Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Our Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends and Family, 

You can see that our annual Christmas letter has taken on a different form this year. With the busy-ness of the holiday season, we thought that it might be simpler to just send you our letter in electronic form for you to read at your convenience. And just think, its one less thing you have to toss into the garbage can or leave to collect dust on your desk! 

We pray that this season finds each of you doing well and celebrating the Advent of Christ! Our family has been enjoying a new tradition this Advent season--the Jesse Tree. Through daily Scripture reading and the hanging of a symbolic ornament on our "Jesse Tree", we are walking through the genealogy of Christ. It gives a wonderful sense of anticipation as we approach the celebration of the day Jesus was born! Our hearts have been pointed to the true meaning of this season through our new tradition and we pray that you and your family are focusing on the truth of what this holiday, Christmas, is all about. 

It seems like a whirlwind of a year! Wasn't it just yesterday that I sat down to compose our 2012 Christmas letter?!? 

In the last year God has truly been faithful to our family. We are constantly in awe of his provision and faithfulness to us. For those who aren't aware, we moved (yes, again). We are currently living on the East End of Charleston just a few hundred yards from our state's Capital. We absolutely love living here as it is convenient to work (for Michael), church, and many amenities. Our close friends own the large historic home that is divided into two apartments. We live above them and having friends close has been a blast! This, however, is definitely not our last move. We are still in a waiting period as we pursue what God is calling our family to do.

In July we welcomed Gideon Matthew Ervin into our family! What a huge blessing he is to us! Having a boy in my (Rachel's) family is definitely something to adjust to since thus far we've only had girls! Gideon is a sweet, snuggly boy with a contagious gummy smile. His little face lights up at the sight of his sister and she loves to make him laugh! Its hard to believe he is almost half-a-year old! 

Eliyah is an energetic 2 year old with an imagination ten times as big as she is! Her vocabulary and knowledge of her world astound us daily. She loves to play pretend. One of her favorite things to pretend is that she is a waitress. She asks, "What do you want to drink?" several times a day and I find her scribbling "orders" often. Its also the stage of princesses in our home. Cinderella was the first obsession and still remains a favorite, but Rapunzel has taken over. Eliyah pretends that she is Rapunzel (complete with long hair purchased at the dollar store) and Michael (Papa) is Eugene (Rapunzel's prince in the movie Tangled). She is already talking about getting married, only she thinks she will marry her Papa. Really, its precious! And for now, we'll let her believe that Papa is the one she will marry. She truly adores him! She is also taking "Mommy & Me" ballet lessons weekly. Its so cute to see her in her little pink leotard, tights, and skirt.  Eliyah is a joy to have in our family and we are so thankful, even in the difficult times of parenting, that God has gifted us with her. 

Rachel is enjoying her role as a mother and wife. She graduated from West Virginia State University last December with a degree in Education. The Spring semester she used her degree to substitute teach several days a month. Now, with two children at home, substituting has been pushed to the back-burner. Rachel has used her time in other ways, including working with Cross Roads Pregnancy Care Center for a short period of time, participating in a book study with other moms on a weekly basis and organizing/participating in play-dates. She also helps Michael organize service opportunities and fun activities for the youth at Randolph Street Baptist Church. She enjoys blogging (here at this site!), running, and sipping coffee in the little bit of "free time" that she is able to enjoy. 

Michael is still working for CASCI. In the fall he was given a promotion and is now a Quality Analyst for CareFirst. He was also installed as an elder at Randolph Street Baptist Church in the fall, and is continuing his studies through the Appalachian Academy on Theology and the Church. His time is taken up mostly by work and responsibilities as an elder of the church. However, in his free time he loves spending time with our children and others who we welcome into our home, reading, and keeping up with his favorite sports teams.

The coming year promises many things for our family, as it does for yours as well! We are excited to see where God leads this year...where he leads us and you!  

May you and your family have a blessed Christmas holiday! 

Love,

The Ervins
Michael, Rachel, Eliyah, and Gideon

P.S.--We'd love to hear from you! Feel free to comment below, give us a call, or just stop by sometime to catch up! 

You can follow this blog for little snippets of our life throughout the year!



Thursday, November 14, 2013

Little Lady

This little lady has grown up so much!
I am extremely thankful for my first baby-lady.
She's so full of personality, so bright, and just plain fun!
There are days that are trying, but I am so thankful for who God designed this sweet girl to be. I have huge dreams for her and cannot wait to see how our Father chooses to use her life for His glory!

















