Pumpkin Picking

Saturday afternoon we went to a little pumpkin patch to let Sawyer get a pumpkin. He really enjoyed seeing all the different colored (thats right, this pumpkin patch had not only orange, but white and gold) pumpkins. They had them in many sizes too, his favorites seemed to be the little tiny pumpkins you would decorate with. We ended up with a regular sized pumpkin and will be carving it soon. Hope you are all enjoying the season. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

Down on the Farm!

I will keep this short, there are a lot of pictures to get to. A family in our care group has a farm. Yesterday they invited the whole crae group out for a bbq potluck. We had a great time. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the animals( 6 dogs, 4 cats, 4 goats, chickens, and 4 horses). The highlight of the day was getting to ride the horses. Each of the kids and a few of the adults each took a turn going for a ride on Malika. It was so much fun getting to spend the afternoon with everyone. Thanks to the Tatems for having everyone over. I hope you enjoy the pics, there are a bunch.

Sawyer admiring the animals.

Sawyer getting to know the animals.

Sawyer and Daddy brushing a horse.

Sawyer waiting for his turn to ride.

Sawyer, Mrs. Tatem, and Malika.

The next few are of Sawyer riding.

Even Mommy went for a ride.

Five for Friday!

Fall is Finally here. This is by far my most favorite time of the year. I love everything about this season. The smells, the food, the weather, the holidays, family, friends and pumpkins. I LOVE everything pumpkin. Hope you are enjoying fall as much as I am. Here is my first FFF(like how I did that) of the Fall.

1) Sawyer has officially been in school for a month. He LOVES it so much. It has been a wonderful experience for him so far. I am really enjoying my 2 days of free time, and wonder why I was ever worried that I wouldn't know what to do or wouldn't be able to fill the 5 hours with things to do. He is learning so much, he can count to 10 in spanish and has memorized Gen 2:7. We are so excited to see what he learns next.

2) As I mentioned above Fall is finally here. I have already been enjoying the season with pumpkin muffins, carmel corn and my spiced cider candle. We have started our Christmas shopping another favorite of mine, and looking forward to all the wonderful things this season has to offer.

3) Last Wed night our care group got together for a game night. Anyone reading this post should know how much we love games at our house. Paul and I both grew up playing games and whenever we get together with friends or family there is almost always a game involved. Wed night we played a game of Apples to Apples, and Mad Gab. The guys also played wiffle golf in the backyard. I know none of you reading,( Paul, and Julie) will be surprised to hear that the Balcombes were the big winners of the night. Paul at wiffle golf and myself at Apples to Apples. Games are so much fun in general but who are we kidding WINNING makes playing games even better. We had a great time and really enjoyed being with our care group. A big THANKS to our friends Dru and Erin for watching Sawyer for us.

4) Tomorrow Paul, Sawyer and I are going to go to the pumpkin patch and pick out our pumpkin. Then tomorrow night we will have carve our pumpkins. I think this will be the first year Sawyer really gets into it, so i'm really excited to pass my love for pumpkins along to him. I also love having family traditions. I think they are very important. Pictures to come.

5) I'm really excited about this one. Tonight I'm going down to the Buffalo Exchange with a couple of girlfriends, for the first time. I have heard so many wonderful things about the buffalo excahnge and can hardly wait to go and experience it or myself. I will let you know how it is.

Thats it for this week. have a great weekend!

Mommy's little helper!

Sawyer has become quite the little helper these days. He seems to love all things "kitchen" related. He loves helping load/unload the dishwasher, setting the table, and cooking with mommy are among his favorites. I'm so enjoying this time with him, I know he won't always be so eager or willing to help without being asked. I love you Sawyer! Enjoy the pics of my little helper.



Stirring the chicken in the crockpot.


Rolling out the dough for homemade BBQ chicken pizza!


Spreading the BBQ sauce.


Ready for the oven!

The finished product. Time to enjoy!

