Two New Polls

Vote for Quinn and Avery! There's no prize. For you, the satisfaction of being right, and if you're wrong, you'll just be embarrassed that you actually checked into my blog everyday to vote for a child's costume! ;)

New Poll

Vote for Bailey's costume today!

Halloween

So, the week for Halloween has finally arrived. In years past, our family has not been big fans of Halloween. It scared the girls, and even though we still try to be cautious of what they are exposed to, our church has had an opportunity to minister to families in the midst of a holiday that Satan certainly seeks to have influence over. We take a food truck to the mill village and hand out free food. Last year, 1000 people were fed, and we pray there are many more this year. It really makes me think how we, as Christians, can protect ourselves, though, from being influenced by evil. I recently read a post on praying for our children, and I believe that, whether you see it or not, our children need an extra measure of prayer this week...that their hearts and minds will be guarded....that their hearts and mind are inundated with the Truth....that they see the opportunities all around them to be Light. This may even go so far as to what costume you choose for your child. I won't tell you what our children are going to be, because I want to do a fun poll today to see if you can guess. I will tell you what they will NOT be, however. They will not be masquerading as ghosts, as witches (on a sidenote...there are no GOOD witches, so they won't be that either), demons, some gross person with an ax in their head, a wizard or anything that would contradict the Light we seek to walk in. I don't want to set my kids up for fear in their life, nor make them susceptible to Enemy attack, so while the choice of their costume may be petty to some of you reading this, I desire to protect them and encourage you to do the same. What an honor it is, rather, to teach them to walk in the Light even when they are faced with Darkness.
So, what do you do for fun for Halloween, because I do believe we can foster new thoughts about the day for our kids, so share your ideas. Also, think I should dress up this year? What should I be? Trust me, a mom of four daughters is taken. Check out my best friend Amy's costume. She was "eye candy." Brilliant!!!Make sure you participate in my poll. See if you can match the correct daughter with the correct costume. I'll post pictures next week to let you see if you were right. Just a little Fall, Halloween fun for us!

Funny Face!

You may or may not know, but we like to play a little game called "Funny Face" around here. We have always done this at dinnertime, but recently my sister, Missy, taught me a new way to do it. You count to three and then you snap a picture mid-Funny, so I've been a little obsessed with it, and maybe a little obnoxious with it, too! So, when Avery requested "Funny Face" at Sunday lunch, I passed on my obsession to my family. This is what came out. Warning: If you are with me and I have my camera, watch out when I yell, "FUNNY FACE!"

Quinn

Quinn at 20 months.....

A Loaded Weekend

I had such a great weekend. Could this time of year be any more perfect?! I am obsessed with everything to do with the Fall. I am so glad that the weather finally decided to catch up to the mood of the season. It was so nice and cool this weekend.
We decided to trek toward the mountains on Saturday. We were hoping for some brilliant leaves to view, but we were slightly disappointed. The leaves haven't quite peaked around Asheville, and we just weren't willing to go much farther for the sake of a brighter color, so we stopped in Asheville for lunch and coffee. We found a cute little place, on the recommendation from my Aunt Martha...Corner Kitchen and ate there for lunch. It was yummy. Jeff and I had the Chicken Pot Pie with a great cranberry and pecan salad with a vinaigrette dressing. It was awesome. We had it with a bowl of their crab and corn chowder! To die for! The girls all enjoyed their meals, too, but really, what they ate was nothing to brag about...they're kids, remember! :)
After lunch we decided to take the girls for ice cream. We thought that was the perfect idea for a 59 degree day! They loved it. McKenna and Bailey had Playdough ice cream! It was really the flavor of cake batter, but the yellow color almost had me believing I could smell and taste the Playdough! Avery opted for her favorite...Cotton Candy! Jeff and I decided to just wait on our beloved treat from Starbucks. I am in love with the Pumpkin Spice Latte, so I had that, and enjoyed every minute of the moment!
We thought we would go on and drive the Parkway, but instead we opted to go back home a different route, hoping to maybe see some more fall colors. It was a little better, but still not great, so we just decided to chalk that day up to "we just spent time together" day and we may go back another time to see the colors.

Church at LifeSong was awesome Sunday. We had the most we have had yet...300. We love a big number b/c we know we are reaching more people that way. I looked around and honestly did not know a soul! There was just an excitement in the air, too, as Jeff finished up our "One Month to Live" series. We are now looking ahead to the Halloween Drama our worship Pastor wrote, "Mortality Room." Tickets are free and we are already seeing large groups of people calling for them, so if you want to come, get your ticket now. It starts this weekend, and you can check out the church website for more info.

I ended my weekend hosting a Saturn House Party with Houseparty.com. It was such a fun thing to do. Saturn sponsored the premeire of TLC's new show Real Simple -just like the magazine, but in show format. I invited some girlfriends and family over to view the show and eat some yummy food. We had White Chili, Salad and yummy, warm Apple Cake. Saturn not only provided gift bags for my guests, but they also allowed me to drive a Saturn Outlook. It was an awesome car. I loved it, and in my dream world, I'm still driving it...even though I had to return it today. I am definitely looking forward to hosting my next party. I had the best time hanging out and watching a little TV with my friends.



(On the way to the mountains, we smelled a skunk! Ugh! Even Quinn made a face!)

