Happy Halloween...


Have a wonderful, spooky, family filled, sugar overloaded kind of day!!

Majestic Oak Farms...

When we lived in Louisville, Kentucky, we got spoiled to living so close to Indiana farmland. We experienced our first pumpkin patch in October of 2001. One of my favorite pictures of Dawson is at that farm, next to a pumpkin that is almost as big as he is. When we moved to Virginia, we were blessed to have a church sponsored pumpkin patch that we went to every year. But when we moved to Florida...well, pumpkin patches are few and far between, unless you count the asphalt varieties.

So, I decided to google pumpkin patches and see what came up. Well, I found a wonderful farm called Majestic Oak Farms. It's located in Cottondale, FL...about an hour's drive from Panama City. It was a find!! We spent about 3 hours there. They have trikes and bikes for the kids to ride...hay rides...real Amish horse and cart rides...pumpkins...apple cider demonstrations...carmel apples...apple bobbing...fishing...swinging...chickens...horses... It was such a peaceful way to spend the day. If you're looking for a great place to spend a fall day...this is it!! The kids had a great time and we will be back (Lord willing) next year.

Our sweet family.

Our pumpkin load.

Fishing & enjoying the many photo ops.

Grandmommy & Grandaddy

Grandma & Grandpa

Family camp...

I am not what you would call an outdoor girl. Don't get me wrong...I enjoy being outside (evening on the porch or on a porch swing is the best!), but I do not like to be hot or to sweat. I was the little girl, who when sent outside to play, would stand at the sliding glass door with just my nose stuck inside so I could breathe the cold air.

As I am emerging from the baby making years, I am again open to trying and experiencing new things. I want my children not to be bound by their neuroses, or mine for that matter. It is with that heartfelt conviction that I went camping this weekend. We loaded up our 3 kids and headed off to Defuniak Springs and the Boy Scout Camp Family Weekend.

Overall, it was a fun weekend. The weather was perfect. Cool day...warm sun...even colder night. We all slept huddled together in our new tent...smelling like smoke and dirt...but blissfully together. The only draw back to the entire weekend was a visit from my special friend (not a good time to be without indoor plumbing). We came away better for having gone...more cemented as a family...and appreciative for our nice, warm beds.

Craft time...

Our new tent...it has 3 rooms!

Genevieve & Daddy at the bonfire.

Me & my boys.

unapologetic blogger...

I know that it has been a while since I have posted a new entry, but I have been busy. I don't want to be one of those bloggers that starts every post with an apology or excuse. I have been experiencing life and taking care of my family. My goal is not to go for long periods of time between posts, because that only stifles my creative outlet. But, as I said in my very first post, this isn't about expectations...it's about just letting go and being. So...no apologies. But please keep checking back...it's not much of a blog without readers.

Here is a picture of the boys after Cherry Street's Fall Festival, this weekend. It was a fun way to spend a Friday night and help out our local school. God Bless!

and no...I did not let them go to bed like that. I thought about it, but I'm not that good of a mother.

weekend Wisdom...

"19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."

James 1: 19-20

movie #2...

Here is another film that Dawson created, starring his brother. You may have to turn up the volume to be able to hear all of Carter's dialogue. What makes this funny is his pronunciation of "grim reaper"...his speech impediment makes it an adorable "gwim weeperw."

weekend Wisdom...

"12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

directorial debut...

Dawson is a budding movie director. We gave him a video camera for his birthday and he has amazed us with the zany and often hilarious short films that he comes up with. Carter often gets commandeered to play the leading role. Over the next week, I will post some of my favorites. So, without further ado...

life with Roids...

I went to my doctor on Tuesday. He decided that much of my symptoms (dizziness, headache, etc...) sounded like chronic sinusitis. Hmmm....maybe that explains why I've never been able to breath!! He feels like that constant state seems to be aggravating my vertigo. So, he's put me on a 3 week medical clean out with an antibiotic and steroids.

Two days later I am feeling better. But the steroids have already been a trip worth blogging about. I took my first dose yesterday morning and by the afternoon I was a sweaty Superwomen. I was the Proverbs 31 women, literally on steroids. So much so that I was finally able to drift off to sleep sometime after 3:00 this morning.

