Picking the Perfect Pumpkin

Yesterday evening we went to the pumpkin patch....finally! Actually the kids had already been once with dad, but the camera didn't have any batteries so of course we had to go again to get pictures!

So last week as i am driving home from Grace's school in the morning after i had taken her i see on the corner right by my house that they are putting in a STARBUCKS! If you know me you know that this is pretty much a cruel form of temptation because I already have to try and avoid them when I go anywhere because I would spend the better part of our salary on coffee. Now I am seriously considering quitting my little part time job at Old Navy that gives us a wonderful discount on clothes for all of our family to go work at the Starbucks that I could just walk to from our house so I could have all the coffee that I want to drink. Does this seem selfish to you all, or genius?? I would appreciate any feedback that I could get!

I am so excited that so many of my friends have started blogging lately. How could you not love this? It is so fun to express your thoughts and share pictures of your crazy and beautiful kids and venting about the crazy things they do. I am so thankful to my friend Emily for starting this trend with all of us because I just love checking in on all of you and hearing about your days and the crazy things your kids do so that I feel better about my life! There are still my friends out there that I really want to join the bandwagon, and you know who you are if you are reading this. Join in the fun!

BEAUTIFUL DAY!

It is such a beautiful day! I just love fall! Well, today is another Monday. I just got back from Costco, which is basically one of the most awesome, yet also one of the most dangerous stores ever! They have samples everywhere that you have to stop and taste and the bakery there is a dieter's worst nightmare! Right now they have the most amazing pumpkin pie ever, and it is always freshly made...ummm yummy! I am already looking forward, or let me rephrase, daydreaming about Thanksgiving dinner. Is that a problem? I just love food! Anyway, speaking of food and dieting, I am dreading the whole Halloween candy thing. For days after Halloween I am battling with the kids about the fact that they can only have three pieces a day, and then my husband and I usually gain like 3lbs. each eating it too! I always end up throwing most of it out, what a waste! Oh well, the kids have fun trick or treating, and i definitely don't want to give that up because it is really fun to see them all in their costumes. Well, tonight I think I am going to take the kids to the pumpkin patch to get some pumpkins, and then we will come home and carve them. So I should have some cute pictures to share with you all tomorrow! See you soon!

So it has been a few days since I last posted, obviously. It's funny because if any of my friends misses a day of posting i get so depressed, and I fully intended to post everyday it just hasn't happened the last couple of days. So to my fellow blogger-obsessed friends here is a quick update on life for the Ronnings in the last couple of days.

Friday was a really good day because one of my best friends Allyson, who is an amazing photographer, and i mean amazing, went out and took pictures of my family. I have been looking foward to doing this ever since she first started her little photography business a couple of months ago, and even though I didn't think it was possible, she exceeded my expectations. It was pretty dreary on Friday and Allyson didn't think the lighting was going to be very good, and I actually have only seen a few of the pictures, but they are SO awesome! I love them! If you are interested in seeing them here is the link to Allyson's web site, and if you click on blog you can view them. http://web.mac.com/inthemomentphotos So check them out because they are awesome. Thank you Allyson for being an amazing friend and for spending the time to take these awesome pictures!
After we took the family pictures we got to drop off the kids with my mother and father in law and then go out on a LONG awaited date. With the busy schedule that Rich and I both have right now it is so hard to find a night where we don't have anything and get childcare and get out on a date. So when we do get to go out I cherish every minute, and it doesn't even matter what we do, just that I am with my amazing husband and we are just enjoying each other's company, just us. SO, that was so much fun.
Saturday we had a day of lawn work. There is not much more exciting to say about this, it just was a lot of work, but now our lawn looks nice and pretty.
Today looked pretty much like a typical Sunday for us-we went to church and then watched football and relaxed on the couch for the afternoon, and then we went to our small group this evening.

So tomorrow we start another week, and it is probably going to be a pretty busy one what with Halloween and this year we have Cole's preschool party and Grace's party so it will be a full week. I am really excited though to see the kids in their costumes, they are always so cute! So look forward to all the cute costume pictures this week!

