Daily Dose of Cute

What can I write here?

I'm in love!!

Week in Review

It's been a really fun week...and here are just a few shots from it. I feel like I've kind of hit my stride when it comes to being at home and enjoying the new normal. It's such a blessing that I have the opportunity to raise our little girl, we have more than enough, and friends and family to share it with (sorry about the preposition)!

MONDAY, I made some interesting sugar cookies. By the way, I'm really liking The Joy of Cooking cookbook these days! I've always been a Better Homes and Gardens girl, but I feel the winds of change or least the winds of variety. Anyway, I didn't capture the interesting part of these cookies in the picture, but come to find out (after the dough had been chilling for several hours) that the only cookie cutters I have are a dinosaur, a horse, an angel, and the state of Texas! In the end I went with the dino, angel, and state (the horse has too many little parts).

TUESDAY, I went back to the Y for the first time in weeks due to sickness. They are having a promo where if you work out 15 times between 11/10 and 12/22 you get a free t-shirt. I'm sad to say that this is motivation but it seems to be doing the trick. Um, no pictures of this!

WEDNESDAY, we stayed home in the morning (instead of working out) and I justified it by mopping the wood floors of our home for the second time ever in 3 years. I also began the tedious process of raking our front yard in a record breaking wind storm...needless to say, I gave up, quickly. I had lunch at a new friend's house which was delicious and just plain refreshing. I love those friendships where it just feels comfortable and like you've known each other a whole lot longer than you have.

Oh yeah, I also took a funny video of our girl and Homer. My 2 favorite things about this video are Homer's eyes and Charlotte's mouth.

THURSDAY, Kate and Cara came over with their little ones Ella (right) and Mia (left). Don't know if you remember the last picture we posted of them but Ella has really caught up to the other girls--she's huge! It's funny how much pink there is around these days!

Like how everyone is leaningto the left? I like to think that Charlotte and Mia are holding hands :) As you can see, we have no idea what to do the Charlotte's hair lately! It's super long in the front and I don't necessarrily want her to have bangs (but that's all I know). And she's starting to figure out when there's a clip or rubberband in her hair and pulls on it immediately. Grrr...

It's FRIDAY and I'm busy getting a box together to send ahead of us to Colorado since it costs so much to check bags now! That means I've got to have my Christmas presents in a row and things nailed down a little bit. I got to skype with my folks for awhile this morning. My mom is having to undergo pretty heavy duty chemo after Christmas and no one is looking forward to this, esp. her. Please pray if you think about it. Hopefully we'll get to travel to Austin in the spring for a mid-chemo visit or two. These circumstances give new meaning to "consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..."

Much love to you in these busy weeks.

It's been a long year as far as the growth of our small group, but look at us now...

we're no longer small! (This picture was snapped without another family of six who also are apart of the group.) We're talking 13 kids and 14 adults! A year ago there were 3-4 committed couples and we've been praying for more folks to join us for some time. It's been so encouraging to meet more young families who are growing in their faith and raising their kids to do the same. It seems like this demographic is just exploding at our church right now and we're meeting new people all the time.

Here are pictures of a dress that I made for Charlotte. I actually took off the bodice and made it bigger...as you can see it was a little on the small side.
I think this dress made her feel really good about herself. At least that's what

I'm telling myself :)

Silly Girl

I hope this makes you laugh a little bit...

Hello Wednesday

I saw these on a friend of a friend's facebook page (don't pretend like you don't get lost in facebook land too!) and fell in love. These pictures take me away to another place completely. I so remember my year in Colorado and how utterly saturated I felt in the word and in the people around me...even though I was in a brand new place with people I'd never met before. Where I worked and lived, it seemed like everything was working together (granted that is my selective memory at work--it was by no means perfect, but it was um, simple). These days my life (and my many past lives in various places) feels pretty compartmentalized with different groups of friends and family and friends that continue to be spread out but who are still so much a part of who I am. Anyway, know that I am thinking of you today on this blustery Wednesday in Weaverville, NC and praising the Lord for putting you in my life!

In a season where we celebrate bounty and abundance, I am praising Him for always providing more than we need and all that we could want. His love, his provision, and his power to sustain us is unending.