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The Lingering Remembrances of October

We’ve crossed into 2014. But “Spicy Magnolia” is still stuck back in 2013. It needs a turbo boost to say the least. But in my defense, wasn’t Halloween just yesterday?? <sigh>

Here are my little girl’s hands. She’s not a huge snuggler, but these hands love to serve, to care for her baby doll, to open doors for others, to affectionately greet other kids (to a point of needing to talk to her about personal space), and to independently try things on their own and rest around my shoulders.  I love these hands.

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This is certainly not as lovely as my little girl’s hands! Can you fathom the amount of creativity our Maker has that he would make something like this!? Kensie and I came across this fish at Whole Foods and I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of it for Brennan to see.

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This was a sad day for us. Cooper has been one of Brennan’s closest friends for the last two years, and his family moved out of State. You know how you hope and pray for good friends for your kids? Not just friends that they get along with, but friends that point them to the goodness of the Lord? Cooper was one of those friends, even at his young age. We still miss him, and his mom and I cried a lot saying goodbye because we both thought highly of each other’s boys and their influence on each other. I had a dream of these two going to school together and being friends for a long time.

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This boy loves his Chuy’s! He sits at the table, spreads out a napkin and asks us if we’ve ordered the creamy jalapeño yet. And he still eats the whole bowl! We told him to give swim team a shot through the month of September. It was a rough and excruciating start for all of us, but this boy persevered and gave it his best. This was our celebratory night at Chuy’s. For the record, he is still on the swim team and enjoys it a lot. It is astounding to watch this boy swim.

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Our soccer dude. He’s a tidbit less serious when he scores a goal, allowing a grin to shine.

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Go Team IMPACT! Coaches Travis and Bryce are excellent. They are the envy of other teams, in fact. We have one more spring season of soccer to play with this great group of kids.

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It’s an awesome Saturday afternoon with Daddy at the playground with these two precious ones.

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They scored these books at Chick-fil-A about Cheetahs, Brennan’s favorite animal. On a gorgeous afternoon, these two pretended to be cheetahs together till their hearts were about to burst from running so fast.

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We’re still wearing shorts in October. On beautiful days when Brennan is at school, she and I eat our lunches together in the prayer garden at Brennan’s school. It’s a lovely, sacred space...

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…where we sit mesmerized by God’s beauty displayed in butterflies.

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Who are the people in your life you want to model? That you want to be around as much as possible so you can learn from them? I’ve been blessed with many women in my life that have allowed me such a privilege, women I deeply respect and admire. One of these precious women in my current season of life invited me into her home in October. Usually when we get together, it’s on a spontaneous whim, and I take every opportunity I can to be with her. I stalk her posters and written signs hanging up around her home just to glean tidbits of wisdom. These were the ones I took pictures of that night and have tried implementing in our home, and they are gems.

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My parents visited us mid-October to see one of Brennan’s soccer games and they gave me and Matt a date night! We’ll take them up on those date night offers any chance we get. I think we saw a movie, or perhaps we went to Jack Allen’s. I don’t remember <grin>. On Sunday morning after church, we put them to work and took advantage of their photography services. These next four photos are ones we used in a Thanksgiving Day card. 

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My little brave gymnast trying out the climbing rope.

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This is another outing in the prayer garden. She’s a beauty!

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It took four years to get this boy to overcome his fear of the buzzer. It helped going with his Daddy to watch him get buzzed, I guess. But he did it!

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The kids and I joined our MOPS group for an outing at Crowe’s Nest Farm. It wasn’t my best morning. Missing a turn and forgetting cash didn’t help matters.

These were the only photos I got of the kids by pumpkins all season long...

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…and don’t they look thrilled!?

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Pucker up, pig!

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October was her last month in the crib. For obvious reasons.

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On the day I attended the “Center Church” class, my Daddy drove up from San Antonio and took care of the kiddos. They all had a blast together. I skipped out a little early to make it home in time for dinner. And what better place to go than to Mighty Fine!?

There’s no one like Popsie!

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We look forward to our church’s retreat all year long! The kids look forward to “church camp” to be with their buddies, stay up late, and eat the yummy food. Brennan and Pete are good buddies, happy for any extra time they get to be together.

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The days when the “Highlights” magazine arrives is well, a highlight. <grin>

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And yes, what feels just like yesterday…here we are at last. Halloween! We have a Round Rock Express baseball player and a cheerleader, who finally overcame her adversity to the pom-poms. 

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We joined our close friends, Rob, Leah, Ella Katie and Evan for trick-or-treating for a fabulous night. And of course, we scored lots of candy!

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October, I look forward to you every year. Just don’t go by so quickly.

Comments

So sweet. They are growing up so fast!

Meggie: I enjoyed the opportunity of looking back and recalling the highlights of this past October for your precious family. You all are a joy and a blessing, and I love each of you. JDP

loved these photos!!! :)

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