Under the weather

So this morning I am feeling a little under the weather. I didn't sleep well last night which has lead to the slight tingle in my throat becoming a strong cough. My dear friend Mary offered to take Alexander with her today to the church so I could get some rest and start my day a little slower than usual. Well, as Alexander was starting to get ready for his day he decided he was going to leave me at home with something fun to do. So as he climbed out of bed with me to start getting ready, he grabbed my DS off the night stand and brought it to me in bed and says, "Mommy play games." Then left the room to go get dressed. What a funny kid!! He apparently knew I was not going with them and wanted to leave me with something to do in his absence. Sadly that will not be the case, once I get my sorry butt out of bed, I have a midterm to prepare for tomorrow and a Bridal workshop on Sunday to firm plans for. I will not be able to "play game" any time today.

I love my son!!!

My Pumpkin

I know I should be waiting to put pictures up of our pumpkins, but this guy made me laugh so hard when I was done that I just couldn't wait. This by far is the funnies pumpkin I have ever carved!!! I will put pictures up of all four when we are done, but for now, here is a sample of what I did.

Pumpkin Patch

I am so excited about how we spent our Sunday. I have been waiting for 2.5 years to be able to take Alexander to a pumpkin patch. We went with Dan and Mary and had such a fun time (I have about 300 pictures and video to prove it!) We did all the fun stuff, hay ride, tractor ride, corn maze, cow roping, fed the animals, pet the pony, had the most expensive hot dog in the history of my life, and picked out pumpkins. I am pretty sure Alexander was not the only one in the group having a great time. The only thing that was missing was Josh, but there is always next year!!! I will be putting all my favorite pictures on Facebook if you are interested is seeing more.

Back in the "Game"

A lot of you know that a few years ago I did this thing called The Grocery Game. I saved so much money on groceries that Josh and I were able to put the unspent budgeted grocery money towards paying off our Volvo several years early. It was the coolest thing to see unfold. Well now that I am back home and settled in after a VERY busy summer, I am back in the game!! Today Mary and I sat down and went through lists and coupons and set out to do our shopping after dinner. As we were shopping I was feeling like we were not doing very good, but once we got home and looked at the numbers, I was so excited. Some of our coolest deals were paying $.49 for a $12.99 product, $.14 for a $4.99 product and getting several things for free, like children's cough medicine and Carmex. We had a total savings of 77% which was way higher than I expected. My goal next week is to increase that by at least 1%. I have a few others ways I am saving money on everyday products, but it would make this post way to long. I'm just excited, I feel a Sunday afternoon spent shopping is totally worth the time for all the money we are saving.

A tender heart

I read stories about my friends kids causing them to reflect on life, love, God and a crazy list of other things. After tonight I feel lead to share one of these type of stories.

As Alexander is growing up he teaches me so much that I sometimes wonder how I could have forgotten so many of the simple things of life. Tonight when I was putting him down for bed he asked me if he could say his good night prayers. Well it was more like, "mommy, Alexander pray". Then he asked to hold both my hands and waited for my guidance. As I created short sentences for him to say, I just melted at the sweet sound of his voice and the gentleness as prayed for daddy, mommy, and his family and friends. He may not fully understand what he is doing, but God knows the condition of his young heart and after tonight I just feel like crawling into my bed and asking my Lord to hold both my hands and guide me as I live this life not fully understanding what I am doing and feeling thankful that He knows the condition of my young heart. So I am going to bed tonight filled with the knowledge that I am richly and truly blessed beyond what I deserve having these family and friends in my life.