My Angel...

Christian finished his baseball season playing for the Angels a few weeks ago. So it seems like it's just about time to blog about it. :)

He did an awesome job! He played mostly 3rd base, but sometimes outfield, and one time he pitched. He did such a good job pitching but there was drama! It was one of those times that as a mother I wanted to go let 'er rip on those coaches! The coaches of the team we played were making a huge deal about where the pitcher should stand. Their pitcher stood on the marker closest to the batter. Then when Christian went to pitch, they made him stand at the marker furthest from the batter. It was farther enough that it strained his arm quickly and as he stepped forward to pitch he was tripping over the other marker. When our coaches said that wasn't right the other coaches actually went out and measured the field! Twice! As if it really matters that much in Little League! And as it turns out, they were wrong. Then the other players were heckling. :( After that Christian was done and he never wanted to pitch again. Maybe next season.

Preparing for the pitch...

Isn't he sooo cute?!

Being sweet to his baby sister who always wants in on the action!

Deep concentration...

We had so much fun watching him grow as he played. Even on the nights that we froze! I'm thinking Santa might be bringing some fun baseball equipment and he might have an even better season in the Spring! ;)

We love our handsome young man!

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween I really wanted all of us to dress up around a theme. Alexis and Christian quickly vetoed that idea though. So I figured at least Addie, Matt, and I could do something cute.

Christian didn't want to dress up at all, he's too cool you know. I told him that was fine but that he wouldn't be able to go Trick-or-Treating unless he dressed up and ALL the kids in the neighborhood had planned to go together. So he relented, but only to be a gangsta (again). I guess I don't mind too much because it was cheap and easy.

Alexis and her best bud Robin decided to be Thing 1 and Thing 2. It's a good thing Robin's mom is super crafty otherwise Lex would have had a piece of paper that said Thing 1 taped to her red shirt. Jana did an awesome job and the girls looked super cute! They decided not to go with the cute blue wigs though, I'm sure I don't know why!

I tried and tried to scan pictures of Alexis' and Robin as Thing 1 and 2, and some of all the neighborhood kids that Jana had taken, but no luck! Maybe I can figure it out and post them later. :) Cause I think this post is late enough!  

But here are our 3 little angels. So hard to get a good picture of all 3! Especially when 2 of the 3 are ready to run!

For Matt, Addie, and I, I debated for awhile. I finally settled on Peter Pan characters. Matt's got a thing for pirates so I figured a Captain Hook costume would be useful and not too difficult. Addie was an adorable Tinkerbell. And I planned on being Mr. Smee. I figured that would be easy and I've got the big belly for it! Then at the last minute I kinda wanted to be Wendy instead, but alas, I can't sew and the only Wendy costumes they sell are Sexy Wendy! That obviously wasn't gonna happen, so Mr. Smee I was!

This was about how well Addie did Trick-or-Treating. She wasn't super into it. Now the candy, that was another story. Let's just say she's got a sweet tooth that her brother and sister are only to happy to oblige.

Ugh.

Hope your Halloween was a happy (and spooky!) one!

Pumpkin Patch

I realize I'm about 2 weeks (or more) late on all my posts, but I am trying to get back on track. We had a wonderfully full weekend and getting going on another wonderfully busy week.

Every year we try to go to a Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze. This year we waited until Halloween day. Unfortunately it had been raining up until Halloween day and everything was closed except for the little section where we could buy pumpkins. :(

We did get some cute pictures though.
Hugging Dora.

Addie meandering by herself.

This was right before she fell backwards, between the rails of the wheelbarrow. As if that wasn't funny enough, then the pumpkin rolled on her!
She was fine and we were hysterical.
Hysterically laughing that is. :)

We got to see a few pumpkins at least. Alexis had come earlier with our neighbors, we were supposed to meet her there but they had already left because it was closed. :(

One of the few pictures Christian would pose for.
Now I know the preponderance of my pictures feature Addie front and center, but if anyone has any ideas on how to get teens and pre-teens to pose for pictures willinglly I would love to get more pictures of our big babies!!!

Getting a ride from dad.

Just look at that gorgeous sky!
The weather was sooo humid! It was downright warm!

This was the extent of our pumpkin carving. I loved that Addie just sat there and watched.
She loves being outside!
Please ignore Matt's sandals and socks.
I know I do.

Then she heard a ruckus coming down the street and went to check it out.
This is a familiar scene on Pensive Street.
She loves to hang out with the big girls!

Next up...

costumes and trick-or-treating!

We've been a-workin'!

Just a few things we've been up to over here...

So anyone that knows me knows that I am not very crafty! I saw this at my friend Lana's house and thought it looked cute and easy and I have tons of old picture frames I was gonna get rid of. So here's what I came up with.

Pretty cute, right?!

Then I was wanting a nice Autumn wreath for our door. Matt convinced me that we could make one. It took a long time, but I finally finished it!
I realize it's not a big deal for some, but this is huge for my not-so-crafty self!

We also spent a whole Saturday cleaning out our garage. I gave Matt the credit card and sent him to Lowes to pick up any organizational stuff his little heart wanted. I think he did an awesome job!

This was all Matt's vision!

And we can finally park both cars in the garage again!

Yay!

And it only took 6 months!

Sleepy Hollow

In the middle of October we took advantage of a long weekend to go up to Sleepy Hollow, New York to enjoy some Halloween spirit! It was freezing and drizzly but we had an amazing time!

The foliage was beautiful! I took tons of pictures on the drive up but decided to spare you on the blog. But here's a little sampling. This is right outside our hotel.

