girl who always said she was going to marry him and this year he has a few admirers as well. One of them actually called him on the telephone one night. I'm not kidding. I was quite shocked...but apparently they had exchanged phone numbers at school and talked about calling each other. All I can say is WOW!
  

I am so proud to call Samuel my son and am so blessed to be able to celebrate his birthdays with him!!!

Too Close for Comfort

So, we played Tennessee this weekend. It's always been a big rivalry. I mean, Bama people really hate Tennessee. The stadium was electric until we thought we were about to lose! Even though "Rammer Jammer" (fyi - if you click on rammer jammer, it will take you to a site that explains what this song is along with lots of other BAMA traditions) was the loudest it's been in awhile after Terrance Cody blocked his 2nd field goal of the night, I was a bit embarrassed to even be singing "we just beat the he** out of you!" It was WAY too close of a game to be saying that, although it sure was loud and fun to hear! I was a nervous wreck the whole game because we had 3 sitters at the house watching 5 wild and crazy kids and every time we talked to them, things did not seem to be going so well with the 3 big boys. I'm not sure those sweet girls will ever be coming back. I'm just saying...it was bad. So, I was already nervous, and then Alabama was just farting around not looking like the #1 or 2 team in the country. Then we let UT come back and try for a winning field goal. I cannot handle that kind of pressure. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be back to another game this year! 1. It's too expensive to pay babysitters 2. the sun was in my face for the majority of the game 3. I can't handle the close games without feeling like i'm going to have a heart attack. 4. My feet hurt after being on them all day at the quad and then standing through most of the game. So, now (as if we didn't already know this), I am officially OLD!

It was fun being on the quad today. The crowd was awesome! There were so many people and everyone looked so cute. I seriously need to go shopping for some new fun fall clothes. I always see those cute college girls and want to ask them where they got what they had on...but then that would just be weird. So, anywho...we tailgated with some students and friends. Here are some pics...I can't believe I'm actually in some pictures!!! Ha!! And I did not lug around my SLR, so these are just from my pitiful little sony.

the oldtimers...

me and Kelly
(her boys were the other children at our house)
and yes, mom, I needed lipstick on!

me and Jeff in the stadium

ROLL TIDE!

A Beautiful Fall Day!

I just LOVE days like today!!! The air is crisp and the sun is finally shining! We went outside for a little while this morning to play with our pumpkins. These girls just steal my heart...

And this is what happens when mean big sissy tries to take away your pumpkin for the 3457th time in 10 minutes...

Big News!

NO, I'm NOT pregnant!!!! Ha!!!

However, we have some big news in our house. Samuel lost his first tooth!!!!! He was SOOOO excited and has talked about it for 2 days straight!

After finding his $1 under the pillow the next morning, he declared...

"I guess the tooth fairy really is for real!" He was pretty amazed by that!

And, since his 7th birthday is this weekend (sniff, sniff), Samuel gets to be star of the week in his class this week. He and I had a lot of fun making his poster. He really did a lot on it this time!

Wonderful Weekend!

I got the BEST treat this weekend! Instead of staying in T-town and celebrating homecoming festivites, I drove to Birmingham and spent the weekend with my sweet friends Carey (our gracious hostess), Dani, and Jaillene. They are the girlfriends I have had the longest. We grew up with each other in Atlanta and I just think it is so much fun that we still get together every now and then and stay in touch. God has truly blessed us with our friendships and it has been amazing to walk through so much over the years with such sweet sweet women of God.

I am so thankful for my sweet husband who stayed home with the kids
(he did call in some reinforcements, but still he did a great job) and missed the Alabama game to make this possible for me. Isn't he great? I certainly think so!!! It really was such a great time. Here's a preview of what we did most of the weekend...







We also talked a lot. I didn't sleep late, but I stayed in my pjs and didn't shower until Sunday morning. We also loved on this little guy.

Jaillene brought James, her 4 month old and he was so precious!

It was the perfect girls weekend and I will post pictures of my sewing projects once I put the finishing touches on them (buttons, monograms, etc).

Classic

Here is a glimpse into my little Diva's personality. You can see just how dramatic she is (and totally cute of course)! Don't forget to scroll to the bottom and stop my music player (sorry, I know that's a pain).

Remembering...

