10 on 2sday

1.  This weather lately has been CUH-RAY-ZAY!  I can't believe the gorgeous weather we've had!  Dan told me I jinxed it though a few weeks ago by trying the girls' snow pants on... but aren't my little pink & purple marshmallows so cute!?!?!



2.  Speaking of crazy weather, last week we had some ridiculously windy weather, case in point ~ it blew our fence to the ground!! Yikes!



3.  Even though the weather has been gorgeous lately, our mornings have been quite chilly - I said last week I was gearing up to run in the morning when the temperature was in the 20's.  Did it, never thought I'd do it, and I'm really glad I have a running partner to keep me accountable!

4.  The weather has been nice, but not nice enough to warrant Evan asking me when swim lessons start again... it's going to be a long winter if he keeps asking...

5.  We got rid of cable a couple weeks ago.  I have to admit I was nervous about it, but so far ~ I'm pretty glad it's gone.

6. Evan asked me to define the word "already."  I attempted to define it, and I really couldn't off the top of my head.  Mostly because I had to use the word itself in the definition.  Luckily by the time I finished my explanation, he had moved on to a different topic. 

7. There was a story about this picture, although I don't remember what it was...



8.  A very important woman in my life is celebrating a milestone birthday TODAY... and I get to see her VERY soon!  (Happy Birthday, Grandma :)

8.  In order to visit this very important woman, we will be loading up our family of 5 and hopping in a plane... The logistics of getting 3 small children packed, and into a airplane is going to be tricky, but SO worth it...

10.  I keep thinking to myself, once I get to this point... things will slow down.  And they don't.  Then I think, once I get to this point... things will slow down.  And they don't.  Then I think, once I get to THIS point... things will slow down.  And they don't.  Noticing a pattern here?  Given the fast pace of life right now, I'm feeling pretty happy that I got a 10 on 2sday post done today! 

Hope your November is off to a GREAT start!

Trick-or-Treat

Surprise, Mom!! I posted pictures sooner than I thought... :)

More picture-disappearing drama for me... the girls' Kindermusik Halloween pictures are gone, and Evan's preschool Halloween pictures are gone. I was moving pictures over from my camera today and they just weren't there. Nothing. I am so sad. I'm hoping they can still be recovered, though, so we'll see. I must be honest, I was REALLY glad my family photo shoot was still there from yesterday!! That would have been a BIG bummer!



Evan was SO excited to be Mr. Incredible this year! And I was SO excited to be able to borrow the costume from a friend!!



Avery LOVED being a cow, I had to go out and buy her costume, and I wanted it to sort of "match" Brynn's costume - and when I say "match" I mean; have the cute little bubble butt, and be some sort of animal.



This was Evan's costume from 3 years ago, and I was very happy that Brynn wore it so adorably! I let Brynn have this one because of the banana (which you can sort of see on her right side)... I thought it would be kind of mean to let Avery have a costume with a food item on it that she can't even eat...

Although, if you look back at Avery's picture, you can see her holding a Snickers bar, which was kind of mean... peanuts and chocolate... a BIG no-no!

And last but not least...



Totally free, Dan's Dad is a big hunter, so I borrowed some of his gear, I borrowed one of Evan's nerf gun things (which is actually broken), and Dan finagled some deer antlers into a hat.
Yeah, we're awesome. :)

BOO!

Didya miss me us?

Been a little busy (you can see parts of why here), thinking about blogging everyday, went to work on my 10 on 2sday post on Tuesday... and my computer wouldn't recognize my external drive with all my personal pictures on it.  Slight freak out, while remaining outwardly calm.  It magically started working today. Although, this picture was taken today and not on my other drive... blah, blah, blah, now I'm rambling... Gonna wake up and run tomorrow when the temp is supposed to be somewhere around 20 degrees out... I may be insane, not sure... so g'nite!

She makes me laugh...

I hope Avery forgives me for posting pictures of her making silly faces...



...I just can't help it ~ she makes me laugh!

What to do? Peek-a-boo!

My hubby is very handy with wood working (when he has time), and has now made us two entertainment stands. Sadly, though, this one stands empty (long story), but not unused...


*whistling*
No one here!



No one here, either!



Peek-a-boo!



Peek-a-boo-you!



Ah man, they caught us!

Watch out...

...for the...



...tickle fingers!



She'll gitchya every time!






(actually, you really do have watch for the tickle fingers... they like to touch the camera lens too...)

Brynn says hi!

Hope your Friday is happy...

Understanding Loss

This morning I prepared to send a card out to my cousin with the following verse:

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  
Psalm 73:26

After writing today's date down I had to do a double take.

Has it really been 5 years?

I remember vividly how emotional this time was for me 5 years ago.  I had just started a new job in a new town, found out I was pregnant shortly thereafter, my brother was preparing to be deployed to Iraq, and my Grandfather's health was failing rapidly. 

And 5 years ago today I experienced my first loss of a close family member.

I remember feeling fortunate that it took 25 years before I ever had to experience a loss like that, but also having no idea how to process those emotions because it was a situation I had no experience with.  And goodness, I was already emotional as it was.

So I dug around this morning and found the flier from my Grandpa's Memorial Service and I want to share a part of it that is sticking with me this morning:

The Lord has blessed us with so many good things in our lives that we might think He has abandoned us when sorrow comes along.  In our sorrow we may not feel His Presence but that doesn't change His promises to be with us... and we may not understand, but He doesn't ask us to.  All He asks is that we trust Him. 

The hardest part of my faith has been not understanding why certain things happen ~ why "God allows it."  Losing someone is SO hard for the human brain to comprehend, especially when it doesn't seem like 'their time.'  And as difficult as it will always be for us to understand, God gave us his words to provide comfort, as long as we trust in him.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  
Psalm 73:26

He was an amazing man, is thought of often, and will always be loved and missed...

10 on 2sday

This episode brought to you in part by random-ness from the camera in my phone:


1.  A week may just be the longest I've gone between posts...

2.  I learned last week that the grocery store aisles are not wide enough...  ask me why. 

3.  I am going to assume you asked me... one of my children broke a jar of jelly at the store.  It was totally slow motion, I saw her reaching for it, and it was too late...  and yes, it was embarrassing.

4. Brynn's new favorite thing to do is empty the tupperware drawer into the sink.  So this is often what my sink looks like because there is never enough space in the dishwasher to fit it all in at the same time:

5. Avery can reach WAAAAAAAAAAY to high for my comfort. 

6.  Evan got a hold of the foam stickers and decided they belonged on his wall, and his bed, and his furniture, and a few other places.  I guess I should be glad it wasn't something that didn't come off easily!

7.  This was the sight as I was getting breakfast ready one morning.  Four different types of milk ~ some nearly empty, two types of juice.  Can you imagine what it looks like in our fridge?!!?  Not much room for anything else...

8.  The girls pulled the. entire. box. apart.  And had lots of fun while doing it...  My first thought was; well, cheap entertainment.  But then I went to buy a new box of aluminum foil and it was like $8!?!?!  That seemed liked a lot!  So I went with generic just in case this happens again... 

9.  Speaking of cheap entertainment... I am SO glad we had 3 brooms in the garage.  I couldn't believe how entertained these kiddos were with the brooms.  I WILL be reminding them of their previous enthusiasm to help me 'clean' when they are, oh... say, 14 years old!!

10.  The last couple weeks my patience has been tested more than it ever has before.  (see #2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 8 for a few examples)  Some days I pass the test with flying colors.  Other days I fail miserably.  I am reminded of how often I fail when Evan covers his ears as I discover one of his wrong-doings.  Just been one of them weeks...