Girls' Night

Last night Abby and I headed over to our friends' house for a little crafty girls' night with Jen, Mackenzie, and Natalie and we had so much fun! Jen and Nat worked on making fall cards and I worked on putting some finishing touches on the kids' artwork for their room. To top it all off, Jen made a couple DELICIOUS pies -- sour cream apple and chocolate cream pie. Let me just say, WOW! Abby and Mackenzie (of course) had tons of fun playing and getting to work on their own project (see below), and at the end of the night we found them crashed out on the floor.

Thanks, ladies, for all the fun! I am blessed to have friends like you!

Favorite Things and Inspiration...
-Sour Cream Apple Pie (Jen, I don't know if this is your recipe or not...)
-Vanilla Chai Spice Creamer
-The Crafty Crow












P.S. The boys went to a football game, but (of course) they didn't take any pictures. :)

Sneak Peek

Weekend Project: Decorating the kids' room.

I'm really excited about it. Since we moved the kids into the same bedroom (so that they can have a playroom), we've never really decorated their room. It's hard to put a boy's and girls' room together. But finally, I've come up with a solution. I think it'll be fun! Stay tuned for the big reveal complete with before/after pics, but in the mean time, here's a sneak peek!

Love Creek Orchards [Field Trip]

Today Carson and I went along with Abby's Kindergarten class to Love Creek Orchards and Pumpkin Patch, and we had so much fun! There was so much to do! Music, crafts, animals, pumpkins, hay rides, apple cider... we didn't even have the time to do it all. I wondered how it would be having Carson along, but he did pretty well and Abby seemed to really like having him along. I am so thankful that they love each other so much!























Abby asked if she could take some pictures on the field trip too, so I let her take my camera for a few minutes and was really impressed with some of her pictures! I LOVE this shot of her friend Libby!





To see more photos from the field trip, visit here.

Girly Time

This morning Aaron and Carson went to run an errand or two, and Abby said, "Ooh, we could have some girly time and decorate the house or something like that!" After talking that one through a bit and deciding that stickers all over the walls might not be the best idea, we finally decided that painting fingernails and drinking hot chocolate would be just as fun.

Cabo San Lucas

It is not lost on me what an amazing blessing our trip to Cabo was and I am just so thankful that we had the opportunity to go... to relax... to see God's amazing creation... to work with such awesome clients... to do what I absolutely love... to enjoy time with just Aaron and I. Every part of it was just awesome. There's just something about the ocean that calms and gives perspective. Aaron and I found ourselves several times just standing on the beach, watching the waves roll in, letting our feet sink into the sand. Before we knew it 30 minutues would have passed without a word. It's awe-inspiring.

Probably our favorite part of the trip was Saturday morning, we decided we wanted to go out to those rocks/mountains that you could see from our room. We ended up taking a water taxi over and the drivers gave us a tour (by water) of that whole area. It was absolutely beautiful. The water was clear and you could see all kinds of fish. There were seals sleeping in the sun and swimming in the water. And the landscape was breathtaking. I wish that we had gone over there on Friday and spent the day (we had no idea how cool it was), but as it was, after the tour, the guide let us out on the beach where we explored, took pictures, and swam a bit before he came back for us a little while later. At one point, Aaron looked at me and said, "have you ever been swimming in the ocean two hours before a wedding?" I just felt so grateful for such an awesome opportunity!

This is the view from our hotel room...

This is the view from our hotel room at night...

Lazy seal asleep on the rock... there were seals everywhere!

To view pictures from the wedding, visit the Powerhouse Studios blog!

Anyone getting married in Europe? Or maybe Banff? :)

Quick Trip

Last night the kids and I took a little trip to Bryan/College Station to visit Val and Dustin and celebrate birthdays for the whole family (all October birthdays). It was a quick trip, but it was really great to see them and get to hang out. The kids loved getting to play with Jerah, and I can't believe how much she's grown and changed over the past months! I love that the kids are really old enough now to know each other and play and have fun. Cousins are such a blessing!

Here are a few pics from bedtime last night. You can see the progession from wired to tired. :)

Also, stay tuned, but Valerie (of the new Blu Couch Photography) took new headshots for me for my website and all that other stuff! I'm excited!

Lazy Days

Today has just been a lazy day. I haven't cleaned hardly anything. We've just all been hanging out, playing games, and building a doggie house. And I enjoy it. Sometimes it's nice to just put all the "lists" aside and enjoy life.

Aren't sleeping babies the best?!

Adios!

Well, we (Aaron and I) leave first thing in the morning for Cabo San Lucas! Abby and Carson are really looking forward to a sleepover with Aunt Natalie and Uncle Jason tomorrow night (Natalie has really fun stuff planned!) and an exciting weekend with Ammie (or Mimi or Mammie...) and Poppy.

I'm sure there will be lots of pictures upon our return! Adios!

The Highlight of Carson's Day

Carson was my helper today running all over town to get the things I needed, so we stopped by Chick-Fil-A for a quick lunch and Carson was thrilled to see that the cow was there playing games with kids. Exciting times! :)

David Crowder Band [Favorite Things]

David Crowder rocks my socks with his profound lyrics and powerful songs. This is one of my current favorites...

HOW HE LOVES [David Crowder Band]

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane,
I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and
He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If his grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Balance?

I've decided I need a manager, a housekeeper, and a babysitter.

Actually, if I just had a housekeeper, I think I could manage to manage my business and kids. That's the stuff I enjoy. But I'm having such trouble lately just trying to balance it all and get things done.

I try to always hang out with my kids and with Aaron. That's always a priority.

But it's like, if I put all the time I need to into my work, I don't have time for friends, for me, or for keeping my house in order. If I devote my time to being "domestic", then my work doesn't get done. Despite my best efforts, I feel like I have done everything halfway over the past few weeks. Ugh... I know I'm not the only one who deals with this, so I'm sorry if I sound whiny, but I'd certainly welcome any tips! :)

The Great Outdoors

It was just Carson and I today. It felt amazing outside this morning, so we hung out in the front yard and played. Gotta love his energy. He was running all over the place, then he'd fall down. Climbing (with a little help), exploring, riding bikes, crashing, running some more...