A Great lesson learned and one to remember

Remembering to be and feel GRATEFUL!

So, we went away for the weekend up to our family's cabin and had a fun time, but at the same time, I suffered and had an extremely hard time. I need to remember to be grateful for what I have and only allow myself small moments of sadness. In order to do this, I feel the need to write down my blessings...

My faith- even when it gets shaken up a bit

My loving Father in heaven

My Savior and all he suffered for me and His understanding of my pain I am feeling

My husband, who is trying his hardest at understanding and sympathizing

Alexis

Christian-even though he's gone now

Kaleigh

Laney

Logan

Noah

Bella

the unnamed babies we have lost

My dad-he's awesome and can lighten up any moment

All my family across the country

My in-law family

My ability to be able to stay at home with my children

Being alive and healthy

Knowing that as long as I try my hardest, I'm going to make it

My friends-always there to make me smile

The beauty of the changing seasons

Knowing when I fall, I'll be picked right back up

The loving hubs-he counts twice!

*Pictures of our fun coming soon.

I'm NOAH...the Pumpkin King!

I can't believe my eyes, my little Noah Gabriel has turned another year older!I mean look at this adorable lit'l angel sleeping

and...
walking!

Well with another year older comes a special birthday for our lit'l guy. He ABSOLUTELY loves the Nightmare Before Christmas movie, so we threw him a "Jack" party! These are his invites to his party- a present for everyone.

with special info inside.

This was our entrance to our party. My dad took the boys out before the party so the hubs and I could decorate the house and keep it as a surprise for Mr. Noah. And boy, oh boy, did he just jump for joy. My dad said they didn't even pull into the driveway before Noah screamed, "Halloween Jack!" Noah has been singing "this is Halloween," from the movie every morning and afternoon when he wakes up. He also yells, "I'm Jack, the pumpkin king!" Funniest kid ever. He flipped out with his party. I forgot to get pictures of a lot of the decorations, but we basically used a lot of black and white crepe paper and balloons mixed in our Halloween decorations and some Christmas ones too.

"Zero" is by far my favorite decoration that I made. The kids love him and we are keeping him up until Halloween is over. He's hanging from our fan, so the kids just swing him around and he flies around our table. Bella loves him too and just screams and laughs in delight!

I made this Jack hanging for pin the "santy" hat on Jack. We lucked out and had most our family back in town, so we had a full house of kids to play the game. We have kept this hanging up too and every morning Noah says hi to Jack.

Noah's cake with worms in it. It was one of the simplest cakes I've done in awhile, but Noah loved it because Jack was on it.

I also made brownies with skeletons and bones in them. The kids all enjoyed eating the bone candy.

I made party hats for all the kids and any adult who wanted one. The treat bags were for our pinata fun we had at the end.

I found these cute spider lanterns at the $ store and thought they added a nice touch. I kept the food simple with sweet and sour meatballs for the adults and bat/bone pb & J sandwiches for the kids. We had finger dip and veggies, eyeballs, bread, and bubbly putrid punch with worm cubes. My kids loved the bubbly drink. I have never done dry ice before and they thought it was the coolest trick they had ever seen. Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

I picked up this little utensil holder at Ikea and was going to spray paint it black, but alas, I ran out of time, so I just decked it out to match the theme. I think it came out cute. We put forks in one side and knives in the other.

This was Noah lurking behind the couch debating on whether or not to play the "Jack" game. I made him the shirt he is wearing as well. He was so excited when he saw it and when he found out it was his to wear for the party, he just couldn't get it on fast enough.

Here is the pinata I made for the party. The kids loved that they got to hit the "oogy boogy man" until he broke. I decided to make one, because they are so simple and I just can't pay all that moola for a store bought pinata that is just going to get hit to pieces. For my first one ever, I think it turned out pretty good. And man, was it a strong pinata! It took quite the beating and only after I whacked it several times did it finally break!

Here's Noah taking a whack at it. We had this cute little orange "carrot" bat that the kids got for Easter. I added some black felt and turned it into a jack 'o lantern.

Mr. Noah being ever so patient at getting his loot from the pinata. Mad dash of kids kinda made him wary of getting near the loot, but grandpa helped him out. It was a fun party for our bunch and now I'm on to the next project-a baby shower. I love all the fun I get to have! I love making my kids' day. I hope they grow up knowing and feeling loved, because the hubs and I thoroughly love and enjoy each and every one of our kids. They make my world go round and I am very blessed to have them entrusted into my care. Happy Birthday my dear Noah Gabriel! I hope this 3rd year brings lot of love, joy, and happiness your way!

New Mantra

God doesn't give us what we can't handle;

God helps us handle what we are given.

I am a child of God and He loves me and I put all my trust in him!