Embrace the Camera (Oct 21)

This week's Embrace The Camera is brought to you by Southern Belle Farms Pumpkin Patch!

A couple of weekends ago we spent a lovely (seriously- the weather was PERFECT!) Saturday at Southern Belle Farms with our best friends the Mays and Cardozas. It was so much fun! I had seen pictures and heard about their trips from the past couple of years and have been looking forward to taking Silas long before he was born. :)

There are LOTS of pictures, as usual. :)

The first thing we did was head to the Pig Race. Those little piggies are fast! Silas thought it was funny because they squeal and oink the whole time they are running. :) Here he's waiting for the race to start with Daddy.

Go piggies go!

Next we headed over to pet the goats. We stayed here for awhile because all of the kids were enjoying themselves. They got to feed them and pet them. Silas tried to poke their eyes out with his fingers - all in love of course!

Time out from poking petting the goats to take a picture with Momma. :)

Feeding the goats some hay

At some point we made it over to the big slide. It's basically a HUGE pipe set in the side of a hill that they have turned into a slide. I took Silas for a ride and despite the weird look on his face in this picture, he loved it. We went FAST!

While all the other kiddos were getting their fill of the slide, we went to picks some cotton and pretend we were in Louisiana. :) I love cotton. It is one of those things of nature that I just think are so creative on God's part. I mean, first it's a plant with leaves, then flowers and leaves, and then cotton that we use for all kinds of wonderful things. So cool. I snagged some for my house.

Family pictures in which Silas refuses to smile or look at the camera. But at least he wasn't screaming!

This farm is so neat. They have stuff EVERYWHERE for kids to play with/on. These little tractors were a huge hit with our group.

So were these antique BIG tractors. :)

They have a big pumpkin patch and Silas liked this pumpkin.

A LOT!! :)

He learned to say "pumpkin" which just sounds like a two syllable word starting with "p" and now every time he sees a pumpkin (which are everywhere btdubs) he starts yelling about it.

This was the coolest thing ever. They have this gigantic bouncy pillow and it was a blast! Silas loved it and wanted to just take off on it but I wouldn't let him since there were so many big kids all around. I was afraid he would go flying and land in the pumpkin patch. So he sat or bounced with me and still had fun. :)

We had a fabulous day and made some great memories. I can't wait for next year!

The latest.

New minis. :) $10

Read This.

These are things that I think about on a daily basis but have never been able to write about - the words haven't come.

It's how I long to live.

Please read this.

Here's a look at all of the bundles the are part of The Anderson Family Crew's fundraiser. In case you missed it, they are adopting a little girl, Elsabeth Mae, from Ethiopia and are raising money to get her home!

These bundles are amazing and each one is worth over $400. Each $10 donation gets you a chance to win one of your choice. Once you make the donation you then get to leave a comment under the post with the bundle you would like to have a chance to win. Donate $50? You can put all five chances under one bundle or you can put one in each bundle. It's that simple!

The fundraiser ends at midnight eastern on Sunday so go go go and help out this sweet family! Also please SHARE THE LOVE and post about it on your blogs, facebook, and twitter. Every little bit helps. :)

And remember, if you make a donation to this fundraiser and place an order with Moonpie Designs before the fundraiser ends, you will get 10% off you entire order. :) Convo me on etsy or email moonpie{dot}designs{at}yahoo{dot}com

Home Decor Bundle (worth $623)

All Girl Bundle (worth $522)

Craft/Hobby Bundle (worth $415)

All Boy Bundle (worth $420)

Accessory Bundle (worth $587)

Aren't they fabulous?!

Silas (15 months)

**To find out how to get 10% off your next MpD order click here.**

I love my boy. He is hilarious and rambunctious and stubborn and sweet and sometimes a pain in the you know what. So basically he is a 15 month old. :)

I can't keep up with all of the new things that he is doing that I find noteworthy. Here's a random assortment anyway though:

*He has discovered the joy of dips. Justin introduced him to ketchup over the weekend and now he wants to dip everything. What can I say? He gets it from his momma. :) (not the ketchup thing - ewww- the dip thing.)

