Innocent Soul

We have a system at our house; one week one of us puts Lilian to bed and the other puts Braison to bed.  We swap each week.  It makes for a much shorter bedtime routine and we get equal time with each child.  Anyway, this is my week to put Lilian to bed.  We went in to say prayers last night (we say the popular, "Now I lay me down to sleep...") So, after we finished Lilian asks me, "Mommy, what is a soul?"
Ummm...wow, some things are difficult to explain to a two year old! So I told her, "Your soul is the light in your heart and when we pray this prayer, we are asking for Jesus to take your soul, if you should die.  Don't you want to be with Jesus forever?"
Her reply, "YES! Do you think my brain can go too?"

Oh, sweet, innocent, beautiful souls!

So, the kids' birthday party is rapidly approaching.  They are beyond excited.  We are having the party this Saturday at Monkey Buziness with our family and friends.  It should be a wonderful time! I will post photos of all the festivities.

~Ashley

10th Day of Thanks

I am thankful for photographs.  Isn't it wonderful to have them to look back and remember cherished memories?!?

~Ashley

9th Day of Thanks

I am thankful for my job.  I am fortunate to have a wonderful job and enjoy going to work, most days :o)

~Ashley

8th Day of Thanks

I am thankful for my grandparents.  All of them.  They each play a different role in my life, but are all so precious to me.

~Ashley

7th Day of Thanks

I am thankful that I have enough food to eat each and every day.

~Ashley

6th Day of Thanks

I am thankful for my parents.  All of them.  My mom, dad, stepmother, and stepfather.  They have all been there for me and helped contribute to make me who I am today.

~Ashley

5th Day of Thanks

I am thankful for my home.  A roof over my head and a warm place to lay down to sleep at night.

~Ashley

4th Day of Thanks

I am thankful for Lilian.  It is such a wonderful thing to see the eyes of God through the innocence of children.  My life would not be complete without this precious child.

~Ashley

**Disclaimer - My "Thankfulnesses" are not necessarily in order of importance in my life.  I felt that each of the children deserved their own day and since the boy happen to come out first, he is indeed 20 minutes older than the girl, I mentioned him first.  This is in no way a reflection of favoritism; I love my children equally and don't want anyone to get the wrong idea :o)

3rd Day of Thanks

I am thankful for Braison. What a wonderful blessing he is, he lights up every day of my life.

~Ashley

2nd Day of Thanks

I am thankful for my husband. For better or worse, he is right there by my side.  I am forever grateful to have found the one I was meant to spend my life with.

~Ashley

1st Day of Thanks

I am thankful for my Faith.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. - Psalm 34:4

~Ashley

Happy Halloween!!

We have had a wonder day today.  We went to dinner and then trick or treating at just a few houses.  First we went to Grandma Barbara's, then to Grandma & Grandad's, then to Grandpa & Grandma Sue's, and finally to Grandma Sheryl & Grandpa Pat's.  By then, it was time for bed!  They got enough candy from those few houses to tide them over for a long time!

So, in light of Thanksgiving, I am going to take the Thankfulness Challenge.  Beginning tomorrow I will post every day for the month of November something I am thankful for.  Let's see if I can actually get these out every day :o) 

~Ashley

Festivities

First, a late Happy Birthday to our Grandma!!  We were able to all go out to lunch and then have treats to celebrate.

Thanks for being so wonderful, we love you Grandma!!

And, we are finally ready for Halloween! We made cupcakes last night and tried on the costumes.  The kids are beyond excited this year!

These costumes were my first attempt at any kind of "clothing." I am pretty proud of them.  I didn't have a pattern, so it was fun to learn how to do everything from scratch.  Thanks to everyone who either helped or encouraged me along the way :o)

Grandma's Visit

Grandma DeLorus (my dad's mom) came to visit us before heading south for the winter.

The kids enjoyed their time with her and were able to both show off their girlie side with the new hat and scarf that Grandma Sue got for Lilian.

Braison is such a ham!

Uncle Tyler (my brother) was on the webcam, so the kids were extra excited to be able to talk to him!  They really love him and look forward to their weekly (usually) webcam visits with him :o)

Short and sweet this time!

Family Night Out

Friday night, we decided to have a fun little family night out.  We went to eat at the Homedale Bowling Alley (my mom waits tables there at night, so we usually try to go if she is working on Friday nights and see her anyway).  They have really great prime rib (I know, not a place you would think to go when you are in the mood for prime rib!) and a really good chicken strip basket for the kids.  The kids are always asking to go to "Nana'a Bowlin' Alley" for dinner and then to, what else? Go bowling!  So we did.

Aren't bowling shoes wonderfully fun?!?

Daddy helping Braison take his turn.

And, this is what Braison does when he takes a turn by himself :o)

 Lilian getting help from Daddy.

And, when Lilian takes her turn alone...that ball sure is slippery!! :o)

Sometimes the ball take FOREVER to get to the pins!  So, it is more fun to do this...

Lilian spent a lot of her time "drying her hair" while we were there.  I will give them this though, they each played all ten frames of the game, they didn't get bored at all!  We had a wonderful evening out and we sure do love to bowl!  Ron and I hadn't been bowling in YEARS, so it was a nice change.  We really sucked but, that is ok because I won in the end :o)

Not great scores (well, the kids did great!), but not bad for being so rusty.