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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Snow

Yes, snow! In mid-November! 

It was beautiful and I am thankful for the beauty and excitement that snow brings. Little E's eyes just lot up when she was looking at it from the window yesterday morning.

However, I am also thankful that it is gone and the next few days are supposed to be a bit warmer. I am not a fan of the winter months...unless I can basically hibernate inside my cozy home (which is impossible with holidays and such)! So, the little wintery glimpse was nice, but I am thankful to still have a bit more time to enjoy Fall!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Quiet

Yes! It does exist! 

Hubs let me retreat into the bedroom with a cup of tea, book, and journal for a couple hours this evening while he entertained the kiddies. 

It was wonderful! So thankful for times of refreshment and a husband who so willingly offers those times to me!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

3 "F's"

Friends.
Football.
Food.

Nothing says "Fall" to me like watching football and enjoying a pot of soup with friends. We did that last night and it was a blast! 

So thankful for the relaxing, fun evening we were blessed with.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Family night...

And compassionate hearts.

Last night was our family night. We spent the evening eating garbanzo bean stew, enjoying kettle corn, and watching Brave. None of us had seen it and Little E kept talking about it after seeing a Brave ornament in a Hallmark catalog. I checked it out from the library so we could watch it tonight.

We had a great evening just enjoying one another.

The one thing that stood out tonight was Little E's compassionate and tender heart. At the end of the movie--Spoiler Alert!!-- right before the mom changes back into a human, E began crying...no, bawling. It was when the princess was telling her mom how much she loved her and in tears. Little E cried for about 10 minutes and just wanted to cuddle. We talked with her a bit and it was obvious that she was simply moved with compassion during that scene. That happened the first time she watchedCinderella's  dress get ripped by the step-sisters, too.

Anyway...it was sweet. I am so thankful for her tenderness and ease of showing emotion. I told her that I hoped she would never lose that quality. It is special. Rare. Beautiful. 

Fall

We have had a glorious Fall season this year! Typically it seems to be Fall-like for a week or two and go straight into more Winter weather. This year, that has not be the case!

I am very thankful for the still sunny skies and warm temperatures (60's)! It makes life with children nicer when you can get outside to play and not worry about freezing on the way to the car to run errands. I know Winter is coming and will be here soon enough, but right now I am thankful for the extra dose of Fall we are enjoying right now!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Date night...

And great friends who made it possible! 

We went out for a couple hours last night. Nothing fancy-- just dinner and a little walk downtown--but it was wonderful! Two hours of uninterrupted conversation! The food (that I didn't have to cook!) was pretty great too! 

Thanks, Megan and Ethan for volunteering to hang out with our kiddies so we could go out!!!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Empty pages


Guys, I love my journal! 
I love spending time in the mornings journaling my heart and prayers to God. 

Something about writing it out helps me stay focused...and I get to go back and read it later which is always interesting (notice I didn't say fun. Sometimes its fun, but other times its just hard to reread things that were happening in my heart). 

So, today I am thankful for a book full of empty pages that I have the privilege to fill.

Monday, November 4, 2013

The Body

Yesterday our church celebrated 90 years of being a local body of Christ. 

While I obviously have not been around quite that long, I am so thankful for those who walked before me and prepared the way (by God's grace) to make Randolph Street Baptist Church what it is today! 

I'm extremely grateful for the body of believers that I, along with my family, are a part of. The unity, love, and acceptance that is found within our church family is like none other I have ever experienced. It is a rare gift of God's amazing grace. 




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Sunday, November 3, 2013

Grace and Faith

This list is not in any particular order...not in order of importance :)

With that said, I am very grateful for the gift of faith I have been given by Christ. Without His grace and opening my eyes, I would not believe in His work on the cross and story He is writing for His glory. 

Praising The Lord on this Sunday for His grace in bringing me in to be his daughter! 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Extra Sleep!

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Today marks the end of Daylight Savings Time. 
Which means an extra hour in our night!
Which hopefully means more sleep...although with babies you just never know!

Here's to hoping for extra sleep and being thankful for the sleep I do get being a Momma of two littles!



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Friday, November 1, 2013

30 days of Thanks!