*He walks. Like, for reals. Sometimes he runs, but I'm pretty sure that's unintentional - I think he is just trying to regain his balance. :)

*He talks. He can say Daddy, Momma, ball (bah), bug (buh), banana (bobo), pepper (pehpah), book, yes (eeeee), please (peas), thank you (tay soo), bubble, puppy dog (bababababbabababbababa!!!!!!!!!), and I'm sure plenty more that I can't think of right now. He also signs please, thank you, more, and finished.

*He continues to love taking baths. Every night he lays on his back so I can rinse his hair (the water is usually deep enough to where he is almost floating, but not really) and every night he rolls back over to his stomach. The cute part is that he really concentrates and has to work up the courage to roll over since his face has to go under a little. My brave boy. :)

*He is a scavenger. He will steal your food.

*He likes to pick the peppers in the garden, and this has resulted in the premature death of more than a handful of peppers.

*He knows that we pray before we eat dinner and puts his hands together when we say "let's pray." Now he pretty much does it as soon as we sit down.

*He LOVES being outside. We go out every day and he just wanders around and picks up sticks and pinecones and sweetgum balls. I push him in his little car all around the yard and up and down the driveway every day while we wait for daddy to get home.

*One of his favorite things right now is driving our cars. When we get home from wherever we've been we let him get in the front and we close the doors and just let him play. He stands at the wheel so proud and waves. He loves to turn on the emergency flashers and play with the wiper lver tingymabob. Just about every time I get in the car and turn it on the windshield wipers come on. :)

*He feeds himself with a spoon - even his oatmeal in the mornings - and he does a fantastic job.

*Every night after bath I put lotion on him and give him a massage. I did this for the first 6 months of his life and then he got wiggly and we stopped doing it. But recently we started up again and he is so funny about it! He love the massage and he will go get the lotion and bring it to me and then he just lays down and makes little cooing noises as massage him. Precious. He has started asking for lotion during the day so I igve him some on his hands and he lifts his shirt and rubs it on his belly.

*Also every night after his story and bottle he goes to the stairs and Daddy goes with him. He gets to go up by himself now and he stops at the top of the railing (the bottom part of our stairs have a spindle railing and the top part has a wall) and sticks his head through and waits for me to come give him kisses and tell him night night.

I'm sure I'll think of a million more things later (as usual) but for now I will leave you with some pictures. Probably a lot of pictures. You might want to brace yourself.

Playing with Emmy girl.

Pops and Uncle Doug

He loves this hamper. He gets in it and rolls all over the place.

He also loves my pot drawer. He takes them all out and then puts them all back in. Most of the time. ;)

Watching Bolt - his new favorite movie.

If he is outside, he has a stick in his hand.

See what I mean?

He fell asleep eating lunch twice last week. It was hilarious.

Love it! His hair is getting so long and I can't decide if I love it long or if it just looks stringy and redneckish.

SILAS SANDWICH! Zach took this one a couple of weeks ago when we took some long over due family pics. I'll share more of those later.

We love you Silas. You make life FUN!

10% off Moonpie Designs

Have you been to Emily's blog yet?

Are you here because you found me through Em's blog? If so, WELCOME!

If you make a donation to the Anderson Crew's adoption, I will give you 10% off your next Moonpie Designs order. So if you are still holding out on Christmas orders, NOW is the time! Share the love with Em and her crew and then come order some goodies and get a discount. You get 10% off your entire order, not just one thing so that can really help ya out.

Easy as pie.

