Oops!!

So apparently I was incorrect with some information I gave you in the previous post. "The Design Girl" Danielle does not allow you to use her digital scrapbooking kits to do blog make-overs. I didn't realize that when I bought the kit, so my apologizes to Danielle for breaking the rules. So my blog is going to look a little plain for awhile while I try to figure out what digital scrapbooking kits I can use to do blog make-overs. I purchase the kits from www.polkadotplum.com and all their stuff is so cute and I've read ALL their terms of use and I can't find anything that says you can't use their kits for doing blog make-overs, but now I'm nervous. I don't want to unknowingly break any copyright laws. So be patient and I'll hopefully have a new fall look sometime soon :)
And if you want a great little makeover at a great price you should totally check out Danielle's website!!

Seven Quick Takes

1. I got the "7 Quick Takes" idea from my bloggy friend Leighann. I can't call the idea my own, but I love it! If you haven't read Leighann's blog yet you must! She adorable and witty and has a baby who is a living, breathing, awe inspiring example of the miracle working power of Jesus!

2. If you're popping over here from The Macs blog...welcome! Don't you just love Jess! I would just love to drive to Kansas right now to give her a hug and I know that you probably agree with me that it's been an honor to walk this road with them over the last several months. I just want to clarify that I asked super talented Danielle to do a make-over for the Macs early last year when precious Cora was so sick. My intention was that I would pay for it as a way to bless the Macs, but Danielle just did it all without any compensation. So the Macs blog makeover was ALL Danielle's doing!! But did you notice the blog make-over I gave myself about a week ago...well that's thanks to Danielle too! Danielle sells digital scrap booking kits HERE and all of the cute stuff on my blog came from one of her kits! She is so talented and her stuff is extremely affordable and she's offering some discounts right now...so check out this post for those details.

3. As promised...here's just a few pictures from our extremely windy fieldtrip yesterday. I'm still digging hay out of my purse, but the sky was gorgeous...just crisp white clouds against an intense blue sky. So we're loving fall and loving Christian's preschool class. He's made some very sweet friendships.

Here's the whole gang!

Riding out to the pumpkin patch.

"Mom, this is heavy!!"

4. So have I told you what McKenna's been up to???? Her new favorite thing is taking off her diaper! Yup, you heard me right. She can totally undress herself and she always does it at the worst time...like in Target or during nap time when I'm not aware of what's going on. So the laundry has been plentiful and steady around here :) and onesies are the new wardrobe essential!!

5. I just started Beth Moore's Esther Bible Study! And it's great! It's giving me the kind of structure I've been lacking in my quiet times, so I'm really hoping that the next 18 weeks will create some more discipline in my life. I just love Esther...she was always the "princess" story I loved reading in my Bible story books growing up.

6. And the HOUSE! I've posted a tiny and not so good picture of it below. Thanks so much for praying for clarity for us. We have some HUGE decisions to make this weekend so we do covet your continued prayers. We're going to go for a visit again on Saturday morning and then...I don't know what. But I do know that God has a plan...he knows exactly where he wants us to live...he knows exactly when he wants us to move...he knows who he wants us to have as neighbors...HE KNOWS!!! So today I'm feeling calmer.

7. And last but certainly not least here's a little encouragement for your day:
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6
Are you overflowing with thankfulness?? Hmmm...I definitely am! What are you thankful for today! Let's testify to the goodness of the Lord!

Pray for US!!!

James 1:5
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

Oh dear, I need wisdom right now. Thank goodness that God promises that when we ask for wisdom he will give it to us! I just got a call from our realtor and I'm going to look at a house at 5pm. This might be the one. The price is right, the house is PERFECT, the neighborhood is one of the very few we would actually consider living in....BUT it's in a neighborhood. That's not our dream. We wanted land, not a neighborhood, but this might be the best option right now. Do we go for it? Do we wait? Do we give up on buying and build (that's the way we've been leaning lately). Ryan is out of town and will be for a few more days, so the kids and I are going to look at this alone. Ahhhh....If we're going to live in a neighborhood then this is the neighborhood. I wish we had time to think about this and sleep on it for awhile, but this house is priced right and I don't think it's going to wait for us. Would you pray that we'll make the right decision?!

Don't you just LOVE Fall!!

Race for Education

Last week Christian participated in a fundraiser for his school called "Race for Education." He had to walk or run around the track as many times as he could and he was worn out by the time it was over!

I lost count at 21 laps, but I think he went 23 which is amazing!
I think this little guy did the most laps! There was a trophy for whoever ran the most laps and Carter was determined to win and I think he was successful! He passed Christian many times :)

Thank you to everyone who donated to Christian's school for the Race for Education. I'm not sure if they'll give me a list of who donated or not, so that makes it kind-of hard to thank people! So THANK YOU if you did give! You're a blessing and trust me, your donation went to a wonderful Christian school who works so hard at educating these little treasures! Do you know how much I love it when Christian begs to pray at dinner time because he's learned a new prayer at school??!!

And if you didn't get a mailer about it that's because I always feel bad doing fundraising stuff so I mainly sent the mailers to family. This is the only fundraiser the school does, so that makes me feel better. And I'm always thankful to not have to sell wrapping paper or candy :)

Corn Mazes are TRICKY!

Honestly, I wasn't so sure we were ever going to find our way out. We let Christian be the leader at first and that led us in a significantly wrong direction.


