The Daily Grind

These little men took a break from the hustle and bustle to enjoy a cup of coffee together.

Outdoor Pizza Oven = YUM!

I've been doing a ladies' Bible study at my church called Interface. This is my second year with these girls and our mentor, Nancy. I love them all so much!

Last week Nancy and her husband had us and our hubbies over to enjoy pizza from their new outdoor pizza oven. It would have been fun to hang out with this group regardless of the food, but oh man did the pizza make the evening over-the-top-incredible! :)

Thank you Nancy and Jack for such a fun night!

Baby Shower - High School Style

I've been meaning to post about this for about a month now!

So I think you all know that Ben and I help with the youth group at church. We moved up with our 8th graders so we are now leading freshman groups and it has been such a joy to build on those relationships that were established last year.

Well a few weeks ago, my girls threw me a surprise baby shower during! It was completely unexpected and so fun. I had to laugh at the "spread" the girls provided; lots of candy, Cheetos, and juice boxes. Ooooh, these girls know how to have fun and they are all really creative! They made a lovely jumbo card, posters for Asher's room, and wrote funny messages on a pile of diapers.

The girls made me feel extremely loved and I know they are going to have fun watching Asher grow!

**A big thank-you to Rachel Gardiner, my co-leader this year, who I know inspired the girls with the idea and provided the leadership they needed to pull it off!**

36 Weeks

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my 36 week check up. It seems as though Asher is sideways in my belly at the moment, and I have not dilated a bit; but none of that really matters when you have a scheduled c-section (whew!).

Within the last week, I have begun to feel very... pregnant. I move slowly and with a lovely waddle. It's hard being slowed down when there is so much I'm still trying to do around here, but then I have to remind myself, it's not nearly as slow as I'll be moving once Asher's here, so I might as well enjoy it :).

Just Three More Weeks!

"Trick or Treat!"

So in theory, Elena was a pumpkin for Halloween and Evan was an Astros baseball player. Elena's costume was okay, but I kinda let Evan down a little on his. I didn't add the embellishments to his shirt that I had planned and I realized as I was dressing him that the pants were way too small. I mean, they were really stinkin' tight. But because of this, I just had to look his direction the rest of the evening to be taken over by belly-aching laughter.

Our cul-de-sac had a little block party that started early in the evening. It was great to meet and visit with the neighbors. They are an extremely friendly and generous bunch!

Between the neighbors and their friends, there were a LOT of boys running around at the party. Elena and Bo-Peep were surrounded by a plethora of ninjas, super heroes, and soldiers, oh and some really cool guns.

He He He!

Amidst the block party we hung out with our friends, the Grafius' who were in town from Austin. And amidst their visit we did a little trick or treating with the Sullivans (friends and neighbors). The kids had a great time and I wish I had video camera to record their precious, "Twick or Tweat!"

The Pumpkin Patch Parable

On Saturday the kids and I worked on a Jack-o'-lantern. Before we began, we sat on the porch and read, The "Pumpkin Patch Parable". My friend Ashley recommended the book last year and I've been looking forward to using ever since. The book uses the story of a farmer planting, harvesting, and then changing (from the inside out) a pumpkin, as an illustration of what God does can do with us!

Pumpkin Patch

Last week we got together with friends from church and went to a local pumpkin patch. They had a hay bale maze, a little story-time for the group, and pumpkin painting. The kids had a great time!

Picking her pumpkin

"Elena - E-L-E-N-A"

He's not quite sure what he was supposed to do with his

Budding Artists

He loved sitting with his friends at the story time

So proud of the pumpkin on her cheek!