Technical difficulties

Okay I don't know what is going on with my pictures in my pumpkin patch post. Yesterday when I checked my blog I could see all of them. I don't know how to fix it except to download them all again and repost. However, our precious Mac that has all my precious photos has been shut down for the week. The hubby is on vacation and his office redo is his priority for the next eight days so the computer got booted out along with everything else. However, I do have his work laptop that I can use for the week. Last night we had our first date night since I can't even remember when. While we were sipping our Pumpkin Spice Latte's at Starbucks he thanked me in advance for leaving him alone and letting him get some work done. Wasn't that sweet of him. I do plan on it because I want him to be finished with that office too. It has been along time coming if you know what I mean. Plus our new shower in our master bath is on hold until the office is complete. Here are a few before pictures. We will see how good of a wife I am this week and if I can live up to my man's sincere gratitiude. Check back in about a week for the after pictures. Once we get the Mac back up and running I can fix the pumpkin patch pictures. It will probably drive me crazy until then. Rodney is building new doors for his closet, painting, changing the design on his desk some, and mounting his monitors on the wall. He also wants to put new flooring in but I don't think he will get to that. We will see though. He is a pretty hard worker.




This afternoon Tobey and I decorated our pumpkins. We made a Jack-O-Lantern out of our big pumpkin. And then we colored on the smaller ones. He added some stickers to his. We also colored with chalk on the sidewalk. Is it just me or does anyone else feel the desire to be outside as much as possible right now. The weather is just great. Beautiful sunny days with nice cool breezes. What more could you ask for.





The Jack-O-Lantern was suppose to have three teeth but when I pulled the mouth part away the middle tooth came out. So now he is kind of scraggle-toothed or a little vampirish. I totally was not going for that effect.

Pumpkins Galore & Mimi too!

Yesterday, Tobey and I and his Mimi went to the Pumpkin Patch. It was the most gorgeous day ever! I went with great expectations of fabulous pictures but my boy would not cooperate. He was too busy running around and exploring so most of my pictures are of his backside. I did get a few great ones though. Interestingly enough there were actually two pumpkin patches side by side. One was the Pumpkin Village and the other was the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. We pulled into the Pumpkin Village first thinking they were both connected. I mean they were right next to each other with only a fence separating the two. After we walked around the first one we decided to check the other side out. We really wanted a corny dog which I read about on the website and this side we were on did not have them. I asked this guy who was the cashier for the pumkins if they had food on the other side. Well he was a little put off and said he did not know what was going on over there. OOPS! So we made it to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch where we were informed that this was the "original" Pumpkin Patch that had been around for 16 years. It was all very strange. They were both great pumpkin patches but we were in search of corny dogs which we found at the "original" pumpkin patch. So these pictures are a mixture of the two pumpkin patches.

This was the only posed picture I got because I bribed him with juice. Oh, the depths a mommy will sink into for a good picture.


Running amidst the pumkins. Tobey was in awe.



This is one of my favorite pictures of the day. He looks so big!


Tobey loved hanging out with Mimi. It had been awhile since we had done something fun together with her.


Tobey picked out his own pumpkins. He needed one for school and a couple for the house. He picked his pumpkin out and carried it to our wagon and then went back for more.




Then he had to climb inside with the pumpkins. We were a little loaded down.


He was on the search for the perfect pumpkin!


And he found it!


Pumpkin House. I love how blue the sky is in this picture. It was the most beautiful autumn day!


A worn out boy. He sat in his Mimi's lap for almost two hours. She was loving it!

New words

I think I have mentioned that I have been waiting for Tobey to have a language explosion. Well, I am still waiting. However he has learned five new words this week that he is repeating consistently. One is actually a phrase. He used to say what is or where is when he was looking for something. Now he sais where did it go (weeeear-di-i-GO) and when he finds it he sais there it is (THER-i-is). It is the cutest thing ever and I want to record it so that years from now I can play it back and hear his sweet baby voice. He is also saying duck and quack-quack. He now sais juice instead of just pointing. And his most favorite word this week is stuck. Everything is stuck and he repeats it over and over until mommy unsticks whatever is stuck. There is still alot of babbling going on that I just can't make out and I am sure he is saying something really important. I was getting a little worried about him even though I know boys tend to be a little slower than girls especially in languauge development. So I was a little relieved to hear some new words come out of his mouth. He is growing up so much. Even in just the last month I have noticed so many changes in him. We went for a walk this evening because it is absolutely beautiful outside. I am loving this cool weather. He was so well behaved during our walk. He didn't run away from me or refuse to hold my hand when we crossed the street. As we neared our house on the walk back he stopped and cried a little because he didn't want to go back yet. But I reasoned with him that it was getting dark outside and we needed to go in and see daddy. It worked and he came along without a fuss. I feel like the tantrums are gettting better. Believe me we still have them but when they do occur they seem to be less intense. I may be jinxing myself with that last statement.

