Oh Christmas Tree

In other news, part of this weekend was spent decorating for Christmas. Before we put any ornaments on the tree we had the kids open new ornaments for this year. In previous years I've done a cross-stich ornament for each of them, but reality is choking out that dream of doing one-per-kid-per-year so we went the store-bought route (which really opens up the door to some cute options!)

Oh the anticipation!

Elena "helping" her brother - isn't she sweet?

A "Joy" ornament for our Elena Joy.

A dump truck for our little man.

An affection growing for the dump truck.

(My precious...)

"If you think you are going to pry this ornament from my kung-fu grip you are CRAZY!"

And it has yet to make it on the tree. Maybe next year.

38 Weeks - The Clock is Ticking!

I have one more week (as of 7:30 tomorrow morning) before baby Asher is here. This hit me today as my doctor says "Okay, see you at the hospital!"

***

Wait... Huh? Really???

Uhhh, how does that nursing thing work again? Where's my copy of Baby Wise? Car-seat! Gotta get that in the car. Do I have enough onesies? Oh yeah, where is he sleeping? He doesn't have a Christmas outfit, he cannot come until he has a Christmas outfit!!!

***

But I didn't say any of this to my doctor. I just smiled and said, "Okay, see you then!"

Thankful for a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Our time of thanksgiving started off with a bang on Wednesday when Ben took his final of seven exams for a CPCU certification... and he passed! This ends 6 or so months of constant studying and he is thrilled to feel like his free time is his again. We went to Bigz (a delish burger joint) for an early dinner to celebrate. We had the place almost to ourselves and enjoyed sitting outside relaxing while the kids ran around in the play area. To continue the festivities we rented the movie, "Up" to watch as a family that night. It was the first time the four of us have sat down together to watch a movie, and we all really enjoyed it.

Thursday was of course Turkey Day! I was extremely thankful to not have to do much cooking as we were going over to my parents house for the meal. We had a full table with my cousin, brother, sister, her boyfriend, and my sweet new niece all being there. It was a great relaxing afternoon and of course, our kids could not get enough of Char-Char and Mace.

Friday, we took advantage of some black friday deals, bought some things to begin some projects on the house, and began decorating for Christmas. Ben went on a painting blitz that lasted through Saturday and I am so excited about our freshly painted master bedroom and half-bath.

Sunday is now upon us and we'll be having "home church" this morning due to the kids being sick. I'm glad we're getting this fever/cold/cough stuff out of the way before Asher comes next week!

It has been a wonderful extended weekend and a great time to reflect about the countless blessings the Lord has heaped upon my life.

The Birthday Party that Almost Wasn't

HOORAY! We did it! We celebrated Evan's 2nd birthday!

Now, as a reminder Evan turned 2 on October 8th. His original party was cancelled when the move was scheduled for the same weekend, and we've just been waiting for the dust to settle ever since.

Well, I finally picked a time (this past Friday) and a place (Orsinger Park) and alerted his friends. We've been having beautiful weather and I was anticipating another gorgeous day, until last Wednesday when I checked the weather and they showed 80% chance of thunderstorms all day Friday. Seriously??? Ugh! After, checking the calendar, it became clear that canceling the party was not an option. It was now or never. So, we moved the party indoors to our home, and his friends lovingly came out even in the pouring rain. :)

We had a dump truck theme.

Can you see how dark it was outside?... and this was taken in the middle of the day!

Evan was really looking forward to his "potty cake" (his party cake). In fact that's all he talked about when we told him that he was going to have a birthday party.

After cake, it was on to the pinata. Ben had to drill a hole in the the ceiling to make it work indoors - yeah, we were pretty committed to it happening.

The kids gave it their best shot, but there was no way they ever would have punctered the thing, so Ben had to break out the saw at the end.

CANDY!

Thanks guys for coming to my "Potty!"

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!