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

It has been a little over 2 years since my pregnancy loss and I joined the club that no woman ever wants to be a part of. In many ways, a distant memory...and yet, the emotions are sometimes still so fresh and real. I will never forget.

I will never forget the surprise of seeing 2 lines on a test in August 2007.

I will never forget the immense joy of a completely natural pregnancy even it meant I would have babies 13 months apart.

I will never forget the sound of that rapid heartbeat and the bright flash on the screen at 6 weeks.

I will never forget the way my heart dropped at the sight of blood at 9 weeks.

I will never forget the sight of a still dead baby on the ultrasound screen.

I will never forget the face of my doctor telling me it was over.

I will never forget the complete emptiness after waking up from a D & C

I will never forget the pain and grief that followed for many months.

I will never forget the community of believers coming alongside me.

I will never forget the nearness of my God as He carried me through.

"All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness." Psalm 25:10

Today, I am grieving and praying with all of those who have experienced loss that we would be able to truly trust in the promise above whether it's in the small skinned knee type of suffering or the big loss of a baby suffering. I have several friends who have recently experienced a miscarriage so I have been burdened recently for them as their grief is so new. I am so grateful for a faith in the only One who can provide comfort, peace, and hope when things are hard. I can't imagine suffering without Jesus.

You can go HERE, HERE, and HERE to read more thoughts about my miscarriage.

Playing Together

As Abigail gets bigger, all 3 kids are playing more together. It's really cute. Monday night, they created a tunnel between the couch and ottoman. Abigail just followed the other 2 and did exactly what they were doing, squealing the entire time. Of course, Samuel and Ellie Kate loved that she was doing it with them too! Of course, there are also now plenty of times that they don't get along and are all screaming at each other. But for now, I'll only post the fun pics:)

Keeping Up

IS HARD TO DO!!!! I feel like I can barely catch my breath these days. I have 2 birthday parties coming up and I know that's a big part of it.

Anywhoo...we have been busy as usual. I wanted to post some pictures of our little weekend to the hunting land I told y'all about. It was really fun! So, the family that owns this land imports all kinds of exotic deer from around the world....to hunt. Kind of like this...

and this...


Samuel enjoyed fishing and playing with Harvey, the dog. I mean, he did this ALL day both days we were there. We definitely have an outdoorsman on our hands. He is just in his element doing anything outside.

This was the view from our super nice cabin. That's the "main" house and "barn."


I love these of Ellie Kate playing in front of the door at the main house. The lighting combined with my awesome camera and her blue shirt really made her beautiful eyes stand out! (I swear, the only editing I did was to make this picture a little sharper as it was kind of blurry for some reason)

Last week as we were getting ready for a family walk, this little baby squirrel came out of nowhere. And it followed us. It was really cute and I've never seen anything like it. The baby crawled up samuel's leg and would not let us leave our driveway. It scampered behind us as we walked onto the street and let me tell you Samuel was so concerned about the little thing getting run over that Jeff loaded it up into a cooler and walked it to the end of our neighborhood where some woods are and let it out...then he quickly ran off so it wouldn't follow us. I think he probably took the poor thing away from it's momma, but what do I know? It really was a cute little thing...

Samuel has always wanted to catch and/or touch a squirrel. Well, all his dreams came true when this little one showed up on our driveway...

This weekend, we finally painted the kitchen and the cabinets. I was SO over the faux finished walls and dingy cabinets. Now, you aren't going to be able to tell a big difference in the picture with the cabinets as I just basically painted them nearly the same shade, but you have to believe me that they look so much better!!! Before I painted them, they were all beat up, dirty, and you could see the brush strokes from whoever painted them last. It drove me crazy!!! I am so happy with how everything turned out. I have always wanted to try to leave some of the cabinets open so I did! The paint color is a little greener than I anticipated, but I still like it pretty well. What do you think?

BEFORE





AFTER

Oh, and the ONLY way we were able to pull off the painting was because we were kid free for the weekend!!! Thanks to Jeff's parents and my parents for helping out!

UPDATED to add...I am also VERY thankful to Jeff and his help!!! I know that painting the kitchen walls and the cabinets were not his first choice for things to do on a big football weekend! But, he was a trooper and I definitely couldn't have done it without his help!