Monday, October 31, 2011

Weekend in Review.

We have had a busy busy busy weekend, but it's been oh so fun!

Friday we had our annual halloween playdate with our friends from church. We've done this every year for the past 3 years and it's always a blast (you can read about previous years halloween festivies HERE and HERE). I've decided it's a blast but with chaos... it seriously is like a whirlwind and you can barely catch your breath before you feel like you're walking out of the door for naptime. Brayden enjoys being around his friends though, so the chaos is worth it (I guess ;) ).
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seriously yall, I have the best friends ever. This is my friend Alaina. I love her, and obviously, you can see why :)
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Avery
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this is Will, who by the way, is the happiest baby in the world. Cari (Will's mom and my friend) is so creative when it comes to costumes. Will was "William Wallace" this year. How cute is that?!?!?
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my cute little cow
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John John was Yoda. Isn't that so cute?!?!?
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Will showing off his sword and kilt
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all of the kids. Makes me tired just looking at this picture. And if you're wondering why they all have blank stares to the left, that would be because Katie and Alaina were breaking it down trying to get them to smile. Pretty sure the only people smiling/laughing were the other momma's. haha!
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look at Brayden and Will's expressions... they clearly were a bit disturbed by the mom dancing. haha!
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precious.
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I thought this was so sweet. B and Jack are really becoming good buds and it makes me smile.
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Again, Cari is really creative. These are "spooky" hotdogs. They're little mummies


Friday Drew's work had trick-r-treating at the office, so we took Brayden and Connor over to do a little candy gettin' (we stopped along the way for an impromptu photoshoot of the boys in their costumes. You can see those pictures HERE). I have really grown to enjoy the office festivities as much as the kids-- people go crazy and turn whole sections of the office into different themes. It was especially fun this year because Brayden totally got it. Like, he was SO excited about dressing up in his costume and getting candy. I was cracking up because he's quite the picky candy eater. He would dig through the buckets and was so particular. Apparently m&m's, snickers and kit kats don't hold a candle to dum dum pops. I'm pretty sure we came home with about 70 lollipops. Enough to hold us down until next Thanksgiving, and almost guarantee us a cavity if I don't brush his teeth about 5092 times a day. haha! Friday night Drew's dad came into town, and we met him at a Mexican restaurant to kind of celebrate Drew's birthday (which was last week) and Connor's upcoming birthday. Let's just say that it was quite an experience. Connor was pulling stuff of the table, Brayden was bouncing in his booster seat (he also poked a hole in the styrofoam cup he was drinking out of... by the time I realized where the fountain of water was coming from, it was on everything, including ME! Nothing like getting drenched with ice water) Drew and I both left feeling 12 years older. (I didn't take a single picture while there even though I brought my camera... I just had too much to do trying to contain a 2 year old from running free in a big office).

Saturday was a very special day. Due to our area being inundated with football fever, we have to plan birthday parties around the football schedule. This means that most likely Connor will always have a birthday party either earlier or later than his birthday-- never ON his birthday! He didn't complain however, and the party was a hit. We had it at a local community center that has an awesome indoor pool. The pool was practically empty, so we had a great time with all of our friends and their kids, celebrating our little man. Pics to come later this week... I'm still sorting through everything :)

Today was a whirlwind of a day... church, then home for naps, then up from naps and headed to a local fall festival that one of the local churches puts on. Again, Brayden was in love with everything. I had to laugh at one of the little games... all of them are based on stories from scripture. This particular one we were at was about Goliath, and had holes on his sword and shield that you were supposed to throw a bean bag through. Problem is, Brayden knows the story says that Goliath was hit in his forehead-- I know this because he will tell me about it when he watches Veggie Tales or reads his Bible. So the bean bags that Brayden threw weren't aimed at the holes, but rather, Goliath's forehead. So funny that boy!
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when the train pulled away, Connor literally watched it the entire time. I think he was a little envious. Poor baby's getting to that stage where he wants to do everything like the big boys but is just not quite there yet. In due time baby boy, in due time.
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Brayden found the Razorback almost immediately, and insisted on riding it, and calling the Hogs.
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enjoying the bounce house
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we found Paige and Avery, who he tells me are his "best friends." I had them pose for a picture. I'm not sure it was a fave thing to do at the time. haha!
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Brayden picked out the white pony to ride.
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how did he grow up so fast?!?!?
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getting ready for Goliath. I'm sure he was calculating his throw :)
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wanna guess what happened????
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go figure. I'm not quite sure why I even expect anything different from him...ha!


