Pirate Party

The end of the treasure hunt.

Where's the treasure?

Every party has a spill(or 2).

The birthday boy.


Happy Birthday Caden! We Love You!

ARRGH Mateys!!

Today was a full day. Caden turns 5 in a few days and we had his birthday party today. I am a cheap-o when it comes to parties, but my kids seem to enjoy them. We have a great place to play so we just have a giant play date. The theme this year was pirates so we made map-like invitations, the kids and I made a cannonball pinata, we had a treasure chest b-day cake, ate cannonballs(grapes) and fish(goldfish), drank ale(tang), they walked the plank(which landed in a huge pile of leaves), and finished up with a treasure hunt. It took weeks of planning and it was over in two hours but it was so worth it. Caden gave me a big hug and said it was "perfect". The smile on his face and twinkle in his eyes would make me do it all over again tomorrow.
I will be posting pictures later. Time for this matey to hit the sack.

Why Lord?

Well, why not? Have you ever gone through something hard, I mean really hard and thought why me Lord? Then God said well, why not? He says there will be hard times but yet sometimes I feel I should be immune. Not the case. I am thankful that God has seen me through some very difficult things in life. Even when I wasn't walking with Him I can see His hand of protection.

I have a dear friend who going through a desert right now. Her life literally turned upside down overnight. She has had to make hard choices that have broken her heart. If you get a chance pray for my friend. I am not sharing all the details but God knows.

Thank you so much.

She's ten

The beautiful girl above is my niece. She turned 10 last week and I really cannot believe it. I have been writing a post in my head all week but life has been crazy. Anyway, let me start at the beginning. I have a half-sister but honestly writing that seems weird. I have never thought of her that way until someone ask why my sister is 13 years older than me. Then I say, "oh yeah, well my mom's first husband(my sister's dad) died in an motorcycle accident. Then my mom married my dad and had my brother and I. I remember when I was growing up loving to go in my sister's room. She always had lots of makeup and pretty clothes and the best shoes. I liked to go jump on her bed and look at her magazines. She started dating this nice tall man and I kicked him because he took her away. She married him and I cried. The day she told me she was going to have a baby was my 8th grade graduation and when she lost it I cried. Several times over the years I mourned the loss of a niece or nephew. We stayed close. My sister always did special things for me like braid my hair, took me to the fair and when I was in college she worked at a job that had a 800 number or I probably wouldn't have survived. I called everyday. When I got married the 13 year age difference got smaller and smaller. After 15 years of marriage, she calls and tells me she is over 4 months pregnant. I was shocked and so was she. We shopped and painted and got very excited about this little girl that was on the way. My sister was scared about having a baby at 36 but what a blessing she has been. Then 3 years after my niece was born the 13 year age difference diminished once again. I had a baby and now we were in the same stage of life. I know God's timing is perfect and it has been wonderful raising kids with my sister.
Now back to the birthday girl. My niece is so smart and witty. She has a mind of own and a heart of gold. I have always shared a special closeness with her and I pray that this year will be a great year. I love you Tay.

Fall is Fun!!

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the cool weather and the beautiful changes in nature. I love that it gets darker sooner so that my kids are inside for a little more snuggle time. Things slow down and we read more, play more board games and I get a lot more lap time than in the summer. We have had a fun Fall playing in the leaves, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.












As you can see we had a great time carving and I think I had the cutest superheroes and princess around. What do you think?

Pray Please

If you could take a moment to pray for Stellan. He is having a major heart procedure in Boston right now. You can check out his story at www.mycharmingkids.net.

Thank You so much.
Tara

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not find Sophie going potty(#2) and crying because she sprayed her "girlie" with lysol because "It really stink bad mommy." Nope not me.

I did not find all three of my monkeys riding slick sleeping bags down our stairs. My calm children would never do that.

I did not dust bust the big dirt off the carpet before company showed up because I missed my vaccuming day this week.

I did not feed my children PBJ's for 4 out of 6 meals in two days because I had not been to the grocery store. I would never.

I did not grumpily tell Ethan that 6:15am was too early to get up and to please go back to sleep. NO not me.

I did not then get up with Ethan 5 mornings last week by 6:30 and then tell him that my brain was only ready to listen to God speak. If he could please stop talking. Not me I am Miss Sunshine in the morning.

I did not make a game out of smashing semi-rotten pumpkins on the trees behind our house, so I could finish cleaning the bathrooms and then have to give all 3 a bath.

I hope all have a wonderful Monday. I am going to bed because daylight savings time is killing me. It has actually turned out to be a blessing to have one-on-one time with Ethan and he is having a Quiet Time with me as we snuggle on the couch every morning.

Tara