Well, guys, it's November! 
Seriously?!? I just can't get over how fast time is going! 

It being the month in which we celebrate Thanksgiving, I want to take a few seconds each day to be reminded of the blessings in my life and to thank the Giver of those blessings. There may not be a lengthy description each day...or there might be! Really my goal is just to practice the habit of thankfulness and hopefully it will live past this month and become more a part of my daily life.

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So on this first day of November, I am thankful for my amazing husband! 

He is such a faithful leader, servant, and loving man! I am beyond blessed to have him as my partner in this journey of life. 

I bore you with my mushy words, but if you're interested you can read more here in the letter I wrote him on his 30th birthday a couple months ago.





Thursday, October 31, 2013

In my shoes-- FINALE!

WOW! 
You guys, I can hardly believe I have made it this far! For the first time, ever I blogged every day for a  month! 

Honestly, I am both relieved that it is over because of the huge commitment it is to my time, and sad that its over because I really liked having some direction and knowing that I would have something to write about. That's what gets me sometimes...just knowing what to write. So, I had fun! I will definitely participate next year, if I have the opportunity! 

Before I end the series I wanted to give you a little glimpse into yesterday! 

I felt very overwhelmed this week with everything that needed done at home. We were gone all weekend (if you recall) and that left a ton of laundry and cleaning undone. This week is full of fun things for us, so I didn't know when I'd find the time to clean and try to get caught up. Yesterday, Wednesday, ended up being that day. 

The kiddies slept in a little bit and I was up early which made it easier to get things done. I blogged (you knew that right?), but let me go ahead and say that I am sorry if it didn't make sense. I wrote here and sent some emails before my mind was awake, I think. I say this because I wrote up an email to my dad with directions to our apartment and gave him completely wrong directions! I told him to go left every time he was to go right and I told him our house was on the right side of the road when its on the left! Sheesh! He read me the email once he made it here...thankfully he knew about where we lived and our lovely neighbor helped point him in the right direction! If you knew my dad, you'd know how funny the situation was--he is great (read amazing) with directions. Its like he has a map in his head. He goes on road trips without a map, GPS, anything! And here is daughter (the one who is actually pretty good with directions) and she can't even get him to her own house! Ahh! Gave us a good laugh! So, if my blog yesterday made no sense, its from lack of coffee. :) 

So, back to yesterday--
I spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry. Then we headed to the grocery store and Capitol Market to pick up a few things for dinner and a pumpkin. Dad came over to carve the pumpkin with us and enjoy chili after E's ballet class. 





That was the "big event" for the day, yesterday. 

Tonight is Trick-or-Treat and we are spending the day doing fun things! I am planning to take E to Krispy Kreme here in a little bit because if you dress up and come in, they'll give you a free donut! KK is pretty awesome about giving away their donuts! On National Talk Like A Pirate day, we went and E said, "Arr Matey!" and got a free donut. When I told her we were going today she said, "Oh! I will say 'Arr Matey' so they will give me a donut". Hard to explain that doesn't always get you a free donut! ;) 

Hope you enjoy this Halloween/Reformation Day! However you celebrate...or don't celebrate. Just make it a fun day! We are planning to!


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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

In my shoes- day 32

I know this was a 31-day series, but I haven't finished up the month of October yet. So, I've decided that tomorrow will be my last day of the challenge.

Tuesday.
Yesterday. 

It was another long, busy, fulfilling Tuesday. 

It always begins with rushing around to get to book study and leaving the apartment early enough to not get ticketed for being parked on the right side of the road during street cleaning day. Thankfully, tomorrow is the last day of street cleaning for the year! That will make my life easier. 

We left early enough to stop by the fabric store on the way. I am planning to make something for E for Christmas and wanted to pick up the fabric! Ohh! Its going to be cute!

Book study was great and Little E loved her class. Her words, "I had fun! And I didn't push anybody!" Baby steps, people. Baby steps. 

Our next stop was my mother-in-law's house. She had a friend in town and wanted her to meet the kiddies. We already planned to go to LB's for the rest of the morning/early afternoon, and since they live in the same neighborhood that made it easy! We were at Mawmaw's house for a few minutes before heading to play (kids) and chat/drink coffee (moms) at our cousins' house. 

We enjoyed lunch with LB and her family and then headed to our house for nap time. We were only home about an hour before Hubs got off work. That's the nice thing about a busy a day. We hardly realize he's gone before he comes home! 

