wait. back up.

Gotta go back and cover a couple of things before we finish out the year and the Christmas season. Heavenly days. I did no justice to Fall at all!!

And in the Fall, we have 2 special birthdays! Cannot forget those!

Up first, Milesy-Smilesy. He turned 5 back in September! The big 5! Oh, sure, when they are little it seems like every year older is such a big deal. And it is. But 5!!! I truly think going from 4 to 5 is the most noticeable difference in all the ages we've had so far. 5 is big boy! Cue the smiles and excitement and maybe a little of the tears from this Momma! ;)

This is how our little Milesy-Smilesy wakes up. Typically. Sure, there are some days we all don't want to get up. But, I'd say more often than not, he wakes up the easiest and with the happiest attitude around! As always, we went into his room singing Happy Birthday and getting first-glance morning pics on his big day!

We then followed it up with breakfast at Gibson's! Because, of course! Breakfast of champions, indeed! Our little cutie is a goof-ball! Always having fun!!

And so since we started the day with donuts, why not have Chick-Fil-A with friends for lunch? And then why not have his choice of dinner (which was 5 Guys) at another super healthy establishment! Healthy, no. Yummy, yes! That sums up his big day! :)

But Miles' birthday was filled with friends and family, Abe and Walker for lunch and Mimi, Grandpa, Aunt Mary & Uncle Kevin for dinner---along with us! What a special day!

We followed his birthday with a party with the rest of his friends! He's had a pumpkin painting party for the past 3 years! He LOVES to paint and LOVES pumpkins and has asked for the same party over and over! It's easy-peasy and so much fun, so why not? I didn't get one good shot of a painted pumpkin with Miles in it, but trust us, Miles, they were beautifully and awesomely decorated pumpkins!!

Love this crazy shot!! Look at each of these faces! Priceless!!

We love you so much, Birthday Boy! You are a true blessing with your sweet heart, infectious smile and joyful attitude! You are a delight!! We pray that you will continue to be filled with a heart of compassion, show love to others and know how much you are loved by us and even more so by our Lord!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Miles!

what your breakfast needs | Day 27

Breakfast, especially on school mornings tends to be the easiest and quickest things we can get on a plate. Think cereal bar/yogurt, waffles and peanut butter, or raisin bread and peanut butter. Which in turn means, we have only a few items that we rotate through our week. Which in turn means, sometimes, breakfast gets boring. There's not a lot of time for bacon and eggs and my littles can be a smidge picky, so they aren't huge fans of smoothies or oatmeal or whatever it is the rest of the world eats.

But then comes Fall! I love being able to throw different items into our mix and Fall brings muffins! Like these chocolate chip pumpkin muffins! My sweet friend shared them with me years ago and they do not disappoint! Soooo delish! Maybe not technically light as in cooking light, but they certainly lighten our breakfast experience! My boys start asking about them as soon as they see the first pumpkin! Here's a little happy--a must have muffin--for your breakfast rotation!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

1 and 2/3 c. flour

1  c. sugar

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 large eggs

1 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. melted butter

1 c. chocolate chips (I used a smidge less--shockingly)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spices, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl. In a small bowl, beat eggs, pumpkin, and butter. Add this to the large bowl of dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon mixture into greased muffin pan or use paper cups. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!

4 boys + 1 man = the lights of my life | Day 25

Life isn't always perfect. Sometimes, life is hard. But I recently heard it said, that if life is hard, but the relationships in your life are good, then really, life is good. But if life is good and your relationships are bad, then really, life is bad.

I'm thankful my life is good. Not without problems, or issues to be worked through, but good. The Lord is faithful and never leaves us and he has blessed me with a husband who is the same. Faithful and loving. He has made our quiver full, and even when life with 4 boys seems so loud and crazy, we wouldn't change it for anything! Even when Hubby and I work through difficult times, the Lord brings us out stronger. I would not want to do life without my man!

Thank you Lord, for my boys and my man--my pumpkins!

The lights of my life!

I love my family!

I am truly blessed!

short and sweet, trick or treat recap

The day was supposed to be 100% rain non-stop. I even waited until last minute to buy candy because I thought Halloween was going to be rained out. But all of the kiddos in our city were elated no doubt, when the rain ended mid-afternoon!

Hubby and I don't get overly excited about Halloween on our own. But having littles who get excited, get me that way too. It's always a hustle-bustle crazy-type evening--getting everyone in costume and fed earlier than usual. And last night was no different. Our people were pumped, and distracted, already having candy from school festivities. We even had a last minute wardrobe change, which threw a couple of people into a tizzy (like big bro, who wanted to be original, but had a little bro, who wanted to be identical)! For example, someone started as Captain America. . .

and ended as. . .a Jedi, just like big bro! :)

But eventually, after ghost bananas and trick or treating earlier in the week at Daddy's office. . .we made it out and about on Halloween!

We sure do love our little "treats!" 

Now onto November!!

Happy Friday!

a pumpkin patch tradition + a good book!

A couple of weekends ago, it was time to get our pumpkins picked and head down to the pumpkin patch! We love this place and enjoy the hay ride, pumpkin patch, playground, corn and hay maze and more every year. It is truly a fun tradition!

We kick our excursion off with a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. It was really chilly that morning, and windy too, so little Waybe was wrapped up looking like a shepherd! We sure didn't expect the wind! But, hey. I'll take snuggles any day of the week!

The pumpkins were great this year, but I think my pumpkins were the cutest! :)

And last night was time for the carving! During the World Series of course--it's tradition. And what can I say? I'm a tradition-loving kinda girl! This year Luke designed the eyes, Miles designed the nose and Charlie designed the mouth---well and then Daddy interpreted their designs. The final outcome?

