Decorating......

We love to put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving! This year it was delayed a few days because we had to replace it and we hadn't planned on that. Sam loved putting up a few old ornaments that I had from when the boys were young. Cookie Monster, Thomas the Train and all that fun stuff that makes a little one light up. He is pretty good about leaving the other ornaments alone so that helps! It is so pretty and it helps me embrace the shorter days because it looks so pretty all lite up. We have the manger underneath the tree that I made with Andrew was a baby. Sam keeps knocking over everyone though. :) That boy! Luckily it is fabric so no harm done.

Sentimental Sunday.....

People person at heart!

Sam is a people person at heart! He also loves anything long (pencils, nail files, spoons and scarfs!) so we had to snap this picture recently when our dear friend and photographer was loving on him after our family photo shoot.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!!

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. -W. J. Cameron

A big week for our independent little guy!

This was a big week for Sam! Lots of milestones. Some great and some that brought a bit of challenge to the week. He climbed (fell) out of his bed, learned to climb up on Jacobs bed, learn to open doors and climb on the step stool on his own. Praise God he was OK after the bed incident and hasn't tried it since. It was a scary moment and hoping he is scared enough to never try it again. One morning I was feeding him his cereal (oatmeal with banana mixed it) and he was fussing something awful. I thought it might be his teeth. I walked away to get something and when I turned around he had the biggest grin on his face and was saying , "MMMMMMMMMMM" and was a very happy boy! Yep, all he wanted to do was feed himself. He has been using a fork for a few months and was trying to let his mama know it was time to progress to the spoon.

Family times......

We were blessed with a visit from Trae's mom and James. We had a great day with them and as you can tell Sam really enjoyed it too! We tried to snap some great pictures to capture the moments. They are going to stop back by on their way out of town too. Getting to spend time with family around the holidays makes it seem a little more like the holiday time to us. We will be headed to my moms this Thanksgiving and are looking forward to a 4 day weekend.

A little under the weather.....

Sam loves Elmo! I found his these Elmo slippers recently and he enjoys wearing them. He has had a fever the past few days so we have been hanging out at home, reading books and watching waaaaaay more kids shows than normal. It appears to be something throat related with some major teething added in. I took him to the Dr. this morning just to make sure it wasn't anything else and praise God everything tested negative. So we are praying, watching Sesame Street and grateful for motrin!

Fall photo session.....

We had a family photo shoot this afternoon with all 5 of us! It will be a couple of weeks before we have our pictures but we snapped a few along the way with our camera and so I am posting those! It was a blessing to have everyone there together. Sweet Amy did our pictures and we LOVE her!!! She did Sams 1 year pictures and my turning 40 pictures earlier this year. We were blessed with beautiful weather today which we were very grateful for. You never know in Texas but she is booked for months straight so rescheduling isn't easy! Pictures mean so much to both Trae and I so I feel immense gratitude to have been blessed with capturing our family today.

Our Jacob.....

So many special things about this guy. He is kind, loves people, love to sleep, loves homemade meals and gets really excited about anything mom is making in the kitchen. That totally warms this mama's heart. He also loves to be outdoors. He typically spends as much time outside as possible. I think he was one of the only kids outside last winter trying to find something to do or someone to play with when it was 35 degrees out. These pictures were taken at Pine Cove which is his favorite place to be. Matter of fact he drank his first root beer the day I took these pictures and although he hasn't drank once since he has started having some Gatorade. That was a big step for this water only guy! He is still loving riding his bike, playing basketball, football and riding his skateboard. He is showing an enjoyment for taking things apart too. His fondness for tools appears to be growing! He is 13 years old, 7th grade and recently returned to public school. He is feeling his way around and we are trusting God for provision for our son.

Street signs.....

A friend of mine has a photography business and she has several aspects of her photography one is street signs. She takes pictures of street signs that are names and sells them. While we were on our trip I saw this sign and thought it was neat. When we were uploading pictures I was so glad to see Trae took a picture of it. His real name is Mason and his dad lives in San Antonio so it was very fitting! His dads name is Mason too. Trae is the 3rd so that is why he goes by Trae. Just a fun little something I wanted to share.

Our fun $2 find!

Perfect for little bottoms full of big creativity! That is what I thought when I stumbled upon it at a yard sale. Actually, when I saw the price I asked the seller what is wrong with it? She had it priced for $2. I would have gladly paid 4-5 times that but I was thrilled to not have to. I brought it home, cleaned it up and found a spot for it that works well. This is in our sunroom and with the concrete floors and lots of natural light it is perfect for our creative boy! Don't you love those baby Crocs he has on??? A few years ago when I saw the little baby Crocs I used to smile and think we might have to have a baby so we can purchase those sweet little Crocs! Sam loves them too and guess what? They were also a yard sale find and they cost $1. :)

Quality time away.....

We had the blessing of getting away for our 5th anniversary and it was a sweet time away. We went to Fredericksburg, Texas. It is a quaint town in the Texas Hill Country that is perfect for a long weekend away. To make it even more perfect we were blessed with 70 and sunny the entire visit. Trips to us are all about just being together. We savor long talks, reading and talking about what we read, listening to a teaching that is inspiring, browsing shops and dining at places that we enjoy and I have researched in advance because life is to short for so so food. Luckily we did a lot of walking to help with all the yummy meals. I am a blessed woman and trips like these with a focused time away are a sweet reminder of the love we share, what truly matters in life and how grateful we are for one another.

5 years ago today......

5 years ago today I married my best friend. He is Gods gift to me and the love of my life. I am forever grateful and will spend a lifetime showing him my love for him. In this picture we are driving off for our honeymoon! Tomorrow we leave for 3 days away just us! We are grateful to be able to escape and take time for just us.

Tears.....

Sam LOVES to play outside. Sometimes he will transition from playing outside to going in easily but as you can see from the picture sometimes not. :) He loves playing outside with his daddy!

Fall with friends.....

We were blessed this weekend to get to gather with friends and celebrate fall. Sam enjoyed it too! We love a great potluck, fellowship, friendship and laughter.