Happy Monday

Happy Monday!

Ryan starts his new job today. He's been home for 2 weeks in between jobs and while it was nice, it also feels good to be back in the swing of things. As much as I adore him, his being home kinda throws off my groove ;)

Owen has his 4 year check up today (ahem, a month and a half late). He is getting 4 shots. He is not going to be happy about that. He doesn't even know what shots are, the last one he had was over 2 years ago. I will be happy when this appointment is over. We'll definitely hit up Target or Sonic or wherever he wants to go and get a special treat!

I have a mild cold, just annoying enough to have a constant mild headache, sore throat, and zero appetite. Normally no big deal, but since I'm going to DISNEYLAND with Ruth this weekend, I'd like to be feeling 100%!

Just some random Monday thoughts :)

Insta-Friday

I have quite a few pictures to share!

Last week Ryan and I took a wonderful, romantic, relaxing 24 hour getaway to Scottsdale. 

For lunch we ate at my favorite lunch spot, Sauce. 

We saw a movie, Taken 2. Exhilarating and predictable, just how I like it. 

We did some shopping. 

And more shopping

And more shopping. Like my new hat? Thanks, Ryan. 

Friday after we picked up the kids we headed to Schnepf Farms with Papa & Mimzy. 

I think the boys would have stayed in the pumpkin patch the whole time if we let them. They're both obsessed with pumpkins. Owen has slept with both a real and a plastic pumpkin in the last week, if that's any indication. 

Austin had his first "ride" with me. It was a fun bumblebee ride. He started panicking when we got on, I could feel his little heart racing! I cuddled him and he calmed down. He actually enjoyed it!

Watching the pig races

Saturday evening was Owen's school's fall festival. 

We painted pumpkins, did some fun activities, got kettle corn and sno cones. 

Afterwards Jeff and Ruth came over and we carved pumpkins and ate grilled cheese. 

So fun. Love those spontaneous evenings. 

The boys seem to find themselves in duel time outs these days. They're partners in crime! I was trying not to laugh...

Sunday outfit. Pinterest inspired!

Sunday lunch with Nana & Papa. We went to this yummy Mexican place. Austin eats salsa like a boss. This kid is allllll about condiments. 

Random cute picture I took with Joel. He's the closest thing to a baby I have to snuggle right now! 

These two. Cousins and best buds. 

Speaking of buds... 

Phew! That was a lot. And things are only going to get busier now that we're at the forefront of the holiday season. Know what will get me through some of those busy days?

Red cups, baby! The Holidays are here!

Halloween

We had so much fun on Halloween this year. Ryan made Trader Joe's pumpkin pancakes so the day started out right!

It's definitely not my favorite holiday (I always say it's a necessary evil to get to the good holidays), but it is fun to dress up, have parties, carve pumpkins, and hand out candy! We keep it simple, fun, don't put much money into costumes (thanks Tara for the hand me downs!) and focus on the fun family aspect. 

Owen was so excited, remembering the fun from last year. And, being in preschool, he was looking forward to his class' Halloween celebration. He went as a Superhero. Not a "power ranger", ahem. A Superhero. 

I volunteered in his class for the party and it was toooo cute. Owen did great and had lots of fun. I enjoyed meeting some of his friends and seeing them all interact!

Here's Owen stringing a bracelet. Not Halloween related, haha.

He was showing me some of his favorite things in his class. Here's the "specimen station". Spiders. Oh joy.

Crafts!

I was in charge of the snack table. The kids would smear orange-tinted cream cheese on rice cakes and make a face with candy corn and pretzels. It was quite cute. 

After school was out we went to lunch at Chick fil A. The boys took a nice loooong nap and woke up just in time to get ready for the evening's festivities!

The McFaddens came over to our house. I made a big pot of chili and some cornbread that turned out great. 

Then we got the kids dressed up!

Austin (Spider Man) Owen (Superhero) Luke (firefighter) Joel (dalmatian)

We need to work on our poses a bit more..

Owen totally "got" the whole trick or treating process!

I tried to get some pictures of our group after Nana & Papa and some other friends joined us, but they all turned out pretty dark because of the lighting :(

After trick or treating we headed home to eat some candy and watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. 

The boys went to town on the candy. I'm not a "2 pieces of candy" kinda mom come Halloween night ;)

Hanging with the McFaddens! The grandparents stayed for a bit too!

Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm already looking forward to next Halloween!

Conversations with Owen

Owen: Mommy, is my tummy angry?

Me: .....? oh, because I said that if you don't eat breakfast you will feel tired and cranky and your tummy might feel upset?

