26.2

Alright y'all... Our bags are officially packed, and in just a few short hours we'll be bound for Greenville, S.C.

Spinx Run Fest Marathon...ready or not...here I come!

I am just a big ball of nerves y'all! I can hardly believe I am getting ready to run a MARATHON tomorrow!

If you think about me in the morning--oh lets say between the hours of 8:00am and 1:00pm--say a little prayer for me;) I'd really appreciate it!

Here's hoping I make it to the finish line in one piece---and not on a stretcher;)

Our Little Super Model!

Yesterday, I took Miss Sophie to the doctor for her two year old check up! She weighed in at a mere 23 pounds and was about 34 inches tall. According to her growth chart, she is in the 5o percentile for height, but only in the 5 percentile for weight.

There's nothing wrong with being tall and thin though--right;)

Everything about this little girl is on the tiny side--except her personality that is! Don't be fooled by her petite size. No sirree... this girl has got some major spunk and is quite the little firecracker!

She can TOTALLY hold her own in this house full of boys- and does so quite often!

YES...we may indeed have a super model on our hands.

AND all the attitude that goes with it!

Oh...she may be feisty, but her smile can melt my heart!!!

How I adore my little peanut!

Full, Fun, Fall Weekend

Have I mentioned just how much I really LOVE FALL!?!?!
The crisp air, colorful leaves, bright orange pumpkins, and hot apple cider!!
Ahhh...you just can't ask for anything more.

Well, this weekend was JAM packed with ALL of the above. Our family could not have SQUEEZED one more ounce of FALL fun into our crammed full weekend!

Of course, like EVERY Saturday, our day began bright and early with three soccer games. After the games were over, Shane took the three "big" kids to a birthday party at Chuck-e-Cheese, while I took the babies and went to pick up my sister, Al. Al graciously watched the babies for me, while I headed off to a "Sip and See" in honor of my friend, Jessica, and her precious baby, Blythe!

Jessica and her husband Reggie were blessed to add sweet baby Blythe to their family through the beautiful gift of adoption. Oh how we have prayed and prayed and prayed for this precious little girl!!! What a JOY and privilege it was to celebrate the Lord's goodness and Blythe's recent arrival into her forever family!

My dear friend Melanie, and Jessica's good friend, Courtney, were the masterminds behind the details for this lovely shower. EVERYTHING was tastefully done and beautifully put together!

Isn't the cake GORGEOUS?
Ginger, another sweet friend from church, brought this to the shower!
It made a BEAUTIFUL centerpiece and matched the fabric and theme perfectly!

After the "sip and see", I ran home quickly in order to help Shane gather up our troop.
Then it was off to a pumpkin carving party.
Jeff and Stephanie opened up their home and hosted this fun Sunday School class social.
Let me just tell you... this sweet family knows how to throw a party.
First, you must understand that there were probably over 65 people there--40 of those were KIDDOS!!!
YES...it was some CRAZY FUN!!!

When we got there, the kids headed outside to the backyard where they could play with their friends.

Corban with two of his buddies--Jack and Noah

Sophie LOVED the swing!

After a delicious potluck dinner, it was time for the pumpkin carving to commence.

These boys are ready to create a masterpiece!

"A" and Ri help daddy carve our Jack-o-lantern!

"A" had so much fun carving that
she jumped at the chance to help her friend Sophie carve her pumpkin too!

This was their finished project--a BEAUTIFUL butterfly!

And only mom's of boys will appreciate our families masterpiece.
YES...our pumpkin is throwing up!
GROSS, I know... DEFINITELY not my idea at all,
but my boys thought it was GREAT!!!!
Oh Well!

What's a fall party without a little apple bobbing competition?!?!?

And we have a winner!!!!

And to complete the evening...

all the kids bundled up under blankets, ate popcorn,
and watched a movie under the stars.

And with that, we called it a night.

Oh, but of course we stopped on our way out the door to grab a few Halloween treats!
Thanks so much Jeff and Stephanie!
What a fun, fall, evening--made complete with time spent with wonderful FRIENDS!

