fall fun

Bryce has been patiently awaiting the day we could rake the leaves in the front yard.  Most of the leaves have fallen so Jason had planned to cut the grass and clean up the yard for hopefully the last time of the season on Saturday.  Bryce was excited to share in the excitement with Chase. 

 

 

Flying leaves make the best pictures!

 

 

They had so much fun! 

 

and a video for fun

 

 

operation christmas child

Each year our youth group participates in Operation Christmas Child.  Sunday night we unloaded the church bus at Dollar Tree and the students stormed the store in search of the perfect gifts to send to a special child who ordinarily wouldn't get to experience Christmas.  My MOPS group is also participating in Operation Christmas Child so since Bryce is at the age now that he can understand giving to others and he's old enough to pick out reasonable gifts, we decided to do a box as a family.  We took the kids to Dollar Tree yesterday and let Bryce pick out gifts for a 2-4 year old boy!

 

 

He had a great time picking out toys for the little boy.  He and Emmy may have also gotten a football for themselves.  When we talked about this at home, we told him he and Emmy wouldn't be getting gifts because we were doing something special for someone else.  However, Jason has been looking for a nerf football to throw with Bryce so it kind of just happened.  Oops!  But it didn't take away from the experience and the purpose of it.

 

Emmy was a big helper.

 

Bryce took over once the basket got too heavy. 

 

The organization has guideline and suggestions so we tried to get a variety of things.  We got some essentials like soap, socks, toothbrushes,  a rag and a flashlight and then Bryce picked out some fun things that will hopefully put a smile on a little boy's face.  He got a coloring book, markers, monster trucks, a police car, a football, a whale, a Mickey Mouse bag, and dum dums (Emmy had carried them off somewhere before I snapped the picture).

 

I wrapped the plastic bin and Bryce helped fill it.  I took a picture of the kids and Bryce made a Christmas card for the boy and we taped the picture inside so he would know who sent the gift.

 

This is such a great organization and a fun tradition to start with our kids.  It's so important to us to teach our kids the value of giving and not focus on receiving at Christmas.  Sure it's fun to get gifts, but Jesus was the best gift we could ever be given and we need to remember to honor Him first during the Christmas season and not just focus on the things we want!

 

And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need.  These are the sacrifices that please God.

 

Hebrews 13:16 (NLT) 

a view from my phone

I felt like I started off with a bang in November and was posting regularly. Then, life happened and I got behind again.

 

 

I went to a craft show with my mom two weeks ago and Emmy tagged along with us.  We didn't bring the stroller because we didn't want to be "those people" clogging the aisle.  Emmy fell asleep about five minutes in.  Here we were taking a break on the bench because my arm was quite tired from carrying her around.

 

While we were off shopping at the craft show, Bryce was at school looking super cute for picture day.  The pictures are in and as always, he's the cutest little boy ever!

 

We voted last week!

 

Bryce has always been my three hour afternoon napper.  I thought for sure I'd be weaning him off naps to get ready for school next year, but he seems to have grown out of them.  However, I guess it all caught up with him the other day because he was too tired for quiet time and fell asleep on his floor.

 

Jason "needed" this monkey mask from the Halloween clearance section at Walmart.  This is how Bryce greeted me the other morning when I got out of the shower.  You can say I was a little startled to see this as I stepped out the shower.  YIKES!

 

Jason was off last Friday so we had a fun afternoon after Bryce got out of school.  We went to lunch at Chick Fil A, went to a special place to make a gift for someone special (I can't post the pictures or it would give it away), and ended the outing with Sweet Frog!

five on friday

I'm linking up with Darci and the girls again this week with some of my favorites from the week!

ONE: Marley Lilly monogrammed leather cuff bracelet.  I need one of these.  I came across these the other day on Pinterest and fell in love. When I went to their website, I found all of the other colors available.  What a hard decision.  I really like the mint, orange, silver mocha, and so many more!



 

 

 

 

TWO: Sunshine box/basket.  I have seen these on Pinterest and other blogs and I just love the concept of sending someone a little "sunshine" to put a smile on their face.  I recently had a friend who was in definite need of one of these so with a little help from friends, we came up with lots of fun yellow things for the basket.  Here were some of the things we started with.  The yellow bag on the right had Burt's Bees hand cream, a yellow nail file, yellow Essie nail polish and Juicy Fruit gum. 

 

 

My friend, Beth, created that super cute sunshine printable for me to add a little extra cheer.  You should definitely check out her Etsy shop if you want to send someone a little sunshine, or if you're in the market for invitations, fun printables, and even Christmas cards!   

 

 

Here it is all finished.  Some of the things we added to the things you saw above were golden Oreos, a Hallmark blooming expression and Burt's Bees lip balm.

 

THREE: White Chicken Chili.  I went to a friend's Christmas pajama party one year and she served the best white chicken chili I have ever eaten.  I actually think it was the first time I had ever had white chicken chili.  I got her recipe and I have been making it ever since.  This past weekend my MOPS group had a family chili cook-off and I brought the white chicken chili.  And guess what?!?  I WON!!

 

I forgot to take a picture of my chili, but this one looked the most like mine and when I checked the recipe, it was very similar.

White Chicken Chili

1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (or smaller)
1 med. onion chopped
1-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilis
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (we add more sometimes)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onions and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 30 min. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and whipping cream. Serve immediately. (7 servings)

FOUR: Lark bake shoppe and café.  For any of you locals, this is a must try!  I always feel bad promoting other bakeries since Jason's family is in the bakery business, but this is a different type of bakery so I guess it's ok.  I got a salted caramel dulce de leche cupcake and it was SO good.  We'll definitely visit again soon!.

