Long Time, No Blog...No Computer!

I finally had a chance this weekend to catch up on our blog with some of the happenings of the past month. Most of you may already know this but our computer totally crashed about a month ago leaving me computer-less at home. What a bummer it was! Thankfully our good buddy Austin has ninja-like computer skills and was able to bring it back from the dead. (Thanks again Austin!) We lost some pictures but thankfully my wonderful hubby had already backed most of them up on the external hard drive. Thank goodness!

Now we are up and running again. This last month has been very busy so I have posted up some of the highlights below. One thing that I didn't post was that Emily is now in a toddler bed. We converted her bed a little over a month ago and she has done really well...that is until the weekend of "falling back" an hour. She is just beginning to sleep a little longer in the morning. I keep telling myself when she runs into our room at 6am that she really still thinks it is 7am! This morning she FINALLY made it until about 6:50am. She is also getting her 2 year molars which has been made all too obvious as she has been asking us for medicine and her teething rings ("ice" as she calls them).

All in all, things are going pretty well around here. We are really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. As most people do, I absolutely LOVE this time of year. I am also excited about maybe doing things a bit different at Christmas this year. Over the past few years Derek and I have really tried to simplify the "production" of Christmas. It will be so fun to see what God will do in our family this Christmas and how He will continue to pull our minds and hearts closer to the true reason we celebrate. I just can't wait!

I am excited to be back in the world of blogging. I really look forward to posting up anything now that the computer is fixed. That old saying, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" is so true. When the computer was undergoing surgery, I would think of the dumbest things ever and be convinced it would be a fabulous read on our blog! It is probably a good thing that I didn't put my thoughts in print!

Looking forward to catching up with everyone, so until next time, I'll leave you with the posts below...

**I also updated the web album with lots of new pics**

100% Poly-es-ter!!!!

Okay so the title of this blog means absolutely nothing to some of you, but for others, you know exactly what I'm talking about! Our first Fellowship Bible Church Women's Retreat was AMAZING!!!! I can't say anything else that would describe how awesome it was. There are countless testimonies of how the Spirit of God moved in so many women's lives. Our speaker was unbelieveable and the times of singing God's praises were just so sweet and awesome. I could truly feel the Lord's presence in our midst.
I am so thankful to be surrounded by so many God-fearing women that love the Lord with their whole hearts and hold nothing back when giving all glory to Him!
I was part of the skits with some dear friends and we had such a blast. I love you girls...it was so much fun to do that with you! Below are the pictures that I am sure may come back some day to haunt us!


Lovely hair, don't you think?

...in full costume!

...in full action!

Halloween Fun With Old (and New) Friends

Halloween was fun this year. Emily was dressed as a soccer star, not your typical girly-girl costume. But, hey, it was last minute, adorable, and free...thanks again Uncle Sean! We really had a great time with all of our friends. After taking this first photo, we headed out into the dark of night, knocked on stangers' doors, and not only accepted but asked for free candy...everything that we tell our children to NEVER, EVER do! Isn't Halloween strange? Nevertheless, we had lots of laughs watching these little ones experience Halloween all together...we were quite the herd walking around the neighborhood. There were 9 adults and 7 children ranging in ages 1 year to 4 years. The funniest part of the night for me had to be when sweet little Caleb would knock on the door, say trick-or-treat, receive his candy and then proceed to enter the person's home. It was hilarious! He did it over and over again. He is so sweet...most kids just take the candy and run but he wanted to stay and visit awhile!

I included a picture of the kiddos last year on Halloween. We want to try to do this each year, assuming that we are still living near one another. It is so fun to look at last year's pic and see how they have all grown and changed. I pray that these friends will be those that Emily has sweet, sweet memories with. We can't wait until next year!


Halloween 2007

Halloween 2006

My First Haircut!!!

Emily finally had her first haircut about a month ago. She kept waking up from her naps and in the morning with the biggest fuzzball ever on the back of her head...it was long overdue! She was really great. A friend recommended (was it you Laurie?) cutting her hair in the bathtub and it worked so well. She was completely distracted and wasn't covered in hair when I was finished. For those of you wondering why I attempted this feat myself; let's just say that when you have curly hair and have a daughter with curls, you learn to be VERY cautious with the scissors!!!:) Most hairdressers are NOT cautious enough with scissors. I wasn't willing to risk it. I hardly cut any length off but it made the ultimate fuzzball less afroish and much easier to comb through. Derek was a bit concerned with my skill level though after his scalping a few years back...I still vehemently stick to my guns that he moved during the trimming and I was not at fault. (hehehe:) Incidentally he still lets me trim his hair every now and then (i.e. when he is absolutely desperate)!!!

Before


After

Hayrides and Pumpkin Patches

Holding hands with my best buddy!

It was difficult to get a picture of everyone "having fun," but aren't they all so cute?

This was Em's first hayride. I couldn't believe how long her legs look in this picture.
A couple of days after we took this picture, Emily kept grabbing her feet and saying "Mommy, Oww!" I took her to see if just maybe she needed new shoes...in this pic she is wearing a 5 and three days later she was wearing a 7...WIDE!!!! Nice...good job Mom! No guilt feelings here:(