Maxwell's Pumpkin Farm!!!

Love Love Love taking the kids to Maxwell's Pumpkin Farm. There is always so much to do and the kids absolutely LOVE it!! This year, our church made a day of it and we all trucked out there together. It made it that much more fun to get to it all with friends! The kids went down a zipline for the very first time...so, of course, I recorded it....

Not the best narrator, but that's real life right there. Even though they wrapped themselves around a pole, they had a blast and rode it several more times after that. They slid down a hill on potato sacks, jumped on a crazy bubble thing, played in the corn box, raced tiny tricycles, rode the cow train, had a hayride, went through an obstacle course and picked a pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch. And, of course, I got a picture of everything!!

This is such a great place to make fun memories with the kids. I am hoping this will turn into an annual tradition for our family. God is good, all the time....

Just Updating....

Kyle's first week of school has finally passed....Whewww! It hasn't been too bad for us, but I am already seeing signs of exhaustion in Kyle. Last night, he was trying to get some homework done after the kids went to bed and could not keep his eyes open. He would get up to get a drink or to check his Facebook, anything, just to stay awake. Eventually he gave up and fell asleep exactly where he was on the floor. He is also already starting to have a hard time knowing he will be unable to attend church on Wednesday nights. He will now only be able to attend church every fifth Sunday....that's it! The Fall Festival is coming up this Wednesday night and he realized he would have to miss it. But thought, never-mind, I will just go trick-or-treating instead....nope. Halloween is on Monday this year and he, again, will have school that night. He is just such a social kind of guy and is already feeling unplugged. I know he can do this...I know this is just temporary and our family will be blessed in the end, but I just worry for him. It just seems like the devil is trying extra, extra hard to grab a hold of him. One of Kyle's weaknesses is definitely his socialness, is that a word? Well it is now...his socialness, his NEED to be connected with people, specifically, people that he loves and cares about. The devil, obviously, knows this and is already putting doubt in his mind. Please continue to pray for him and the next time you see him, just drench him with love and encouragement. Thanks in advance...I love you all so much!!

In other news, my brother and sister-in-law have officially and completely moved into their new house!! Yayyy!! So proud of them!! And just have to say that I am looking forward to the holidays all the more this year :) I am passing the torch for, at least, the next three years...love you guys!! I am sad to say that I was unable to bring back with me any pictures of the move :( Why, do you ask? Because I forgot to grab my camera!!!! I am still kicking myself for that one....oh, well. Moving on....

I am happy, and proud, to report that today I am 98 days smoke free!! I cannot believe how long it has been and the truth is, I don't even crave it anymore! I am praising the Lord everyday because He is the only one that could have taken these cravings away. God is so good and I love him more and more each day. Also, I am 15 weeks coca cola sober...Yayyy for kicking addition!!!! So excited to feel free from these damaging rituals in my life. I am sad to report that I am now hooked on Sprite :( I feel an intervention might be needed. Ha ha ha!! But yayy anyway for achieving some huge goals in my life!!

Not that it isn't already, but things are fixing to get really hectic around here. The Fall Festival at church and Halloween are coming up. Then Our Sunday school class is having their annual Murder Mystery. This year their theme is Western....this should be interesting. I received our "roles" that we are playing this morning in class....I am Poker Alice....need I say more. You know I will post pics, but until then, I wish you another blessed week!!

Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That...

It has been a while since my last post and I have nothing amazing to report, so I thought I would just ramble about the latest happenings around here.

My youngest started preschool this year and this last week she had her first "themed" day. It was cowboy day and if anyone knows our family, they know we are anything BUT cowboys. So I called my bestie to see if we could borrow some of her daughters stuff, thanks again Krystole!! She had several outfits to choose from and, of course, I can't make decisions without an opinion from everyone :) So we brought them ALL home and did a little modeling for the family....and everyone on Facebook.

She is such a ham posing like that! Ha ha ha!! After long deliberation we decided on the first outfit. I am just a sucker for ruffles! By the way, aren't those outfits super freakin cute?!? My friend Krystole, that we borrowed them from, makes them!! All of them except the way cute red bandana dress, but everything else was her creation! If you get a chance, go to her business page on facebook and see her latest creations. She is so talented!! The name is Krystole's BOWtique....you won't be disappointed.

Ok! Back to Cowboy Day! So the day comes to get dressed and she is beyond excited! She happily lets me fix her hair, which is usually WWIII, we get dressed and go. Her morning was great and I am still hearing little details here and there, but her big excitement was because she was going to get to ride a real horse. I learned that the horse's name is Abby, she is very nice and she has a belt around her nose :) So sweet hearing her tell me about her days in Pre-school...anyway, I have pics of that too :) I am sure you are shocked about that :)

She looks so cute on a horse all dressed up and that big red bow. She is having so much fun in Pre-school and I just love watching her learn and grow.

Ok, moving on....well, we are still not finished painting our house. The house we wanted has gone back under contract and I am ok with it. I am disappointed, I would be lying if I said I wasn't. But God has a better plan for us. And I will trust in that until he opens our eyes to see it too. So until then, we are painting, painting and.....did I mention we are still painting? Please continue to pray for us with this matter. We just want to be able to continue to make wise decisions for our family and not ones that have been made with emotions. Thanks in advance for the prayers :)

Next week marks the start of a very LONG journey for Kyle, me...the kids...Come Monday morning, we will not see Kyle Monday through Thursday at all. He has classes all four evenings and they don't end until 9:50 every night. I will at least get to see him when he gets home, for a second, before he has to start on his homework, but the kids will not see him AT ALL. This is going to be very difficult for them. He goes to school two nights a week now and they already ask when he is coming home. I know this is going to be really hard for them, but his education is essential for us and I trust this is the best for our family. So because of our limited time together, we have implemented something that I have wanted to do for a long time now, Family Night. Every Friday will be our time together where we will be game playing, cooking, crafting, and most importantly, devoing...is that a word? Well it is now. We have not been the best at being involved with their spiritual growth. I have heard so many lessons, recently, about being intentional...it has been on my heart and I need to step up and listen to my heart. We started our first Family Night last night and had a lot of fun. We journeyed out to the Don Harrington Discovery Center to watch hot air balloons light up the sky. It did not go the way I had planned, but we enjoyed our undivided time together...here are a few pics...

We had a lot of fun and are already looking forward to our next night together. Please, also, continue to pray for all of us. This will be a huge stress on our family, but I know God will get us through.

In other news, my brother and his wife just bought their new house!! Yay!!! They are so excited and are actually moving in...right now. I just got off the phone with Hali and I'm pretty sure her head is fixing to explode. It's only funny because it is not me :) I am getting ready to go over there and, hopefully, relieve some stress for them...and hopefully come back with pics :)

So in conclusion to this insanely long ramble of different things, I hope that everyone has a very blessed week!