The Pumpkin Patch:)

Our family makes a trip to Lyons Family Farm every year. It is such a great time for all of us. This year Aunna and Paul went with us. There are tons of things to do there and the kids had a blast!

Beau had an eye infection, so his little eyes are puffy:(

Silly Daddy!

Wild men!

Beau did not like the corn....

Fun times, I actually did a few flips on this thing!

Annual picture....we keep growing!

Aunna and Paul:)

Looking for the perfect pumpkins!

We like this one!

My baby's eyes are pitiful!

An angel!

I love these guys!

I am not sure why these pictures have those lines in them....

"I am going to be a preacher."

If you ever ask Jackson what he is going to be when he grows up, his response is "I am going to be a preacher like my daddy and papaw". He is such a sweetheart and you can tell he really loves Jesus. He is already our little evangelist:) One day he asked Harrison(his cousin) if he knew Jesus! He has a precious little heart and I am so proud of him. 

This past weekend Marshall performed a wedding of some good friends of ours and Jackson was the ring bearer. He made a handsome ring bearer, if I do say so myself! Someone at the wedding asked him if he was going to be a doctor when he grew up and his response was the same as always, "No, I am going to be a preacher". He has ministered by his Daddy's side on several occasions and this weekend was one of them. The photographer, Gary Franklin did an excellent job capturing the moments at the wedding. The top picture should be in a magazine! It is absolutely amazing! What makes it so special is that no one told Jackson to do that with his hands. That is just how precious he is!

I LOVE this picture! I seriously think it should be in magazine! The prayer of a child is so special.

Precious!

Candy! He was sure to get his brother some:)

Boys will be boys!

My baby is 1!

I cannot believe my baby is 1! We celebrated his first birthday with friends and family in our backyard. It was a great time celebrating our little guy's life. I loved planning his party! It was so much fun! He had a 'Very Hungry Caterpillar' party! So many fun ideas for the theme! I had to restrain myself:)

I love my baby so much! He is such an angel and we are so blessed with our little guy!

This is probably my favorite picture of the day!

Our family:)

My baby and me!

He was not a big fan of the cake...

But Jackson was!

Party favors:)

So much fun!

Nana having her face painted!

I accidentally ironed this on the back of his shirt!

So I improvised for the front!

Nana and my boys

 

 

My family

Do you remember where you were?

10 years ago.....I cannot believe it has been ten years ago that our country was attacked. I remember where I was. I was sitting in David Talley's classroom at Bethel, a junior in high school. Crazy how time flies. I remember watching t.v., and watching smoke coming from the buildings, wondering what it all meant and was going to mean for our country. I watched the towers fall as I am sure you did. A day in history that has imprinted our hearts and minds forever. I pray that this weekend we can remember....

Love You More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter by Jennifer Grant

Love you More by Jennifer Grant is the author's personal journey through the adoption process. She tells her story from before the adoption process until the end, when she and her husband bring their daughter, Mia, home from Guatemala, and even the years following. Jennifer has three biological children and feels a calling to adopt. This is a precious story of real life!

It took me until about half way through to really get into the book. I really appreciated the part of the book where Grant writes about adoption not being for everyone. Also, I found the section about unethical adoptions, eye opening. What I love is that while reading this you can see Jennifer Grant's heart and her love for her children. She shares personal moments and personal feelings with the readers, which I appreciate. It helped me, the reader, see a clear and beautiful picture of adoption, and helped me understand adoption better. She also helped me see an adoptive mother's heart. It was also great to see the Grant's trust the Lord and to see Him always faithful! Excellent book that challenges presuppositions about adoption! I would recommend this to anyone! But, while recommending I will also warn that parts were hard to push through and were slow reading for me, but the end was worth it. 4 out of 5 stars.

Booksneeze provided me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

Boogie Wipes Review

Well, I finally received my Boogie Wipes....just in time! All three of my boys have had a cough and Beau has had a bit of a runny nose. I like the wipes! I mean honestly I think they work about the same as any wet wipe would except they are much softer. But, the wipes definitely get the dry boogies off of my baby's face:) He does not really like to have his face or nose wiped, so the wipes are nice because I do not have to wipe his nose ten times to get it clean! They are thick and soft and if you have a coupon, then worth the money during the "snotty season". I think toddlers will appreciate the softness of the wipe instead of Kleenex. The wipes also come scented!

All in all I give Boogie Wipes a 4 out of 5 stars:)

Check out Boogie Wipes website or follow them on Facebook or Twitter!

School

My boys have started "school". Jackson is in a 4K program, 3 days a week, and Baylor goes to mother's morning out 1 day a week. They both love it! Baylor wanted to go to "school" like Jackson:) They are precious brothers! Baylor misses his big brother when he is gone, and Beau just can't play as well!

Jackson loves to play with his friends and loves to learn! I am so proud of my boys! Here are a few pictures from the first day!

They crack me up!

Right before we walked out the door....posing with wet hair

"I can't hold this back-pack!"

My big boy

We were excited!

Free Breakfast!

