Janie's First Haircut

Last Monday Janie and I both got our hair cut. Since the appointment was for both of us, and I didn't want her roaming the room while I had my turn, I asked my dad to come along and help take care of her. Of course he brought his camera, and got some darling shots of her losing her baby locks. She was so good, and just sat calmly the whole time, even while Natalie was blow-drying her hair. What a girl! I was sad to see her baby hair go, but she does look darling with her new 'do. Thanks for doing a great job Natalie! And thank you, Pa, for recording the event for us.

Adam's New Trick

Well I took Adam's training wheels off and this is what happened. Sorry it's a bit dark. The sun goes down so early nowadays.


In case you can't tell, he's riding his bike across the yard by himself!

Grateful Thoughts

I am grateful for:
the privilege of being a mother
a soothing voice to sing my children to sleep
a comfortable chair to rock them in
and a strong body to carry them to bed when they fall asleep in my arms, like Janie just did.

I am so thankful for the simple, beautiful blessings in my life.

Seven Years

Happy Anniversary My Love!
I love you.
Love, Me
XOXOXOXOXOX

Happy Halloween

It's that time of the year again. Time to get dressed up all cute or scary and get a bunch of candy. Here are a few pictures of my little cuties.

Adam was a Ninja Turtle...


Joshua was a Lemur (with the mask he bought at the zoo yesterday)...


And Janie was a clown.

We didn't actually go Trick-or-Treating this year, but we did go to a couple of church Trunk-or-Treat parties on Saturday, and visited the grandparents who live in town. It was a fun night.

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses, Part 2

Adam saw that my model didn't have a face, so he drew one for her. Wasn't that sweet of him?

I am grateful to have a little boy who is so desirous to help me and to make me happy. He is a blessing to me.

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

Shabby Apple, an online modest dress company (www.shabbyapple.com), is having a contest for a dress to include in their spring line.

This dress would be made in baby blue or light green linen, with lace in the same color overlaid at the top of the front. The flower at the waist could be a tie instead, and would probably be made of the same fabric. The dress would also work in a dark denim with contrasting details.

The inspiration for this dress was a blouse that I really like. It is a little bit vintage, pretty, simple and flattering.

Go here for the rest of the story about this picture.

New Toy

We got a notice in the mail yesterday that our grass and weeds in the front yard were too tall. They gave us seven (7) business days to fix it or we'd be fined $200 dollars. So we decided it was time to do something that we've been putting off as long as possible - buying a lawn mower. We figured it was either spend the $200 on a fine or on getting something to avoid the fine. So below is a picture of my new toy.

Sunday Afternoon

I love peaceful Sunday afternoons. Church is lovely, and then we can come home and just be together. Makes me happy.

Restoring Honor Event

Today was Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor event. It was available live at facebook.com/restoringhonor. It was simply amazing! I don't know if it will be available for later viewing. I hope so.

Cute Kids!

My dad took this cute picture of Joshua and Janie while I was taking Adam to school for his "Meet the Teacher" day. (I took it from his blog, rustytripod.blogspot.com.) I really like how it turned out, even if it does make my Janie look like such a big girl. Love those kids!

What a day!

Adam's first day of Kindergarten! He loved it. We missed him.


Adam waving goodbye as his class is led to their classroom. Please note the darling girl in the pink vest in the older class to the right: that is Adam's cousin Hannah. We saw her, and her brother Vinson, a couple of times today at school. I love that.

And last, but not least, check out Janie's new trick:

She started doing this last night. Pretty cool, hey? Notice how she claps for herself at the end. What a cutie!

Joshua is doing great too, by the way. He is working on getting potty-training this week (took the day off today, though) and he's doing really well with it. He missed Adam today. It will be an adjustment for him to be the oldest one at home, but I think it will be good for him.

We sure love these sweet children of ours!

House Update

Well, folks....
We closed on our house on Friday, which also happens to be John's birthday! It was a great birthday present for him. Moved in most of our big stuff yesterday (Saturday), and now we just have to pack and move boxes little by little. There are also a few minor repairs to be made. Thank goodness for a handyman husband who can do that kind of thing! Hopefully we'll be over there for good by next week. Hurray!
The house is in an older (but still nice) neighborhood in Mesa. We really like it, and are so grateful that we could find such a wonderful house in a good location that we can afford. We have been really blessed with how well everything has worked out, and are just in awe that it worked out how it did.
I don't have any pictures of the house right now so I'm not going to post any, but if you would like to come over and see it (in a couple of weeks), e-mail or call us and we'll be glad to have you!

Cute Pics of our Kiddos

We took my mom to the zoo for her birthday, and my dad got some great pictures. He's posted a few of them on his blog. Go check them out! I love how they turned out.

Another Reason to Say Our Prayers Tonight

Our sweet Adam has now survived his first stitches--he got about 8 of them today. I'll spare you the details, but he managed to get a pretty deep 1/2-inch gash in his forehead. John's uncle Karl Hiatt is a plastic surgeon and was kind enough to take the time out of his day off (after finishing his shift at the hospital) to meet us at his office and sew Adam up. He did a beautiful job. Thankfully John's parents and sisters were with us, so John's mom drove us to Karl's office (John met us there) and his dad and sisters took care of Joshua and Janie. Adam is fine, and I am thanking the Lord with all my heart that he got hit where he did, and not any higher or lower, as he could have been blinded or worse. I thank God that I still have my boy tonight, and that he will be fine. I know He was watching over and protecting my Adam today.

We often ask for prayers for those who are sick or struggling, and that is right, but I think it wouldn't be inappropriate to ask you to take a minute and thank the Lord that Adam is okay. I have, and will continue to.

The rest of us are doing fine. We're all well, recovered from colds (John and I) and chicken pox (Joshua). Janie is teething, but handling it pretty well. Life is good. In fact, life is wonderful.