A Look Back at Summer

Since today is officially the beginning of Fall, I thought it would be the perfect time to take a look back at our summer! I have enjoyed it, but I am glad to see it go for another year. It has been very hot and just as I am at the end of each season; I am very ready for a new set of clothes and not just for me, but for Hayden too!

Our Summer began when Hayden turned 1 and we had so much fun on that day!



Up next we had a family wedding - we loved this family picture...



Then we really enjoyed our family vacation with my parents and here is Hayden with Daddy in front of the big Fish, I think this was at Zeke's Marina???



After the fun events were over, most of our days went a little like this...




And we were able to spend an entire afternoon at my best friend's house swimming, Hayden especially loved this!



And let us not forget an afternoon of eating and shopping, but we stopped to take a break so we could play in the dirt...




We sprinkled in some time at the playground, the splash park, eating out, fun in nursery at church, lots of time in our playroom at home and even took a trip to Auburn, but it was still a long summer!

Brian and I got to enjoy a couple of date nights and one that was especially fun was the Biscuits Game - it was a beautiful night!




I know the summer season is officially over tonight, but it ended for me Labor Day weekend, so here is one last picture of how we celebrated the end of summer! Hope you all enjoyed your Summer with some great family time and may your Fall be even better!

Outside

Let's just say that when I found out I was pregnant with a little girl, images starting flashing in my head of all the fun we were going to have frolicking in the grass, running down the beach, and shopping together. I pictured my beautiful daughter outside in her little smocked dress walking around barefoot with ribbons in her hair and the two of us picking flowers!!

Not once did I envision sitting in the dirt getting filthy dirty or playing with rocks! Not once did I think my little girl would LOVE to pick up handfuls of dirt and dump them all in her hair, not once did I think she would enjoy sitting in a big pile of rocks with dirt rubbed all over her face. But these times are fun and I just can't help but laugh at how much fun she is having. I wouldn't change a thing, well except for maybe her picking up the rocks and throwing them right at my head. We are working on that one, especially since she is NOT suppose to throw rocks and my little spankings do not seem to be working.

These pictures really don't show it all that good, but here is what Hayden has looked like the last couple of times we have gone to play outside. You can click the picture to make it bigger and literally see the dirt all over her little feet and legs.

Audience of One

Some of you work, and I use that term lightly, because as a Mom I know that work is not just outside of the home. So, maybe I should say some of you leave your house every morning and go to a job and get paid for your time, some of you stay home and take care of your house and raise your children, either way you should always work as though you are performing for an Audience of One. What does this mean, you ask? Well let me explain because it was an eye opener for me on Sunday morning.

At church on Sunday, John Schmidt preached on this verse: "And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of The Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father", Colossians 3:17

He began by telling us that God put us here to work, work no matter what we do. He said that in our country everyone is always talking about retirement and working so we can quit and do nothing for years and years, but that is not what God has intended for us. God says in the Bible that he worked for 6 days and then rested on the 7th day and that is what we should do also and on top of that we should always work cheerfully and give thanks. He can very easily take everything we have away and give it to someone else. Work is Good, God created us to Work. Laziness is Bad.

"Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically" Romans 12:11

I work alone in my office and some days it would be easy to not work, to be lazy and sit around and read a book or leave early to go shopping, and just because no one is here to supervise me, I should always remember that God is watching and that I should work for an Audience of One.

God wants us to work Hard. God wants us to work Thankfully and Cheerfully. God will reward us for work done well.

Wouldn't it be nice to hear these words when we enter through the gates to the Kingdom of Heaven one day? "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's Celebrate Together!" Matthew 25:21

So whether or not you have an employer who pays you money for your time and effort or you stay home to raise your children, always remember to work for an Audience of One and that no matter our age or stage in life our work is never done, God intented us to Work, just as he did!!

