God, Let Me Be a Blessing

Recently our family heard of another family in need. Like all the stories you might hear of out there at this time of year they are struggling.

I don't want to get into all the details of how and why as I think that things like that should be kept hush. They have enough on their plates without worrying about others speaking of their personal business.

Suffice to say they have more to worry about than just presents under their tree. At the top of their list was "space heaters with long extension cords". Break.my.heart.

I have been sitting here worrying about what new Xbox game to get Graham (hello $59.95 that I'll never see again) and another family can't get warm this Christmas. I feel both shame and thankfulness for the giant slap in the face that God has just given me. My own worries are nothing compared to what others are facing. My stress is just a drop in the bucket compared to that other family's.

I look at our wrapped presents under our tree in our warm home and realize that none of those things matter at.all. How I wish I could just go and pluck items up that I've already purchased and pass them on to this family (Sadly, the children of this family are a 6 year old girl and a 14 year old boy. Nothing that I've gotten for my kids would really match up at all with what their other kiddos might want or need.)

This is the season for our family to give back. We've been blessed in the past and we need to start paying that forward. We have started getting some things together for the family. Some of our really good friends and family (Love you Melanie!) are helping out as well.

I'm still worried though. I'm done Christmas shopping (and so is my budget :) and there is just a little bit money that my family can contribute. My prayers are that it is enough and that Gods blessing is placed on the items that we can give them!

When thinking and praying over this situation this morning my mind stayed to on of my favorite stories from the bible.

Matthew 14:13-21

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

I hope and pray that when I head out to the store later that my money mysteriously multiplies :) and that there are some insane sales!

God, please bless this family. Gentle their financial worries and let these items be just what they need. Let the children that are opening these gifts on Christmas morning ooh and ahh over what they receive. May the blessing of my family be passed onto this family as well. Amen. 

Shhh.... Don't Tell The Boys :)

The boys are getting something a little extra special under the tree this year...

Meet our newest "baby", Gunnar. 

Yes, his name starts with a G just like our other boys. :) 

He is a Golden Retriever and will be ready to pick up on Christmas Eve. I hope there is not too much crying for his Momma (that would totally wake my boys)  because I'd LOVE to be able to have my boys walk in to our living room on Christmas morning and see him in his doggie bed!

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What Graham's Reading

I love how much Graham is into reading these day! Now, don't let me totally fool you... there are still plenty of times where there is some grumbling and pre-teen eye rolling going on when it's "required reading". But for the most part he's really getting into what he's got open in front of him!

As a book worm myself I just LOVE this about him! When I was his age I could devour a book in less than a day. This used to drive my dad banana's always asking to be taken to the book store. :)

I know I have mentioned in the past that Graham has learning disabilities. Specifically dyslexia (or so we pretty sure. It's a long, boring, and pissy story in regards to his testing and the school district that I just won't get into now...).Graham puts in 110% to stay at grade level reading. I usually hang pretty close when he's reading to re-read a paragraph to double check for comprehension but almost always he's on target.

Recently our school had a book fair and Graham chose 3 different book!

I know that Graham picked well because I can easily see all of his interests represented right here! The one of top is about the Revolutionary war, the one in the middle is a spooky mystery, and the one of bottom is about service animals in WWII.

He is really ready to get started reading all of these but I'm making him finish his school library book first :).

He's reading Smells Like Dog. The parts I've read with him (yes, he still asks to be "read a story" at night :) ) are super cute!

My heart sings when I see his bedside table and it looks like this...

I just love my sweet reader! 

The Last Saturday of Soccer

Both my older two boys played their last soccer games of the year. They are both sad and happy all in one. Two practices a week and games on Saturday was getting a little tiring for them (and me). They will miss their soccer friends until next season.

They both played amazingly well today!

Grady played first at 12:00.

Grady did a wonderful job and played his best game yet!

Graham played next at 2:00. We stayed up at the fields in between games for Graham to get some extra goalie practice in with his coach before the game (more on that later).