Waiting

When I was away in Texas, I obviously had the time of my life, but God also took me aside and spoke to my heart about a lot of things. Some things He talked to me about brought me clarity, and others caused me some frustration because they were things I didn't want to hear. Most of the things He dealt with me about are personal, but one thing He continued to overwhelmingly speak to me about is the "life is but a vapor" thing. This stemmed from the current sermon series our church is taking part in,"One Month to Live." You can conclude that this book is posing a big question to us, "how would you live your life differently if you knew you had one month left to live?" I honestly think about this everyday. "Would I have just spoken to my husband the way I did?" "Would I spend my time that way?" " Would I miss that opportunity to hug my girls?" The questions go on and on, and then LIFE comes in and causes me to dwell on it a little more. Just yesterday, a very dear family member of mine got some ugly news...the kind of news you remember the time on the clock when it was delivered...the kind of news that alters your plan...the kind of news that causes you to re-evaluate things. So, here I am once again asking myself, "how would I live differently if I had one month to live?" I can tell you what I know so far...I am spending more time telling my family that I love them, more time with my friends hanging out, even emailing, and more time really soul searching my obedience to God - what He's really been asking me to do. Even in a thought process of more consciously thinking about my life choices, there is waiting. I wait to hear from God on each aspect of my life. I wait to hear the next thing He has in store for me...today, next week, next year. I wait for relationships that matter. I wait to see even greater depth in my marriage, and let me tell ya...right now, I LOVE my marriage. It is a filling of my heart right now that no words will describe. I wait to take things to a new level with my girls. And so, the thing that overwhelmingly I know now is while I'm waiting I will serve Him because I want to obey Him, to love Him, to know him more and more each day. I love looking at the waiting this way...that it can actually be a sweet, sweet time. I read something today that talked about how we are all waiting for something...for a new relationship, a proposal, a marriage, a baby, a word from a doctor, a cure, a word of encouragement. The challenge is how we'll live while we are waiting. Listen to this song and watch the video that goes along.(Pause my playlist to the right before you watch video). Today, while I'm waiting, I'll be praying for a cousin I love dearly...I'll be telling the man of my dreams I love him until he's heard it more times than he can count...and I'll be hugging my sweet girls a little tighter today so they don't have to wonder if they feel loved today or not - they'll know!

Random Wednesday

My friend, Tricia, tagged me to tell 7 random things about myself, so here goes...

1. Today is my birthday. I'm not sure that is random, but it is what it is. Today I am 35 years old.

2. I can't swim! I am OK above water, but I still have to hold my nose underwater.

3. I am NOT fond of the color pink. It's just not may favorite. I even had friends tell people to not go overboard on pink at all four girls' baby showers. I may wear it occasionally, but there will never be a pink room in my house, or most certainly NEVER pink lipstick on my lips!

4. I have never been to a prom. At my boarding school, apparently proms were of the Devil, so we called them "banquets" instead. So, you can pretty much conclude that I do not know how to dance either because yes, there were no dances in my high school.

5. I sleep with the covers tight around my neck at night b/c when I was seven I watched old "Dracula" movies with my dad and became afraid of vampire attacks at night. For years it was a real fear, but now, it's just habit.

6. I do not like to take messages for my husband. I'll do it, but I have way too many people say, "tell Jeff this" or "tell Jeff that." I can't keep up with all of that!

7. I have consumed at least 5 bags of candy corn BY MYSELF so far this fall! I am not ashamed of it, really. I enjoyed every minute of it!
So, there ya have it...that's what's on my mind today! I tag Martha, Mama, and Missy. If you want to be tagged, feel free! Tag away!

Texas, Third Day and lots of laughter!

I have been planning for weeks to make a special trip to Dallas, Texas to see my girlfriends that I have known most all of my life. It's been kind of a 35th birthday/High School reunion celebration. Some may find it strange to be such dear friends with your old buddies from High School still, but my upbringing was not the norm...going to boarding school, living with these girls in close quarters, doing EVERYTHING with them, fighting, laughing, shopping, studying, borrowing clothes...EVERYTHING. Even stranger is the fact that my sister, Missy, is great friends with my friends, and I'm great friends with her friends, so she made the trek to Dallas with me to relive old times, too. We are already making memories, too. No sooner had I said to Missy in the Atlanta airport, "sure hope we see someone famous in Texas" did we walk down the airport corridor and run into these guys - Third Day! I love them! McKenna REALLY loves them, so when we got off the plane in Dallas (they were on our flight), we asked for a photo op! Here I am after telling them I couldn't join their band! NOT...although, I have had a lifelong dream to play the tambourine in a band. Maybe next time!
I have to tell you, they are the nicest guys (one is missing from this pic), and were more than willing to take a picture with me. I got mine made before a gazillion MOPs moms had their turn. They were also on our flight, but that is a story for another day. Apparently these women don't get out much...that's all I'm sayin'!

Once in Dallas, we met up with my oldest friend, Lana. By oldest, I mean, the one I've known the longest. We have been friends since 7th grade! We pretty much look the same...we just have way better haircuts! She flew in from Phoenix to meet us. She lives there as a stay at home mom of two sweet boys, Jack and Luke, and she also is an area Arbonne manager, so if you needing any skin care, contact her! If I recommend you, she may get to write this trip off for me! :)

Anyway, I'm here with Lana, Missy (my sis) and my other longtime best friend, Amy. She lives here in the DFW area, where she is a seminary student and also a labor and delivery nurse. She is always a hoot to be around. There is always big laughter when she's around, as well as when any of us are together, so our stomach muscles are already hurting! So far, we've only gone out to eat and to a movie, "Nights in Rodanthe," which I cried so hard in that I felt miserable when it was over, but what better movie to see with your girls than that!

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on what we're doing to get in trouble according to my husband, Jeff's blog. Tonight we're going to a comedy show, where yes, there will be more laughing! It's so good to be here and relive old times, but don't count on us posting any pictures of the old days. Remember...bad hair? :)