Weekend Happenings and A Prayer Request

Friday I came home from work to this little beauty...

After my Corolla was totaled I knew I wanted a minivan! I guess I'm on my way towards becoming a soccer mom, but I don't mind at all! 

Derek and I have spent a good portion of the weekend playing with all of the features and driving all around! 

Anna-Kate was super excited about "her" minivan too! 

Friday night, Kristen spent the night with us but the girls were so worn out from playing all day that they went right to sleep. This was a big step for Kristen because for a long time she has not wanted to spend the night away from home! 

Saturday we played around and then loaded everyone up for some Chick-fil-a. The girls had a great time playing, but Thomas was traumatized by a little girl who was much bigger than everyone and decided to play "monster!" 

The girls and Thomas napped and played the rest of the afternoon while I ran to the store with Derek's mom. We might have stopped by Hancock's fabric (which has gotten a refreshing little makeover). 

When I got home, Amanda and Jackson came over just in time to make peanut butter play dough with us!  The girls liked it, but they mostly just ate it. haha. It was really nice to get some time with Amanda, despite all of the chaos! 

I've gotten terrible at taking a lot of pictures, but I did manage to snag a few pictures at lunch today! 

Sorry for the gross food in his mouth! I just thought his face was too funny! 

This is all I could get Anna-Kate to do! haha! 

Tonight we had a sandwich and homemade ice cream supper after church. We brought chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream! Yummy! I love homemade ice cream! 

It's been a great weekend! I'm looking forward to a good week and then party prep all next weekend! 

I do have a prayer request from my church back home: 

Scot and Heather Baker and their new baby boy, Maddox. He had a very traumatic birth and is in the NICU being closely monitored. 

You can read about Maddox and follow his story here. 

I think that the main concern is that his umbilical cord was severed and they are not sure how long he was without oxygen. He has had a few seizures and they are worried about his brain. 

Return to the Christmas Tree Farm!

Last weekend we made our second-annual trip to the Christmas Tree farm!! You might remember our trip last year, but if not click here. It's really neat to see how much the kids have changed! :)

Anna-Kate wanted Kristen to join us, so we picked her up on our way! She was super excited too! 

All ready to go! 

When the girls get along they are so sweet!! 

When we first got there we went on a hayride up the hill to find our tree. 

Haha! Thomas really wanted out of the stroller! 

The girls chose this tree, but sadly it wasn't for sale! haha. 

Posing by our tree!! 

Helping Daddy cut down the tree. 

Waiting on the hayride to pick us up and our tree! 

After we got off the hayride, Derek went to get the tree and I took the girls over to the little petting zoo! 

They thought this piggy was super cute until they were petting it and it "oinked" at them! haha! 

This goat tried to eat Anna-Kate's shirt! 

After the petting zoo, the girls wanted to swing. 

They loved the swings but it's hard work keeping three swings going by yourself! haha! 

I was happy to have Derek's help! 

When we got to the farm, the girls quickly spotted the cow ride and that was pretty much all they wanted to do! They were very excited when they finally got to ride! 

What's with my face? Oh my! 

The man running the ride pretty much insisted that Thomas join in on the fun and Derek was so sweet to "let" me go while he sipped hot chocolate! 

Thomas and the girls loved the ride so much that we let them ride again! This time Derek "got" to ride while I drank hot chocolate! haha! 

We pretty much loaded up after this. The girls and Thomas all did so good! We had a lot of fun and I love the tree we picked out!! 

After the farm, we ate at a Mexican place and then headed home. We dropped Kristen off and then decorated our tree. I am planning on joining in on Kelly's Korner's Tour of Homes soon, so I'll post a picture of the tree on that! 

Happy Halloween! (Lots of Pictures!!)

First of all, I just have to say that I'm sorry there are so many pictures!! I just couldn't help myself! I thought Anna-Kate and Ben were adorable! 

Tonight we went downtown with our friends Elizabeth and Justin and their little boy Ben! Anna-Kate was a flower girl in their wedding back in June. She and Ben have celebrated Halloween every year since they were born! It's kind of special. :)

Last year we decided to coordinate their costumes. Anna-Kate was Dorothy and Ben was the cowardly lion and Thomas was Toto! This year since they both had their outfits from the wedding, we decided it'd be mean cute to dress them up as bride and groom! haha! Poor things! 

My Aunt passed down a costume from her son, so Thomas was an elephant this year! I had a pumpkin costume from Anna-Kate's first Halloween but I decided that it would probably be a little small on Thomas, so I let my sister borrow it for my nephew, Luke! He was SO cute in it! 

Sorry, I couldn't help but share this picture!! It's adorable! And taken by the very talented Brenna Gentry, located back home in Franklin, Tennessee!! 

After we went downtown, we went to see Derek's parents and grandmother. If you couldn't tell by the pictures, Kristen was Snow White! We all went trick-or-treating at a couple of places. 

After that we went over to Elizabeth and Justin's house for some pizza and to watch the game! She made us homemade pizza! It was delicious!! 

We had a great time! 

Anna-Kate is staying here with Derek's parents tomorrow so she can go to the fall fun fair at our church here! She's going to be a cheerleader tomorrow. Or as she says it "a broken-footed cheerleader." :)

By the way, if you noticed her new cast, you can scroll down to read all about it! I don't usually do back-to-back posts, but I was trying to catch up! :)