Graham was chosen to play 1st half goalie for the last game! We were so proud of him! He really began to enjoy playing this position last year and has really bloomed at it this year. He did an amazing job and out of all the shots made on him he only let one ball through (the final score was 5-1 with our team winning!). The rest of the game he played both offensive and defensive positions.

This is what Griffin did for the 19 hours we out today...

Bless this sweet baby's heart. He slept, ate, and picked his nose right here the entire time. :)

Both my boys had amazing coaches who just did wonderful with the kiddos. There was nothing but positive encouragement and awesome training.

I have to brag on both Graham and his coach though. I got a couple of emails from him that just made my heart smile. I tried to explain to Graham when I read them aloud that this was not a coach that just throws around praise. I can't wait to see what next season brings!

"1 will be great. I don't want to tire him out too much before the game. I appreciate his determination to feel prepared and be as good as possible."

and...

"We'll play our final game of the Fall Season tomorrow at 2 PM on Field 8A. Unfortunately JT has another commitment so Sela's mom and I will be running the sideline. For anybody who wants an extended warmup, we'll be somewhere around one of the goals any time after 1 since Graham is dedicated to doing his absolute best in the goal, and he wants some extra practice."

The Rest Of Halloween

Basically this sums up our Halloween night...

This was not even one of those "stock Google images" photos. This was from our dining room table. I had everything spread out looking for needle holes and razor blades. Not one Butterfinger appeared to be safe. It all had to be safely stored in a Ziploc bag in my bedside table.

My kids were one gigantic blur last night. I got about 4 dark/blurry pictures of them while they appeared to be running for their lives (or the house next door to the one they just trick or treated at because "they might run out").

They all had an awesome time and I'll add some updated pictures of just them if I can steal some from my SIL. :)

Griffin had a blast on the Hay Ride that we did. By the end of the night he really had the candy collection process down pat. For the last two or three houses he even managed to say "Trick or Treat" in his Ijustturnedtwoandsoundadorable voice.

We had the best time hanging out with the cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncle (and numerous school friends).

I thought I'd include just a couple of pictures of some household Halloween things before it all comes down later today...

I free-handed that M yo...

I painted the pumpkins and made the wreath myself! (do you think it's Etsy shop material?)

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Halloween night too!

Boo To You!

(ya'll cut me some slack as I try to get back to this blogging gig... :)



It's that awesome time of year again! We love Fall around our house. The weather is cooler, we've gotten settled back into our new school routine, and all the fun Holiday's are just around the corner!

Tonight we'll be celebrating Halloween with some of our favorite people. Our family! We have some pizza to eat, a lot of houses to collect candy from, and a hay ride to enjoy. My boys could not be any happier! Both Graham and Grady would be wearing their costumes night and day if I let them :). Sweet Griffin is almost old enough to enjoy it all. We will probably take him up to a house or two to "trick or treat" but mostly he'll just be hanging out with me on the hay ride.

I can't wait to update later with some pictures of my cuties in their costumes!

Everyone have a fun and safe night!

The Old House

Yesterday the boys and I went out to Bobby's Great Grandmother's house to help his mother get an old armoire out. It's really starting to show it's age but it's still soo beautiful!

Five children were born and raised here and countless memories were made.

I confess, I became slightly obsessed with the decorative trim that surrounds the front porch of the house. :)

In the front yard stands this lone windmill. My husband still tells us stories about the water he would drink from the well and still says that "windmill punch" is the best.

How beautiful is the front door?! I just nearly swoon every time I see it!

There is tons of stuff still left in the house. Each and everything is so wonderful and old.

Can you read what's on the plate above? It says "Food should be cooked with lots of love and lots of butter." LOVE it! :)

The boys just went crazy trying to get a look at everything!

I loved all the old dressers and mirrors. It boggles my mind thinking about all the ladies in the family standing in front of those mirrors getting ready over the years.

Grady and his cousin Carter were poking into everything! Who could blame them though? Everything was so interesting!

Only in Texas would you find a cactus growing right up next to a Crepe Myrtle tree.

We stopped multiple times to eat some snacks (and get out of the stickers!).

It was a wonderful day of family adventure!