We have another busy week ahead of us-- somehow fall became more busy than summer, which is crazy to me! I'm so grateful for the cooler weather though, and hopefully we'll get to enjoy some of it, because before long I'm sure I'll be bemoaning the winter frost! Have a great week!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

A Cowboy and His Cow.

A common sequence of events in our home.
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the plot (notice the evil grin the cowboy is wearing and the innocence in the cow).
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the initiation.
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the follow-through. and we wonder why Connor doesn't want to smile in pictures that he's in with Brayden.
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the cutest little cow that I ever did see.
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stick 'em up... and give me some candy!
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(weekend in review will be up sometime tomorrow... I have to sort through a massive amount of pictures-ha!).

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Meeting Liberty & Blog Friends.

This week has been a week of meetups of friends. New and old alike.

Tuesday one of my very best friends, Katie, came to visit us. Katie had a little girl, Liberty, just a few weeks before I had Connor (you may remember the shower I helped throw for Katie, that I blogged about HERE). We had never met each other's babies until this week. Due to C being a little under the weather, we decided to keep the party outside, and thankfully the weather was gorgeous. The kids had fun crawling around and playing on our playset. Isn't Liberty a doll?!?! This picture doesn't do her justice. SO precious!

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(a) please disregard that I look like a hot mess in this picture. (b) this is what it would be like if I had twins... and I'd probably look even worse... haha!
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this sweet baby loves having free range to crawl around the backyard
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we set the kids down together....
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...and Liberty took it upon herself to give Connor some lovin'. SO sweet!

Thanks so much for visiting us Katie and Liberty! Let's make sure it's not long before we see yall again :)


Thursday I had a first for me... I met up with a bunch of bloggers that I had never really met in real life before. Well, actually I had met 2 of them before, but the others, aside from twitter, we had never met. It was SO much fun! I seriously loved every second of it. A lot of my real life friends don't blog or tweet, so it was so fun to be around people who do both, who I had never really been around in real life, and laugh and have a great time. I'm hoping to do something like this again soon!

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(top L to R): Jenna, Whitney, Jill, Niki, Katie, (front L to R) Leah, Lauren and yours truly.
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Jenna and I met through blogging, and then we were involved in the same MOPS group last year and met IRL. Our boys are almost the same exact age, and we both have Braydens! :)
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Lauren came in from Florida... and is so lucky to see the peak of fall! Yall should follow her on twitter if you watch the show Revenge. She does the best play by plays during the show and they are HILARIOUS. (and if you don't watch the show Revenge, you should. The girls sucked me into it and I am HOOKED).

It was so great meeting all of you girls and I can't wait till we do something like this again!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Stick 'Em Up.

There's a new Sheriff in town yall.
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And if you have to know, I think he's mighty cute ;)
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Rumor has it he'll be making big candy busts this weekend. Watch out for your stash yall ;)
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A Dollop of Profiles

Today I have the honor of "profiling" a long time reader and someone I consider one of my very good friends even though we've never met in real life... Laura! I don't even remember when Laura and I "met", but I think it was a few months after Brayden was born. She is AWESOME and I love how honest she is about life (a lot like yours truly!). Anyways, I won't ramble on about her because she's here to tell you about herself!
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Your name: Laura

Your blog’s name and URL:
A Hearty Overflow (http://www.laurablogsagain.blogspot.com/)

 


Is there a special meaning behind the name of your blog:
My blog name comes from Matthew 12:34- “For our of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Some words that are used to define “hearty” are:
Warm-hearted, affectionate, cordial
Heartfelt, genuine, sincere
Enthusiastic or zealous
Exuberant, unrestrained
Substantial, abundant, nourishing

I want the overflow of my heart to be hearty.