Had a pretty low-key evening as a family. Hubs cooked pasta for dinner and I picked up our candy for Trick-or-Treat. Our neighbors were giving a TV away, so we claimed it which meant the guys had to move it from their apartment next door, to ours. Before bed we read another chapter of Catching Fire. Katniss just stepped into the arena before we closed the book. All I can say is, "Seriously?!? Water??" 

Enjoy your Wednesday, friends! 
And be sure to come back tomorrow for the last post in this series! 



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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

In my shoes- day 31

Is this really day 31? 
I think I may have messed up somewhere or something because it is only October 29. 
Oh well! 

Yesterday, Monday, was definitely a catch-up day! Although, I don't feel like I got caught up on too much. Little Lady E is really starting to get into playing by herself and playing pretend. Like, pretending she is going to the beach or the grocery store. Its really adorable...especially some of the things she says. She was off playing for most of the morning yesterday which allowed me some time to do a few things. I mainly got things on the computer caught up. Things I need my entire mind for that I don't usually get to do when the kiddies are awake--bill paying, budgeting, etc. 

After lunch, they both napped so I got a short, much-needed nap as well. When Hubs came home, I went for a run. Since we'd be out of town it had been about 5 days since I ran, and it was a perfect evening for one. Then we ran to Kroger to pick up a couple of things that I needed to finish our dinner. 

Honestly, the evening couldn't have been better. 

We came home, ate a warm bowl of potato soup, got the kiddies back in the car for a secret Halloween week activity (don't worry...I'll reveal it later). When we got home from our adventure, the kiddies both got baths and into bed. I made decaf coffee for Hubs and autumn spice tea for myself. We enjoyed a couple left over brownies and Oreos while we reviewed the budget for the coming month, looked over the calendar for the week, and planned a few Christmas gifts! 

We crawled into bed and I read another two chapters of Catching Fire. Seriously. How do you only read one or two chapters of a book like that? She totally leaves you hanging at the end of every chapter. Not. Fair. I really wanted to read another chapter, but I had already been reading for an hour and it was getting late. Guess we'll have to wait until tonight. I honestly think we will be done with the book before the week is over. We really are that engrossed in it. Tell me I'm not alone! And, why didn't I read these books earlier?!? 

I had better go get ready for another busy Tuesday. 
Thankfully this is the last Tuesday until April that we have to worry about street cleaning! Hurray! :)


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Monday, October 28, 2013

In my shoes -day 30

Sunday-- travel day!

We woke up early and left my sister's home around 7:00 yesterday morning. With a 6 hour drive ahead of us, we wanted an early start. We stopped by Dunkin' Donuts on the way out of town because we love it and do not have one anywhere near us. Then we got on the road and attempted to go for a while before stopping. We had to make a couple potty stops for E sooner than we wanted, but they were quick. We stopped for lunch about 2 hours from home and made it home around 3:00. 

My mom came over with a roast, sweet potatoes, green beans, and brownies for our dinner. It was really nice to not have to cook after a day of traveling. 

Each year our church celebrate's Reformation Sunday by watching the movie Luther on Reformation Sunday evening. The children are encouraged to dress as a reformer and snacks are provided. It is always a fun time, but we weren't sure we'd get to go this year because of being gone all weekend. We felt up to it though, so we went. But not before we got the kiddies in costume. See, if you dress up, you get $5 gift card to the church boom store. I know that is the only reason Hubs took time to dress the kiddies up ;)

E was Lady Jane Grey and G was Martin Luther. E wore her Cinderella dress so that was simple. G on the other hand required some quick thinking and sewing. I managed to find a small peice of solid brown fabric in my sewing stuff. I sewed the ends together for a simple triangular hood, cut the hood off and sewed it to the rest of the fabric width wise so there was plenty to wrap around him, and tied a belt out of twine that Mom had. It turned out really cute. I wanted so badly to use eye liner and draw hair like Luther has in the movie (if you don't know what I am talking about, look it up) because I thought it'd be hilarious and oh-so-fun but I ran out of time. He was still the cutest little monk I have ever seen. 

Once we got the kiddies in bed, I read another chapter of Catching Fire to Mike. We started reading it aloud in the car on Friday and are over halfway through it. Honestly, I am so over the Hunger Games part of it and totally wish she didn't have to go back into the arena! I mean, come on! My nerves were shot after the first one. I'm just not sure I can handle it again! 