Poison Control and Play Time

Yeah...I know that the title to this post is a little weird, but it was all I could come up with. ;)
The title really does explain my day quite well though. My plan for the day was...to NOT have a plan. It seems like we've been running like crazy lately, and today I just wanted to STAY HOME. No where to go, no errands to run, nothing to pick up, no appointments scheduled--
I just wanted to enjoy a day at home with the kids.
Plus Mount Laundry was taking over our upstairs, and it was crying out to be conquered. It was beautiful outside today too, so I decided that after I completed a few loads of laundry, I would take Riley and the babies outside to play. As we were getting ready to head out, Hudson came running into the playroom coughing/choking on something. I nervously pried his mouth open and noticed pink stuff stuck in his teeth.
His breath smelled...sweet.
I quickly realized he had eaten something, but at the time I didn't know what.
A bar of soap was my first thought, but I knew we didn't have any pink soap. I scooped him up and ran into my bathroom frantically looking for remnants of what he ate.

I then saw my deodorant lying on the rug.
There were teeth marks in it, and a BIG chunk missing from the top!

I called poison control immediately. They were so kind and assured me that my deodorant was (thankfully) non-toxic.
Hudson should be just FINE!

Praise the Lord!!!
Funny thing is...Corban had just brought this "Poison Control" magnet home from school a few days ago. I almost threw it away, but then thought that it would be a good thing to keep...just in case!

SO glad I posted it!

After the drama was over, we finally headed outside to get some fresh air.
Heaven knows I needed it!

We walked down to the playground and nature trail in our neighborhood!

The kids had fun running, jumping, and

playing in the fallen leaves.

Hudson was indeed fine!
His breath has smelled super "fresh" all day long though;)
LOL


My morning was enjoyable--minus the deodorant incident!
Just what I needed after a very busy couple of days!

Hope your having a great day too!!!

BOO to YOU!

Every year our neighborhood participates in the tradition of the "BOO" game! This is such a fun way to kick off the whole fall holiday season and my kids so... look forward to it every year!

Early Saturday morning, as I was heading out the door, I noticed a bucket of treats sitting on our front porch. They had been left the night before by a mysterious someone! We had been BOO'd!!!

Our job was to then pick two more of our unsuspecting neighbors and surprise them with a BOO treat as well.

As soon as evening fell last night, the kids were ready to quietly sneak out and leave our BOO treats on our neighbors porch.


They quickly set the buckets by the front door, rang the door bell, and then hightailed it home, hoping they wouldn't be found out by our surprised neighbors!
I just loved watching their faces as they "rang and ran"! So fun!

Every family then places a little ghost picture on their front door letting other neighbors know they've already been BOO'd. By Halloween, almost every house in our neighborhood will be displaying this little ghost! Such a fun way to spread some Halloween cheer!

What about you...do you all play this game in your neighborhood too?

My Grandpa

Saturday morning my sweet Grandpa was taken to the hospital. His health has been deteriorating for some time now, but Saturday morning he took a turn for the worst. We were really afraid we might loose him over the weekend, but PRAISE JESUS, we did not!!

Would you please, please, please pray for my precious Grandpa?

(This picture was taken at my Grandpa's 77th birthday party this past August.)

My Grandpa has lived his life with a bold passion and love for the Lord that I truly admire! I love my Grandpa dearly. He truly means the world to me and I really can't imagine my life without him here.
The babies and I are heading to the hospital to visit with him this morning.
Please pray for his health to be restored and wisdom for the doctors who care for him.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!!

Our special trip uptown...

Monday was my sweet hubby's 36th birthday.

Since the big kids had the day off from school,
we decided to head uptown to visit Shane at work, and celebrate his birthday over a special lunch.

Instead of driving, we all rode the "train" aka light rail into town
and Shane met us at the end of our ride.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the train ride.

And of course, a few M&M's here and there helped keep the babies entertained on our trip.

