Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Sometimes (a lot of times) our minds can take us to a place of worry and anxiety. I am so guilty of this. During this month of thanksgiving, may this verse remind us that in everything, let us give thanks and to give our troubles (big or small) to the Lord. In guarding our hearts and minds from anxiety, perhaps then we can focus a little more on the gratitude.
November! The beginning of the holiday season and the month my baby turns TWO! We had a fun-filled October in which I'll continue to post about in the coming weeks. November will be a month to give thanks and celebrate our family. My work naturally slows down this month so its a good time to enjoy the calm with the kids, Ryan and my quiet time with Jesus. We are looking forward to time with family and friends and appreciating what matters most in this pretty little life.
As far as October goals, this is how it went down:
1. House Prep: It's coming together. After two years, we are finally making it "our own." Ryan has been such a huge help lately in helping make our home look so beautiful. And most times, its the little things. Like washing dishes when I'm not aware. Sounds small, but his intentional acts of love warm my heart.
2. Clean out the Mom-Mobile: It's by no means client-friendly. But its better. As long as its sweeped out and there aren't cheerios and applesauce pouches thrown everywhere-I'm content.
3. Create & Check off a Fall Bucket List: With being gone for a whole week (including two weekends) we are very limited on time in October, naturally. But I think we managed to celebrate the fall in a big way. We went to two pumpkin patches, enjoyed hay rides, drank lots of cider, carved pumpkins, zooboo'd, hunted for pretty leaves and ate fall popcorn :)
4. Morning workouts: We're doing better on this! I'm starting off with walking. And now that it's getting colder, we plan on converting our basement bedroom into our mini gym. We inherited my dad's old treadmill so hopefully this continues into a full-blown habit in my morning routines.
1. Better meal panning round two: I failed miserably the last time I made this goal. This month, I want to be better about pre-planning better meals. I love the idea of crock pot meals. It just takes more prep work (which isn't my strength in the kitchen)
2. Host a family for dinner: A family that we love very much hosted us last night on a whim. It was so great to spend quality time with friends. They poured love over us and didn't seem stressed about hosting a dinner for nine with little notice. Such a great night!
3. Complete Christmas shopping list: Ever since Mr. Briggs came along, I became an online shopper. So by completing this task in November, I don't have to worry about delivery days in December. I love Christmas shopping for my family :)
4. Send encouraging cards: Someone that I love very much will be undergoing chemotherapy starting this month. I'm making it my goal to send her encouraging notes, texts and cards during her sessions. I wish she lived closer so I could love on her in person-so hopefully she will feel my love from afar.
5. Celebrate our girl: Guys! My baby is one for only 15 more days. I'm going to soak up my little one-year-old (who is still very much baby to me) for a solid two weeks. Then we are going to throw the sweetest little party that will be the love language to her precious baby heart.
We had the sweetest Halloween with our favorite zebra & Little Red/baby lion. With Halloween falling on the weekend, there was so much time for fun.
On Saturday/Halloween morning, we went to Kerigan and Kinsie's soccer. The kids were allowed to come dressed in costume. We let sis choose whether she wanted to go as Little Red or baby lion. This round, she chose lion. Zebra came along for moral support.
After K's nap, we had an early supper then got back in costume! Round two, Kerigan chose Little Red. It was a little chilly, but nothing like last year. Our neighborhood has so many little kids. Most parents want to take their kids from door to door. So almost every house leaves out a bowl of candy and relies on the honor system. I love that Ryan and I can both take the kids around the hood.
My favorite zebra with his pizza slice.
Here are more pics from our Saturday:
After an hour or so of trick-or-treating, it began to rain. So Kerigan was done. She and I went back to the house to pass out treats. Then Briggs and Ryan soon followed but not before "trick-or-treating" at our own house. Then Briggs decided this was the greatest thing. So he and Kerigan came back to "trick-or-treat" again and again and again...at their own house. We caught one instance on video.
Then Briggs decided he wanted to pass out the candy. As we were watching Mickey's Monster Musical, he would wait to hear the door bell. Then once it rang, he would run to the front door, grab the bowl of candy and tell the trick-or-treaters, "you can have any two you like." He got so good at his job, that he began telling them "you can have any two you like" before we even had a chance to open the door. :-)
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Sunday we went to church then came home to prep for our kids costume party! It was pretty low-key but full of good food and great company. I made my favorite party treats but with a Halloween twist. We had a mis-hap with the grill for our cookout, but thankfully no one got hurt. And we can now laugh about Daddy, the pizza slice, running across the yard with a fire extinguisher.
Costumes, treats, cookouts and bonfires...makes for a perfect fall night!
And that was our Halloween weekend! Below are links to our Halloweens from past years.