We said good night after just one chapter, and for that I am thankful. G had a hard night...growth spurt maybe? He was up twice and that is not normal! Praying today goes smoothly as I try to catch up on things and prep for a fun week ahead of Halloween festivities. 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

In my shoes -day 29

We are getting ready to pack up and head home this morning, but I wanted to recap yesterday first.

I woke up yesterday morning way later than anticipated. G was up early to nurse, but after that I went back to sleep until almost 8:00! E was already awake and having breakfast when I got downstairs. 

The town was having a little fall festival so we went to that for a bit. The kiddies (my sister's girls and E) decorated a pumpkin, got their faces painted, rode a pony, looked at fire trucks and other big trucks, and bounced in the bounce house. They also got to pet some animals, and the goat got ahold of E's scarf. Thanks to Grandpa Matt for not allowing the goat to eat the scarf and Little E! Funny thing is, she didn't want to wear the scarf because she said the donkey (aka pony) would eat it! Prophetess? Possibly. ;)

At home, the preparations for the birthday party began. Bot of my nieces have birthdays in October and since family lives out of town, they have a "family party" one weekend to celebrate both birthdays. It's fun and chaotic at the same time. Lots of people, lots of food, and loads of presents. E was super excited to see her Aunt B (my younger sister)! We had a lot of fun at the party. E was so sleepy that halfway through the party, she wanted me to take her to bed. I did and she crashed! 

My little Baby G decided its be a good day to roll over for the first time. I'm not sure if it was real or a fluke, but he went from his back to his tummy. Isn't it typically the reverse first? Either way...it was exciting. He just seems so big now when he holds his head so high during tummy time. I got the cutest picture of him yesterday and I will post it this week. 

We were wiped out, so once everyone left we just hung out and watched football the rest of the evening. My oldest niece taught me how to make bracelets using the Rainbow Loom. Apparently they are all the rage here but I have never seen them. Good ol' WV...always last to get the new trends. 

 The kiddies went to sleep pretty easily except for a fit G threw around midnight. Gripe water and some bouncing helped him out so I assume he was a little gassy. 

So, home we go! It was a fun weekend but we are all worn out. Here's to hoping E sleeps most of the way home!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

In my shoes--day 28

Right now, I feel like everyday is the same--crazy! Maybe that's just this season of life with a toddler and an infant.

We planned to leave around noon yesterday to drive to my sister's house in Pennsylvania. At 9:00 I still wasn't packed. There were diapers to wash, kiddies to wash, dishes to wash, and clothes to pack. Why did I wait until the last minute?!? I decided to bathe everyone and get us all dressed and ready before packing. Not my best idea ever. G-man was crying (read: screaming his head off), I was trying to pack stuff, and E came in completely naked. Yes. After taking time to dress her, she completely derobed. Picked Baby G up and he spit up down my shirt-- down the inside of my shirt. Thankfully my mom came on her break and hung out with those silly kiddies of mine so I could finish packing. 

Hubs got home around noon and off we went! The trip was a little long, but nice...except for the fact that E talked basically the entire 6 hours. Honestly, though, it wasn't a bad trip. 

When we arrived, E was so excited to see her cousins! They played for several hours and completely entertained themselves. It was waayyyy past bedtime when we finally put her down. She slept in a sleeping bag on the floor with the big girls, and while it took her a bit to settle down, the rest of the night went well...she was exhausted from the trip, from not napping at all yesterday, and from playing. 

It was really fun introducing my sister and her family to Baby G-Man! He was so smiley for them too. Sweet boy!

Every time we are here we end up staying up too late. No exception last night. We finally got to bed around midnight. I'm the only one up now and that's just because G-man was hungry. I'm praying the girls sleep for a while because it could be a long day if they don't! 

Hope each of you enjoy your weekend!

Friday, October 25, 2013

In my shoes--day 27

 Thursday! What a fun, hectic, exhausting, exciting day!

I started the day at 5:00 with an early morning feeding for G-man and decided to just stay up. I made granola and pumpkin muffins because its been on my list to do for days now! Also may a hubs some eggs with mushrooms, olives, and spinach for his breakfast. Cleaned up the kitchen a bit. All before 6:30! Whew!