Well, it is another beautiful afternoon and I had to include these pictures that I took earlier today. I am so lucky that Grace and Cole are literally the best friends ever. Sometimes it is funny because they act somewhat helpless when one of them is without the other one. Oh, they have their regular fights everyday, but most of the time they are attached at the hip. They have this just pure and innocent love for one another that I hope and pray that they always keep. They even say that they are going to marry each other (it is so cute when they say it i feel bad bursting their bubble by telling them that isn't going to happen!) They are so into playing dress up too, and not just Grace. Now it is usually Grace telling Cole what to say and what to do and Cole is sweet enough that he usually does it all, but Cole really loves it! (much to my husband's dismay) These pictures just perfectly capture their feelings for one another and if you can believe it the kiss was totally not planned and i didn't tell him to do it, he just did! Oh, one day he is going to hate me for sharing this with you all!

Well, today has been pretty good, pretty uneventful and routine, but usually that is a really good thing in this stage of life. We had another full day yesterday ending with youth group, where I had a really awesome time with my small group of girls. I so cherish the friendships that i am developing with each of the girls. Sometimes i just wish the time that we have to split off into small groups didn't have to end so soon because I feel like I could just sit there all night and talk to the girls and hear about what God is doing with them. What a privilege! Well, i am off to make some cards while my children are still sleeping. See you all soon!

PS-Does anyone do once a month cooking? I am planning a day next week to do it, and I just wanted whatever advice anyone could give me on it. I have never really done it, and I would love anyone's thoughts on the best way to go about it.

Hey all! Today I had a really good morning. Grace and Cole both had school so it was my morning to just have Camryn. Did anyone notice that today is totally beautiful and the picture of a perfect October day?! I went up to the church coffee shop to work on my bible study like I usually do on Tues. mornings and I ran into a friend of mine that was in my sorority at Kansas State. She is one of the sweetest girls and I was so excited to run into her and to see that she has a sweet little boy that is almost one. i am always looking for more cool and fun mommy friends who love Jesus! I also shared with her that I have started this blog and she told me that she also has one and so I visited it of course as soon as I got home and I realized that i forgot something very important about my friend. She not only is cool and fun and loves Jesus, she is also HILARIOUS and her blog absolutely shows that. I am going to have so much fun obsessively visiting her blog! I hope she is ok with me sharing that with you all, because it just made my day today. The kids played outside for awhile this afternoon because as I said earlier it is just the most beautiful day today, and now they are taking a great nap so I can actually work on my bible study since I really spent most of the morning this morning talking and didn't get anything done. Tonight I am working at my part-time job at Old Navy so if any of you need to get out come visit me at the 119th and Blackbob Old Navy anytime after 5:15pm! Well, I better get crackin' on the bible study, see you all soon!

PS-Here is a picture of a card that I made a while back and love because it was made with one of my favorite stamp sets ever-Tall Tales!

Very Full Weekend

Well, my son is four years old!! Cole had his fourth birthday on Friday. He is just getting more and more handsome. He is definitely my most energetic child and he is super athletic (all from his Dad, obviously) , but he can also be the sweetest boy ever when you get him by himself. We didn't have a big party this year, just a bunch of little ones with family. He didn't even know the difference, he just loved getting all the Spiderman presents! So on Friday we just went as a family to dinner and ice cream, and then I left for my night of scrapbooking with my girlfriends. I had so much fun, as always when I am with them all, and I got some scrapbooking done, which is good for me! I stayed up until about 4:45am which is the latest that I have been up since college, I think, but it really was worth it. We scrapbooked until 5pm on Saturday and then I went home and my mother and father-in-law came over for dinner to celebrate Cole's birthday. By the end of the evening I was done! After we put the kids to bed at 8:30pm I crashed! Then Sunday morning we went to church and it was a great service. My brother-in-law, Justin, gave the message and it was so great. I love when he speaks. The message was all about investing our time in the things that really matter, because we have so little time, and time is so precious. So often we just aren't intentional about the time we do spend, because we are just going through the day, rushing, rushing, rushing, and the moments just slip by.

After church there was a baby shower for a couple of my really good friends, Kristy and Jeanna. We ended the day with small group and the weekend was over! Here we are at the beginning of another week. Today is another rainy, and pretty chilly, day, so we are pretty much just staying in today and catching up on all that needs to be done to recover from the weekend. Another good night of TV is ahead! See you all soon!

PS-Just a funny thing, the page that I included is one I did this weekend, and it is of the first hours in the hospital after Cole was born! That is how far behind I am!

Is there anything sweeter than your kids right after they have taken a bath and they get in their jammies? They cannot look any cuter! I just had to take a picture. Of course it was totally chaotic and insane leading up to this, trying to control them all in the bath is a joke! But they are all sleeping soundly now, and I too, am on my way to my bed. Good night!

