Halloween '16

This afternoon I was cleaning up from school and the kids were outside {Mae was asleep}. Jase had mentioned that he wanted to carve his pumpkin with friends. No big deal. I walked out in the garage and this is what I found. It was a full blown carving session! I didn't freak out {like I usually would have}, but it definitely caught me off guard. He got out the black bag to catch all the mess and the tools to carve the pumpkin with and they went to town. It really hit me that he is getting big!

Sports. That's what our boys do, it's what they love right now, so we are running with it. Finn wanted to be a baseball player this year, so that worked for us. He is such a sweet boy and he wants to be just like Jase.

Jase originally was going to be a baseball player as well. And I think it was actually him who talked Finn into being one, but at the last minute he changed his mind today. Most people would not even think that he dressed up, but he is a one of the guys from Dude Perfect. They do crazy good sport shots. If you've never heard of them or seen them in action, check them out on YouTube. They even have a family friendly TV show on CMT. They have an office in Frisco and are all believers in Jesus; we support them. Jase is acting out a common reaction they have when they make a shot...totally his idea!

As for our girls, they did not follow the sports theme! Princesses it is, which is totally fine by me! Maebry was Cinderella this year with silver shoes on as her glass slippers. {This was Allyson's dress!} She was too cute trick-or-treating. She would walk up to a house with a piece of candy and put it in the bucket and take one from the bucket. She obviously didn't rake up the candy like the big kids, but she wasn't as shy as I thought she might have been.

Allyson was Elena of Avalor. It is a cute show on Disney Junior about a Latin Princess who is new to the throne and goes on tons of adventure. I love Allyson's innocent heart and her mind; she is a dreamer. This afternoon I overheard another girl tell her that she did not like Elena, and actually that she hated her, yikes! Later this evening I told Ally not to let others have an influence on how she feels about things, like Elena. She understood exactly what I was talking about and you could tell that she was glad I told her that.

The full crew! My heart overflows when I look at this picture. Thank the Lord for them and allowing me and Shawn to be a part of their lives.

Since we walked around with our neighbors and trick-or-treated, we missed most of the kids who stopped at our house, so we left them some candy and some food for thought.

This girl. Her little smile, I love it. She was actually still long enough for me to take a couple of pics, which is not the norm for her. I love her so. Hard to believe that she'll be 2 years old in less than 2 weeks!

5U Rockies

Finn's 5U Rockies team wrapped up their season yesterday. The boys improved so much from the start of the season. All of the kids made great contact with the ball and we got several outs throughout the season. Coach Shawn really did a great job teaching these boys the basics of baseball. And before every game he prayed with the team and thanked Jesus for His sacrifice. You do not see that in many  dugouts these days, so I'm very thankful for Shawn and his example.

After our game on Saturday we went to the park for a little end of the season party. We had pizza, chips, drinks and cupcakes...what else could a 4 or 5 year old want?!? It was a beautiful day and it was a nice way to end the season.

Coach Shawn talking to the boys before handing out trophies.

Coach Brandon and Coach Shawn give Finn his trophy. Of course he was still eating pizza!!

Finn's 1st trophy! So fun!

Here are a few of Finn's hits and fun moments of the season!

Ft. Worth Zoo Trip

On September 7th we took a field trip with our Classical Conversations group to the Fort Worth Zoo. We had a great time and it is really a pretty zoo to visit.

Several times we would be walking {bringing up the rear of course} and Finn would stop and say "take my picture, Mom!" So sweet. Of course Finn, I'd love to take it!

The kids having fun with water pistols!

Most of the kids managed to squeeze into this old wagon for a picture. They all get along really well, which is such a blessing.

Group photo in front of the giraffes before parting ways.

While we were there a female lion was talking up a storm; I have never heard anything like it! She roared so loud that I could feel it in my chest!

Again, "Mom, take my picture!"

Picture of Jase with a white tiger in the back ground. Jase absolutely loves big cats and the white tiger is among his favorites, so we had to capture the moment! Jase also brought some shells and different items from outdoors to the Texas Nature Traders. He loves going in here and trading in his artifacts for other fossils and such.

This girl is a hot mess! I brought our little wagon/cart because it would have been too much to carry around since we brought our lunch in and I had her bag too. After she got out, she did not want to get back in. Towards the end {when we had stayed a little too long and everyone was tired} I was carrying her, Finn and Ally would take turns in the cart and Jase and I would take turns pulling the cart! Thank the Lord we made it back to the car!