After Hubs left for work, I sat down to gather my thoughts and plan out the day. 

We needed to go to Target and it was street sweeping day, so I decided we'd go early...as early as is possible for a Mama and 2 littles. We made it there a little after 10. I picked up what we need for our trip (which, by the way, we leave in 5 hours and I haven't packed a stitch of clothing....or anything else). We stopped on the way home to visit Hubs on his break, at the car wash to clean and sweep the inside of the car, and the library to pick up Catching Fire that was on hold for me. I'm hoping to start reading it today...we'll see.

At home we had lunch and nap time. I worked on making a baby shower gift for this weekend. I thought I'd never get it done! When E was a baby she would scream and cry every time I started to sew...coincidence? I think not. Baby G was sleeping when I started sewing yesterday and woke up screaming, and continued screaming for 30 minutes! Sheesh! What is with my babies and not wanting me to sew? 

Our city had two different Trick-or-Treat activities last night. We took E to the farmer's market as Cinderella, and was she ever cute! Then we headed to the mall for a little bit (can you say insane?).



Cinderella and her prince




Just moments after the coffee incident (see below for details)
:)

DQ gave out tiny cones. She was elated!

Baby G-man just along for the ride. 

Want to hear some crazy stories from last night? Well, Baby G decided to poop right when we got to the mall so the first place I went was the bathroom. It was a big one and I only had a couple of wipes with me. Ahh! It was messy but we managed. I kept thinking about it just being one of those mom-moments...it just happens and you deal with it the best you know how. Then, I sat down at Starbucks to nurse G-man and Hubs put his coffee right next to the diaper bag while he took Little E to see the Chic-Fil-A cow. Not sure what happened, but I felt liquid on my foot and sure enough I had spilled the coffee...like the entire contents of a 12oz cup! All over my feet, the diaper bag, table, floor. Thankfully we are pretty tight with the Bux people (Hubs was a shift manager there for a while), so they replaced our drink and helped us clean up. 

We came home, had a quick dinner, and got the kiddies ready for bed. It was a little chaotic (understatement) because of all the excitement and fun we'd had earlier. We finally got them to bed and went downstairs to watch Marshall play some football (just the first half). We were ready for bed after that. 

Now, on to packing and prepping to leave! Happy Friday! See you back here tomorrow :)

Thursday, October 24, 2013

In my shoes-- day 26

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Since this morning I am writing about yesterday (Wednesday) which was technically day 25 should I re-title this post? I figure I'll just leave it as day 26. 

So, Wednesday has come and gone. 
It wasn't a very exciting day.

We got up and Hubs went off to work, as usual. G-man woke up to nurse around 6:30 and then went back to bed. Actually, both the kiddies stayed asleep/in bed until around 9:30! So not the norm! I enjoyed the extra quiet in the house and got a few things done before they got up. It was a cold, rainy morning (much like today) and that made me just want to crawl back into bed under warm, cozy covers. But, I refrained, and managed to get laundry done and some things organized (from when we rearranged the house...its a work in progress). 

When Little-Lady E woke up, she had a stuffy nose and just didn't feel like herself. All she wanted do was lay on the couch and watch Cinderella. Honestly, days like that don't come often so I let her. She lazed around all day. She even told me that she didn't want to go to ballet class...which is not at all normal. 

G-man had a good day too. He took a nice long nap in the morning (about 2.5 hours). I think both of them were completely worn out from the previous day's activities. We didn't leave the house all day. 

Hubs came home around 3:00 and we skipped ballet. It was nice to have the afternoon free. He studied because he was leading prayer meeting that night. I heated some soup from the freezer and made some bread for dinner. Perfect for the chilly evening we had. Then we packed everyone up and headed to the church for prayer meeting. 

We made it home around 8:45, got the kiddies in their PJ's, and had a snack. E had some cheese puffs but we (the adults) waited until she went to bed and indulged in some ice cream. :) 

It was a pretty low-key day, but a much needed day of rest (especially for Little E).

Today looks like another cold, rainy day. Only difference is that I have things I have to do...meaning we have to leave the house in this mess.  Our farmer's market is having their annual trick-or-treat tonight, so we are hoping to go to that and finish packing for our little weekend trip to see my sister and her family. 

See you back here tomorrow for Fun Friday and an update on how our Thursday went. 





