Happy Birthday Sweet Moses!! :)

Well...my baby is officially two now. One thing I realized this weekend was that I never expected motherhood to bring such a huge mix of happysad days. I love to watch him grow and learn and see all his changes but at the same time I am dumbfounded by the fact that this time two years ago I had a 27 hour old infant who just needed to be changed, fed and loved and now we have a wonderful little toddler who is the joy and happiness in our lives...he talks and walks and runs and screams and hugs and loves. WHERE does the time go? It makes me not want to even look forward to breakfast tomorrow morning in fear that today will go by even faster. We had a great day yesterday...Moses woke up asking for cake. I opted to make him a rice krispie cake instead of the traditional bucket of frosting and sugar(aka cake)...he seemed to love it. :) When he came down in the morning we had blown up balloons to give a little celebration to the day...went to church, came home for lunch and naps for the boys then we headed to the pumpkin patch, our Moses birthday tradition and then dinner with Doug's family and my uncle. It was a great day.

He blew out his candle! :)

Tough choice...

We had to leave with a couple of these.

On this day he was practicing his "i'm going to be so wiggly that there is no way you can get a good photo of me" moves. :)

But I did manage this one of my two great guys. :)

And this one on the hayride...

Hope your day is filled with this kind of bittersweet happiness. :) I'm off to enjoy a day off with my guys. :) xoxo

Smiles in a Box.

Would you just LOOK at the box of goodies that sweet Mrs. Meg sent to me, unexpectedly in the mail!?! Only some of the finest Kansas acorns, some fall goodies and THE cutest handmade onesie that I have ever seen!! :) Meg, I will have you know that you just had me grinning from ear to ear for the rest of the day...how in the world is it possible for someone I have never met to know just how to make my day? :) Thank you ever so much!! Doug even said after I showed him all the goodies..."Why can't we live closer to her?" :) I truly LOVED every little bit. :)

Acorns-from the left-A Virgina Acorn-A Kansas Acorn-A New Jersey Acorn--Who knew they could all be so different?

And here is a delish fall dessert that you have to go make right now!! Pumpkin pie bars...oooohh. You will LOVE them then walk around your house for the rest of the day breathing deeply and audibly saying "ahh" because it will make your whole house smell delish!

Get all these Goodies together:

1-1/3 cups flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) cold butter or margarine

1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked

1/2 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

Then do all this:

HEAT oven to 350°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides; grease foil. Mix flour, 1/4 granulated sugar and brown sugar in medium bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats and nuts.

RESERVE 1 cup oat mixture; press remaining onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 min. Beat cream cheese, remaining sugar, eggs, pumpkin and spice with mixer until well blended. Pour over crust; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

BAKE 25 min.; cool 10 min. Use foil to transfer dessert from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Then send me an email thanking me for making your fall day. :)

Loves to you all!! Have a great weekend!! :) xoxo

And P.S. I listed a couple of good NEW goodies on Ebay...take a peek-Both could be good gifts for Christmas. :) Go HERE. :)

Todays Post Brought to You by the Letter B

B-Boy...a very cute one at that...he has been practicing and now if you ask him how old he is, he will say "two"...even if he is not quite two yet (don't rush it little man). :)

B-Bump-like a large speed bump. :) Today makes me 19 weeks! :)

B-Better---a better perspective...here is what I see. We find out what kind of baby we made on the 13th!! :) I've been feeling "girl" lately...yikes a ROO!

B-Bathroom before...looks dirty but it is a linen paint treatment that I never loved...I was itching for a whimsical bathroom...

B-Better Bathroom...inspired by the print that my lovely friend April gave me for my birthday. :) Other whimsical things live here...most of them given to me by fabulous Etsy friends. :) My favorite part is the sheepskin rug we bought from IKEA. :) Unexpected and FUN!

B-Beautiful towels...my new "Day in the Country" towel design. :) In the shop!

B-Baby Pumpkins...my new sweet fall pumpkin design. :)

Any fun plans for the weekend? My MIL is coming down tomorrow and on Sunday we are all taking Moses to the Pumpkin patch!! How in the world do I have a two year old!?!?!

Thought question for today...What makes a good parent? :) Leave your answer in the comments.

xoxo

The FAIR and...

