Haircuts, Trips, and Food

Random assortment of topics, huh? I feel like when I blog these days, I need to pack in as much as possible when I have the time. Know what I mean? Does it make for a fluid read, probably not. Please forgive me and keep going. First off haircuts....Holden had his first one a few weeks ago (he is 15 months). Did he really need it? This momma didn't think so, but I might have had several people tell me they thought he had an ear infection because he kept touching his ears. The culprit was his sideburns.

He did great

loved the sucker

Lane did as well, but he is an old pro...

Ford was in town too, so he also had the pleasure of a trim

The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed to Charleston for a little R&R and to EAT.  We did alot of eating as you can see in the below pictures! Not alot of pictures of anything else really. 

Shrimp BLT from Cru Cafe

Kale salad from Butcher and Bee, really good-with peanuts, sesame, and soy...I want to try to "recreate" this at home, if I figure it out I will let you know

we did run on the bridge one morning and it was glorious, tough but beautiful

Crispy Pork Ear lettuce wraps from Husk

some sort of delicious baked oyster from Husk

drinks at the Gin Joint

we did take a walking tour that was interesting and nice to walk off all of our eating

my favorite dish of the whole trip, Ricotta Gnocchi from FIG

glad I got to spend some time with this guy, he also was a sport and let me drag him up and down King Street shopping...

Sadly the only pictures I have from Thanksgiving are of Stone Crabs...

our "traditional" Thanksgiving lunch

and of Lane trying his first one, he approved!

We went to the Iron Bowl last weekend, by far the best game I have ever been to...

tailgating with Abbie

SO EXCITED

I have not seen anything like this-- minus the Florida game when I was a student, but that was not good as my date might have gotten arrested for storming the field

blurry, but denotes the final score of which James called that morning...

(do any of you like to guess the score before? I guessed 21-10 Auburn, but it would not have been nearly as exciting)

War Eagle!

Thankful...

Hodgepodge Tuesday

Our neighborhood had its Trick or Treat on Tuesday of Halloween week. This years theme: Dinosaurs picked by Lane.

Holden was a green Triceratops. He lasted about five minutes.

Foster and Lane, love their faces

Lane was a "Rwed T Rwex"

Sleeping Beauty Fair and Superwoman Kyle

Pie and Jude the little peanut

Fair and her Fairy Godmothers:

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather

Do we resemble them well?!

Other happenings:

We got to keep this sweetheart, Ella Kate Bobo, for an hour while her parents were in a wedding last Saturday. 

Lane was a little infatuated to say the least :) He stole a few kisses, sorry Steven!

My friend, Molly had her second precious baby girl, Brooks Ann Rossell. 

Oh my goodness!! Makes me ready for another, almost ;)

Everything went great--and momma, daddy, and Big Sister Rayne are all adjusting well

Saturday we went to the tractor show in Orrville. It was a beautiful morning, and shocking how many people were there. I mean, I like tractors, but this was BIG especially for such small community. Lane was in hog heaven. 

with big cousin Sam

Holden likes "trac tracs" too

this cracks me up, very telling of this bunch

In other news, the stomach bug hit the children this week...no fun. 

or maybe it was the Paleo banana bread?! Just kidding, this was actually pretty good, give it a try.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Also, I heard on the news that today is one of the most popular days to get married, so your anniversary would be 11/12/13. Sounds smart to me, easy to remember!

Loving Fall

This morning I crawled out of bed at five am to meet some friends to run. (thanks Angie and Kea!) The weather was perfect running weather. Cold enough to feel great when working up a sweat and not so cold that my throat starting hurting. Anybody know what I mean? Summer is my favorite season, but the older I get the more I appreciate fall. The crispness of the early mornings, the vibrancy of colors in nature, and of course the bounty of fall flavors. Here are some things that I have been enjoying lately:

the perfect shirt...soft and comfortable. 

by Bella Dahl

This sheperd's pie. Have I mentioned I have been eating Paleo? I really owe a whole post on it, but the jist is I just completed the 30 day Paleo challenge at our Crossfit gym. Everyone put fifty dollars into the pot and the winner took home the cash. The winner was rewarded based on percentage body fat lost. I lost three percent body fat, and 10 pounds. I was very happy with the results as I have been "meaning" to lose that last ten pounds of baby weight for let's see, Holden is 15 months old :) I also won the cash! Definitely a win-win. Everyone has asked, "will you keep doing Paleo?" YES. The great thing about Paleo is that it really is a lifestyle change, not a diet. I will probably take the 80/20 approach to just maintain and enjoy the benefits of how it makes you feel. I have more energy, sleep better, and am mostly just more balanced throughout the day. I think what I learned the most the past month is how much sugar I was ingesting was UNHEALTHY. I had sugar almost after every meal... maybe it was just a couple of Reese cups, a cookie, or a brownie, but it added up. Really one might call it a sugar addiction :) Does this mean I will not enjoy desserts now, ummm no...but everyday not so much. Now it is more of a "treat".  The biggest challenge is meal planning for our family dinner. This veggie pie recipe is what James says, "Is one of the only good things you have made so far". So there you go, give it a try!

Reading Domino, Holiday edition:

pictures taken a couple of weeks ago of the boys by my favorite, Catherine Mayo:

and last but not least, Hearing the Voice of God Bible Study by Mark Virkler. 

It is a really practical and easy to remember the four keys:

1. God's voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.

2. Become still so you can sense God's flow of thoughts and emotions within.

3. As you pray, fix the eyes of your heart on Jesus, seeing in the spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God

4. Journaling, the writing out of your prayers and God's answers brings great freedom in hearing God's voice 

Here is the link to the PDF that explains this in more detail and gives the scriptural foundations. 

Our homework this week was to "practice", and I had some really fruitful time with Jesus. 

I think the hardest part for me was getting STILL and quieting my mind. The neat thing was though, once I did, it didn't take long for him to begin speaking. He was ready and waiting, all I had to do was ask. 

Iphone Update

Here are some recent pictures from what we have been up to:

This two and a half year old is quite the ham. He is an emotional rollercoaster. He tests my authority one minute, then the next has a sweet pleasing spirit. We are still working on the potty training, some days are great, some days we jump backwards. Last night when we were praying, he thanked God for " big gween trac trac, hwuge trac trac,  and baby blue trac trac" (aka tractors of all shapes and sizes). He is a bit obsessed. 

Last Saturday we went to the Chris Tomlin concert in Birmingham. It is a big worship concert, which makes it really awesome. 

before the concert we had dinner with these lovely folks at Chez Fon Fon

shrimp and avocado salad + coconut cake=one happy lady

we also had a double date day in Birmingham with the Joneses

and baby Oliver Gaines! (Kristen is 22 wks pregnant here, though you can't really tell) It was very relaxing, and the men were troopers to let us shop around. 

Latte love

We also took the boys to the pumpkin patch last weekend. 

They had a big time...well Lane did. Holden kept saying "sticks sticks" and falling on the vines :( 

Poor buddy. He did like the snacks. 

Here he is after stealing my chocolate chip protein bar for breakfast

Who could get upset at that rascal face?

So Glad you were Born

Happy Birthday James!! 

love this picture as it depicts James at his best, a loving present father...

He is hands on with the boys, a wonderful mix of disciplinarian and fun. 

They both love their Daddy the most, and I don't blame them one bit.  

morning wresting sessions with Lane and Ford at the Roost

my best friend and favorite person to hang with

birthday French Toast

(Holdey was still snoozing)

Hope you have the BEST day and a wonderful 31st year! 

Praying that you have increased delight in the Lord and enjoy His land and safe pasture.