Happpppy Halloween from the CUTEST Giraffe in America

Hope everyone is having a BLAST tonight whether you're partying it up costume-style, trick-or-treating with your munchkins, oogling over your costumed-up baby, or just hanging out at home!

We have had a TERRIFIC Halloween just taking Kerbs to the dog-park, cooking spaghetti, and watching our Horns wreck the OSU Cowboys!

Hook 'em 

&  

Happy Halloween!!

The Required Cheesy Pumpkin Patch Photo-sesh!!

Best.Week&ahalf.Ever.

During our transition from Noah's house to our apartment, Avery and I traveled allllll over the place.  We spent Mon-Thur in Tyler with my momma (Nonni) boxing up as much as we possibly could to prep for the wknd when Brian and I would be loading up the moving truck.  We worked HARD, but of course had a super great time hanging out too :)

Thurs AM we drove to the Shug together so that I could meet up with the SUPERAWESOME Thors who sold me their Expy for super cheap.  Major blessing.  Thank you guys SO incredibly much for being so generous and gracious.  I'm sure it didn't hurt that you got to sneak in some Avery time that night :)  We love you!!

Fri Ave & I got up super early to head BACK to Tyler to meet the sprinkler repair dude.  It was the ONLY issue found in our home inspection (sweet!) and we needed it taken care of ASAP!  We just hung out while the guys worked hard on the sprinkler system (which they fixed perfectly, btw), packed some more boxes, enjoyed a LOVELY visit from Kylee (who we miss SO much!), and then waited on daddy to arrive.

Now to the wknd... B, Ave & I spent the wknd in Lufkin for the LHS 10yr REUNION!! Um...SO much fun.  I was more excited about it than Brian was to begin with...but we both had a SUPER terrific time.  We even made some cool new friends who live Frisco and have a 9-mo old!  I'm pretty pumped at the prospect of new hang out buddies.  Oh...AND they're sports lovers.  What more could we ask for?? So after an incredibly entertaining weekend of high school football, family picnics, zoo excursions, and retro dance parties & nanaandpoppa time...

Nana & Poppa got this INCREDIBLY ADORABLE giraffe suit for Aves while we were in L-town.  Um...pretty cute, no?  Thx Nana & Poppa!  Avery loved spending so much time w/ you a few wks ago!!

...B and I headed our separate ways for the wk AGAIN! :(  B had corporate training so Ave & I spent a few days in the good ol' SL.  How much fun did we have?  I'll let the pics do the talking...

 

We love Aunt Loober!

  

Ginny & Cindy finally got to meet Ave and EVEN taught her how to click her tongue. Impressive huh? 

One of my FAV old roomies: Elizabeth :)  Love you EBO!!  Thx for coming to SL to visit!

 

Great Gran LOVES her some Averton.

 

Jackie keeps telling me how much Avery likes her.  She must have somehow missed the fact that Ave was screaming the entire time she was in Jackie's lap :) Sweet nonetheless.

 

Nana snuggles :)

 

Okay, so thats not Ave in the pic. Apparently I didn't take one with Nickster & Kimbo, but I couldn't leave them out!  So here they are with their nephew...just imagine that's Avery's cute little face :)

  

CUTIE

  

My babygirl & my Moo :)  2 of my faves in life.

 

Jacqueline loving on my munchkin.  Miss you sexster! ps- when Ave can read I won't call you that anymore :)

  

happy mommy.  cute tatertot.

 

I was melting the WHOLE time these two played together.  Scarlett is pretty much the greatest sharer EVER.  SUCH a sweet little munchkin.  Love you Scarlett!!  and your momma!

  

Uncle Rileton loves Averton so much that he came all the way to The Shug for <24hrs to see her!  We love you bro...and we miss you Reidster!

  

From Big Poppy.  YUM.

Thanks for the serenades Riles.  Ave loved it :)

 

Nonni love.

 

Big Poppy love.  Is this not the cutest thing in life?

Love you momma!  You're mosdef the best Nonni on the face of the earth!! Aves misses you!

So now we are lovvving being all together again and in our own place.  Although I'm working HARD at getting everything unpacked, I have a feeling we'll be living out of boxes for quite some time... I DO think though, that I am going to LOVE getting back into apartment life.  Sounds weird, but I LOVE having 8million next door neighbors!

Happy Thurs, my friends :)

Praying for Celebs

Okay so....America is mosdef Hollywood obsessed.  For good reason.  Everywhere we look are magazines/blogs/TV shows dedicated to the lives of celebrities.  We love to know what they're up to.  We love to know what they're wearing. We love to watch their every move thus inevitably making judgments on their actions & decisions. 

Because of the way America views movie stars, music stars, reality TV stars, we often forget that they are REAL PEOPLE.  Seriously.  They're JUST like us, right?  They were created by the same God.  They were babies, and then kids, and then teenagers, and then adults....JUST like us.  They laugh.  They cry.  They struggle.  They have jobs.  They joke around with their friends.  They love their mommies.  The only difference is that they are cut off from the rest of the world.  They live and work in this place that is NOT real.  Their world is the epitome of a "fallen" place.   I get the impression that it is just completely NOT the "it" thing to be a Christian. 

I'm constantly reading about celebs who are going through SUPER stormy weather in their lives.  They talk about searching for peace, happiness, and satisfaction in SO many different places.  They look for comfort when they lose loved ones, when they experience failure, and when their hearts are broken.  The problem is that they continue to look in all the wrong places.  It seems that there is an insanely small Christian influence in Hollywood. 


Isn't this all the MORE reason to pray for these people?  We're talking about some of the most influential people IN.THE.WORLD.  We should pray for their sake.  We should pray for our sake.  We should pray for our children's sake.  We should pray for the sake of God's Kingdom.

When we struggle, what do we ask for?  PRAYER.  If these people can't ask those around them to pray for them, why don't we just step in and do it for them?  They shouldn't have to ask.  Instead of just chatting about how sad it is that Katie Holmes married a scientologist or how pathetic it is that Britney couldn't even take care of herself-much less her children...why don't we lift them up in prayer and ask God to surround them with people who love them with the love of Christ?  Ask God to break their hearts and piece them back together with the Holy Spirit?  Ask Him to put people in their lives who will encourage them and spur them toward Him?  If it was your friend struggling, instead of someone famous, that would be your first reaction wouldn't it?

Anyway...that's my soapbox for now.  When Britney had her huge crash&burn a few years ago, God put this on my heart and it has been with me ever since.  I'm not claiming to be an amazingly dedicated prayer intercessor, but I hope to be!  There is SO much work God can do in Hollywood.  And then SO many people He can reach THROUGH Hollywood! :)