Once we got uptown, we headed on over to Shane's office. His co-workers were waiting on us to get there before they cut into Shane's birthday cake. At Shane's office, birthdays are a HUGE deal! They always celebrate and do things up BIG. Well, his birthday was no exception. Shane's boss and co-workers had totally decorated his cube with a "Road/Bike" theme.


OH. MY. GOODNESS--did they ever do it up BIG!

After surveying the damage...we headed out to grab a bite to eat. Mickey D's seemed to get the most vote's from our little clan, so that's just where we went!
(Where else would you eat with 5 little ones?!?!?!)

Shane's boss warned us that she had put up Happy Birthday poster's of Shane's face through out the entire building. It was the kid's job to find them as we walked on over to the restaurant.

They had a BLAST trying to spot these posters. There were some hanging at Starbucks, some on ATM machine's, and even some hanging at the McDonald's we ate at.
(I hate that my camera died before I got a pic of Shane and the kiddo's at lunch. Oh well, just insert a picture of my kiddo's and their Daddy, smiling and eating their french fries here.)

After our "healthy" lunch, it was time to kiss Daddy goodbye and head back home via the train. A sweet celebration and a great afternoon was had by all!

Festive Fall Treats

After we got home from the pumpkin patch on Friday, we were all in a rather

fun, festive, fall mood.

I had planned on making a couple of fall recipes over the coming weeks and already had several ingredients on hand, SO we decided to go ahead and make a few treats that afternoon.

First on our list were these Popcorn Balls. I actually used a recipe that I found in our adoption agencies fall newsletter.

Instructions

Put 12 cups popped popcorn in a mixing bowl large enough to allow for stirring. Mix in 1 1/2 cups candy corn.

Fill a medium-size bowl with ice water and set out a cookie sheet or a piece of waxed paper.

Mix 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup corn syrup, 6 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a 4-quart pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Stop stirring and let the syrup boil until an inserted candy thermometer reaches 275º (a parent's job). Carefully pour the syrup over the popcorn and stir well with a wooden spoon to evenly coat the kernels and candy. Cool slightly.

Quickly dip your hands into the ice water and shape the popcorn into 3-inch balls. Place on waxed paper to cool completely. Tightly wrap the balls individually in plastic.

Makes 18 to 24

These were super easy to make, and the kids had fun getting messy while making these treats.

Adding candy corn to this recipe really makes these balls festive and fun.

Next on our little list were these Acorn treats.
This recipe too was SUPER easy and VERY kid friendly.

They too turned out really cute!

Every Friday afternoon, we get a chance to visit with "A's" mom for about an hour. "A" so...... looks forward to these special times with her sweet mommy, and each week we try to make some sort of treat in anticipation of these visits .

"A" was VERY proud of this little fall assortment of goodies she put together for her mommy!

She couldn't wait to give it to her!

Pumpkin pickin' time!

Friday afternoon I took the kids pumpkin picking at a local farm.

We usually visit Hunter Farms at least twice a year.

Once in the summer for strawberries, and then once again in the fall to pick our pumpkins.
This afternoon, we surprised "the big kids" and picked them up a little early from school.
We ran home quickly and I let "A" and Cor change clothes.
Then it was off to the farm!

The weather could not have been more perfect for pumpkin pickin',
and the kids and I had so much fun!

The kids loved running in and out of this little maze made up of haystacks.
They would race through it to see who could make it to the end the quickest.

Then it was time to jump on a wagon for a hayride.
The wagon took us down to the barn to visit the animals.

"A" and Ri

The kids listened intently as they were taught all about milking "Sissy" the cow!
This cow produces 12 gallons of milk a day...oh my!

They also got to feed a few of the animals in the barn.

Sophie LOVED feeding the goats.

Ri thought these hungry goats were fun too!

Checkin' out the sweet ducks!

After feeding the animals, it was off to "the patch" to find our PERFECT pumpkin!

Sophie thinks she found it!!!

"A" was on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin too!

I love this cute lil' pumpkin!

Hudson found the one he wanted to take home.
He insisted on carrying it all the way to the car too!
Bless his heart!

I got to go home with all five of these sweet little pumpkins!

Ahh...I just HEART FALL!!!