We had a great time at the fair...even if by the end of six hours of walking my feet were so swollen that it HURT to take my shoes off...my hands were even swollen around my rings...NOT fun! So what did I do the next day? Why, what any normal pregnant woman would do...I repainted and redecorated my half bath. :) Photos to come tomorrow. :)

Thought question for the day...if you could change ONE thing in your life right this moment, just by thinking it...what would it be? Leave your answer in the comments. :)

SALE SALE SALE in the shop! Go SEE. :)

A Proper Focus in a Time of Worry...

So, yes. There is a mess in our country. If I think too hard about the wrong man becoming president I get really upset...then I remember what I really should be focusing on...that no matter what...God is the same. Always. Yesterday, Today and Forever. No election or financial crisis will ever come close to changing that. No amount of worldly bad can take away the true good in my life...the things that count for something no matter how much money we have...my Jesus, My Doug, My Moses, My baby(that Doug got to feel KICK two nights ago!!) and the fact that we are all together, living in love and happiness that is rarely affected by the amount in the bank account. I know we all have good we can choose to focus on. I have been in the darkest of places and could always find the good so I know it is possible but it is a choice. Choose today to find the good and cling to that.

I dug around today for some verses to share here...I hope they bless you the way that they have blessed me.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12:25-26

From Matthew:
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Once again I am reminded that our Fathers yoke is light!!!! and He wants to carry our burdens! What a relief, right? So please, I would love to hear the good that YOU are choosing to focus on today? Please comment freely. :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the spirit of lightening burdens I thought that I would mention that I am a trade friendly shop and I am working on my Christmas list!! :) If you have a shop or sight and you are up for trades with anyone (not just me), leave a comment on this post so people can find you. :) This does not mean that you HAVE to trade but that you would be willing if you can find the right goodies. :)

Be blessed today and FIND that good!!
xoxo

GOOD Blogging/Commenting Do's and Don'ts-Ettiquette Class. :)

But first...some more NJ pics...while we were up there we celebrated Moses' 2nd birthday with all the grandparents who couldn't be with us to celebrate his first one...then tomorrow he gets to celebrate with his other grandparents at the VA state fair and then this weekend on his actual birthday we are taking him to the pumpkin patch!!

Look at the cute birthday boy!

Cute cousins again!

Look at these cute party people!...Doug's Grandparents!

Marzipan cake for Moses!....yum!

Ok, now let's get down to business...I have endlessly searched for a good list of to do's and not to do's for the blogging world and I have yet to come across one that I really like...SO...I figured that between me and my fabulous readers/blogging buddies that we can come up with a good comprehensive list of good blogging ettiquette. You up for it? I hope I am. :) I am looking for things that the majority should go by while blogging or visiting other blogs...obviously there are blogs out there that could care less about who they tick off and just want to rant...and that is their business. But for us who do this for fun and to meet people and make connections and WANT to attract people to our blog then I want to come up with a list for us involing blogging AND commenting.

Here are a few to get you started---Keep in mind that these are just guidlines and not rules. :)

How to have a successful blog! :)

1. Don't be a hater and write ugly things about people...whether you know them or not.
2. Have a good mix of happy posts/sad posts/real life posts, etc. Not sure about you but my favorite blogs are the ones that deal in real life...not the sugary sweet life is always grand ones.
3. Share your opinion in a way that does not degrade other persons rights to their opinion.
4. Don't be a constant pity party.

Now let's here from you! What are the things that get under your skin or bug you about blogs? Or about commenting? What are the things you love to see in a blog? Love NOT to see? What are some things that have made you stop reading some blogs? What are some things that got you instantly hooked on others?

You can comment anonymously if you need to foward this post to a friend. (wink wink).

xoxo

The Sunday Funnies.

So I found this photo in my Internet wanderings and immediately found it hilarious. :) The look on that guys face just cracks me up. Either you will find it hilarious or you won't...which leads me to my latest favorite Doug story...