Our Sunday Best

I love dressing Hayden up on Sunday's for church. I try and take pictures each week, but most of the time we are running around, late as always, and I usually forget. But I have been able to snap a couple the last two weeks. I just love seeing her in her pretty dresses. And I am pretty sure I am creating a "monster" because Hayden LOVES her clothes too and she knows she is something else when she is "dressed to the nines". But it makes me smile. Oh and I do always try and put pretty bows in her hair, but she thinks it is so funny to take them out as soon as I get them in her hair. And just today when I picked her up from nursery after church, the lady told me that she tried really hard to keep her bow in her hair but Hayden just didn't like it. I just smiled and told her it is always a challenge, but we are going to keep trying. Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We will be heading to Nan and Papa's soon for a cook-out. Until next time...

I know you can't really see it in this picture, but her hair bow is in her hand!



Today - trying hard to get a picture after church.




And she stopped just long enough for a quick look at Momma, then laughed and kept running...

A Little Time on My Hands

On Tuesday evening, I found myself with a little extra time on my hands. I had to leave the house early on Wednesday morning for a meeting out of town so Hayden spent the night with Nan and Papa. That meant that Brian and I had a free night. I worked a little later than normal, then picked up Sub sandwiches on my way home for dinner. We ate (on the couch) and watched tv. Then I decided to organize all the photo albums, wash dishes, clean the counters and then I wanted to update my kitchen table to reflect what the Fall season means to me! Here are a couple of pictures of what I accomplished - in case you can't tell, we are Auburn Fans :)

So excited that SEC football starts tonight!

This is a work in progress, but I thought it turned out pretty cute.




And yes that is one of our wedding photos in an Auburn frame, we are tremendously big Auburn fans. Can't wait to post pictures after Auburn's game on Saturday. We will have more AU things displayed in the house and outside, and of course, Hayden will be in her very first AU cheerleading uniform.



PS - Brian just informed me that we are getting up Saturday morning and putting Hayden in her uniform and we are going to McDonalds to eat breakfast - not so sure about that, but if we do go maybe she will enjoy the playground!

Birthday

My 31st Birthday was last week and we had a great time. Birthdays have always been a big deal to me. I love celebrating them and not just for one day. I think birthdays are special and should be celebrated for a week or at least an entire weekend. Brian doesn't agree with me, he thinks I am nuts for wanting an entire week, maybe he is right. But I secretly hope that Hayden feels the same way I do, because you can't agrue two against one right?

Anyway, this year I actually got my wish and we started celebrating my birthday a whole 10 days early. We had my birthday dinner at my parents house early and I got to choose dinner, which was Jim N Nick's bbq and my very favorite strawberry cake. I even got to blow out candles (and thank goodness there were not 31 of them). It was quite entertaining trying to get a picture of this and I even got to blow them out three times trying to get a good picture.





Then the next weekend we got Brian's parents to watch Hayden so the two of us could go to my favorite restuarant for dinner, El Rey. It is a little mexican place in Cloverdale. It isn't really Mexican, but more of a healthy mexican. Everything there is locally grown and organic. It is truly the best!

So looks like I got my wish and we were able to celebrate for a few days. Thank you to all who helped make my birthday very special. I LOVE Birthdays, for now anyway!

Here are a few pictures from the dinner at my parents house, we had a blast and so did the kids.

Wild Kingdom

Ok, not really, but I felt like we were living in a wild kingdom the other day. When I grew up, it was common place to see all kinds of animals but in our neighborhood now, not so much. So when I heard Hayden making all kinds of squeeling noises while standing at the window looking out at the front yard I went over and checked it out. This picture does no justice of course because I am not a photographer and because you just can't see it good enough, and because I think I forgot to have the flash on. But needless to say she was looking and pointing out the window at I swear must have been at least 200 black birds.

It was a really hot day and Brian had turned the sprinkler system on and as soon as he did, hundreds of birds flocked to our yard and driveway. They were splashing in the water and laying in it. I have never seen such before and honestly I don't like birds at all - frankly they scare me, but I felt really sorry for them that day. I can't imagine how hot they were. Just amazing. Some had flown to another area of the yard when I snapped this, but you get the picture.




And a few minutes later (once the birds had flown off) we walked outside and low and behold there were cows out back! Hayden especially loved this and I had my camera, again not a photographer, but I wanted to share!