Pumpkin Patch 2008

Brothers

Mommy's sweet boys...

Mommy and Richie

Mommy and Will

Paintin' Pumpkins

Buddies...Loulabelle and Will

Buddies...Baron, Z-man, and Richie

A Piggy Back for AustinAll in all a wonderful day!

Save the Brownies!

Run FAR, FAR, AWAY from anyone who suggests adding a can of diet cola to your brownie mix. Because guess what? Brownies made with diet cola? Taste indeed like BROWNIES MADE WITH DIET COLA! I know. Go figure. Such a suggestion is sick and wrong and a waste of a perfectly good brownie mix. Seriously, if you want to save the calories, eat the brownie mix DRY! It will be the same amount of calories, taste much better, and be considerably less traumatic.

Trust me on this, my friends. I know of what I speak.

Home Sweet Home

What you didn't know I was gone? It was a quick trip! We just arrived home from a college in Tennessee where Rich was exhibiting some of his artwork. He gave a lecture and there was a reception in his honor...very fun and exciting. I love to hear him lecture...I call it his "professorial mode". It is always a little strange because there is a part of me that still thinks of him as the sweet young college boy with whom I fell in love and I sometimes have trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that he's the professor now!

We had been considering taking the whole family on this little trip, but a recent turn of events sealed the deal. It's a tad difficult to drive a 7 hour trip without the use of one arm. Speaking of Rich's arm, it is doing much better. The doctor ended up not casting it...but he (Rich, not the doctor ;-) will be in a sling for 3-4 weeks until it is able to heal. Also, he's not allowed to drive, which will make things a bit more logistically challenging around here, but we are thankful he was not hurt worse!

One other exciting thing happened while I was gone that I must tell you about! I was able to meet a SWEET blog friend while I was in Tennessee! You must head over to read her post about our visit. She has all the pictures and they are quite entertaining. I would love to say we had a nice quiet lunch that was all about us connecting and getting to know each other better, but I'm afraid the pictures tell otherwise. Fran, it was a pleasure....thanks so much for meeting me! It felt just like catching up with an old friend! You are just as real, sweet, fun, and beautiful as I imagined you would be!

In My Husband's Words

I was planning to write my own post on this subject, but my husband already wrote the story in his own words here. Needless to say, we're in for an interesting 6-8 weeks. More to come...

According to Will

Did you know these...


...are actually called Tic-Tac-Toe's?

First Sun Bees and and now Tic Tac Toes. We're well on our way to creating our very own language.

Alana Is...

Alana is thinking in Facebook update form a little too much these days.

Alana is sad that William no longer seems to need his blankie.

Alana would REALLY like to eat some baked goods. Any old baked good would do.

Alana kind of rushed through bedtime because she had the idea for this post.

Alana thinks someday she will really regret rushing through bedtime.

Alana wishes she was as fun and crafty as Tara and Sarah.

Alana 's kids probably wish that, too.

Alana is chuckling because Tara and Sarah rhyme.

Alana is excited to go to the Pumpkin Patch tomorrow!

Alana thinks this book is by far the best and most helpful book on marriage that she has ever had the privilege of reading.

Alana is thinking about attempting to run a 5K sometime in the near future.

Alana's version of running is more like a jog.

Alana can't believe she is using the words running and Alana in the same sentence. Or jogging as the case may be.

Alana remembered she could play the piano today.

Alana 's version of "playing the piano" is similar to her version of "running".

Alana wishes she could have just printed that STINKING coupon today, but things like that are never so simple.

Alana thinks she could go on like this for quite some time, but she doesn't want to bore you anymore than she already has!

Alana is over and out.

Out of Body

Do you ever feel as if you are living your life out of body? There are times when I'm living life and I think, how did I get here exactly? How did I get to be the Mom who is driving carpool with 5 kids in the back? Or the Mom helping her 1st grader with homework? Or the one supervising piano practice? Or the one washing soccer uniforms?

What in the world?

It's as if I can see myself doing it, but it doesn't exactly feel like it is me. There are some days I really wonder how I got here. It's as if I've been driving the car of life and I don't really remember the route I took, I just know that I'm here. And it's baffling. And strange. And somewhat surreal.

Complete and Utter Randomness

Well, I'm caught up on all of your blogs, so I now feel free to attend to my own blog. I have this weird thing about writing on my own blog when I'm behind on blog reading? Anyone else? No? I didn't think so. I clearly have issues.

This post is going to be complete and utter randomness, are you guys okay with that? See? I'm asking permission to be random on my OWN blog. Issues, I tell you.

And now I am trying to decide if I will just continue with random paragraphs or if I should create a bullet list or maybe a numbered list? I also have some issues with decision making.

Ack. I'm driving myself crazy.

Well, first of all I should say thanks to all of you who commented on my video post. You guys really know how to make a girl feel good. Seriously. All those encouraging comments even when you couldn't hear a word I was saying. That is true friendship right there!

So. I have a bit of a confession to make. I have a new...okay addiction is probably too strong of a word...let's call it a habit. My new habit includes what I now call "The 21st century mirror". It all started when my niece was here with her pet bee and she showed me the joys of "self portraiting" with the camera phone. Now, I know it sounds vain, but before you judge, you might want to try it. Because a picture speaks a thousand words and if you're really wondering how you look on any given morning, a little "self portraiting" with the camera phone can go a long way toward giving an honest answer. So, I say, "Down with mirrors!"

And now that you have lost at least a little respect for me, I might as well add a little more fuel to the fire. How about another confession? I think I might need a household care intervention. I'm not sure what has happened to me as of late, but some days it seems as if I have all but given up on maintaining any sort of order in our home. Okay, I guess in some small (or maybe big) way, I have given up. I mean, seriously, it is just going to look like an EXPLOSION just happened AGAIN tomorrow, so what is the point?

The Big D. You knew it would come up at some point, right? I'm still in it, people....4 months and counting! I'm still making progress, but it has been painfully slow. HOWEVER, I am finally starting to notice a difference and am fitting into some more palatable clothing sizes and that is very exciting and motivating! One of the things I'm most excited about is my progress with the running. I am up to 7 minutes running at a time with 3 minute breaks in between. That is with only running 2 (sometimes 3) times a week so I'm building up the time very gradually. On the other days I work out at Curves. It always surprises me when I realize that I am ready to kick it up a notch with the number of minutes running. I'll be thinking one day that I won't be ready to bump up the time for awhile and then the next morning I wake up and feel like I can do it. Kind of weird, but cool.

One last confession. I love carbs. I do. I always will. Kate, tell your daughter she's not the only one!

And lastly, I hope you are all out there crunching lots of leaves right now because this is prime leaf crunching season! As much as I would like to, I can't crunch them all myself. You must do your part. Go forth and crunch!

A Little Bloggy Survey...

I have recently agreed to take on a more prominent role in the planning and execution of our church blog. We currently have one, but are wanting to spruce it up a bit and take a different direction with it than was originally planned. So, as we are in the planning stages, I thought I would come to you guys for some thoughts and ideas. Could you take a minute and answer one or more of the questions below in the comments section and help a girl out?

1) Does your church have a blog? If so, do you read it?
2) Do you feel that your church's blog is effective?
3) If you feel that your church's blog is ineffective, what would you like to see done differently?
4) If your church were planning to create a blog, what kind of content would you want to see included?
5) If your church created a blog, would you read it? What kind of content would keep you coming back for more?

Please don't limit yourself to these questions if you have more thoughts on this subject. I'd love to hear all of your input!

Thank so much!

Drumroll, Please...

And the winner is...


Linda at Growin' With It! Congratulations, Linda! Email me your address and we'll get this show on the road!