Hey all! Today is cleaning day for us. I have so much cleaning and laundry to catch up on. We are so busy during the week running to and from school and other activities that the cleaning just doesn't always get done. But I love those days that you just really get down and dirty and catch up on the cleaning, and then your house just feels so much better, for the next couple of hours that is!!! Yesterday was one of those days where we were just running from place to place, which is why I had no time to post. I am so excited because today is Thursday, which means that tomorrow is Friday, and tomorrow happens to be Cole's 4th birthday. I am planning on making breakfast for the kids, and then I have my bible study on Friday mornings. Right now we are doing a study called Attending the Bride of Christ, which is studying the true purpose of the church, and what God wants us to understand about it. I love my bible study. I am such a geek when it comes to bible study. I really soak up every bit of hearing from others about what they learned and how God spoke to them through the study for that week. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with the homework, but it is so worth it when I get there on Friday morning and we share together. After bible study I am planning on taking the kids to the park to play and get all their energy out. Then, when Rich gets home we are taking the kids to the T-Rex restaurant to celebrate Cole's birthday. He will love it! Then comes the most exciting part of all......I am going to an all night and all day crop!!!!!!!!!!!!! A group of my like all my best friends are getting together over at one of their houses and we are going to scrapbook all night Friday and all day Saturday until 5pm!! You just don't even know how exciting this is. Basically I live for these weekends because I get such good girlfriend time plus I might get like two or three whole pages done!!! My friends know that I am usually the one that gets the least amount of scrapbooking done because I am talking so much, but this weekend is going to be different because I am all business. It is going to be shorter than the ones we have had in the past and I will be getting there late on Friday, so I have to just shut my mouth and get some serious work done. Yeah right, since when was I able to do that! Well, I better get back to the mountain of laundry and vacuuming, ugh! Have a good day!

Today I got to go on a field trip with Grace's class to the fire station! It was so much fun! This is the first time that I have been able to help in Grace's class, she has been asking and asking when I can help, but it is just hard right now because I have to find childcare for the other two kiddos in order to do it. She was just in heaven today though, it was so cute that she loved having me there! It was also really cool to tour the station. If some of you don't know my husband, Rich, is in his last class of training to be a fireman. He will start applying to different departments in January and hopefully start working in a station sometime next year! Right now he is in class three nights a week-Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights from 6-9:30pm. So basically he comes home from work, showers, and goes to class, and then he doesn't get home till about 9:30pm. So, I am putting three kids to bed on my own three nights a week. It gets really tiring! I know there are moms out there who do this a lot because their husbands travel or work late or whatever, and I totally admire them. It is just the hardest job ever to bathe and read and sing and get drinks for three kids. So this trip today to the fire station really made me feel better about doing that. His class ends in December so it is really a short time, it just feels really long right now. And my husband was basically born to do this job. As I was watching these firefighters I could just picture him doing it, and he just fits. This is what he was supposed to do. He has dreamed of doing this since he was a little kid and I know it is going to be the most exciting day ever for him when he finally starts working. I am a little nervous about the idea of him being a firefighter, but I have really been praying about it ever since we knew he was going to do it. I know God has everything in control and things will happen in His time so I just have to continue to trust him. Well, that is all for today, thanks for stopping by and hope you like the pictures!

My first post!!

So, this is officially my first post on my newest creative outlet! I can't believe I am really going to have a blog, I always thought people who had blogs...umm, well, let's just say...I thought they had a little too much time on their hands. Well, maybe they do, but I was recently introduced to this blogging world by my friend Emily, who is one of those friends who you totally want to be more like because they are just so cool, and she has a blog, which I obsessively visit now, and then two more of my really good friends started blogs, and so here I am! I hope that this can become a place where I can share news and fun from our family, display some fun creative projects, and give my bloghead friends one more place to obsessively visit ;)! So, it is another Monday, which means that another week of craziness has begun, but it also means that my favorite night of TV is here!! Have any of you guys seen the show Chuck? This show freakin' rocks! I can't get enough! And then of course Heroes, Hello! And this other new show called Journeyman. All on NBC, and all add up to pretty much the only TV I watch, except for Thursday night on NBC of course...oh,and football...and of course PBS cartoons. Well, now that I have taken up two days worth of space, I will leave you with a picture of some cards that I did this week in my spare time. This has been a pretty good week as far as creative flow, so I have tried to take advantage of that and get some stuff done.