The Strive starts here...

The Strive arrives!

My brother's band has their newly mastered album available for sampling and purchase now on Amazon and iTunes. Here is the link for Amazon and the band's professional site. (From what I understand they make a larger percentage on Amazon sales.) Congrats Michael!

And the cutie pies themselves ;)

A few days before the 31st, we took the boys to a company trunk or treat hosted by Bobby's work. The boys were so cute in their costumes and were SOoo excited to be a part of something so big that was meant for them. Henry took great care to keep his hat on the whole time, even though it was windy, and Jefferson actually liked wearing the hood on his costume---I guess not even Bobby or I realized just how much they would enjoy dressing up as some of their favorite cartoon characters. Oh the joys of being a child :) Isn't it awesome?!

Bobby and I decided after about 15 minutes that Jefferson wasn't allowed to hold his own pumpkin anymore... this little guy is a candy FEIND and will do whatever it takes to get his hands on it. He was a little frustrated with us at first, but all was well as long as he saw each piece of candy safely stowed away. He was so cute to watch, and Bobby and I were both laughing as we watched how eager he was about this new (to him) invention called Halloween. It was so fun! :)

LOOT THE PUMPKINS!!!

The pumpkins...

The booty...
Who in their right mind would feed a 1 and 2 yr. old this stuff??? I don't know... but I DO know that Henry had a BLAST running from house to house collecting his loot. Even more than the candy though, he loved all of the carved pumpkins and was on his hands and knees several times throughout the night studying various illuminated gourds. He was so fun to watch! All in all, we had a GREAT time and can't wait for Halloween to come again!

A sneak peek...

...of the past 2 months! We've been busy at our house for the past little while, so obviously our blogging was pushed way (way) down on our TO DO lists. So just to give you a taste, here are a few pictures of what we've been up to. I won't go back and recap every detail from the past couple of months, but I will start posting again (like a good girl) about current items of interest... like Halloween! ;) So you all can look forward to that. Now, on with the show!

We've been trying to keep busy with intellectual fun! This is a recent favorite at our house.

But who can resist watching Thomas the Tank Engine now and again?
We had two birthdays in October and Jefferson took it upon himself (bless his little heart) to clean up--which he did without even having to be asked! ;)

More than ever I find myself amazed by the joy I feel because of my family. Sure, there are sticky hands and tantrums, but nothing can trump the joy brought by the genuine love shared between Bobby and I and our little ones. God has richly blessed our lives by putting the 4 of us together, and we will spend the rest of our lives being the best we can for Him in return. That's what it's all about, right?