I don't want to forget....

AC (Red Riding Hood) playing some games EK (Dorothy) before she got really upset. Sorry for the horrible quality. AC had been playing with my flash setting. Didn't realize it until after we came back in the house. EK was done with pictures at that point. UGH! Not sure what this goofy face is about! Our church has a big fall festival every year. Everyone has fun playing carnival games, getting candy, and playing on the inflatables. It's a big outreach opportunity for our church as well. AC had fun playing games in the preschool area. We went into the gym area for a few minutes to see who was in there. AC was totally overwhelmed with all the people, especially those with masks on. I guess I didn't do a good job explaining that lots of kids would be dressed up, some a little scary. We didn't stay too long b/c EK had a hard time the whole time we were there. Keith and I took turns taking her outside where it was quiet and not crowded. Poor girl!

This past Wednesday baby Callie spent the day at our house. My sister's babysitter is sick so she needed help. AC and I were glad to do it! AC was such a big help! She would get me a blanket when needed. She talked to her while I changed her diaper. ("You're so cute baby girl!" and "Hi baby Callie") She wanted to hold her so she'd tell me to come sit on the couch by her. ;) It was good practice to see how she'd like having a baby brother or sister around some day in the distant future. It was good practice for me too. I forgot how much 2 month olds sleep. Wow! Baby Callie is a great baby! I took a picture of the 2 of them b/c it was just too cute!

Here are pictures from the Fall Festival at church last year. EK was Snow White and AC was a bumblebee. I'll upload pictures of the girls from the Fall Festival this year tomorrow.

Keith's leaving in the morning to attend the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention's annual meeting. Our church recently joined the SBTC so this is our church's first opportunity to attend. He was also asked to preach Monday evening. I am so proud of him and wish I was able to attend to be able to support him. I happen to think my husband is an excellent preacher/teacher. Yes, I might be biased! :) I love that he explains passages of scripture so that even young kids can understand. I know the Lord has given him a great gift of teaching and I'm thankful that he uses his gift to bring glory to God. I pray that God will continue to give him boldness to preach the truth of God's Word and that he will always strive to please God more than men. I am so thankful for my godly husband! **I'll try to get a copy of his sermon so that you can hear it. I'm hoping they'll have it posted somewhere. :)

We have been twice to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch this year. We went last Thursday on a field trip with EK's class. We practically had the place to ourselves b/c the weather wasn't very nice. It was misty and SO muddy from all the rain we got earlier this month. We also went on Tuesday afternoon with my friends Carrie, Heather, and Deborah (and their kiddos). It was a BEAUTIFUL day to go and we went around 3pm so there weren't any schools there. It was a great time to go. (for those who want a tip...) Both times EK didn't enjoy herself very much. It made me sad that she was upset. AC on the other hand had a blast both times! It's hard to believe that last year she wasn't walking yet. She was all over the place this year, running after her friends, picking up pumpkins and telling me all the characters she saw. FUN!! :) Here are a couple pictures from both days! AC LOVES her some Dora! (She can't say "cheese" and smile at the same time) I ...

It's been a rough couple days around here. Maybe my hormones are outta sorts, but I've been so weepy lately. It just seems like life has just been extra difficult, I guess. I have days like that. Maybe you do too? It's not that anything has really changed and maybe that's why it's been harder. I'm rather frustrated that EK hasn't improved much lately. In fact, we have seen some regression. She's better at doing tasks when asked (like putting blocks together, doing a puzzle, basically not just throwing objects) but her speech has pretty much disappeared. She says "Mommy, Daddy" constantly, but it's a struggle to get much else out of her. I'm not sure if she's concentrating so much on doing things with her hands that she can't work on talking right now or what the deal is. Regardless, it's so disheartening!!!! We just want to see her improve, not just for our sake, but for hers. Imagine how frustrating it is for her to not be ...

I am so thankful today is over. It was a day I was dreading to an extent b/c I never know how she'll react. It VERY difficult to explain things to her. Does she understand what I'm saying even though she doesn't talk back to me? Do I even try to explain what might happen or will it cause her to be more anxious? I was also eager for it to come so that EK wouldn't be in any pain anymore. I'm glad Keith was able to be with me in the waiting room. (sidenote: He was impressed with the dentist's office...they've come a long way since we were kids!) They took her back a little before 7:30 and gave her a shot of something. It got her pretty upset but she fell asleep about 5 minutes after it. The anesthesiologist then gave her the IV. The dentist did x-rays, put a crown on one molar, filled a cavity in another (a praise that there weren't more issues!), cleaned her teeth, and put sealents on the good teeth. He's hoping that will keep us from having other issu...