Diaper Cake

On Saturday our care group is having a diaper shower for Stephaine one of the girls in our group. My friend Erin is in charge of the shower and decided that since it was a diaper shower what would be better than having a diaper cake as our gift/decoration. Today after I dropped Sawyer off at school I headed to her house and we began consrtuction of the "diaper cake" We started out at Hobby Lobby ( it's like michaels, for all you readers in San Diego) There we found the cutest ribbon for the cake. It is white ribbon with brown and lime green stars. After we left Hobby Lobby we went back to her house.We spent the first few minutes rollling diapers and placing them in cake tier formations. They are held together with rubber bands, and baby bottles filled with candy to keep them stable. While Erin was putting the diapers in the tiers, I was making chocolate stars for decoration. After about an hour of work,we had created the cutest diaper cake ever....picture below. We are so excited to give it to Stephanie on Saturday. Here are some pictures of the process. I know some of them are turned the wrong way, I have no idea how to fix that. hopefully when Paul gets home he can show me how.


Here is the cake before any decorations, or ribbons were put on.


Here are some of the stars for the cake (made out of chocolate).


Here is Erin working so hard to get the riboon on just right.



Here I am with the cake after it was finished.


Here is Erin with the cake after it was finished.



We are so proud of our creation. We make a great team!!!!

Sawyer's first day of school!!!!!

Yesterday began a new chapter of our life....School. For some reason this was a little shocking for me. It's weird to think that our baby is old enough for this next stage in his life. Why this came as a shock to me, I don't know. It's not like I didn't see it was coming. I guess it's hard as a mother when the realization sinks in that your baby, isn't a baby anymore. Ok enough of the sappy stuff

We are so excited for Sawyer, and can hardly wait to see what changes, and growth that will come this first year of school. He is going to Stonebriar preschool, and we Love love love there program. Sawyer will exposed to so many new things. On top of the wonderful classroom and Bible curriculum they use everyday, He will atend a music class and a spanish class once a week. They also have a chapel service once a week. We are looking forward to the wonderful art Sawyer will create, the friendships he will make, and hopefully a love of learning that follows him into the next stages of his schooling. We love you Sawyer and are so proud of you!!!!

Enjoy the pictures

Sawyer having breakfast before his first day!


What a big boy!


He LOVES his Wall-E backpack and lunch box.


Off we go!


Hanging up his backpack!


His teacher Mrs.Jennifer


His other teacher Mrs.Terri

Five for Friday

It seems like all my post lately have been Five for Fridays. My life just isn't very interesting, I guess. I'm promising pictures this weekend of our trip to SD, and I will post pictures of Sawyer's first day of school on Tuesday.

1) We have now officially been home for a week. It's so nice to be back in our own space with our own things. We had a great time visiting with family and friends. It's always hard to leave San Diego, and i'm not sure that will ever get easier. I miss everyone back home, and we are already looking forward to going home for Christmas!

2) We have officially made it a full year here in Texas. I never thought we would make it, and I NEVER thought we would LIKE it here. But the Lord definetly knew what he was doing when he moved us here. His plans are bigger and better than we can imagine. I'm so proud of my husband for being obedient to the Lord and his plans for our life. Especially when he had me dragging my heels behind him the whole time. We have definetly been blessed. Paul has a great job, we have made great friends, we have a wonderful church, and our life is all around great.

3) I'm really excited about this one...we started Dave Ramsey's Finacial Peace class this week. It's amazing and I would highly recomend it to EVERYONE. I really believe this class is going to completley transform our way of thinking about money and truly give us a new start. I'm excited about the information he gives on how to start training our children, even as young as Sawyer's age. I will keed you posted on how it is going.

4) This week was also Sawyer's orientation for school. Sawyer went and met his teachers on Thursday. He loves them already and is so excited for school to start. We are so excited for him, and a little sad :( It's going to be a great year, full of new and exciting things. We still can't believe our baby boy is ready for school.

5) Sawyer had a docotr's appointment this week. He needed a check up to make sure he was helathy for school, which of course he was!!! He did however have to get one shot that we were behind on and a flu mist. Flu Mist? I know I had no idea what it was either. It's amazing. it's a flu vaccine, thats given in nasal spray form. It was so cool I ended up getting one as well. Now I'm all set for the flu season.

Well thats it. I hope you enjoy your 3 day weekend, I know we will :) Watch for the pictures.