Celebrate: Halloween

My daughter made me aware of two things this past October:  1) Halloween isn't about me and 2) Every little girl wants to be a princess.  For the past several years we have celebrated Halloween with Carie and Chris.  Once our kids arrived we started dressing them up in what we thought was cute since they didn't have much say in the matter.  The past 2 years we chose themes (Flintstones one year, Wizard of Oz the next) and we thought we'd do the same this year.  We narrowed it down to either Toy Story or Star Wars.  As Carie and I started planning the costumes we were each told separately by our children what they wanted to be...Sutton wanted to be Batman, Dakota wanted to be a princess and she wanted Corban to be a clown.  It finally hit us both that even though it's really cute to dress our kids up in coordinating costumes, it's really about them having fun and allowing them to use their imaginations.  So...we decided we'd go our separate ways on the costumes.  I began planning out a princess costume and a clown costume and constructed them as quickly as I could.  I've made their costumes every year so far and I'd like to continue that tradition as long as I can.  Dakota picked out the colors for her dress.  She wanted blue and pink...her two favorite colors.  Those of you who know me very well know that I am FAR from the princess kind of girl.  I've never really promoted the princess thing around Dakota and quite honestly I thought we'd be able to avoid it.  I was wrong.  Sigh...I guess there are worse things in life for her to get caught up in and for the time being I'll let her continue calling her daddy her prince.

We celebrated Halloween with a Fall Festival at our church on October 22 (Corban's birthday!). It was a lot of fun and the weather was amazing. I love being with my church family and I love that my children love being with those same people.

 She does make a pretty princess...even if her shoes are on the wrong feet.

 He makes such a cute clown that I just might get over my fear of them.

 First time playing in a ball pit.

 Loving the water table.  Good thing the weather was so warm because he was soaked!

 I was so proud of Dakota for doing the trampoline...

 ...and she never even lost her tiara!

On Halloween night we went to Carie and Chris's annual party, enjoyed some yummy food and let the kids go trick or treating.  So they got to dress up again...

I love this picture.  I think it epitomizes little boys and girls.

 So glad Isaiah (and Chris too) could drop by.

 Dakota and Noelle "trick or treating".  Note to self:  a plastic bag does not make a cute candy collector.  I think I'll add that to my "to-do" list for Critterbug & Cricket for next year.  Personalized Candy Bags!

Seriously the cutest clown I've ever seen.  I just may be a recovered coulrophobic.

Celebrate: Corban turns 1!

This little boy lights up our life.  He is the sweetest, smiliest, most squeezable little thing and I can't believe he's already 1!  Corban turned 1 on October 22 but we celebrated on October 30.  Thanks to the Halloween season, I will have lots of birthday theme options for years to come.  This year I chose Frankenstein because Corban is our little monster and well, I like the color green :).  We had family along with Corban's little friends from the church nursery come celebrate with him and I think he had a good time.  He started walking about a week before his birthday and his little wobble matched perfect with the theme.  Thanks to all of those who have made this little guys first year so special.  P.S.  If you need lessons on how to eat a birthday cake...Corban is giving them for free (just not at our house!).

 Had to start birthday morning off with some french toast just like we did on Dakota's.

 I will not be giving up sewing anytime soon to be a cake decorator.  I guess it got the point across though...

 And that my friends is how you eat a birthday cake!

 Isaiah - 10 months, Stetson - 10.5 months and Caroline - 6 months. 

Proud members of the Bee Bop Band.

 This picture cracks me up.  This is what I think Oliver is saying, "Wait Corban, I just want to run over you with your new Tonka truck." 

My sweet friend Lauren moved to Memphis in September and I am thrilled that we get to spend more time together.  If you remember from this post we go back to high school and have stayed in touch over the years.

Furniture: White Clad Ice Box End Table

Jacob and I bought this little White Clad Ice Box at an antique store several years ago for only $30.  We used it on our front porch at our last house for him to store his roller blades in.  As you can tell in the "before" picture, the weather took it's toll on it.  When we moved to our new house we decided it was too nice of a piece to let go to waste so we refinished it.  Although I couldn't get all of the dark spots out of the doors, I think it turned out really beautiful.  It now makes a great little end table in our living room.  I tried doing some research on this piece of furniture and found that it is a popular item for reproductions.  I have seen pictures of originals and the reproductions and I'm not sure how to tell which mine is.  Either way (original or repro) they sell for over $100 so I think we got a steal (it didn't look like the "before" picture when we bought it).  There was a tacky lamp attached to the back of ours (completely out of style) that we yanked off and told the dealer to keep, that is why there is a small hole drilled in the top.  Anyway, my guess would be ours is a reproduction but I still like the look of it for our house.  It will always be one of those little pieces that Jacob and I bought early in our marriage and put a little love into to make it better.

Tuesday Testimonies: The Idea

I really want my blog to be the story of my life as well as the story of how God works in my life and those around me.  Lately I've been encouraged by several people who have been completely changed by the grace of God and the saving power of Jesus Christ.  I've had the idea to compile these stories for a while and am bolstering up the confidence to ask a few people specifically without offending them...but it's awesome to see the change in them!  I'm hoping to start a series on Tuesdays if people don't mind sharing.  If you'd like to share your testimony on my blog then email me triciacartner@hotmail.com.  Your testimony can be left completely confidential and we can even change names.  Anything you share with me via email will NOT be shared with anybody else unless you so desire.  I'd love to see how many people we can touch by these stories.  Will you share yours??  What is God doing in your life??