Because Baby Food Is For BABIES!

To heck with chicken nuggets, mac n' cheese, banana's. "Those are for babies! " said Griffin. Well, you know, if he could talk.

If he could talk he'd also tell me that high chairs are for BABIES too. And he is.not.a.baby.

Starting back about 3 weeks ago it seems that his appetite just dropped off. I would put him in his highchair and he would just sit there, throw his food as far as he could across the room, not take one single bite, and throw a massive fit to get down.

Not long after he both learned the word "snack" AND how to break into my pantry. I caught himself multiple times helping himself to food. The boy was for sure hungry but hated both the highchair and what I was feeding him.

In the past week I've come to the realization that it's time for both a change in his foods and how and where he eats.

The past couple of meal times he's eaten at a little side table next to our couch. It's the perfect height for him to eat off. His meal choice? Why it's a Lean Cuisine! Aren't those just perfect for a 20 month old?! 

It's the Santa Fe Style Rice and Bean with a Sour cream and chili sauce. He LOVES it! 

It's not overly spicy and have other nice assorted veggies in it (ie zucchini)  that make me feel a tad less guilty.

His other favorite??

This...

It's the Thai Style Chicken Spring Rolls (from you guessed it, Lean Cuisine!)

It's time to go back to the drawing board so my precious baby isn't eating microwaved meals all the time... 

I think I already have a solution to the seating problem. We have one of these already outside...

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It's totally junky because it's been outside but I have some super fun plans to spray pain and recover it with fun oil cloth! I think he'd love to sit here to eat and it would be cute enough to put in our living room. 

What kind of things do you feed your kiddo's to keep them out of the food rut?

Grady Is A Pre-School Graduate!

Grady recently finished up his last day of Pre-School and had his Pre-School graduation! Not only did he have a blast all year long but he learned soo much too! I know that he will confidently go off to Kindergarten knowing all that he should. 

My big kid on his very last day. Gosh he's so handsome!

When we got up to the church they had all of the graduated chairs ready to go. 

They also had snacks and treats for all the families! YUMMY! The graduating 4 and 5 year olds were broken into 2 classrooms. Grady was in the Ladybug room and the other was the butterflys.

These cupcakes tasted as good as they looked!

While we waited for the graduation to begin they had a slideshow featuring many pictures of each kiddo. It was soo fun to see them doing different activities throughout the year!

Grady was soo ready to graduate!

The Pre-schoolers did a small program for the parents with songs that they learned through the year. This song was "God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man". The kids LOVED this song and they got to put their hands out and say BOO a lot. There might have also been some shouting and a ton of giggling. :)

While waiting to receive their diploma's each child got to speak into the microphone and say what they wanted to be when they grew up. Grady said that he wanted to be a policeman. Grady's teacher Ms. Robin might have been praying for him when he said that... :)

At the end of the ceremony the kids got to throw up their caps just like real graduates!

Congratulations Grady Tucker! 

Grady's great-grandmother, Nana, was able to come! 

Our perfectly posed family.... 

Grady with his Omi and Opi!

Grady and his beloved Ms. Robin. She had so much patience and love for this child all year long...

This is Grady and some of his friends, Olivia and Elizabeth. Just look at that smile on his face and tell me I'm not in trouble in about 10 years. Oh Lawd, I think we have ourselves a ladies man :). 

Babies, Babies, Babies

 But not the human kind and certainly not from me (just in case anyone is reading the title and gasping :).

It's baby fawn season here around home.

That little baby probably belongs to one of these Momma's. Can you see another doe across the street in our neighbors yard? They are everywhere! No Joke! We have so many in fact that we have a deer path that cuts  across our front yard in the grass.

All of us just stare out our front windows half the day to watch these little cuties hang around. :)

For as fun as this time of year is I have to say, it's not quite as fun in the Fall. The bucks get the antlers in and quite often I'm scared to go and check my own mail for just in case. :) (in all seriousness, even Bobby said that I should probably just check the mail from my car when we are leaving to go somewhere as apposed to just walking out and getting it...)

Does anyone else have any interesting wildlife around their home?