Happy Halloween!

I'm not really the biggest fan of Halloween. I don't love to be scared and I don't really like all the scary decorations. I do like cute Halloween and fall decorations, the yummy fall recipes and most of all my sweet girl dressed up as a ladybug. Earlier this week Raegan and I went to Disneyland with our friends and took some pictures with their fall decor. I love that we can just get in the car and take a quick trip over there and am looking forward to the memories we will make there as a family.



Then on Thursday my friend Shara offered to take pictures of some of her friends' kids. It was such a great idea because I know sometimes it's stressful to get good pictures on the actual day of Halloween. She set up a backdrop in her back yard where she could take the photos and she made lots of yummy treats! She's super talented. Unfortunately Raegan fell asleep in the car on the way there so she was a little out of it and we couldn't get her wide open mouth smile. But Shara definitely got some really cute pics. Here are a couple of them...




Have a great Halloween!

Pinterest Crafting Party

I was invited to a really fun party yesterday. It was a Pinterest crafting party. Everything about it was from Pinterest, the food, decorations, and drinks. Then the hostess Ingrid asked everybody who was coming to pick a craft from Pinterest and bring the supplies to make it. She had all sorts of delicious food and set up tables in her back yard where we hung out and made our crafts.





I had a lot of different things I wanted to make but I finally decided on making a Christmas wreath. I got the idea from Keep it Simple, Sister's Blog. She made a really cute fall wreath. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to make and would have taken less time if my thread wouldn't have kept coming out of the felt! Here are some pictures of the finished product.



I also made flowers out of fabric for the first time. They are actually really easy to make and a fun little addition to the wreath.



Another really special part of the afternoon was that Ingrid asked each woman who came to bring a children's book. She later explained the books were for the Joyful Life Library, a project that was started by a sweet mom named Heather who lost her son at 6 weeks old. Their goal is to put books in as many PICU's as they possibly can so that when parents have to be there with their kids they can read to them and experience a bit of comfort. Such an amazing idea. Such a wonderful day.

new book

The other day I was reading a blog that I love called Joy's Hope and she mentioned a book she was reading called Grace for the Good Girl. It sounded like an interesting title so I looked up the book, read a chapter on the website and was super interested.

I am about eight chapters in and it has been so amazing. I think the title is a little misleading because not everybody would consider themselves a "good girl" but what the book has to say really applies to a lot of people. It talks about how the way, we as women, hide. Whether it is hiding from something, hiring behind something or just hiding something. Then it talks about the finding and the freedom of being found.

In the introduction it says, "My idea of who I should be is at war with who I am. I want to be perfect in every situation. I just do. I want to know what to do. I want to know how to do it right. And I want to do it . All. By. My. Big. Self. Not only do I want to do everything perfectly, I want to look perfect while I do it. I want to act perfect and sing perfect and have perfect teeth. I want to parent perfectly, to wife perfectly, and to have a clean house all the time." Once I read this I was like, "I think she's talking about me." It all goes back to my previous post about grace. For some reason I have in my head that I need to do everything right. Not sure where that came from...still trying to figure it out but I know it's not true and if I continue to think that way my life is going to be very difficult.

The book goes on to talk about expectations and definitions. This is a big one for me. I place so many expectations on myself that I continually fail. It eventually becomes super tiring and defeating. This is something I have been working on for a while and continue to do so. The author, Emily Freeman says, "When we believe that God expects us to try hard to become who Jesus wants us to be, we will live in that blurry, frustrating land of Should Be rather than trust in The One Who Is. We will do whatever we believe it takes to please God rather than receive the acceptance that has already been given. We will perform to live up to what we believe his expectation is of us rather than expectantly wait on him." Wow...I want to do that. I want to learn how to wait on him and not feel like I need to do everything myself. It's such a great reminder to me that God has already accepted me for who I am and that I should do the same.

I love the different ways God chooses to show us things about ourselves. This is just a small portion of what I have received from reading this book and hopefully I'll share more as I go along. I would ask you, what are the expectations you put on yourself? How can you push into Him and receive the acceptance he has given you?

