Fall Festival

Zachary in the hay maze having fun.
The best fall picture we got without really trying.

I love how they squat down on the animals level to see it. This tortoise was HUGE!

Zachary got on and right back off the pony. He was not a big fan. Maybe next year.

Carlee trying to ring the bell. The hammer was a lot heavier than she thought.

Roping a bull... look at that form?

In the hay maze. We went through it twice and the second time through was a lot easier.

Carlee loved riding the pony.

We hung out at the United Methodist Church this past Saturday at their fall festival for a little while. We had a lot of fun. There were short lines to everything and the weather was beautiful. However, I was not expecting to have to shed a shirt in the middle of October because of the heat. We stayed for about an hour in order for us not to get sunburned. They had everything- a petting zoo, pony rides, a giant hay maze, bounce houses, live music, food and games. What a great day!

Great Pumpkin Party

Today we went to a friends house for a fun pumpkin party. While we were there we decorated pumpkins...
played bean bag toss...

loaded our decorated "Shine Jesus" bags with candy...

decorated cookies....

ate our yummy cookies....

Shared our yummy cookies...

And played with our friends.

Thank you Mrs. Tania for a fun time. We loved all the activities you had planned! Thanks for keeping it Christ centered. If you are unsure of who Carlee was dressed as, she is Angelina Ballerina from PBS kids (a little ballerina mouse).

UT vs. OK game

Uncle John and cousin Josiah sporting the OK gear.
Aunt Rachel and Josiah

In our Texas gear

We went over to Aunt Rachel's and Uncle John's house last Saturday for the big game. The longhorns won! As you can see from the pictures we all route for different teams. It was a fun day eating hotdogs and being together! Thanks sis for having us over!

My Girl

Carlee got some new pj's last night from grammy that say big sister. Tonight it is a little cool outside (around 60) so she got to wear them to bed. This girls loves long sleeves and pants because she likes to be cozy. However, I'm afraid she will be sweating in them because it's not cold in the house and she is warm-blooded. I loved how she propped herself on her stool to take this picture.... so grown-up. She is getting so big!

Today for our homeschooling lesson, Carlee and I drew and colored a life size portrait of her. She has been learning all about the 5 senses and how "God Made Us Wonderful." It took us about an hour and a half to draw and color. It was a lot of fun! Carlee decided to make her pants a collage of pictures that she has learned how to draw. There are hearts, stars, an apple tree, butterflies, a cat, flowers and numbers on them. Carlee has become quit the artist and will draw pictures all day long. Every time I see her these days she has her three favorite crayons in her hand: turquoise, orchid and pink and she is drawing a picture for someone.

5 babies coming

I see five. Can you?

It's that time again... when a butterfly hatches her eggs on our milk weed and caterpillars begin to grow. We had seven caterpillars on the milk weed the other day and now we only have 5 crystallises. One caterpillar died today, I think Zachary touched it a little too much. Carlee was heartbroken when I took it off the side of the pot and buried it under some leaves. Now that I think about it, I probably should have waited to do that when she wasn't looking because she cried. I nearly lost it myself. We get so attached to these little caterpillars. I feel like their mama. We're looking forward to seeing them transform into butterflies.

Zachary's Girl

We have the privilege of taking care of the sweetest Sharp girl's (three girls) once a month while our friend's go on a date night and every time they come over Zachary is always hugging, picking up, or kissing Amelia. She's 1 years old and adorable. Amelia is not sure what to think about Zachary when he reaches out for her. She's normally doubtful and turns the opposite way, but this time she resisted the temptation and Zachary got to love on her. This was a very sweet moment for him because he is very affectionate.

Chick-fil-a Toodler Time

Carlee being a little pig in the story "The Three Little Pigs" during Elmo Live

Carlee screaming "I love cookies!" (during Cookie Monster Live)

Enjoying their free cookies (before lunch)

Every Wednesday morning for the past month we have been going to Chick-fil-a for there toddler time at 10am and then going to storytime at the library at 11am. Chick-fil-a has had different activities such as; Elmo live, Kid's Inc. (a computer playtime), story time, Little Gym, cookie decorating, etc. All of them have been awesome! I just love Chick-fil-a. (Not to mention for the last several Thursday nights we have had free dinner on them.) During Elmo live Carlee got to be in the story of "The Three Little pigs," and she loved every bit of it. Today at "Cookie Monster Live" Carlee was very interactive and shouted out everytime she knew the answer to a question. She was one of the oldest of the bunch and proved so. She was very polite, sweet and shined Jesus so well. Zachary sat quietly in my lap and watched the entertainment and did great too. It was one of those moments, I loved being their mom.

All this to say, once we left Chick-fil-a and went to the library for storytime everything changed. Zachary threw his shoes during storytime and all over the library, kicked Carlee, and screamed in the library at the top of his lungs. Carlee refused to leave when it was time to go even after a 5 minute warning... by the time we left the library I was FURIOUS (more b/c of Zachary than Carlee).

It's in those moments I have a choice, choose to react and get mad or be proactive, suck it up and do business. I choose the wrong attitude. How is it at one place they can be a dream and at another place they can be a terror. (probably too many activities in one day, my bad) I've chosen the wrong attitude so many times; however, I have choosen the right attitude as well. Thankfully, there is GRACE! Grace for me to give and grace for me to receive. Grace is a free gift from God that I am so undeserving of, but need so badly. It's because of grace that I can apologize to my children and ask for their forgiveness and they can do the same. When I forgive them, then I know God has forgiven me. It's the beauty of my salvation!

Lord help me to trust you and live in your grace. You give me grace when I mess up and you give me love uncoditional. Help me to give myself grace when I fail- no one is perfect. May I rest in your grace. You are an amazing God!