"Jack" was born and a boy pumpkin he is. The boys were, naturally, interested in the goop inside the pumpkin and were able to touch and feel the insides. We talked about how the insides of a pumpkin are goopy and yucky like our sin inside of us and we followed up our discussion with reading one of our favorite Fall books, The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. She tells a story of a farmer and his pumpkin patch and how we are like pumpkins, scooped out and saved by the Lord and created to be lights for Him for the world to see. If you haven't read this story, it's not too late to check out the library or your local church bookstore. But, here's a link to this sweet book, filled with Scripture, on Amazon. We think it's a good book to have in your family library!

#3 turns 3! Happy Birthday Miles!

Happy 3rd Birthday Miles!

Our little Miles, you turned 3 two weeks ago! You are in a big boy bed and potty trained and have just about the sweetest heart around! You don't ask for much (except to not take a nap or go to sleep). You are so content and loving, it warms our hearts. Your name means "Heart of Compassion" and it describes you perfectly!

Our tradition of taking a birthday photo first thing in the morning captures YOU! I mean, check out your smile (and big cut/bruise from a fall at the park a week before)!! 

You love donuts, we all do, and Daddy took you to pick out donuts for everyone on your birthday morning! You were thrilled!!

You were up in the air on what you wanted for your birthday party---just not needing something specific, not knowing you could actually choose something instead of your brothers choosing things for you! :) So, we had a pumpkin painting party with some of your friends! You were so excited about painting and about your train cake you helped me pick out (since our cake lady was booked-boo)!

Pumpkin painting and popcorn with friends was lots of fun! We're so thankful for friends you love and who love you!!

 

You were overwhelmed with opening presents with our family later that night. You've just never really thought about getting things for you. Sure, there are times and days when you want such and such at that exact moment and we all hear about it. But usually, life doesn't revolve around "things" for you. And we are so thankful! Oh, how we try to teach you and your brothers that things of this world are not what matters---but the Lord and your heart are most important.

Miles, we love you with all of our hearts! You could not be more precious to us! Some of our favorite things you say right now are "I want to make a fork!" when you really mean fort. Every time! You call Starbucks, "Starbox" and I love it! You like to go to Starbox for cake pop treats with Mommy! You also say "broking" for broken and the way you have streams of consciousness when you talk on the phone, or just don't want us to leave your room at night. It usually begins with, "I'm hungry. Because I want some gummies. Because I didn't get to swing today. Because Way is sleeping and I love my Bubba and so on and so on. It's adorable! Plus there's more. . .

You have just discovered the Little Einsteins and love it! 

You say I'm sorry whenever you accidentally hurt anyone.

You ask if people are okay when they are hurt or sad.

You think Way is so cute and say it all the time!

You love to make Way laugh by running back and forth across the den!

You want to do things by yourself.

You sleep with Bubba, Popcorn, Pockadoodle (named by you) and now Pooh

You are our outdoorsy boy! You don't ever want to come inside!!

You love to sing!

You are Luke and Charlie's little shadow!

You love to eat cereal bars, yogurt, bananas, gummies, pizza and quesadillas!

You love going to church and school and your friends house and Target and the grocery store and Mimi and Grandpas and the beach and . . .

Miles, you just love living life!!!

Mommy and Daddy pray that you will always know how much we love you and how much Jesus loves you! Happy 3rd Birthday sweet, sweet boy!!

Not a fierce smile, but a smile that every 2-3 year old in our family adopts at this age! Gotta love it!!

a pumpkin we will find. . .

A pumpkin we will find, a pumpkin we will find, off to the pumpkin patch, for a pumpkin we will find!

Actually, we weren't searching for pumpkins at this pumpkin patch this year, as we already found ours prior to this trip. However, this trip has been a tradition for the past several years and we didn't want to miss it! Baby Way joined us for his first trip, and I, his Mommy, am to blame for getting our little bundle his first sun-burn. Poor baby! He wasn't bothered at all and it may just have been a little color. Heaven knows our little family must watch out for sun (but in late October??) with our fair skin!

Sweet Baby Way slept a bit on our trip, but our others were in full force! 

They combed the pumpkin patch (and this is how it is everyday--big brother leads and little brother follows!)

 and even posed for a pic for Mommy!

  After multiple hayrides and tackling the corn maze, it was time to head home, but not before a sweet soul offered to take a family pic! Thank you, kind lady! And, thank you Cedar Hill Farms--our fun tradition continued!

hello pumpkins!

Hello 50 degrees! Does this mean I can officially turn off our air-conditioning? Hello rain and warm sweaters! I am ready to pull out little Miles' flannel crib sheets and add the olders warm blankets on their beds! Hello yummy smell of chili simmering in the crockpot! Watching the countdown on the crockpot everytime I walk by it in the kitchen has been painful--I can't wait for comfort food tonight!

Just a few days ago it was hot, for October anyway! I think it might have been our first family trip to the pumpkin patch in shorts and short sleeves! Well, except for Miles--he had a pumpkin outfit that had to be worn anyway! But the heat didn't stop us. We climbed on the tractor and headed off to the pumpkin patch. . .

Where Miles discovered he loves pumpkins. . .

and wasn't going to sit still too long. . .

because he had a hay maze to tackle and a photo to pose for that will make the little girls (and his Mommy) melt. . .

And older brothers climbed huge barrels of hay. . .

and had a blast swingin' on a tire. . .

Do you think they enjoyed the pumpkin patch?

I think so! Thanks again Cedar Hill Farms! You never disappoint!