the great pumpkin patch visit of 2015

Another fall season.....another trip to the pumpkin patch.  It's one of my favorite days of the year, and I love that it has become one for the kiddos as well.  They'd been asking and asking when we were going to go, and the day did not disappoint!

we went to texas

Some of my favorite memories growing up are from summer days spent in Texas.  My aunt and uncle live there, and they very graciously opened up their home to us every summer.  Sometimes it was just my brother and I, sometimes my parents were there too, and sometimes our California cousins would visit at the same time.  Whoever was there, it was always fun, and I've been looking forward to going back with my kiddos.  We decided this was the year, so my mom and I (Bobby had to stay home for work) made the very long drive so we could show these two what Texas is all about!  They were just sure that we had driven so far that we must be in another country!

We spent the first half of the trip on the farm, and while they had a lot of fun, I do believe it was confirmed that we have raised a couple of city kids!  We spent the second half of the trip in Houston, and that was most definitely more up their alley!  We really had such a great time, and I just loved getting to share some of my memories and experiences with my kiddos.

#tbt stories - it's fall, y'all

It's fall, y'all!  This is my favorite season, by far!

One of my favorite things that we do every year is to visit the pumpkin patch.  They always have an old truck set up for picture-taking, and this was the first year that we tried to get the kids to sit together on it.  It was so difficult to get them both to look at the camera at the same time, and this is the best we got!

Hey - no one is crying or has their finger in their nose, so I'll take it!

friday favorites: parenting quotes

I love being a momma.  I believe that it is such an incredible privilege and is the most meaningful job I will ever have this side of heaven.  Since being a momma is how I spend the majority of my days (and nights), quotes on parenting are always standing out to me.  I love the power that words have and how they can speak directly to us.  Today, I thought I would do a round-up of some of my favorites - the ones that inspire me on this wild ride I'm on called motherhood!

"God designed motherhood to be a deeply meaningful role.  We mothers have the opportunity to influence eternity by building a spiritual legacy in the lives of our children."

- Sally Clarkson - 

"There is no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one."

- Jill Churchill -

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

- Robert Brault -

"Children are not a distraction from more important work.  They are the most important work."

- C.S. Lewis -

"Our goal in parenting is not ultmately for our kids to get a great education or to be great athletes or to find a great husband or get a great career.  Our goal is for them to love a great God."

- David Platt -

"Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation."

- C. Everett Koop -

"Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn't know you had, and dealing with fears you didn't know existed."

- Linda Wooten -

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."

- Pablo Picasso -

"There is nothing more important than parents passing on a generational legacy of faith and values to their children."

- Dr. James Dobson - 

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."

- Frederick Douglass -

"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children."

- Charles R. Swindoll -

"We have a higher calling than to just live out this life.  We are not raising our children to just get through the day or the week, but rather with thoughts and prayers about who they will be in twenty years, how the Lord will use them, and ultimately where they will be for eternity."

- Betsy Corning -

"Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God may not be something you do but someone you raise."

- Andy Stanley -

"You will never have this day with your children again.  Tomorrow, they will be a little older than they were today.  This day is a gift, breathe and notice, smell and touch them; study their face and little feet and pay attention.  Relish the charms of the present.  Enjoy today Momma, it will be over before you know it!"

- Jen Hatmaker -