Little Moments I Love...

This week has been filled with little moments that I treasure. I don't know if it's because Thanksgiving is just around the corner and holiday spirit is in the air, or because I can feel the end of the semester nearing, or a combination of the two. But I know that my heart is full!

• Watching Taylor do ballet to How He Loves in dance class last night
• Crawling in bed with Connor to wake him up this morning
• Driving down the road singing Party in the USA with Taylor and Averi...as loud as we can!
• Browsing the new Barnes and Noble and pretending I'm in Dallas...it has that big city feel to it. I don't care if that's weird:)
• Spending time with family we haven't seen in a long time
• Celebrating my mom's birthday tonight...I won't give away her age :)
• Getting an email saying that I am cleared for student teaching in the spring...can't believe it's actually happening!
• Listening to Averi read!!
• Sipping on a chai and driving around town
• Target time...the Christmas decorations are out...Connor said "That's pretty" about every tree he passed
• Getting a free Chic-Fil-A sandwich
• Preparing for Taylor's Christmas dance recital...yes, it's already that time!
• Walking around Tech in the crisp fall air
• Watching Taylor and Averi play with friends
• Believing that I CAN and I WILL!

There is something so magical about this time of year! I LOVE IT! It never gets old.

Smell My Feet...

Our Halloween was a blast this year! It was a long, fabulous, exhausting day :) For me it started at 5:30 a.m. I was at Tech bright and early to take the EC-6 Generalist...I hope I passed :)

So the REAL fun began when we trick-or-treated at Mema's. Granna, Gramps, and Granna's brother, Mark, were there. Mema moved here Friday from Shamrock and is settling in at Raider Ranch.

After we chatted with them we headed over to Vintage where we saw Dondi and Poppi and met up with the Long's, the Watt's, and the Fortner's! The neighborhood was alive with people and costumes and decorations everywhere you looked.

The big kids wanted to trick-or-treat first...since the parents were just along for the ride we followed their lead. They ran from house to house as fast as they could go. They used to be shy about ringing people's doorbells...no more, my friend! After they hit all the houses, they played games and got their faces painted. Can you say HYPER?? They were on a serious sugar high!

Connor was scared of all the costumes so he stayed at Dondi and Pop's and helped pass out candy.

What a great weekend we had! I love this time of year!


Batgirl Averi and Vampiress Taylor


Fly Batgirl Fly!


It was a little difficult getting a pic with the 3 of them this year.


Dondi and Pop's house




All the kiddos! What a bunch of cuties :)


Train ride. Connor loves choo choo trains, but for some reason was not diggin' this! He wouldn't get on.


Off they go!


The cousins

And the Winner is...

TAYLOR!!

So a couple of weeks ago American State Bank partnered with Honey and some of the other elementaries in town to put on a poster competetion for all the 3rd graders. The purpose was to create a poster highlighting 5 qualities of the Lubbock community.

I really REALLY didn't want anything to do with it. We got the letter on Friday and the poster was due the following Tuesday. Taylor kept on until we finally said OK! So we helped her get everything together and ended up with a pretty darn cute end product. Whether she won or not we were glad we gave it a go.

Well, they announced the winner on Wednesday, and sure enough Taylor won! Crazy! I didn't think to get a picture of the thing, and now we don't know where the poster is. It is somewhere at Honey we think :)

The winners were recognized at last night's MHS game.


The winners got jerseys with their names on them


They got to do the coin toss before the game


Poppi and Tay on the field




I could not get the camera to work...it would only take a pic. when she started to walk away!

Africa Pics...

I just love these pictures! These are from my parent's trip a couple of weeks ago. Someday we want to take the kids!


Pretty


My sweet dad


Impressive


Cute kids


My sweet mom


Funny


Dancing


They helped the group fix a flat tire


Love this

Punkin Fun...

This past Saturday was a busy day. It started off with Punkin' Days in Floydada and ended with the TTU football game.

Kristi, Sydney, Dondi, Averi, Taylor and I have made Punkin Days a yearly tradition. We love to go, check out all the booths, and eat a yummy lunch.

We were glad we decided to leave the boys with Nana because it was freezing this time around.

The girls ended up with bottle cap necklaces, hairbows, and plastic bears filled with different colored sand...the dreaded colored sand...they get one every time!


Cute!


They are getting so big


Taylor and Sydney being silly


Sweet


Fall is here


It was cold!

Chad and I used to get season tickets to the footballs games, but haven't since Connor came along. I miss the atmosphere and all the crazy fans! We had a lot of fun, but were frozen by half time so we left.

What Language is That...

So, as everyone does, I've really been questioning my purpose lately. I know that being a mom is part of my purpose. And hopefully teaching will be a part of it too. But I just have this feeling that there is something more.

I am in the middle of reading Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan. It is five fictional stories about some of the horrific experiences African children are forced to endure. We hear about these stories, we see these stories on t.v. but how often does it really sink in? I realized that I have allowed myself to become way too complacent. Thankfully, but unfortunately, because of our freedoms it is easy to slip into unconsciousness while going about our day-to-day lives.

Yesterday my parents (two of the koolest kats I know) arrived home from Africa. They (mainly my dad) travel all over the world simply to love on people and to tell them about God's love for them. Since I don't get to go I live vicariously through their experiences :) They told us how precious the people were there. And how grateful many of them were just to know someone cared. One thing I've learned is that no matter where you are in the world, everyone wants to feel needed. Everyone speaks the universal language of love.

I want my eyes and my childrens' eyes to be opened inside of, and beyond these four "walls" of Lubbock, TX. My prayer is that our hearts would break for the things that break His.

Let us see through Your eyes and love the way You love!

Hopefully pics of their trip to come.

My Superhero...

I LOVE HIM!