Trick or Treat!

We had such a fun Halloween day! After church this morning my husband took the girls out for some *warm up* trick or treating! 

After Ezra's nap we headed out with cousin Ryleigh, my BIL and SIL and Granny and POP to do some more! The kids made out like bandits and it was a lovely day for a walk through the neighborhood! =) 

We had lunch out as a family and it was very lovely! Here are some pictures of my little ones! 

And yes, this Halloween is MUCH better than last Halloween...you know, the one where I was 15,000 months pregnant with Ezra. 

Thank goodness that's in the past. =)

Maeve Says, "Mama! I'm A Monkey!"

Christmas Card Awesomeness From Shutterfly!

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year and one of my favorite things to do is to make Christmas Cards! 

I've been doing digital cards for a while and they always come out awesome and are soooo easy to produce! 

Which is perfect, because--let's face it--I've got way too many small children to spend hours on cards! 

This year I am so excited to make my cards through Shutterfly! 

I recently used their service to make a digital photo album and it came out so well! I can't wait to see what their cards look like!

I was looking at the Holiday Photo Cards and found some super cute designs! 

Here are some of my favorites:

I really like the cards that have a large spot for a picture with just a classy sentiment and fun design. These Christmas ornaments are so fun and funky. I also like my cards to read "Merry Christmas" as Christ is the reason for the season!

 I love this one too--the black and white picture with the simple red and green design just speak to me!

 I also like the ones with more than one picture option--I could do a spot for each of the kids or three poses that I really like! I can't wait to shoot my pictures and see what I come up with!

Shutterly also has a lot of great options for traditional folded cards. 

There are so many fun designs! 

It's such a fun "chore" to pick one out each year! 

I'm totally in the mood now to get the kids dressed up so that I can work on my cards! =) 

Hopefully I can get them all to smile--and even if I can't--at least I know the card will be cute enough to distract people! Ha!

Oh my word, I just found this Custom Christmas Card design--square cards? Awesome!

Yay! Merry Christmas Card Making!!

She Let Me Take Her Picture! (And All I Had To Do Was Promise Her Chocolate =)

Our routine is so different now that Amelie is in school. 

It's a little hectic in the morning getting everything ready but once Mr. Wonderful and Amelie leave it's very quiet! Ezra goes down for a nap shortly after they go and it's been really lovely to spend my quiet mornings with Maeve.

I finally stopped being lazy and got her train set out and put together.

She has totally been loving it! 

Ezra is also enjoying "playing" with it to. 

Mostly he just likes to be next to his sister no matter what she is doing. =)

The problem with having kids with winter birthdays is that they all have their birthdays sooo close to Christmas. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do for Christmas presents--not that we do a ton--but I like them to come away with a few things that they'll enjoy since they basically have to wait a whole year for another special day. =)

In other news, I sent a SuperGirl to school yesterday. She looked super cute but was not in the mood to pose for pictures! =) 

(You can tell by the deer-frozen-in-the-headlights-expression on her face =)

Anyways...one short year ago today I was veerrrryyy pregnant and hoping that my little guy would arrive before Halloween. 

Spoiler alert: He didn't. 

It was pretty much the longest week of my life! 

Who ever heard of the third child being 3 days late? 

Torture. 

My poor, sweet, bff is in the same boat this year! She's due the same day I was with Ezra--although, I'm praying super hard for her that she won't have to wait until November to meet her little guy!

Our oldest children have nearly the same birthday too. 

I like it. 

Anyways--Ezra is down for a nap and this is my time to get something done around here! Happy Thursday!

Obsessed

I was going through our old movies the other day and came upon The Prince of Egypt.

It came out when I was in college and my husband and I have always really enjoyed that movie.

It isn't very often that a big budget movie gets so many details right when it comes to a Biblical story! 

My girls, and especially Maeve, are totally obsessed with it! 

The only thing I have to "get past" when watching is Sandra Bullock as Miriam. Holy Cow. She just sounds soooo *sandra* that I can't get past it.

Anyways, if you haven't watched it in a while you totally should--it's sooo well done. 

I haven't watched it since becoming a mother--and let me tell you-

I. was. sobbing. 

Seriously!

Watching Jochebed sing Moses a lullaby *while placing him in a basket and sending him down the river?!?!?*

um, sobbing.

AHH!!! Baby Moses!!! Watch out for the hippos!!! And the rapids!!!!

Gah!!!!

Also the music.

So good.
Deliver Us? Amazing!

There Can Be Miracles When You Believe?
Power Ballad Love.

(Hello Mariah and Whitney-at-your-prime!)

What an amazing reminder of all that the Hebrew people have gone through!

What a powerful story!

Exodus is full of such good, real, edge-of-your-seat kind of stuff!

Slaves in Egypt?

The Plagues?
The parting of the Red Sea?!?

Moses ignoring his own i-don't-wanna-be-a-leader tendencies and with the strength of God becoming the deliverer of the people of Israel?

And then at the end, when Moses walks off the mountain with the 10 commandments--I'm all--Moses, don't look down!! The golden calf! You're gonna smash the commandments!

But it ends all majestic and Hollywood-like with a triumphant Moses and people. =)

Amazing.

The end.