Did I get you singing the Mr. Rogers song? It really is a beautiful, sunny day here in Texas! :) We've had lots of rain this month! Keith has been gone a couple days at a conference for his doctoral program. Thursday and Friday were full with a field trip, preschool, therapy, etc. To be honest, I was dreading today a little. I just knew it was going to be a LONG day, especially since I'm by myself. Thankfully the weather was just perfect to go to the park this morning. It wasn't too crowded either. (Good thing for EK!) After the park we went to McD's to get lunch. Then we stopped by Mimi and Pop's house. We didn't stay long b/c they were headed to a TCU football game. (They went with friends, in case you're wondering why'd they'd go to that game...) Here are a couple pictures from this morning. Aren't my girls cute? You can tell EK had a fun time! LOVE that! :)

I called the dentist's office this past Monday to schedule the appointment to get all her teeth issues resolved. The previous Thursday, the receptionist had told me that the anesthesiologist (Remember she has to be sedated) was coming the middle of November and that day was already booked. I had no idea when they'd be able to fit her in, but was hoping it wouldn't be too long. I just hate knowing that her mouth might really be hurting her! Anyway, the office called back Monday afternoon to tell me they could fit her in this COMING Monday at 7:30 am. Of course, I took it and thanked the Lord for his goodness! I'm relieved that she doesn't have to wait much longer. She'll have x-rays taken once she's out, have her cavities filled, and also have a teeth cleaning. I know it's only dental work, but I wish she didn't have to have IV anesthesia. It's a little scary to put your 3 1/2 year old under. Ya know? If you think of us, please pray that everythin...

Here's AC saying the bible verse we've been working on. If you can't understand her she's saying Ephesians 6:1 "Children obey your parents in the Lord." **edited to say...I apologize for the moving. EK decided she was interested in the camera while I was filming! ;) This girl knows so many songs and remembers something after you tell her once. The other day, the Lord impressed on my heart that I should be teaching her to learn the Word of God, since I know she's able to learn so easily. Not that the other things are bad, but the Bible is best! :) It's also convicting that if I'm teaching her to memorize God's Word, I need to be memorizing new verses as well! We've also been working on potty training the past 2 months. I was kinda lazy at first. Since our vacation, I've gotten serious and put her in panties. (I do put a pull-up over the panties when we are out in public or at church.) The girl is doing FANTASTIC! She's very motivated...

EK has had a busy day! Her days are usually pretty full since she has preschool every day from 8-11am and has ABA (behavior) therapy 3 afternoons a week (1-3pm). Today we added a dentist visit into the mix. Not something I wanted to do AT ALL!! In fact, the last time she went was right before AC was born. That lets you know it's been more than 2 years! Oops! I just knew it'd be traumatic for her. The dentist is a stranger who wants to get close to her and touch her. It doesn't get much worse for her. So, you may wonder why I'm now taking her to the dentist. She's been grinding her teeth a lot lately, especially when she's upset. We were concerned that perhaps she'd broken a tooth from the grinding. When I mentioned something to her teacher on Monday, she told me she could see a cavity. Excuse me?? How did I not see that?? Bad mommy of the year award right here!!! Today was just a consult so he could see what we were looking at. We'll go back in about a...

This past week we took a family vacation to Panama City Beach, FL. I admit dreading the 2 day drive to get there. We left Sunday after the morning services and got to our hotel in Vicksburg, MS around 7:30pm. The girls did great that afternoon/evening and we didn't even break out the DVD player. (That's a miracle if you know my girls!) Monday morning we woke up early (or should I say the girls woke us up early?) and we drove the rest of the way (about 7 hours). We got to our condo around 4pm. It was perfect! It had 2 bedrooms (each with king beds....great for when you have a little one sleeping with you who doesn't know how to stay in one area), a full-size kitchen (a must when you have a child with lots of food allergies) and a TV in every room! We also had a screened-in porch that overlooked the pool. Tuesday morning we visited the local zoo. It was pretty small when you're used to the Fort Worth Zoo, but the girls had fun seeing animals. It was AC's first time to...