Fall Festival and Baby Stuff!

 Josiah was dressed up as Woody for the Fall Festival

 This is Hannah the Butterfly

 Josiah actually loved the trampoline this time! He played on it as long as it was these two little boys with him or no one. He didn't like the big kids. :)

 They did some apple bobbing for the kids and some of the guys did it as well. We enjoyed ourselves very much. It was a nice low key activity where we were able to just relax and talk with friends while the kids wore themselves out playing with each other.

***

 While in Alaska my sister in law took me to some of the cutest shops. We went into a vintage shop where I found this adorable little dress and bonnet. I couldn't pass it up!  I loved the smocking but the bonnet sold me on it!

 You know, just in case we have a girl! :)

 I have always wanted a Vera Bradley bag and my sweet sis in law got this one for me since I needed a larger bag to carry the stuff that wouldn't fit in my suitcase. It also can double as a diaper bag!

A dear friend has already given me some formula, and my sister is packing up some of her stuff Emelyn can no longer use. :) I am very thankful for what all these blessings represent. Not only the little blessing that is on the way but for the family and friends that love on me and my family.

Oh, and I have to mention my mom is making me fried speckled perch and cheese grits for supper tomorrow night. I've been dreaming about that meal for the last two weeks, and I can't wait!!! :D

Oh, BABY!!!

Josiah wants to tell you something special!!!

We are very happy to announce that our family is getting bigger!

We look forward to welcoming a new little one into our family around the end of April!

Psalm 127:3-5

 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Snow!

 I woke up this morning to much more snow than yesterday morning! It is coming down pretty good today! My Monday is off to a good start! :)

 My Mother in laws fall people are a little chilled...

It is only about 32* outside, so it feels really good. At least in my opinion. I think I was made to enjoy cooler weather. I could really see how much more fun Christmas would be if we had snow like this in Florida. I've been singing Christmas songs all morning.

Hope all my peeps in Florida don't sweat too much today! :-P
Hee hee hee!
Joy

Blessed...

Blessed that while I am so far away from my wonderful husband and son that I have technology at my finger tips that allows me to see and talk to my family. Thank you Skype and of course my wonderful cell phone has gotten a work out.

Josiah with his new toy from Daddy

 Watching Mommy during devotions

 J just being cute

 The two dearest people on earth to me

Blessed because my hubby let me fly to Alaska to see my best friend during one of the most precious times of her life. I could not put into words (without crying) what it has meant to me to be here to spend time with Sami and to hear Ailey cry (from the hallway) for the first time. Precious memories, for sure.

Ailey getting checked out by the pediatrician in the nursery

Ailey saying hi to her 2 Grandma's and me- her 3 biggest fans (besides her Mommy and Daddy, of course)!

Blessed because we have wonderful family and friends that have helped Michael out tremendously by babysitting Josiah and fixing them meals or taking them out to eat. And In-Laws that have driven me places and don't mind my coming and going at odd and various times.

Blessed because I know Christ as my Lord and Savior!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."  James 1:17

Jennifer's Bday Dinner @ PF Changs!

The Birthday Girl!

...getting a birthday kiss from her hubby.

 Me and Michael

 THE FOOD. OH. THE. FOOD.

It was incredible!

This is a lettuce wrap. DELISH!

 Crab Wontons... OUT OF THIS WORLD!

 Crispy Green Beans... Surprisingly very good!

 Sweet and Sour & Egg Drop Soup... Not a fan of either.

 The Main Courses!!!

We each ordered something but we all ate something of everyone's. It was fun! :)

My favorite dishes were the Honey Chicken, the Spicy Chicken, and the Orange Peel Beef. Go figure I didn't like what I ordered, but it all got eaten... except maybe the rice.

Right after this picture we had our waitress take a group shot of us and when I tried to hand her my camera I totally dropped it and broke it. :'(

So I used my phone the rest of the night.

We each got a mini dessert. This is Michael's cheesecake which was really good!

 After dinner we walked around the Mall at Millinia which totally makes you feel... poor. lol

Here are the attempts at us girls trying to take a picture of us with my phone while we waited for the guys to get the cars.

 And then some random guy walks up to us and volunteers to take our picture for us. lol We were having fun being goofy and he had to go and ruin it. :)

We had a great night laughing with each other! We appreciated Jennifer giving us a reason to get together again. Happy Birthday, my dear friend! I hope you enjoyed your night out!

Yard Sales, Parties, and A Good Neighbor

Me, Michael, Josiah, Dory, & Baby Hannah all piled into the truck and headed to Celebration this morning. I was so pleased with the cool weather we had, it made walking around so much more enjoyable! We were hunting with furniture in mind like end tables or a small table, but we were not having any luck finding something that was priced right and still in good condition.

What we did find though is something I've been wanting to get Michael for a very long time. I also wanted one so it just worked out! :)

Isn't it beautiful?!!! 

Thanks to the skills taught by Dave Ramsey, Michael was able to steal buy that bad boy for only $80! It retails around $230 and it is in excellent condition. 

Now we just have to save up to buy a propane tank. lol

Then in the afternoon we went to a birthday party for Mayson.

 The grand total of all two pictures I took :(

I was fixing to take a picture of the cute little birthday boy and then Michael calls my name. Josiah decided to poop in his underwear because he was so distracted with all his cousins toys. Arg! I was just bragging to my sister how I've not had to deal with really any accidents for weeks. So I don't have a picture of Mayson and I've learned my lesson about bragging. :-/

Once we came home we got busy working around the house. Michael took down the windows that was on the screened in porch. I helped by unscrewing a ton of brackets. The boys got a haircut somewhere throughout all that, a load of laundry got done (which may or may not still be in the dryer), and the step outside of the porch got re-done.

Another project that Michael and I started working on was duct taping a broken screen so it would stop flapping and hopefully keep out the bugs. It was only meant to be temporary since we didn't have the screen or tools needed. We got it almost done when a neighbor came over to introduce himself and 'help' us with our screen. 

He said he heard the duct tape, saw what we were doing and cringed. lol He took one look at our redneck rigging and said he'd be right back. When he came back he had a piece of screen, a ladder, and the tools to replace the screen!

He owns his own contractor company, the t-shirt he was wearing advertised the re-screening portion of the company. (We are still laughing about it!) It took him no more than 10 minutes to replace our screen for us.

We seriously have some awesome neighbors! We are so thankful that this is the house and neighborhood that God put us in. 

It has been a very full day and I am looking forward to a little sleep and then Church in the morning! 

Have a wonderful night!