Family Portraits

Where's the beef?

My friend Shannon called me desperate to get rid of some of the beef she had bought. She had bought half a cow and needed to unload a little bit of it. The Carvers bought a "little" bit (equivalent to 1/12th) to help her out. The meat is from Shadowchase and they raise all organic grass fed beef. It's pretty tasty.

This may seem like a lot of beef, but it lasts up to two years in the freezer. You will laugh when I tell you that I only bought a little bit because I am putting an order in with Leaping Waters (the one that Sarah are awesome doctor owns) to finish out the rest of our beef needs. If you're thinking "Surely they are going to get heart disease or something from all that beef". Let me assure that organic grass fed cows are much less fatty and much healthier than the beef we get anywhere else. It tastes different too. Much stronger taste. It's amazing how much food tastes and looks different when it's raised and farmed like God intended. TASTY! I'll let you know what we end up doing with all this. Hopefully I'll have some good recipes to share.

The above is Reece being helpful.

Worst Week Ever

It was one of those weeks. Shane left for Illinois on Monday and it went downhill from their. Reece is teething (he has all his teeth except the "eye" teeth! Pretty funny), Avery had another round of constipation which equals miralax, which means runny nasty pullups all week. In addition to this, neither one seemed to ever be happy, kept waking up in the middle of the night, neither one would eat, but complained about being hungry, and of course!!!!!!! they fought like crazy. And on top of it all, Lucy chewed up a poopie diaper on top of my potterybarn bedding and was barking like she had never barked before ( I kept trying to tell myself she was in protective mode, but after the third day my nerves were fried.).
I was quite honestly, pretty ugly this week. Every nasty, sinful, ugly quality in me came out. I actually was screaming at the kids! And a few choice words were definitely running through my head. It was almost unbelievable how miserable we all were. I just kept thinking...you can't leave, you can do this, get your act together. It was not until Thurs morning when I woke up at 5 in the morning to read my bible because I just couldn't sleep anymore, that I finally got it. I kept trying to do it on my own. Instead of praying over them, praying for them, meditating on verses, I just kept getting madder and more frustrated.
I know as a mom these days are occasionally going to happen. But it's never been this bad before. Each night as a crawled into bed I was shaking and my heart was racing just from the stress of it. I'm not normally like that. I feel like normally I'm pretty even tempered with my kids. Most days I love it. There are trying moments, but nothing like this past week where it felt like everything could go wrong and I was really losing control over my sanity.
My early morning wake up call from God was eye opening. It was all about mercy and how we don't even realize how much mercy we are extended each day. There were many moments this week that my kids showed me mercy and I didn't show it to them. Talk about humbling. Talk about learning the hardway that I am not really in control at all. I was still on edge a little through thursday, but I didn't go to bed defeated and stressed. I was at peace that despite the craziness of the week, God was showing me his love through my kids. There was a moment that I screamed at Reece and set him in timeout, not because he was being bad-he was just being 18 months old. And once I heard him crying his little eyes out, I went and held him and told him I was sorry and that I loved him. I don't know that he ultimately understood, but he relaxed in my arms and then gave me the biggest smile. Two seconds later he was running around me laughing and giving me kisses. Mercy...from a one year old...didn't miss that message God!

The verse from my bible study, also known as my "Come to Jesus Moment".

Ephesians 2:4-5 "But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved."

P.S. Shane was suppose to get home Thurs. pm, but because of fog at the airport he ended up rerouted two states away to Pennsylvania for the night. Thus getting him home....Friday lunchtime. I'm telling yeah, I was under attack this week. One thing after another! MERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRCY!

Point those toes!

Here are some shots of Avery's ballet class. I had a hard time getting any good ones so that she couldn't see me and trying not to bother the class. She loves it. I actually wish she could go two times a week. She's the blondie on the end towards the right.

This was their first time using the bar. It was so cute because it had a "mini" bar underneath for the this class. They're the youngest at the school.

Halloween Fun

Reece Trick or Treating

Bob And Larry: Reece is crying because Bob wouldn't hold him, not because he was scared.

My poor dying ferns.

Avery specifically asked Shane for a "sad" pumpkin along with a pumpkin with a crooked smile (she actually demonstrated exactly how the crooked mouth should look.) I guess I did a good enough job that she was content with my sad pumpkin carving skills.

Reece decided that rolling in our mulch was more fun than looking good.

They were so excited to trick or treating this year.

A rare moment. Thankfully they are starting to play together now.








Big sister always making sure he is safe and little brother always trying to escape!

Warm Fall Nights

One of our favorite things to do is to take walks after dinner as a family. We load up the two strollers with the biggest wheels and head out into the woods behind our house. Six months from now there may be houses being built in our little sanctuary, so we are trying to enjoy the quiet as much as possible. Avery found a mountain of rocks that had to be climbed, "all by myself" and Reece was content to just hang in the stroller and watch. It was his bedtime and he was just enjoying the fresh air. No pics of Daddy this time. He tends to duck away when the camera comes out.

***We had a photographer come to the house yesterday to do our family shots and it was AWESOME! I will never go into a photo studio again. It was as painless as it could possible be. We bought the rights to the photos which means that as soon as they are done I can post away! Stay tuned...***

Nic's Concert