Halloween Fun

We had a fun Halloween. We always go over to our good friends, the Vincents, for some Halloween goulash. We ran into Jacob and Heather as they were on their way out. Mia was a very cute little horse, so we had to get a picture with her.


You may recognize Haleigh's costume - it was her bunny costume from her ballet recital. We looked for a costume that she liked, but we never found anything. Her bunny costume was a good solution, and it was already paid for!!!

Craig liked her costume so much that he thought he would try it - only the ears fit him!


Here is our little Iron Man. His costume has a cute mask that goes with it, but he accidentally left it at school. So...you get to see the real identity of Iron Man!


Morgan, Haleigh, and Jacob. As you can see, Morgan didn't dress up. We couldn't find a costume that she liked either.

This, however, is a good look for her!

Morgan went to a party/hay ride with some friends from school while we went out trick-or-treating. We ran into a couple of friends while we were out. Here is Jacob with his future wife, Jentry.

We also saw some of Haleigh's posse. Here are Hannah and Sara.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Enjoy your extra hour of sleep tonight (my favorite day of the entire year)!

Jacob had so much fun and excitement from Halloween that he can't make it through today without a nap. This is how I found him just a little while ago. This is his favorite place in the whole world (mom and dad's bed) on his favorite day of the week (Saturday). You don't have to tell me, I know he is really cute!

I was just loading Mark's fishing pictures on the computer, and I found this picture of him...he is clipping his nose with a chip clip. How funny.

Mark went to Louisiana a few weeks ago with a bunch of guys from church to fish for red fish. Here are a few pictures (because that is all he took) from their trip.

Here is Scott, Mark's brother, with a flounder - not quite a red fish, but a fish!

Here is a red fish!

I just got done watching Oprah on DVR. She did a story today about miracle children. They told the story of one very special baby and his parents. You have to check out their story on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th6Njr-qkq0

What an amazing couple - they are a true inspiration.

HSM3 and more puppy pictures

Mark is away this weekend, so we took advantage of our time alone. Mark doesn't like High School Musical, so he didn't want to go see HSM3 this weekend. Well, we did! While Mark is away playing at Camp Deer Run with the youth from church, we went and saw THE MOVIE. It was really good - cheesy, but good. It is about as cheesy as Grease, but a little more wholesome! My kids loved it, and we had a great time together. So, for that, I love High School Musical movies! It was funny because there were a lot of teenagers there acting like they didn't want anyone to see them there. They were joking with each other in the bathroom acting like they only came to the movie to make fun of it. Yeah right. I don't believe that for a second. They were there for the same reason we all were - they couldn't wait to see the latest installment of the movie :) Good times were had by all...


The puppies are getting so much bigger already. Here are our latest pictures with them - Cookie is actually letting us hold them now, so the kids are thrilled.

Haleigh is trying to get the proud daddy in the picture, but he was shy.

The little runt - he is my favorite!

Our quintuplets! Aren't they so cute?

You can see their brown in starting to come out a bit! I love how they all huddle together to stay warm. So sweet!

Have a great weekend, and go see HSM3!

Guess What?

It doesn't take long for anyone in our family to get pregnant! Cookie had 6 little puppies last night - 5 that are still living. So, we have gone from a 2 dog family to a 7 dog family. God's plan for birth/mothers is an amazing thing - even when seeing it in dogs. It was awesome to watch Cookie have her babies and take care of them for several hours without even taking a break to rest. She is such a good mommy already. I just love watching her with the pups - it is one of the sweetest things I have seen in a long time. She was finally getting some rest this morning, and her babies are getting some rest too. Cookie is a Shitzu, Lighting a Corgi, so the dogs are "Shorgis". We are going to enjoy them while we have them. Hopefully the kids won't get too attached.

What a sweet little face, huh?

My kids thought it was cool that they still had their little umbilical cords - Haleigh was wondering if they turned into belly buttons!

Volleyball

I have mentioned before that I always struggle to get a good picture inside during any athletic event. I am still trying, but this is what turned out...

This is Morgan right before the game as her team is warming up.




Here she is (farthest green one away) - the ball is coming right toward her.

And she hit it off to the side - out of bounds, oh well.

Here she is serving.

Serving again.

We are actually on a two week winning streak! Both of those games were without Mark there as the coach! He won't be there this next Saturday either, so if they win again we are going to have to fire him!

Dreams

Do you ever have really weird dreams? I do all the time. Mark thinks that I am a weirdo when it comes to my dreams. I have had some really weird dreams lately, but I have two dreams that are reoccurring in my life...

1) Big waves crashing over me and sweeping everything away into the ocean (I mean really big, huge, gigantic waves!

2) My teeth are falling out one by one with just a little wiggle on the tooth - and then they just fall out one by one until I am left with a mouth full of nothing!

I actually haven't had the wave dream in quite some time, but I have the tooth dream a lot. It is kind of strange, huh? I was talking with some co-workers today about our dreams, and I brought up my teeth dream. The music teacher told me that his wife has that dream too. So, I turned to the Internet - the answer to all of my strange questions!!! I was glad to find out that a lot of people have this dream, so I'm not as crazy as I thought I was :) Anyway, I found that my dream may mean a lot of things. It could mean a fear of failure or embarrassment, insecurity about finances, fear of abandonment, fear of change, or a fear of transition. Very interesting. My dream about waves represents anxiety and stress - you would think that I would have that dream nightly (if you know me very well at all). I guess my anti-anxiety meds help keep that dream from entering my mind while I sleep! Do you guys have strange dreams, or is it just me?

Reflections of a Parent

I was given this poem by a friend at church, and I wanted to share it on the blog. I think it is beautiful and so true!

Reflections of a Parent

author unknown

I gave you life, but I cannot live it for you.
I can teach you things, but I cannot make you learn.
I can give you directions, but I cannot be there to lead you.
I can allow you freedom, but I cannot account for it.
I can take you to church, but I cannot make you believe.
I can teach you right from wrong, but I cannot always decide for you.
I can buy you beautiful clothes, but I cannot make you beautiful inside.
I can offer you advice, but I cannot accept it for you.
I can give you love, but I cannot force it upon you.
I can teach you to share, but I cannot make you unselfish.
I can teach you respect, but I cannot force you to show honor.
I can advise you about friends, but I cannot choose them for you.
I can advise you about sex, but I cannot keep you pure.
I can tell you about the facts of life, but I can’t build your reputation.
I can tell you about drinking, but I can’t say “no” for you.
I can warn you about drugs, but I can’t prevent you from using them.
I can tell you about lofty goals, but I can’t achieve them for you.
I can teach you about kindness, but I cannot make you moral.
I can love you as a child, but I cannot place you in God’s family.
I can pray for you, but I cannot make you walk with God.
I can teach you about Jesus, but I cannot make Jesus your Lord.
I can tell you how to live, but I cannot give you eternal life.
I can love you with unconditional love all of my life…and I will!