So, today....I am a very tired Superwoman who is being held up by a prescription. Please pray for me...and my family. This is going to be one wild ride.

Cardboard Testimonies...

My mother sent me a link to this video on the Richland Hills church site. It is extremely powerful. We all have a story and so we all have a testimony in Christ Jesus. We matter!! Our lives matter and they can be the link between some one's hurting and dying soul and the cure for it all...Jesus Christ. Please watch it (with a Kleenex or 2) and think about how you can be a living, breathing example of Christ to this lost world.

weekend Wisdom...

"2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4"

a Great way to Wake Up...

I was awoken this morning by my precious 4 year old son. He told me that he didn't feel so good and proceeded to throw up all over me, my bed and the floor. After all of the clean-up, I think that I am still in shock. Two things that I am extremely grateful for this morning: David (who came home to help me clean it all up) and Lysol. Carter, of course, is feeling much better and mad at me, because I won't give him whatever he wants to eat. "C'est la vie"...that's life!

moment with God...

I had an interesting experience today. I was working in the kitchen and I was playing through my mind all the events of my illness this past summer. When I am not feeling really good and I have a moment that is what I do...try to figure it out and solve the puzzle. Well, today, I realized that I was just getting wound around the axle and letting worry and anxiety overtake me. So, I stopped right there in my kitchen and cried out to God to help me stop the "noisy dialogue" in my head. I had this amazing tingle overtake my whole body and I felt as if someone was physically supporting me. I have no doubt that the Spirit of my precious Heavenly Father provided immediate comfort and help. I've had a lot of experiences like that this summer: phone calls from David in the desert at a moment when I was wishing I could talk to him...a friend offering to help in some way...a fellow church family providing a meal...physical moments of peace and comfort, stamina and strength to get through circumstances and days I didn't think were possible to endure. God has been showing me His constant presence through all of the suffering and trails. I've learned through all of it to look for Him in every moment, because He is there. I once heard a wonderful quote: "There are no coincidences for those that seek the Lord." "Every good and perfect gift comes from above"...we just have to open our eyes and be a willing recipient.

What is it with Wednesdays?

I feel like the biggest good-for-nothing on Wednesdays. I just want to stay home all day, in my pj's with a greasy face and uncombed hair. Today is no exception. Here it is 2:30 in the afternoon and I am doing everything I can to avoid taking a shower. It's the same every week. I don't know why... Is it just human nature because it is the middle of the week and I've already put in 2 long, hard work days or is it Satan trying to keep me from going to church with a grateful attitude? I don't know if anybody else fights this... Maybe that's why someone a long time ago, in their infinite wisdom, thought Wednesday church services were a good idea. Maybe they struggled with the same thing and realized that's when they needed the time with fellow Christians the most. But, that is the constant human condition; running and struggling from the things that are the best for us and that we need the most. So, as soon as I post this entry, I'm going to go get cleaned up...physically and spiritually. Have a great mid-week service. And if you don't normally go...check it out. It might turn out to be just what you needed.

"stay shoe"...

Genevieve wanted to cuddle on my lap yesterday after I got her dressed. After a few minutes, I tried to get up, but she started fussing and saying no. I needed to get ready, so we could meet my Mother to run some errands. So I told her, "We can't go see Grandmommy if I don't get a shower. Let Mommy up." She looked at me and said, "No. I stay shoe." It took me a minute to realize that she was saying, "I stay with you." Well...who can resist that!! So, I stayed with her for a few more minutes until she was ready to get up.

I was really struck by how sweet her comment was and thought how much I should be like her. I should be curling up in my heavenly Father's lap and telling him, "I want to stay with you." It reminded me of the scripture from Ruth:

16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." Ruth 1: 16-17

Those moments holding our children are precious, but greater are those moments when we are held by our Father.

MoNDay...

Monday again. Alarm clocks...rush to school..."juicy Mommy"...can I have something to eat?...laundry piles...weekend mess to clean up...sheets to change...bills to pay...grocery list to be made...lunches...naps...school pick-up...errands to run...homework to be done...dinner... dishes... baths...bedtime...hugs...kisses..."i love you mommy"...blessings...so many blessings.

weekend Wisdom...

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18