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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

In my shoes -day 25

This blogging at night thing is for the birds! Seems like I forget almost every night and end up throwing something  together on my way to bed. Although I have been doing it this way basically this whole 31-day challenge, I think I am going to switch it up and start writing in the mornings for the next few days. 

Hopefully we will both get more out of it. My mind won't be so tired, I will remember more fun details, and my writing will be better (hopefully).

So for now, good night. I will be back in roughly 10 hours to tell you about what our Wednesday was like. 

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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

In my shoes - day 24

TUESDAY

Wake up early.
Rush out the door.
Stop for gas.
Morning Bible study. 
Coffee and chatting with LB.
Grocery store.
Target.
Home by 3:00 for late lunch.
Naps.
Hubs home.
Dinner a friend's house.
Home--late.
Good night.

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Monday, October 21, 2013

In my shoes -day 23

Today (Monday) was catch up day and while I didn't tackle everything on my list I was somehow okay with that. Pretty big deal for this Mama! 

There was still so much to do from where we rearranged the rooms this weekend! Clothes needed sorted and put away, some small painting projects needed done, the kitchen was a total disaster and laundry is quickly getting out of control! 

Thankfully the kiddies cooperated and I was able to get a lot done in the morning. I painted the built in book case in our room. Just the back of each shelf. It's a nice goody color that is a good warm compliment to the cool purple-gray on the walls. You can see a snapshot of it on my Instagram! I got a few other organizational things done (board games, clothes, etc), washed dishes, and loaded the dishwasher. No laundry got done today, but I can do that later this week. 

E took a long nap today, but Baby G-man has kind of hit a wall on the napping...or any going-to-sleep for that matter. He's having trouble going to sleep, mostly during the day but at night sometimes too. He barely slept this afternoon and was fussy for a good part of it. Not the way I really wanted the afternoon to go. 

We spent the evening with the McFarland family having our usual Monday night taco dinner! Always a good time! Despite it being past bedtime when we left, we stopped to see my dad since we were in the neighborhood. It'd been too long since we'd seen him and E loved on him so much. It was sweet! 

Tomorrow is shaping up to be a busy day, so I better wrap this up and hit the sack! Good night, wonderful readers! 

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Sunday, October 20, 2013

In my shoes- day 22 {family photos}


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Another week has begun as another Sunday comes to a close. Its hard to believe we are ending this month and the end of this challenge to write for 31 days! 

Sundays always seem to be packed days for our family. Even when we try to leave them open, they get packed full of things easily. Probably because the bulk of the morning is spent at church worshipping and enjoying the gathering with our amazing church community. 

Today was no different. 

Little E ended up having a slumber party with her Cisa (my mom) last night, so we got up this morning with only one child in our home. You'd think that would make it easier, but it really didn't. We still had to gather things for E since her sleep over was spur-of-the-moment and she didn't have a change of clothes. We ran her things to Mom's house and got her ready there before heading over to the church. 

It was a special day for our family at church because Hubs was officially put before the church and installed as an elder. We were asked to come forward to receive a challenge and so that the other elders could pray over us. It was a sweet time and the fact that the majority of Hubs' family was there to witness it made it even sweeter! 

After church, we brought the kiddies home and my mom and I went for a run. It was a gorgeous afternoon (sunny and 60's) for it! I had been wanting to go to a local park to run, but didn't feel safe going alone. It was fun to have a running buddy to chat with too (Hi Mom!). 

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing a little cleaning and I even got a chance to sit with a cup of autumn spice tea and read--all alone. Wow! That is rare! So blessed by that 10-15 minute span of time to myself. 

This evening we celebrated a friend's birthday with a little party at their home. The food was great, as was the time with friends. Honestly though, my favorite part would have to be the Reese's peanut butter cup cheesecake! WHAT!?! It might not seem like a big deal to you, but I don't ever make desserts that contain dairy since I am the only one who can eat it. Cheesecake is a favorite of mine but I rarely have it. I savored every bite of that cheesecake tonight. Yum! 

Once we got Little E to bed, our neighbors/landlords/friends came up for a few minutes. We spent some time talking and praying. I just love the body that God has placed us in. SO wonderful to live in this type of community. 

Now, its off to bed! 
But first-- here is a preview of our latest family photo shoot! We finally got the pictures last night and I want to share a few with you!! 









Good night! 




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