A Rose By Any Other Name

The other day Amelie went to her Granny's house and they made flowers.

Aren't they pretty?

Not quite as pretty as this girl though! =)

SunDay

What a beautiful day and what a blessing to be able to open the windows again to let WARM air (instead of coooolllllbrrr air) in!

The kids looked super cute today and I wanted to do a photo shoot at the park...and then the sun disappeared. So we put on play clothes and we tried a shot outside.

Fail.

*oh the lengths we'll go to get maeve in a picture*

We still haven't given Maeve her birthday present (train/table). 

Mostly because 

a) she got tons of presents from her loving family!

b) I'm lazy. I plan to super velcro each track piece to the table so that Ezra can't destroy it at every turn. But that takes motivation and I haven't found any!

That's it I suppose.

Mr. Wonderful and the girls are at church for Christmas practice and I am home to put Ezra to bed in 3...2...1....

Good night!

3/4 Of My Favorites

Friday Facts

What a busy day!

Granny came over in the morning so that we could attend Amelie's first Kindergarten Parent Teacher Conference! 
It was all good news and Amelie is doing great! 
Yay Amelie!!! 

She loves school! 

Even though it's hard to have her gone she is having a wonderful time and learning so much! 

I'm so proud of you Amelie-girl!!
I also bought Amelie a long denim skirt because I couldn't resist it! 
She looks a little bit like a Duggar but I like it. =)

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Maeve had her 3 year old check up. 

She was very worried when we arrived at the *Dr.'s Office* and it didn't help any that we had to wait foreeevvverrrr.

And it also didn't help that the 5yo next door getting shots was SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS and there was crashing and yelling and breaking noises. 

Scary.

Maeve is still tiny. 

26 pounds and 34 inches. (5th %) 

Apparently she only grew 2 inches last year?

The doctor wants to check her in 6 months to make sure she's growing at the right pace.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. 

I kind of feel like she's just small but we'll see.

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And then there's this.....It's been happening a lot lately!

And then, after dinner, we had an impromptu dance party.

Then we tried to take a picture of the three kids.
It was mostly a fail. =)

I love my little family soooo much!

I wouldn't trade my little corner of the world for anything!!!

Wednesday Shmensday

We've had a long, boring week here!

The babies picked up a cold somewhere last week/this weekend? And have been a tad miserable. 

They are getting better now--and I'm so thankful it's not a "bad" cold but they've been like little cling-ons! 

Thankfully, God made them super cute so it's not too much of a trial!

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Maeve had a happy day--although I'm not quite sure she completely gets the concept of birthday--she wished everyone who wished her a happy birthday the same thing =) 

Love her!

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I found out some very good news today! 

A friend is expecting twins! 

I actually have four friends that have either a)just had twins or b) found out they are having twins!!! 

Must be something in the water!!!

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I want these from Old Navy:

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I'm excited about Wednesday night tv. If you haven't watched Cougar Town you should totally check it out. I *KNOW* the name is just awful--it's not about "that" at all! It's absolutely hilarious--we just started watching this season and are enjoying it. We also started watching The Middle and Modern Family--both laughoutloud shows!

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I love this song right now. I know--repetitive and not highly imaginative but sung but the cutest little chick ever. =)

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The end.

The Newest Three Year Old On The Block

Dear Maeve-y,

You are the funniest, coolest, naughtiest little brand new 3 year old in the land! We all love you so much and are so thankful that you are a part of our family! I don't know what we would do without you! You make me laugh every single day! You remind me so much of your Daddy--which, is a very good thing! I'm pretty sure your favorite person in the world is Amelie--you just love your sister so much! I'm so thankful that the two of you have each other and I pray that you will always be close! You are very lucky to have such a wonderful sister! 

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Some things about Maeve....

*Your favorite things are: playing pretend with anything! 

*Cars, trucks, ponies, trains, little people--you are such a content little girl! 

*You love watching Mickey Mouse movies, Toy Story (especially Buzz) and Pingu.

*You ask me everyday to go to the park or Granny's house!

*You love your whole family but you are most drawn to your Pop-pops. I love to see how much you love them! No one can light up a Pop's eyes like Maeve!

*You love to wear Dora underwear but HATE the potty. =) and =(

*You are still tiny and I'm pretty sure you weigh less than Ezra!

*Your hair is so long and blond and pretty!

*You still walk on your tiptoes. =)

*You love to sing and dance and do anything with Amelie. 

*You call me Mama and I love that!

*You sleep awesome at night and take a most excellent nap. 

*You have NO problem expressing your opinion/speaking your mind. Loudly. =)

*We are working on being obedient. You are doing a very good job of listening and obeying! Most of the time.....=)

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We love you Maeve and pray that your life is full of JOY just like our lives are with you here! Most importantly, I pray that you find true joy and meaning in a relationship with Christ--because, really--that is the most important thing we can impart to you!

We love you Maeve! From the tips of our toes to the tops of our heads!

Love, 

Mama

Maeve at 

1 Week

 1 Year

2 Years

3 Years

 (yes, she's still on a picture strike. Gah! no smiles for Mama!)

My Guys

Wintry Gymboree Cuteness!

A Million Pictures Of The Birthday Celebration. Literally. (I can't help it!)