I love Chick-fil-A:) Especially for breakfast. So, I thought I would pass this exciting offer on to my faithful readers:) CFA is giving away free breakfast entrees! You have to reserve which entree you want, and if I were you I would do it quickly....before they are all gone! Here is the link. Enjoy!

Paddle Boats!

We had family night tonight and the C Blaylocks joined us. We went to Bridgestreet to ride the paddle boats! So much fun! If you are looking for something fun to do, I highly suggest paddle boats! It is fun and not expensive! It cost $6 per person and all of our kids were free! Beau, Rylee, and I watched everyone ride the carousel! And then we headed over to Maggie Moos for ice cream! The ice cream cost almost as much as the paddle boats! We had a great time! The kids loved the boat:) Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:)

The crew!

My sweetie:)

Angel

watching the carousel!

Reagan is cracking me up!

Love this picture!

April, me, and all our babies!

The Blaylocks:)

The Daigres:)

I love my baby!

The boys saying The Lord's Prayer....

Pop and Ms.Cindy

This weekend we have been celebrating! My father in law has pastored First Independent Methodist Church for 25 years! The church put together a great weekend of celebration! Saturday night there was a dinner at the church and afterward everyone gathered in the sanctuary to show their appreciation for Hal and Cindy Daigre. There were many people to share what Pop and Ms.Cindy mean to them. I did not share! I know, terrible. I just let Marshall do all of the public speaking engagements:) I am not big on crowds and avoid standing in front of them. Marshall did share a small part of how I feel about Pop, but I thought I would share via my blog!

Hal Daigre loves Jesus. He is a man of God, an example to so many. He has impacted thousands of people. Maybe not directly, but he has in some way touched lives he does not even know about. And Ms.Cindy has been by his side through the best of times and the worst of times, loving him and praying. She always laughs at his jokes.....even though she has probably heard them fifty times!

I have always thought Pop was hilarious! When Marshall and I first started dating, Pop would tell jokes and I was constantly laughing! I thought everything the man did was HILARIOUS! I still think he is pretty funny:)

Pop and Ms.Cindy, thank you for loving Jesus. Thank you for raising two amazing men of God. Pop, Thank you for leading our family. You mean so much to so many. I am so thankful that our boys have you as grandparents. I could not have asked  for a better family to be a part of. I count it a privilege to be your daughter. I know Cassie would agree:) I am sad they could not be here this weekend but we all feel the same way about you. We love you both.

Surprise:)

I love surprises! Even though I try and figure out what they are! I love sweets....I think you have probably figured that out by now. Sadly, I am out of the double chocolate chunk ice cream that Marshall got for me the other day. I went by Bruster's Monday and they did not have any. I was disappointed....plain chocolate ice cream from the grocery store just does not compare.

Well, last night M had a meeting and called me on his way home to tell me he had a surprise for me and not to eat anything. I had already eaten a Nutty Bar(you know the whole chocolate and peanut butter thing-I just can't pass up). I assumed when he said that, that he had gone by Bruster's and gotten my ice cream! I was wrong.

Even better than double chocolate chunk ice cream from Bruster's......Great Wall of Chocolate from P.F. Changs!!! Six rich layers of frosted chocolate cake topped with semi-sweet chocolate chips, served with fresh berries and raspberry sauce according to P.F. Changs website:) Let me just tell you that if you have never experienced 1440 calories of marvelous chocolate then you are missing out! It is worth the trip to eat this cake. 

My precious husband surprised me with this last night:) He dropped by P.F.'s after his meeting and got this for me. I was very surprised, and we shared the cake together over conversation. I love to know that M was thinking about me and wanted to do something for me. He knew I would love it and knew it would make me happy:) It did all of those things but more importantly, it made me appreciate my husband. The little thought makes me want to be a better wife and do something special for him. I know that was not his goal. But when someone does something out of kindness just because they were thinking about you, it is really special, even if it is something as simple as cake. 

SO, I say all of this to say, do something special for your husband or wife today! Write a note and put it where they can find it when they leave for work. Something as simple as that will let them know you were thinking about them and will make their day. And in turn, it would not surprise me if you find a note or a special treat just for being you:)

Sleep

I do not know about you but I cannot function well without sleep! When I was pregnant with Jackson, I think that is all I ever did! ha! That is not possible with three small children:) So, I don't usually stay up late. 10p.m. is a good time for me, but it is usually at least 11 before I actually go to sleep. I always seem to find things to keep me up.

When we went on vacation I had to be up EARLY. Early for me was 5a.m. We had to finish packing up the car, shower, and get all 4 of my boys ready to go. Lots of responsibilities on a mother(maybe I should post about that). Lets just say that 5 hours of sleep is not fun for me! I don't usually nap in the car unless I am sure that Marshall is not going to fall asleep at the wheel! Another responsibility:)  He would disagree! Well, I was exhausted after only 5 hours of sleep so I decided I could take a nap in the car. My precious husband took a picture of me while I was sleeping. It is very embarrassing, but it was too hilarious to pass up. And if I can't laugh at myself, then what a boring life! So, I decided I should share the laugh with you:)