I also have some really exciting news. My husband informed me today that we are going on our church's family ski trip and I am super excited. He said this will be our Christmas present to each other. That's a little disappointing but I am so ready to get away that I will take it. We have not been skiing in 4 years at least. I am so excited but a little nervous. I feel like I need to do some training to get prepared. I have slacked off from working out because it seems like either me or Tobey has been sick for the last month. So this will be great motivation to get back on the treadmill and shaped up for skiing. I love skiing and I love being in the mountains. Rodney and I went on our first ski trip together with our church when I was a just a sophomore in high school and he was a senior. We had been dating for almost a year. I did not know how to ski and let's just say I was very frustrated and not very nice about it. Part of me just wanted to take my skis off, hike down the mountain, and head home. But Rodney was such a patient teacher. By the end of the trip I fell in love with skiing and more in love with him. So there is nothing like being on the slopes and rekindling our young love for each other. That was pretty sappy but I am a sappy kind of girl. I know it will be a great time for us and I can't wait!

I will leave you with some cute pictures of my boy. The first one is of his electrifying hair do after wrestling around with daddy and the second is big boy with his big boy toothbrush.

My Little Red Wagon

Tobey received a Radio Flyer from his Mimi and PawPaw on his birthday. He helped his daddy put it together this past weekend. On Sunday we went to a park near our house and he brought his little red wagon along. He was so excited and content to sit and be pulled along by daddy. It was a glorious day to be at the park. The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze. Some of the people there were flying kites and it looked like so much fun. We brought some crackers along and fed the ducks. They were very friendly and Tobey had lots of fun throwing crackers at them. He walked around saying duck and quack quack. I was very proud of him for using his words. I am still waiting for that language explosion my pediatrician keeps telling me about. Then we headed over to the playground equipment. Tobey took off running when he saw the slide. I couldn't even tell you how many times he went down that slide. Over and over and over. I was afraid that he would have a meltdown when it was time to go. But he was so excited to get back in his wagon for our stroll back to the car, that he didn't cry at all about leaving the park.















It was so good to bask in the glorious goodness of God's creation yesterday. We were not surrounded by majestic mountains or splendid seas. Just a small pond with friendly ducks and geese and a beautiful sky overhead. Since I have been studying Creation through a precepts study the Lord has been opening my eyes to His glory surrounding me. He is reminding me of His greatness and His power and His goodness. There is no one or no thing bigger than my God. There is no theory or ideas of man that can explain His glorious Creation. He alone is the founder of the heavens and earth. He alone knows the details of His Creation. It is good enough for me to just know and believe that He did it! He spoke and it came to pass!

"The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it." - Psalm 89:11

"How many are your works, Oh Lord! In wisdom you made them all..." - Psalm 104:24

Zoo Fun, Blessings, and Family Benefits

On Friday Tobey and I made a trip to the Ft Worth Zoo. We met some of my friends from work and their two little girls. Tobey is already a zoo veteran and this was his 3rd trip this year alone. I should become a zoo member so I can enjoy some of those zoo perks. It was a great day but the heat was awful. I am so ready for some cool weather.



I love this last picture. It looks like they are discussing the plight of these turtles locked behind glass and coming up with a plan to set them free. Maybe we have been watching Wonderpets too much.


We left the zoo around 3pm so I could get home and drive out to my church's Ladies Retreat. There was a wreck right before we got on the highway and the traffic was horrendous. It took a full hour for us to get home where I showered and left quickly. I made it out to the conference center by 6pm. This Ladies Retreat was by far one of the best my church has planned. We had almost 200 ladies in attendence. The worship was AWESOME and great wisdom poured from the mouth of our speaker as she talked about having a mind like Christ. It was a wonderful retreat and I was so blessed by the music, the words, and fellow women of my church. Plus I won a door prize for the first time ever. I was so excited I ran down the aisle pumping my fist in the air. Soon I will treat myself to a free manicure. The most exciting blessing of all was when my sister-in-law showed up. She and her husband moved to Seattle about 3 months ago. I have missed her so much and it was so great to see her. I can't wait for all of us to make the trip to Seattle for a visit. So we got to catch up and laugh alot. She said she would ride home with me in my car after the retreat. Well, when we got in I soon discovered my air-conditioner was not cooling AGAIN. I just picked my car up from the mechanic three days before and the air had been working. She did not complain once all the way home but I sure did! It was hot and we were stuck in traffic. Now my car is in the shop again. Oh well such is life. I took my camera to the retreat and only took two pictures. The first is my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and me. The second is my fabulous roommates Rebecca, Julie, and Lori who kept me up way too late talking. It was fun girls!




After church on Sunday we headed over to the fire station to eat lunch with my father-in-law. Tobey got to sit in a fire-truck. There are benefits to having a PawPaw who is a fireman. He loves big trucks. When we are in the car and he sees a semi or work truck he points and yells big truck over and over. So he was very excited about sitting in the big fire truck. He was in the seat that his PawPaw actually sits in. There was a look of wonder and awe on Tobey's face the whole time. There was a definite meltdown when we had to leave those big trucks.