The other day we had taken Moses to our favorite park to play and run the crazy out of him. At the end of the playground is a huge pavilion with picnic tables, bathrooms and such. On the sidewalk was a chalk outline that some kid had drawn around some friend of his...complete with a huge smiling face. Nothing to think or look twice at unless you are Doug. Doug looks at Moses, points to the chalk outline, and says "Watch out Moses, that means bad news for kids". I love how his brain thinks...then as we are walking away, Doug says ever so casually, "Well, at least he died happy". No joke...I laughed more times at this story that day and since then I can count...including one all out gut busting laugh where I nearly peed my pants and hyperventilated. That is my husband and one of the many many reasons I love him!

Church was good today...though really different than usual...our pastor is out of town and the style of the fill in didn't hit me in the same way as the usual pastor does...not that he didn't do well or anything like that...just not the style I am accustomed to and thrive with. His three teenage sons lead worship and did what I thought was a fabulous job! Even though I have never met them, I was so proud of those boys leading worship today...surely they are a blessing to their parents!

So, let's start again with our prayer requests for the week...please also let me know any updates that you have to share and as always you are welcome to leave a request anonymously. :)

I currently have no pressing issues to request prayer for (praise God!) but would love continued prayer for the precious baby that is growing inside and for all the changes that will come in the next few months...Pray especially for Moses and that we can make the transition and smooth and happy one for him. :)

I look forward to hearing from you all!! xoxo

NJ Adventures-Cousins

Here's Moses and his favorite (and only) cousin Kyleigh. It was nice to see them both on the same wavelength this time...they both wanted to play and love on each other...last time it was not quite that civil. :)

Kyleigh and her dad, Brian (Doug's brother).

This is Moses with Kyleigh in a headlock...he was going to get a kissy!!

At the playground...slightly worried about just how far he was off the ground. :)

The see-saw was a favorite.

Cute babies...it is always so much fun for us all to see them together and how they interact...Kyleigh is about 6 months older than Moses but there isn't much size difference. Moses has been asking non-stop for Ky and Ayee (his aunt Alli-Ky's mom). :)

We are finally feeling back to normal...prayer request post will follow tomorrow. :) I can't wait to hear from you all! I also hope to do my blogging ettiquette post early in the week so be ready with all of your do's and don'ts!

NJ Adventures-My Cute Son and Moo.

Some cute shots of my sweet boy...practicing his swing. :)

Those are stickers (of course) on his head and legs.

So proud!

Great grandmas house has a pool...too cold for me but these handsome boys roughed it.

Cute!

Their Target carries Giants and Yankees clothes...you know we stocked up!

Is it Friday already?? Any fun plans for the weekend? Are you sick of all my cute family posts yet? :)

Me at 39 weeks with Moses!!!! (This would be the Moo). I gasped when I found this photo yesterday!! I am afraid for what will come if I continue at the rate of growth I am at...I am already as big now as I was around 24 weeks or so with Moses....YIKES!

Today I am 18 weeks pregnant! At my last doctors visit I had finally gained some weight! Seven pounds to be exact...guess my body finally caught on to the fact that I was pregnant and decided that every calorie I took in was to be saved and packed onto unflattering places. :) I am feeling well and have just come to except that tired is a permanent part of my existence now.

Loves to you all! xoxo

NJ Adventures-Tea Time

So part of this now yearly trek we make to NJ in the fall always involves at least two things...a Giants game and a day of golf for the guys. The gals usually get left to do...whatever. This year we got smart and left the kiddos with the dads and headed out for an afternoon of lady like fun. My mother in law kindly treated us to a lunch at the Tea Hive. Such a cute place, such great food and such a fun way to spend an afternoon...

Don't you just want to run to the front door...

Most of us got a meal that involved five yummy courses...
This one was sweet breads and spreads...

Followed by Maryland crab soup...

Salad with strawberries, pecans and some sort of citrus...yum!

Then savory sandwiches...

And LOTS of bite sized desserts. :)

Plus each person got an endless pot of their choice of hot or iced tea...

The place was stuffed with all sorts of fun whimsical stuff...upstairs was a gift shop...I found some fun acorns and got started on my red bird collection for the year.

All the place settings had different mismatched china and silverware. No two tables were the same.
My mother in law, sister in law and her mother. :)

Even the outside porch was all done up and fun...

This bell was as big as a grapefruit...I had to work hard not to buy it...everything was for sale.

A super fun afternoon...next year we will have to plan TWO girl outings. :)