They have annual festivities that we went to. On Friday night was the Great Jack-0-lantern Blaze that we forgot to take our camera to. There were thousands of hand carved jack-o-lanterns all displayed. It was so cool! Here's a picture I found online just to give an example.

On Saturday morning we headed out to another old estate for the Legend festivities. They had storytellers, old activities, and spooky surroundings. And it was beautiful!

Since it was so freezing the kids got to bundle up and they looked so cute! Poor Christian though. I grabbed his ski jacket from last year as we were leaving, even though he swore he wouldn't need a coat. When we got to Sleepy Hollow it was freezing so I gave him his coat, only it was about 2 sizes too small! The sleeves went up to his elbows! So he toughed it out all weekend in just his hoodie. Total man though, he swore he wasn't cold!

That's the old Sleepy Hollow church and cemetery behind us.

These stilts were the hit! Matt and the kids were ready to make some as soon as we got home! And they all did awesome on them!

I declined the offer to try them out. I learned my lesson when I was pregnant with Addie and accepted a ride on Christian's bike pegs. Balance isn't as good when you've got a big belly!

Addie is such an animal lover! She loved seeing the cows, chickens, goats, and cats running around.

Christian and Addie doing some old fashioned bowling.

This was the am story teller. We all loved listening to her spooky stories, even Addie! Can you see her back there on the stage?!

In between the morning and evening activities we walked over to the old cemetery. Matt and the kids had fun scaring each other. It was hard to try to convince the kids to be respectful when Matt was acting like the biggest kid of them all!

We ate at some super cute diners!

That evening after we listened to some more of Sleepy Hollows old legends we walked around and got to meet them. Here is the White Lady of Raven Rock. She froze to death waiting for her beloved and now wanders around calling for him.

We also got to see the Headless Horseman ride and some witches and old soldiers. It was very fun and very cold! And most of our pictures didn't turn out cause I'm still not great at taking pics in the dark!

The next day as we were driving home we decided to take a quick driving tour of Manhattan. Here are some pictures of the Manhattan temple that Lex wants to get married in. We can't wait to go inside! If you didn't know what you were looking for you would probably just drive on by and never notice it!

And there were people driving up in cabs to go to church on the first floors.
Can you imagine?!

Sleepy Hollow was tons of fun and we highly recommend it!

Dear baby,

Why are you making your mommy's tummy so very, very large, so very, very soon?

Whenever you're ready, we're ready to roll with you!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Alexis (Sis), Christian (Bubba), and Addison (Smelly)

This season...

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Ecclesiastes 3:1

I've been thinking a lot lately about this season in my life. There are so many things I'd like to do, to see, and to be. But often times the answer to what I think I want so much is -

not at this season of your life.

And you know what, that's okay.

Because at this season I have so much.

At this season in my life I am teaching how to put on make-up, deoderant, and socks.

I am changing diapers, cleaning grass stains off pants, and learning how to tie cheerleading bows.

In one day alone I get to go to toddler story time, playgroup, baseball practice, Scouts, cheerleading practice, and Young Womens group at church.

It's such a full life!

At this season I am working hard to have regular date nights with my sweetheart, family nights with our children, and girls nights for my sanity.

I am buying sippie cups, basketball shoes, and gymnastics tumbling gear.

At this season I am cleaning floors, only to have them spilled milk upon and tromped upon by dirty shoes.

Lots of dirty shoes.

I am planning memories. Day trips, weekend trips, long weekend trips, and week long ones.

I am planning meals, holidays, traditions, and gifts.

At this season I get to be the mom.

The one that everyone comes to for permission, money, clarification, acceptance, and love.

An overwhelming job for sure.

In a lot of ways I get to be the center of this little families universe.

So even though it sometimes doesn't seem like it...

this is my season.

My season to raise up a family to the Lord, to love and to be loved, and sometimes to give more than I think I can give.

And even though I can't always do everything at church, or at the kids school, or take every class or trip I'd like, this is a beautiful season.

This is the season of my life now.

I love this season.

I do.

At this season I am helping babies take their first steps and watching as teenagers take their first steps away from me.

So I'm going to enjoy this season. I'm going to soak as much of this season in as possible.

Because this season is so fleeting. It seems like before we know it we'll be helping some to college, some to missions, and some to their first days of school. Then that will repeat and we'll be helping some with weddings, first jobs, and high school all over again. Then we'll be welcoming the next generation of our little family. 

Then I won't be working so hard for date nights with my sweetheart, family nights with our little family, and girls nights out for my sanity. I'll be working for time with my grown-up babies and grandbabies. For family reunion trips and holidays together.

And I realize again...

I love this season.

I appreciate this season.

I want to remember everything about this season.

Because...

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:..."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Ha ha!

I think I figured it out. :) This pregnancy dumbness is really starting to bother me! Soooo I guess I had put the background html at the bottom and then I had a blinkie or something (also from Cutest Blog on the Block) at the top. So I thought I deleted the background html, but I had really deleted the blinkie. :) So, now you know what happens when you try to have 2 html codes at the same time. Now I still need to add my favorite blogs for my blog roll. Please, if I forget anybody, will you please remind me and just remember, it's not my fault... this growing of a human being inside my body really uses a lot of my brains capabilities! 

Oh, and thanks for all the blogger help ladies!

Blogger confusion...

So I was trying to change my background the other day and ended up just messing everything up. First it deleted my blog roll, so I'm slowly adding my favorite blogs back to it. But then I figured I should get everything else figured out, in case I delete it again. 

Then I was trying to change my background again last night. It worked, but then after a few seconds of the new background, it reverts back to the old one. Did you notice? I deleted the old html sooooooo how is this happening??? Has this happened to anyone else? How do I fix it?

I am waaaaay to computer illiterate for this!