Football and pumpkins

We have been loving our Fall weather. It is a great time of the year for being outside and just playing as a family. This year, I feel so blessed to have the time to actually enjoy the season and cherish our time with the kids. Here are some pictures of some recent fun times....
Yes, Dawson is wearing Caleb's helmet. :) It's the Aggies vs. the Aggies!

The cutest thing ever seen in a helmet...

Enjoying some pumkin patch time with our favorite cousins...(despite the serious faces, there was fun to be had! :)

Getting ready to carve "Jack"

Having fun with the pumpkin goop!

Sonogram

Thank you to all of you who were praying for us and our sonogram. I have to admit I was very anxious about it, and wasn't really able to sleep much the night before. I think it's just because the longer you live, and the more babies you have, the more tragedy and sadness you become aware of. Thankfully, our sonogram went great. The baby measured perfectly, and all of her little parts looked good. And yes, we found out that it is a sweet, little girl!! We are VERY excited about having another girl, and so is Caleb. Surprisingly, when we asked him whether he wanted it to be a boy or a girl, he said, "I like having a sister. I want to have another sister!" So, he was happy about the results. Ellie doesn't seem to understand or care, but I know she is gong to love having a sister, especially so close in age.

Our First Camping Adventure

After years of owning camping equipment, and saying that we want to go camping, we actually did! And it was the best family event EVER! We had so much fun, and the kids did great! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend in Somerville.....
The beginning of the adventure....


Having a blast in the dirty lake...


The start of a successful fire (and I promise Ellie really did have fun :)...


Having fun the next morning--both kids slept like a rock in the tent--Praise God!


My FAVORITE picture of the trip--my angel picking me a flower!

Sweet prayers

I've never blogged twice in one day before, but I felt like this definitely deserved an entry. My sweet son has a nightly routine, which includes praying and singing with both Daddy and me. We take turns and one of us reads, prays and sings with him, and then the other (after putting Ellie down) comes in and prays and sings with him a second time. Children's prayers are precious, no matter what the content. Caleb's prayers are usually a list of names of family and friends that he thanks God for and then he might ask for something, and then sign-off with an 'I love you God, Amen.' But tonight's prayer was a little different. It touched my heart so much, that immediately after saying good night, I wrote it down. I tried to remember most of it word for word. I promise that none of this was prompted or even suggested. Here's my little boy's prayer for tonight:

Deary God-
Thank you for Mommy's shirt.
Thank you for Jesus.
Thank you that Mommy looks like a princess.
Thank you for.....(i missed some of this list--trying not to cry about the princess comment)
Thank you for the people who don't have blankets, or food or people who don't have a house.
Please help them.
Help give them curtains and sunglasses and sisters.
And thank you God for my toys.
Thank you for Santa Claus and my clothes.
I love you God,
Amen.

*One of the many reasons why being a mother is the greatest thing in the world. And I am so blessed to have two little angels of my own.

My AMAZING husband

I have to brag on my incredible husband!! This weekend, Dawson willingly and happily took care of our beautiful children so I could get away with my mom and sisters for a girls' weekend. It was so much fun! And I was so appreciative to him, especially since many men aren't brave enough to take on this intimidating task. However, it was the treatment after I got home that overwhelmed me. As the evening was winding down, I was on the phone with a friend, and I noticed Dawson walking back and forth to our room, seemingly trying to hide things. I was curious, but Dawson is not unaccustomed to strange behavior. :) Anyway, when I get off the phone, Dawson comes in, turns off the t.v and all the lights, and leads me to our room. (don't worry, i am editing) I walk in to our room full of candles and "spa music" and then realize he made me a bubble bath in the bathroom! He even straigthened up the bathroom, so the mood wasn't ruined by the piles of clothes and toys!! The rest of the evening included a foot rub while I was in the bath, as I told him all about my weekend. And then a full body HOUR long massage after the bath. It was heaven!! I kept thanking him and asking him why he was giving me such royal treatment, and he said he just wanted to welcome me home. Anyway, I know this is sappy, and maybe too personal to be blogging about, but I just wanted to tell the world what an awesome husband I have!

Lipstick and the bedside table!

So, I hesitated a little bit in writing this particular entry because of it's questionable nature. But I figured my mother-in-law doesn't really read this, and I think the only man who might occassionally see it is Dustin (who I think knows me well enough not to be shocked by the following material), so here it goes. A few days ago, Ellie found some old lipstick in my bathroom drawer and proceeded to give herself a make-over while Mommy was in the other room. It was cute, so I didn't get too upset. But then this morning, she got into something a little different. It was about 8:30am and I was typing at the computer, looking for campsites at Somerville, and I heard Ellie spitting behind me. Well, I turn around and see her with the KY Jelly bottle in her hand, and gook all over her face. Apparently, Ellie thought this jelly she had found on the bedside table was somehow related to the grape kind in the refrigerator, and she had squeezed some in her mouth. It wouldn't have been so bad if this hadn't been the KY WARMING gel....ya know, the kind that is supposed to tingle, but actually burns like the dickens. Needless to say, my baby's tongue was on fire! I quickly grabbed a big glass of water and poured it down her, while wiping her tongue profusely. She seemed to be fine. And I couldn't help but laugh hysterically, while trying to answer Caleb's questions about the questionable jelly. It was a great Mommy moment!

Fun Times

Our little cowgirl! Ellie is enamored with Bubba's horsie right now. She loves wearing his boots and his hat, and going for an afternoon ride. Of course, she's very Hollywood too, so she needs her shades, even indoors.



And then there's the mud monster! Now, I will say that Daddy was the one who was supposed to be supervising this child while he was in the backyard. But I'm also not the kind of mama who minds dirt and mud. So, I thought it looked pretty cool when he walked INSIDE to show me this new look. Personally, I think that it is way better for a kid to be outside playing in the mud, then to be cooped up in the house watching Disney channel (which, oh my gosh--that damn disney channel is about to drive me crazy!!! I hate those stupid shows and Caleb loves them!) Please forgive the vulgar language, but I have very strong feelings about it. :)