Harvest Day 2011

On Sunday we went with some friends to a local pumpkin patch for their annual Harvest Day. It was such a fun time to be with everybody. We all walked through the corn maze and a couple kiddos got lost along the way. I was joking that it was nice to have a kid that couldn't walk yet so we knew where she was all the time! Here is a picture of our sweet girl playing in the hay


We were all taking tons of pictures and I think the kids started getting sick of it! They were also interested in all of the pumpkins and hay. Here's one of the attempts to get a picture of Will, Raegan, and Logan. :)


Here's our little family. We had to have sunglasses on because the sun was so bright.


Happy October!

Arizona Trip

Last weekend we went out to Arizona to visit Jeff's wonderful family and had such a great time. Raegan is old enough that she can crawl around and play with her cousins, which is so fun to watch.

We went over to Jeff's sister Julie's house one morning while Jeff, Keith, and Nancy went to watch Kaelyn play soccer. Noah and Caleb had a fun time giving Raegan all of the toys from the basket while she was in the jumper.



Here is Noah and Raegan on the floor together.



We also tried to get a good picture of Raegan with her cousins and Jeff's cousins kids. It was a little difficult to do with a 5 year old, two 3 year olds, two 9 month olds and a 7 month old! This was one of the funny ones.

milestones

It truly is amazing the amount things that happen each day with Raegan. She is growing up and starting to get more brave and explore different areas of the house. This past weekend she started to crawl a little bit. She still is figuring it out and would rather scoot to toys because it's much faster.



Then on Monday I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and she was crawling around on the floor in the family room. Next thing I know I walk around the corner to check on her and she has gotten up on her knees and is up on the bookshelf pulling off books. :)



Yesterday I went into her room after she had woken up from her nap and she was sitting up! It was the first time that she had gotten herself up to a sitting position from laying down.



I have really been thinking about how blessed we are that I am able to stay at home with her. I get to experience these fun milestones each day and it is such a gift. I am thankful. I wonder what's going to happen today!

this is our God

Here are some lyrics I have been reflecting on this morning to a song called "This is Our God" by Hillsong.

Your grace is enough
More than I need
And your word I will believe
I wait for you
Draw near again
And your spirit make me new
And i will fall at your feet
I will fall at your feet
And i will worship you here

Your presence in me
Jesus light the way
By the power of your word
I am restored
I am redeemed
By your spirit i am free
And i will fall at your feet
I will fall at your feet
And i will worship you here

Freely you gave it all for us
Surrendered your life upon that cross
Great is your love
Poured out for all
This is our God

Lifted on high from death to life
Forever our God is glorified
Sovereign king
Rescued the world
This is our God

And i will fall at your feet
I will fall at your feet
And i will worship you here

And i will fall at your feet
I will fall at your feet
And i will worship you here

Freely you gave it all for us
Surrendered your life upon that cross
Great is your love
Poured out for all
This is our God

Lifted on high from death to life
Forever out God is glorified
Sovereign king
Rescued the world
This is our God

Ever since the first time I heard this song I have loved it. God wants us to fall at his feet and worship him. In the midst of such a broken and uncertain world the one thing we have to cling to is the truth that God is constant, never changing, and has sacrificed it all for us. For me. For you. I have days when I don't understand all the brokenness and my heart hurts for the people I love who are in so much pain. Today is one of those days. Just thinking about it all brings me to tears. One of my strengths is empathy, which allows me to feel what other people are feeling. It is a blessing most of the time but can definitely be hard as well. I have had to learn how to have boundaries and separate myself from the things people are feeling and to use this strength in positive ways. As hard as it is to have days like this, I think it's good because that's what brings me closer to Him. He draws me in and assures me that He is in control and that He is good. I have to choose to live in those truths. To trust in God and that he knows what's best and he will take care of the people I love.

I was also encouraged by the beginning of Psalm 100 as I was reading this morning. It says, "Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."

I hope you can be encouraged today too...no matter what you are going through that God is in control, He loves you and that He sacrificed it all for you.