Wow! October was busy but pretty special. We indulged in fall festivities but the highlight was definitely our trip to Florida. We loved the beach, water, warm weather, our day trip to see Mickey and getting to see Uncle Scotty. Then once we got back to Indiana, the fun didn't stop. Briggs got to take his first field trip to a farm, then his class had a circus day, and we ended the month with Halloween. Whew! We need a nap.
Here are some fun things the kids are up to this month:
As mentioned above, Briggs took his first field trip. We got to ride a real yellow bus together too!
The kids LOVED helping carve and paint pumpkins this year. You'll see in the video how much they got into it :)
Kerigan is sassy as ever. She knows she's about to turn two because the "no" phase has begun
Kerigan calls Briggs "BB" She can say Briggy but she like BB better. His name is Briggs Beto, so maybe she's just trendier than we are
She's in an attachment phase right now. She wants to take her little Minnie and blanket everywhere
Briggs is really into math right now. His favorite game right now is..."When I'm 7, Kerigan will be....5. Then when I'm 28, Kerigan will be.....26." And so on and so on and so on.
The kids still love dancing and singing. This month, Kerigan's favorite songs are "Baby bumble bee, wheels on the bus and Jesus loves me"
The two best friends at Mickey's "Not so scary Halloween party"
Our first visit to the pumpkin patch...this one was in Bloomington
Trick-or Treat!
What a great month! Here are some of our favorite moments summed up in this video:
October was packed but I'm thankful we got to spend so much family time together. We are looking forward to a great November! And we're pumped fall weather is sticking around a bit long too :-)
We're gearing up for Halloween weekend while missing the Florida sunshine! (So much rain here. And cold. Too much cold) Last week, we visited Siesta Key, FL with my parents and family friends. So today, I'm sharing our favorites in Siesta. These are all our "musts" with small kiddos :-)
parks.
Sarasota does it right. Their parks and equipment are all toddler-friendly, clean and fun :)
The newer public beach playground was a hit with our kids. And it was just a short walk away from our condo.
One of our favorite things to do is to visit the marina. It's dog friendly, kid friendly and breathtaking at sunset. The playground has been recently updated as well-which we love!
food.
We have about 10 restaurants that we love down there. But these three are musts. Every time.
This is the gator outside of Philippi Creek. I get the snow crab every time. The restaurant is fun, crazy, messy & has the best seafood. The kids love posing with all the animals and fish after dinner too.
This is at Pacific Rim sushi restaurant. We love sushi. But Pac Rim has the best. BEST. And Briggs and Ker had their first sushi this trip! Avocado rolls :)
Posing with Papa after dinner.
beach.
The beach. Our happy place. Its always rated one of the tops. And its the 4th wonder of the world in my heart. #takeusback
Happy Halloween, friends! Think Florida thoughts and stay warm out there :-)
We're back from Siesta Key. It's our favorite place to be this time of year. The warm weather, the smaller crowds, the beach & family.
Last year, when we visited Siesta, Ryan didn't get to come. So it was so much sweeter with him here. The first few days were a little windy and overcast, but it didn't keep us away from the beach. Then by Day 3, sunshine all day every day. So days 3-5 we beached it, pooled it, took in the sunsets and ate all the seafood we could.
Kerigan wasn't too sure about the beach at first. (This was her first time back since she could walk) After a few hours, she was an ole pro and chasing birds on the beach with her brother. She loved the ocean. Last year, she was quite terrified of it. Not this year. That brave little bug would walk out on her own if I let her. Even if I was holding her hand she would bend down to dip her face in it then giggle hysterically.
Briggs loves the beach. He really always has. And he was ALL about making sandcastles this time around. This trip we gave him a teensy more freedom when it came to the ocean. We made sure he always had his life jacket on. But we would let him walk/swim out to the sand bar on his own if we were in the water with him. He tried out boogie board with Ryan too. But then Day 4 came. And a wave got him in the face while he was on the board. And it was back to just toe dips for Mr. Briggs. He no longer wanted anything to do with the waves. Dramatic just like his mama. ;-)
Day 6, we made a little trip to Disney. We rode Small World 3 times. We met Mickey and all his buddies. We stayed for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party" too. It was so cute and festive. The kids got to dress up in their Halloween costumes. Ryan dressed up too and was a big hit with the crowds. I will say though, if I had to choose between the two parties Magic Kingdom offers, I would pick the Christmas Party over and over again. But the event was definitely worth it. Disney never disappoints.
Day 7 we got to visit Uncle Scotty's school near Lakeland. It was beautiful! Then we enjoyed SK Beach the rest of the day and evening. We love it here and are so thankful we got to enjoy this week with family and friends. Here are some pics and a video to highlight our trip:
We're down here in Siesta Key! Our home away from home :) It's so nice to experience some much-needed family time in our little paradise.
One of our favorite things while down here, is to watch the sun set as often as we can. Sunsets hold special meaning to all of us. And to enjoy it here...icing on the cake.