Owen: Yeah, can you look? ::pulls up shirt::


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Things I've said to Owen this week:

"No high fives in time out!"

"Honey, you may not pretend that the moon said "peepee" and then yell at it for using yucky words."

Breakfast Blunder and a Quote

The boys have been keeping me on my toes lately. 

So the rule in our house is that when Owen (our early bird) wakes up (at 5:30) he may come out of his room to go potty and then he needs to go back to his room, turn on his light, and play quietly until his clock says 6. That's when we get up. 

Yesterday morning, I woke up to Owen in the kitchen. Here's what he arranged for himself for breakfast. 

A tub of Tollhouse cookie dough, a container of strawberry cream cheese (which he was eating with a butter knife!!) and a yogurt for added nutrition. 

I was trying not to laugh. 

Then this afternoon, after getting Austin up from his nap, I saw that he actually had not napped at all but had spent his nap time out of his crib pulling every pack of wipes out of a Costco box, pulling the sticker opening off, and putting individual wipes back into the box. 

Funny that around this time I saw this quote. I think it helped me have a gracious response to all of these training moments that happen with my boys throughout the day!

As a mom I just totally agree that it's easy for circumstances to dictate my attitude about the day. To dictate my joy. It's a Tuesday afternoon and my kids are bored and getting into everything while I put away laundry? It's a bad day. A Saturday afternoon running errands as a family with the windows rolled down, Starbucks in hand, and the kids are behaving? It's a good day!

But God really wants to get after my heart. In those frustrating moments where I feel like if I have to clean up one more mess I'm going to scream, God wants my heart. He wants me to look to HIM to be my strength and my joy, despite my circumstances. He wants me to love my children with the love of 1 Corinthians 14:4. Not in my own power, but in His. God's word promises that he will give me the strength in those moments to die to myself and honor Him, to be joyful and happy despite any trying situation because He is my joy. 

Praise God for these little moments to trust Him. He's still working on me!

Insta-Friday: Bangs, Pumpkins and Park Days, Oh My!

So glad it's Friday. My day did not start out the best. {4 fillings. First dental procedure EVER. Ouch.} So glad that's over, now let the weekend begin! 

Here's a peek into our week! 

We are quite enjoying our "cooler" fall days. My pumpkin candle is often burning, we're baking all the time, and I'm enjoying starting my mornings with the yummiest coffee. 

Welcome, fall. 'Bout time. 

I also celebrated fall with a new haircut - bangs!

We've been spending much more time outside. 

Hooray for park days!

Owen and his BFF Luke

Austin found a softball at the park. Oh joy!

I love my husband, especially in his goofy moments! He gave Jeff a nice short ride in the wagon. 

Guess we never really grow up, do we?

I'm about a season late on this purchase, but I've been meaning to get one of these babies and I keep forgetting - until today! I make it like my mama did. Sweet tea with lemon!

Little pumpkin craft for the boys. They had so much fun sharing paint colors and trying to paint every inch of their pumpkins! Too bad, as they dried, the paint peeled right off of the pumpkins. I'm trying to market it as a "clean it off, let's paint it again!" scheme. Ya know, reusable pumpkins. 

That's all I have for this week. Starting next week our schedule is going to be crazy. We have lots to look forward to: the zoo, the fair, the pumpkin patch, a getaway for Ryan and me, to name a few. Stay tuned, I'll try to keep this 'ol blog up to date!

Insta-Friday

It's been awhile since I've done Insta-Friday so I have a ton of photos to dump on you. Let's get started. 

The weather in AZ finally got with the program and it's starting to feel fallish. The other morning I found Owen sitting out on the back porch, just hangin' out. 

We've been venturing out a little more

and leaving the screen door open.

Cuddling. We both had Benadryl in the morning because both of us had a major reaction to ant bites and we were miserable. Then we took a rest on the couch while Owen was at school. 

I love living 1 minute away from my BFF. Thanks for the egg, Ruth. 

Austin took over my dry erase calendar. 

Sometimes you just need a poptart. That's what I always say. 

Birthday presents are the best.

Read away, buddy. There's good stuff in there. (Jesus Storybook Bible)

Shopping with my main man. Yay for boots weather!

Oh, Austin. Stay out of the Aquofor, will ya? Especially right before we're supposed to leave to pick Owen up from school.

Take that, Tuesday funk. 

Those are some expensive "stickers", Owen.

Spaghetti O's and grilled cheese on a busy fall night

On my way to a Parent-Teacher conference. I felt like such a grown up. 

Next Up: Owen's 4th birthday and a trip to the zoo!