When and why did you start blogging:
I have been blogging for about seven years. I don’t even remember why I started. It probably had something to do with not having enough people to talk to and needing to get my thoughts out. I got hooked and I haven’t been able to stop.

Your family:
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Mike and I have been married for 8 ½ years. We met in college and were friends first. Eventually we started dating. One month later we got engaged and seven weeks after that we got married! On our third anniversary we found out that I was pregnant with our little Liza Mae. She is five now. Eight months after she was born we were pregnant with Jason. He is now 3 ½.


What are you favorite hobbies:
My favorite hobby is photography. It brings me so much joy and I love to give someone a picture that builds their confidence… that one that they look at and say “Wow! I am pretty!” Photography is my stress reliever. It’s also an expensive hobby that I don’t really have the money for.

My second favorite hobby is crocheting. My grandma taught me when I was about ten but I never really did much with it until recently. About a month and a half ago I started selling hats. They became so popular so fast that I started up a Facebook page and called my little business Wix-Works. It’s been a lot of fun creating cool hats for heads all over the country and it’s helping me save up some money for a camera upgrade!

The guests at your fantasy dinner party would be...
Well there is really only one person that I want to have lunch with. Lisa Bevere. She is my favorite Christian teacher/author and I always said I was going to meet her someday. And then I got to meet her during a book signing at a conference recently! After meeting her I told my husband that my new goal is to have lunch with her. And that probably means that I will have to grow to a place in ministry where I plan an event large enough to bring Lisa in and as host I will have some privileges… like maybe a lunch. Someday.


If you could be or do anything else - what would you be/do?
Umm… can I be a professional traveler and just write reviews and live in beautiful places? This is a hard question for me to answer because I actually love my life. I’m a stay at home mom and I’ve recently begun mentoring others and I know it’s what I’m supposed to be doing.

If you could live in any other time period, when might that be?
I kind of like the one I’m in.

Do you prefer books or movies?
I like them both equally. Some days are perfect for books but there are plenty of evenings where a movie is necessary. Plus, you can share a movie with someone.


A recent book and/or movie you’ve seen/read that you LOVE or a recent book/movie that’s come out that you’d like to see/read:
We saw the movie Courageous and I highly recommend it. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you look at life and how you are living it. Sure, it’s a message that was meant for dads but I think that anyone can gain something from it.

A book I am currently reading is called Nuture by Lisa Bevere. I’ve read it before and will read it again. Lisa’s message is really important and women need to connect instead of competing.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Nasty feet. Ugh. Ewww! I hate nasty feet. I actually just hate feet period. I don’t even touch my husbands! One time in high school this guy asked me to go out on his boat with some friends. I was soooo grossed out the entire time because he had the longest toenails ever. I don’t think I ever talked to him again.
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Thanks so much for participating in A Dollop of Profiles Laura! And if you'd like to be "profiled" just send me an email and I will get you all the details!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Pauline and Matt are Engaged!

On Sunday you may remember that I said that I took engagement pictures for one of my sister's friends, Pauline. I had SO much fun doing this shoot... the fact that I've known her for a while definitely helps, but I've decided that taking pictures of a young couple that's in love is the best thing EVER. They seriously don't even know that the camera is there most of the time, and are willing to do whatever you ask them to do... photographers dream! The boys were entertained by Pauline's sister while we were there, so you might see a few of the boys too, because I think they're the cutest ever :)

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Connor crawled around while we waited for them to show up.
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Mr. Cool was there too :)
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I was telling Pauline how to pose, and B started doing it too. He's so funny! Hates his pictures being taken, but if he's not in the limelight, then he'll jump right in. Silly boy!
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this might be one of my faves. I found the idea on pinterest right before I left my house. Isn't it so cute?!?!
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LOVE this one! Another pinterest idea.
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this one is hands down my fave from the shoot. I just love everything about it.


Congrats Pauline and Matt!
 

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