McKenna was happy in the maze because Daddy was carrying her the whole time! This is her new look when I say "cheese."

Waving "cheese" to mommy!

So we eventually found our way out! Christian is dying to go back, but mommy just didn't love it, so I don't know if that's going to happen this year.

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But we did have a great weekend. I guess I should say; Christian had a really good weekend. He's been having a very hard since we moved and he started school. His behavior has been out of control and I have been beside myself knowing what to do. He's said some very mean things, he's had a few enormous meltdowns in very public places, he has been unhappy the majority of the time and he's had some other issues which I won't blog about because I don't want him to ever feel embarrassed by what I say on here. So it's been stressful. I have found myself spending an enormous about of time disciplining/discussing/teaching/resolving issues...trying to get to his heart and not just his head. I've felt defeated...like every minute of everyday! But there has been a verse that has been stuck in my head through it all that has brought me great help through this trial...I'll share in a minute. So anyway, Christian had a good weekend. He was kind to his sister. He was respectful and obedient to Ryan and I. Daddy spent a lot of time with Christian even though he's been feeling awful. There have been lots of adventures, and soccer, and baseball and bike rides and trips to fun places and Christian's gotten lots of love and attention and I think he desperately needed some positive attention. So it's been good...I don't want Monday to come, but hopefully we can keep this momentum going.

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The last part of Colossians 3:15 says "And be thankful."

Simple, yet so profound.
And then here's the next part that's the important part:
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
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That verse just speaks to me because I definitely feel like I do not have enough wisdom to handle Christian. Yet, I know God gave him to me because he knew that I would be the best mommy for him. Yikes...so what do I do??? I think this verse is saying that if we let God's word ((the Bible)) dwell in us ((like memorize it, read it, think about it, ponder what it's talking about)) then we will have "all wisdom." That as I'm teaching Christian and as I'm admonishing him ((correcting or disciplining him)) that God will give me wisdom because I'm letting his word dwell in me. I kind of feel like "dwelling in God's word" is a safety net for me, that as long as I'm doing that I'm not going to make too many mistakes with Christian, even though he's so ridiculously complicated :) Well, that's just my personal take on that verse. I'm no Bible scholar, but I did want to share how that verse encouraged me, just in case any of you need a little encouragement too.

Parade of Homes...Time to dream

On Friday my friend Angie and I checked out some gorgeous homes in the "Parade of Homes."
The Parade of Homes is basically a bunch of model homes or homes that are for sale that have open houses so you can go inside and take a peek.

We were squealing with delight all night as we looked at these incredible homes. Oh the envy! But we decided, when it was all said and done, that it's sure fun to dream but we would never be comfortable living in that kind of luxury knowing that there is so much injustice in this world. Knowing that there are children dying because they don't even have clean water to drink. But it was still...SO MUCH FUN even though we know we will never be living like millionaires.

Wrought iron railings are all the rage! And notice the stairs...they're a mixture of stained wood and painted wood. We saw that over and over again in these million dollar homes. And curved walls...do you see how that wall is curved at the bottom of the stairs and the molding is curved too...so fancy. It was beautiful.

Wouldn't you just love to cook in this kitchen? Now what would you think if I told you this was the basement? Crazy huh!

Another picture of that basement from a different angle!

I love to just sit and study a room like this. I think it's always complicated to figure out where to put the TV when you have a fireplace in the room. I don't think this room solved that problem, but I do love where they placed the wall art and how there are side chairs on either side of the fireplace.

We saw lots of stone mixed with brick.

Love the curved couch! It probably cost a fortune, but I still love it. It makes for a cozy room.

At first I loved this drawer microwave, but now I don't think I like it because look where all the buttons are. You would have to bend over to see which button you're pushing. Still a very cool idea.

I walked away with a few practical things too...I love these doors and you can get them at home improvement stores and I've decided that if we end up building a house you might just see these doors in it! I LOVE them!

Here's another idea I would not have thought of and if they can do it in a million dollar home, it's good enough for me.

Notice ((again)) how the steps are stained hardwood, but it's also painted wood. Then look at the landing...it's carpet. I would have never thought to do that, but it really looked nice!

I love this room because it shows you how to create a great conversational area, in a small room, without a couch! So you don't always have to have a couch for every living room or family room! I guess it depends on how you want to use the room, but I loved this look. Love the round coffee table in the middle that pulls it all together.

I am always tempted to leave my hallways empty or to put up just a few small pictures. I always thought big pictures would make the hall way feel small...not true. This hall way had two huge pictures hanging on the wall and it almost made the hallway seem bigger.

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Now you got to take a peek inside some million dollar homes too! Wasn't that fun??

I think I'm going to be visiting some more model homes in the future, do you want to see more pictures?

Tradition

I love traditions! I think that's what makes childhood memories and so for us apple picking is ALWAYS on our fall list of things we must do!

2006

I remember this year well because I took Christian in a stroller and the orchard is on the side of a mountain and that was a very bad combination. So I took Christian out of the stroller and he kept tumbling down the hill. Our sweet friend Ellie is on the left.

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2007

I can't get the pictures to load here, so if you want to see them click HERE to see my post from that year. They're so cute! Emma's two front teeth are missing!

2008

2008
Last year we had the cousins with us and it was so much fun! Christian really missed them this year and so did Ellie and Kate.

Here's the 2009 gang!
McKenna, Ellie, Addie, Bryson, Christian, Tanyon and Kate.