Email me if you have any questions or want to place an order. moonpie{dot}designs{at}yahoo{dot}com

*Fine print*

Emily's fundraiser ends at midnight Sunday, October 17 eastern time. To receive the 10% discount you must make your donation to her AND place your order with Moonpie Designs BY THAT DEADLINE.

giving up.

there are times, like right now, that i am tempted to give up.

to throw in the towel.

sometimes, for brief moments, that seems easier than the alternative.

to try harder.

to have more faith.

to have patience and grace.

to try (yet again) to be more like Jesus.

and it probably would be easier.

except the bible leads me to believe that it will all be worth it. and that is what i'm holding onto.

i'm frustrated about several things right now - none of which is in my control - and if i don't keep myself in check, i want to give up. i want to say screw it. i'm done. i'll start over.

but then i hear that still, small voice reminding me that the fight is worth it.

for friends.

for a church that i adore and that points me (and everyone else blessed enough to walk through the doors) to Jesus every.single.week and that preaches the TRUTH.

for dreams.

so i hold on.

i fight harder.

and i pray.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Share the Love!

Whooo boy do I have the goods for y'all this week!

Here's the deal:

The Anderson Family Crew are going from a family of 6 to a family of 7! That's right, they are in the process of adopting a sweet little girl from Ethiopia! Her name is Elsabeth Mae. They will call her Elsa. Don't you just love that?!

They are Emily (who is adorable btdubs), Keith, Caedmon, Hadley, Milo, and Kohen. They need about $12,000 to get Elsa home. To some that number might be staggering, but they believe (as do I!!) that our God is infinitely bigger than that number and that HE will provide.

Em is doing an incredible fundraiser at her blog this week. I can't wait to see how God uses it for

HIS GLORY and to provide the funds for this adoption!

She has 5 different bundles of goodies, each with a different theme, and each worth OVER $300. She will reveal the bundles throughout the day tomorrow (starting at 7am). You can get a sneak peek of the 46 (!!!) shops that donated their awesome goodies to the bundles by going here, here, and here.

Can you find Moonpie Designs in the line up?

To get all the juicy details just click on the Share the Love button at the top of this post.

Please please please feel free to blog, facebook, and tweet about this fundraiser. Let's get the word out peeps!

And just so you can see who they are...

is that not the best Christmas card EVER?!?!

Wherein I get the heebie jeebies

That there is a Black Widow folks. She's one of more than a handful we have seen around our yard/house since we moved in 2 years ago.

I.am.not.a.fan.

The latest.

This order for blocks is going to my friend LaVerne in Louisiana. We went to high school together. :) She gave me like 7 colors that she likes and I did my best. ;)

These minis were so fun - mostly orders from the interwebz. My friend Jessica ordered the elephant one, and when she asked if I could do an elephant I flipped out! Elephants are sooooo much fun - tell me that's not the cutest thing you have ever seen. ;)

Close up:

Well there ya go. That's what I have been up to this week. I've got more minis to do (get your orders in!) and some camera straps and some blocks. YAY YAY YAY!!

Would you like a pinecone?

Dreaming Big

I'm dreaming big with Missy.

There's too much going on in my head and heart right now to put it into words clearly, so check out this post. Please.

For Pops

Silas had a roommate...

So we found out today that Silas has had a roommate for a little while now.

Justin was taking out his window A/C unit for the winter and found this little fellow:

and lots of his poop.

Justin poked him with something to wake him up. He was a very very sleepy little thing.

Not gonna lie - I think he's kind of adorable. :) (and I'm convinced he's a boy)

Not really so cute anymore...those are TEETH. He was not happy about being pushed out of the 2nd story window. Justin was afraid he was gonna wake up and fly all around the room so he pushed him out thinking he'd wake up and fly off. He did not. He fell.:(

He didn't want to leave him there on the ground all sleepy/groggy and whatnot so he picked him up and put him on the side of a vine covered tree.

All of this happened in the 20 minutes that Silas and I were at CVS buying hair product. We got home and he was still in the same place on the tree just sleeping away. I was afraid he might be dead from the fall, but Justin blew on him and he kinda hissed/barked. We decided to just let him sleep after that. I mean, who likes being awakened from a good sleep??

So yeah.

Silas has been having a sleep over every night and we didn't even know it! :P We are very grateful that there was no way for Mr. Bat to actually get IN the room - he was just nice and warm under the A/C motor and minding his own business.