Fun Mexican Baby Shower

The first weekend in October I attended a sweet sister's baby shower. Isabel is a friend from our new CC group and is as sweet as can be. When I first received the invitation, I had to read it a few times to make sure that I was understanding it correctly. It said to wear your "Mexicanest Attire!" This was definitely a first.

If you've read my blog for a while you know that I love a good party and this one was great! A ton of work went into planning and prepping it, and as a fellow party planner I can appreciate all the hard work!

So the lady in the poncho and sombrero actually had on a fake black mustache, it was hilarious!

Here is what I came up with to wear: the Mexican Flag! Buying a Mexican outfit was not really in the budget, but I was able to piece together an authentic outfit! And my Mexican friend loved it!

A few of the sweet sisters from our Classical Conversations group. Love these ladies.

Sept Activties

It is so hard to believe that September has come and gone and that October is half way over with! Our busy schedule has definitely taken its toll on my blogging!

Mae loves her Disney characters. She was sitting down and rocking them back and forth in her Elmo chair. She acts like she is getting them to sleep by swaying with them and saying "sh-sh-sh". It is the same thing I do with her at night before I lay her down. Melts my heart when I see her do it too!

On Sunday evenings the kids are back in the Awana program this year at church. It is a bible memorization program and it starts them off young with getting into the scriptures and hiding them in their heart. This is Finn's first year to participate and he was super excited to earn his first patch in Cubbies!

Tuesday evenings Allyson has American Heritage Girls at church and she loves it. Her Tenderheart group is currently working on the Cake Decorating badge, so one night they made cupcakes and decorated them!

Jase's essentials class is a fun time. Mrs. Lacy does a great job of keeping things lively and fun! The kids are playing a fast paced math game called Board Slam. We have enjoyed it so much that we play at home too!

Ally had Bring a Friend night at dance in September, so we were able to pick up one of her little girlfriends from school and take her with us to dance. Two more of Ally's friends showed up at the studio. It was a fun night for her since she is usually the only one in class! Ha!

At the end of September we tried out a new burger place: It's a Burger. The owner is a member of our church and also runs the Community Garden for our church: Shiloh Field. So, we were excited to go and support Farmer Gene and all he does. The burger was pretty good and so were the sweet potato fries! Free ice after our meal was a plus too! It tasted just like Sonic's ice cream cones! Mae approves!

So we have had a thing lately with forgetting shoes!! I'm not sure what is going on lately, but in the past month we have had 3 instances where we showed up to our destination without shoes!! Once for Finn and twice for Maebry. I did have to stop and buy Maebry some shoes one of those times since we were on our way to Fort Worth to see a play!

Couples' Retreat

In the middle of September, Shawn and I went on a Couples' Retreat in East Texas at Pine Cove. We had such a relaxing weekend together and it was so good to get into the word together and talk about where we are as a couple, where we would like to be, and how to get there. It was a practical weekend, and we needed it!

We showed up to our room and there was a gift bag full of all sorts of fun things! All of the puns were too funny!

View from inside the conference center; it overlooked the lake. So pretty and relaxing.

Sitting on the back porch, talking about life and taking selfies!

This was during one of our sessions, when we were being fed the word. The writing on our hands is a bible verse. "All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." Isaiah 53:6

This is a method we use for helping us memorize scripture. You simply put the first letter of each word you are trying to memorize on your hand and look at it several times throughout the day, it truly works! What a blessing to hide God's word in our heart.

Saturday evening we all gathered 'round the fire for some s'mores! It was a fun evening full of sharing stories and a lot of laughter.

We are thankful we were able to attend this year. And major thanks goes out to my mom for coming to our house and watching our children so we were able to get away and go! When we got home, we went out to eat with the kids and my mom. Here are a couple of clips from lunch. We dared Finn and Jase to eat a jalapeno! Then my mom paid them for it! LOL! Ally would only try the salsa! Are we normal!?!?

Sunday School with Mae

We have been on a rotation to work in Finn's class for about a year and a half, but starting this school year we were switched to Maebry's class. It was joy to spend time with her in class in September. She is getting so big! She will be 2 in less than a month!

Family photo opportunity after church! Love these sweet kids to no end.