Halloween Pics

Trick-or-treating at their first house (Piper and Cohen with Jorja-dressed as Coraline)! This was their first time really trick-or-treating and they lost steam pretty quickly. Cohen and I headed back to the house in about 20 minutes and the girls hung in there a little longer! Piper and Jorja sat on the front porch handing out candy to the other kids, they seemed to enjoy that a lot more!
Cohen, dressed as a cool knight, or (k)nightmare according to who you ask!

My adorable puppy dog! I think the costume called for black pants and top underneath, but I though he looked pretty cute with his roly, poly legs hanging out!

And last but not least, the sassiest ladybug around, Miss Piper!

Piper, Abe and Jorja hanging on the porch waiting for trick-or-treaters.

A Nightmare

I'm still not a huge fan of Halloween but my kids love the dressing up and candy gathering. We happened upon a costume sale and took advantage of the cheap prices. Piper is going to be a lady bug and Abe is going to be a puppy; they are both adorable in their costumes. However, Cohen chose a cheap-looking (all plastic) "knight" costume, solely because it had a sword. He has no idea what a knight is or what a knight does but the costume had a sword, and that immediately appealed to him. Well, on the way home after purchasing the costumes, Cohen asked me, "What am I going to be for Halloween?" And before I could even answer him, he answered himself saying, "Oh yeh, I'm being a (k)nightmare."

I laugh everytime I look at his awful, plastic (k)nightmare costume!

Cohen's Soccer Career

Cohen has chosen to play soccer this Fall, and being his first season and really his first experience with team play, Chad and I usually double over in laughter watching him! During practices he will be trying to wrestle the other players or start side games totally out of sync with the coach's plans. During the games he scores on his own team's goal and when playing goalie he will wrap his hands and head up in the goal's net so he cannot loose himself to guard the goal!

Last night was only their third game, so I know he will get the hang of it. We encourage him and tell him what a great job he is doing, if he will just try to score on the other team's goal next time!

Here they are before the game having their devotion and prayer. Cohen is the orange "8".

P90X

So, we are infomercial crazy around here and order those infomercial products more often than I should admit. One of my most valued purchases has been the P90X exercise program , which I am proud to say, "I finished" today! 90 days of butt-kicking exercise and I did it!!

Getting up every weekday morning at 5am has been no walk in the park, but I am loving the strength I have gained and the added energy (although I am ready to crash every night at about 9pm). I feel so accomplished to have started and finished the 90 day program, I think I am going to start another 90 days tomorrow!

Flying Kids

We spent Saturday and Sunday at my Papa's house celebrating birthdays and enjoying visiting with family who had traveled in for the funeral services. My cousin Jon sent these cool pics of the big kids "flying" with a gorgeous blue sky in the background!

Nanny Norman

My Nanny, my kids' great-grandmother, passed away this past Monday, Labor Day 9/7/09. Even after the visitation and funeral, I know it has not sunk in fully that she is gone. My sisters and I were so close to her growing up. We spent many days and nights at her house with our cousins and she always went to the beach with us. I have so many sweet memories of her and I truly thought she was an angel when I was younger. She was the kindest, most caring soul I have ever met. Even as I child, I sensed her love and humility; I aspired to be like her.

In the whirlwind of activity that surrounded her death, family and friends reached out to my family and my Papa. It is eye-opening to see how much those around us really care and how they rally with love and support when we need it most.

Outside of the obvious lessons I will hold dear from Nanny, I will bring away from this experience a new perspective on the little things we can do to show love to those around us. How just listening to someone reminisce can help them heal, how sending flowers and food lets them know you are thinking about them and praying for them and how a phone call or a visit can touch them so deeply.

I will miss you Nanny and I pray I can be a blessing to those around me just as you were to everyone that knew you!

Family Fun

This is an overdue post but nontheless, we had my immediate family over for lunch about 2 Sundays ago. It was my mother, 2 sisters and their significant others, in addition to my crew (of course). We had a yummy lunch and plenty of time for visiting and catching up.

The men and kids played croquet while the women hung out in the shade. Cohen guided my sisters through the trails by the creek on the four wheeler and, our dogs ran in circles with Aunt Ashley's dog Maddie. I do believe a good time was had by all!
Once Abe got up from his nap he was all over the yard stealing the croquet balls from the game!

Cohen was trying to help out but Abe did not see it that way!

I loved this picture of my mother and Cohen!Mom and us three sisters (not the best angle but who cares, I think Piper took the pic).