 

FIVE:  Upside down Christmas trees.  What in the world?  I stumbled on these when I was searching for a new Christmas tree the other day and I thought it was so strange.  Is it a new trend?  I'm not sure I could get into this look, but I googled it and found tons of images of other people who apparently like the look.  I'm not sure I'll be getting into this trend anytime soon!

 Happy Friday!

emmy at 21 months

This little sweetie is 21 months old today!

 

I took this picture on Sunday so it's a few days early, but look at that dress!

What are you up to these days?

 

You wear a size 4 diaper, size 5 shoes, 18mo pants, and 18mo and 2T shirts.

 

You continue to be so happy with a smile on your face.

 

Your vocabulary continues to increase and you can communicate back and forth one word at a time!

 

You still don't have much of an interest in learning letters, colors, and shapes, but you do have a few tricks you pull out every now and then.

 

You enjoy music and you're learning the words to Bryce's songs for his Christmas program at church and it's so cute.

 

You want to do everything Bryce is doing and you have no fear!

 

You're on about round 4 or 5 of a cold for the season already.  Ugh!

 

You love to cuddle and will fall asleep anywhere. 

 

You are 3 months away from being 2.  How can that be?!?

We love you sweet Emmy girl.

happy birthday, taylor

Taylor turned 4 on Friday and we had fun celebrating with her at Pump It Up!

 

 

Emmy didn't meet the height requirement for the inflatables so she just played on the bouncy part of the entrance ramps!

 

She only played on the ramps until we got in trouble and she was banned to the toddler area.  MeMa helped entertain her with the camera!

 

The group picture.  Cameras just don't take good pictures in these places.

 

Birthday girl. 

 

CUPCAKES

 

 

YUM

 

 

Emmy and the birthday girl in the inflatable chair.  We didn't get in trouble for this one! 

 

Chase and Bryce in the birthday chair!

 

Happy Birthday, Taylor!

fall ball

Since today was the last day of the season, I thought I'd better pull out the camera for the first time.  Oops!  We had the first game of the day so we had to get the field ready.  The kids were excited to help!

 

 

Since fall ball isn't as formal as the spring season, there are no formal pictures.  I begged the coach (Jason), hehe, to let us get a picture before the game.  He agreed to it and then when I reminded him of it today, he said I better be quick.  He took his job as coach very seriously and wasn't going to make anyone wait for the team on account of a picture.  Sheesh!

 

We could not have asked for a better team this year.  The kids were much more well behaved and interested in playing than the kids on his t-ball team last year!

 

Bryce really enjoys baseball.  He's a good listener and a quick learner.

 

There weren't enough boys to make a league for t-ball and coach pitch for the fall so they combined them and it was all coach pitch.  Bryce really liked this so I think we'll skip t-ball this spring and do coach pitch again!

 

Bryce and Jason have been working on hitting.  He makes contact with the ball quite often, but he fouls most of the off.  Poor Bryce is so small that when he does get a good hit they don't go far because he's so little and can't get much power behind it.  But boy does he try! 

 

We handed out trophies and celebrated with cupcakes after the game today!

 

Even Emmy got a cupcake.  We're so thankful to Jason's parents and my parents for helping out with Emmy during the games this season.  Since Jason was coaching and I was in the dugout as the team mom, it was hard for me to keep an eye on Emmy and entertain her.

 

Bryce and his preschool buddy Henry and his brother Peter.

 

Way to go Braves!

5 on friday

November is here and what a fun way to start off the month!  I'm linking up with the girls (Darci, April, Christina and Natasha again this week for another edition of 5 on Friday.

 

 

one

 

Emmy girl has always been my cuddler and boy do I love it.  Bryce never wanted to sit in my lap and never wanted to be rocked to sleep, but this girl is different!  We climbed up in my bed on Monday to watch a cartoon while Bryce was at school and she was asleep in seconds.  I savored every second of it.  I hated to wake her when we had to get Bryce from school.

 

 

two

 

I had to put Emmy in timeout for the first time Wednesday night for biting Bryce.  We never had to deal with biting with Bryce and we never used timeout with him because he didn't really understand it.  But last night Jason was busy so I had to put her in timeout so I could deal with Bryce who was crying hysterically.  She was so pitiful, but she truly did seem to understand what she had done. 

 

three

 

I don't know what I'd do without Pinterest.  It really has helped me stay in the loop with new fashion trends.  I feel like it takes me a while to get back into fashion after having kids, but now I have help at my fingertips.  I've noticed the blazer trend is big right now and I really like this look.

source

 I found this blazer at Target on Saturday and couldn't wait to wear it to church on Sunday.  I wasn't sure if I really liked the black shirt with it, but when I tried a white shirt with it, I realized the white stripe was more of a dull white and it just didn't look as good.

 

four

 

People without kids probably look forward to changing the clocks and "falling" back and getting that extra hour of sleep.  However, those of us with kids dread it like the plague.  I finally have Bryce sleeping in until 7:30 (yes, that's sleeping in) and now he'll be up at 6:30 again.  I have been loving our routine and now it's going to be turned upside down. 

 

 

five

 

Jason has been traveling with work quite a bit lately and he was in Philadelphia this week.  When he was there a couple of weeks ago he had hoped to climb the Rocky steps but the entire complex was shut down in preparation for a Jay-Z concert.  He had much better luck this week and was able to pose with the Rocky statue!  I think he looks just like him, don't you?

 

 

Happy Friday, y'all.  And I promise, I do take pictures of Bryce, but apparently there weren't any that I hadn't already shared this week!