What do a dude from the 70s, a monkey and The Thing have to do with each other?

Not anything really, but that's what my kids were for Halloween. Asher wore the monkey costume that Riley wore in 2005 (the year Asher was born), Riley's costume was $10.00 new from ebay and Gavin wore a suit my uncle wore to a wedding in the 70s when he was a kid. All we did was buy him an afro wig and he wore a pair of my shoes and we were good to go! What a fun night! We did Trunk or Treat at church and the kids really had a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures.


The boys getting ready to go out to Trunk or Treat.



Gavin as a 70s Disco Dude.



Asher as a monkey.



Riley as The Thing.



The boys and I walking to church for Trunk or Treat.

Life or Death

Isn't the choice obvious? To God it certainly is.

A Tale of Two Orchards and One Birthday

Asher turned 3 on Sunday. Yes, it's true, my last baby is officially 3 years old. Where the past 3 years have gone, I couldn't tell ya, but I do know that's it's been a great 3 years. After church and a visit to the church library to check out some movies for the week, we headed to Romeo to meet up with some family at Stoney Creek Cider Mill. My sister Dana, her husband Kurt and my niece Payton came. Best of all though, was that I got to spend some time with my aunt and cousins that I don't get to see nearly as often as I want to. My Aunt Janice, cousin Jeff, cousin Ashley, her daughter Brianna and Ashley's boyfriend Andy all came out for the day. Asher was sure to walk up to everyone several times and say "It's my birthday! I'm 3!", it was really cute. We got some donuts and cider (that was quite possibly the best cider I've ever had) and Asher opened his presents. When we were finished with all that, we headed up the road to Miller's Big Red to go to the petting zoo. The kids had a great time there and we even got hailed on. The weather was quited interesting that day, though overall great! We had such a great day spending time together and the kids were thoroughly enjoying themselves. We had some hot cider there and then Aunt Janice gave the kids a ride on one of the carts they have there. It was a fun ending to a fun day. Asher passed out in the car on the way back from the orchard and had a nice little nap before we got to my Mom and Dad's house where my sister Delyn and her fiance Jason were. We had dinner there with all of them and got to meet my Mom and Dad's new little dog (she's a miniature pinscher named Miya). Then we headed home to get the kids ready for bed and ready for the new week to start. It was such a great day. We got to spend time with a bunch of people we really love and Asher seemed to be satisfied with his birthday day experience. God is so good.

Here are some pictures from the day!


Asher enjoying a birthday donut at the orchard.



Brian holding Asher and Aunt Janice standing waiting for Asher to answer a question she asked him.




My adorable niece, Payton.




All the kids at the orchard.
(from bottom left to top left) Riley, Payton, Gavin, Brianna and Asher




My sweetheart, Riley.




My big sweetheart, Gavin.




My cutie patootie, Asher.




Riley and Gavin posing for a picture.




Riley as a cow.




Brianna helping Asher be a cow.




A picture I took of an emu at the petting zoo. I'm pretty sure National Geographic should hire me.




I love this picture I got of Asher.




Aunt Janice about to take the kids for a ride on the cart.




Off they go! Oh, and holla at your boy, Gavin. LOL

Basketball, Veggietales and a Cotton Candy Sky

This post is full of a variety of topics. I figured I might as well post them all together instead of in 3 separate blogs, so here we go...

Gavin and Riley started their basketball leagues last weekend. Since we only have one camera and their games were at two different schools at the same time, we only were able to get pictures of Riley. However, pictures of Gavin are to come. Anyway, Riley is hilarious when it comes to basketball. He wants to play, but he definitely doesn't see any need to be in the least bit aggressive when it comes to getting in there and getting the ball and taking a shot. He has a great time though, so that's all that really matters. Here are some pictures of him at his first game of the year.


Riley with his friend Joshua out on the court.


My little basketball cutie!



Riley has a very unique way of holding his left hand when he dribbles, which can be seen here. LOL



Asher has a new love...Veggietales. I decided to ask on Freecycle for any kind of Veggietales stuff anyone may have and a girl emailed me back and told me her daughter's room had been completely decorated in Veggietales and I was welcome to all of it! I went and picked it up on Wednesday and I decorated Asher's room with it yesterday. The kid was so blissfully happy, it was adorable. I should've taken pictures of all the stuff she gave me. There's a clock, picture frames, tons of these really cute figurines with sayings on them, a shoe organizer, etc. Anyway, here are some pictures of Asher posing on his bed with his new Veggietales pillows. You should have seen how mad he was when I told him they had to be washed before he could have them on his bed. Then, when I got them out of the dryer, he took them into his room. When I went in, his old pillow was thrown on the floor and the Veggietales ones were in it's place. It was so cute.


Laying down on his new Veggitales pillows.



Yay, I love Veggietales!



Big Asher smiles!



This is my newest trick I like to do on my bed.



Mom, what are you doing?!



And last but not least, I took some pictures of the sky this morning. The kids and I like to call the sky a "cotton candy sky" when it is pink and blue. It had changed to more pink and orange by the time I got home and was able to take a picture, but that's ok. It was just so pretty and deserved to be captured in photos...enjoy!

A lesson in patience and love.

I woke up with a migraine today and I laid in bed and prayed for God to give me patience with the boys this morning and to help me not yell at them or get frustrated. I also prayed that God would help me change my behavior so the boys would know just how much I love them and not feel like I am disappointed or upset with them all the time.

I got them up and the morning went along. I never yelled once (although Riley was certainly testing my patience). I told the boys that I had a headache and wasn't feeling well, so while they were eating and getting ready, I was going to lay down on the bed. I was laying on my stomach with my face in the pillow when I felt someone get on the bed and pat my back lovingly a few times. When I looked to see who it was, it was Gavin. I told him thank you and he smiled and with sympathy said "Yup." and went off to finish getting ready. I laid there and cried tears of happiness because God helped me through the morning like I asked Him to and He gave me a sign through Gavin that the boys do know I love them. It was just really awesome. What an incredible way to start the day.

Sometimes if you just stop and pay attention to the little things, you'll discover something really profound. Asking the Lord to help me with some things that I've been struggling with and that I know I need to change and then seeing the way He worked in my family this morning just makes my trust in Him and my faith grow and grow.

Stop and be thankful for the little things.

Your Name

I don't think much needs to be said about this. The video isn't fancy, but it has the lyrics and that's all that really matters anyway. I hope it will be as powerful to you as it is to me.

Just some things on my mind...

Lately I'm feeling very unsupported by some of the people I have always viewed as my biggest supporters. I'm honestly not really even sure why these people are being this way, but it does hurt. I don't know if it's that they don't really understand the situation, if it makes them uncomfortable in some way, if they are looking at it from the wrong perspective...I guess there could be a million reasons, but I wish they would just talk to me about it. There's this awkward, unspoken discomfort that is going on as a result of the situation and it's really bothering me. When did people decide that it wasn't a good idea to talk about their feelings or ask questions to be sure they really understand the situation? I'm just feeling really upset and disappointed by it. I kind of feel like they should come to be about the situation, because I know that they will view me as "accusing them of something" if I approach them about it. It's just a yucky feeling situation and I wish I knew how to make it all ok. Maybe I can't. Maybe some people just have their minds made up and don't really care to hear the facts from me. I don't know.