Tuesday, October 20, 2015

it's been a month but....



I love October and Fall and here in Colorado, seriously, it's so great!
vail13 sarahvail9redo maya


I mean it really is glorious!
 vail14 DSC_7448 DSC_7394 DSC_7353 DSC_7322

But for some reason this month got off to a rough start

There was my crock pot (my life line) that randomly stopped working

Then I broke my food processor, my beloved food processor the one that helps me make all of the food staples for Norah

And then, then there were the maggots......... the horrible, scary, life changing occurrence with the maggots.

It was just another lovely fall day

"Hey girls lets do fall decorations with steamers, even though it's 85 degrees out"

As a whistle my way down to the basement and open the storage bin with Fall decor a wauff of flies comes right toward my face....... "what the....."

and the smell...... the smell is horrindous!!

I run upstairs and take the bin upstairs and outside.

I open the bin and to my horrification there is a pile of nasty, moldy squash sludge.  With Millions of flies, and maggots and so much nastiness!

I  quickly try to grab a few things from the opposite side of the bin as I inhale the mold toxins

I run them inside and throw them in the sink to try to wash.... but the smell the smell is so bad!!!! and there are maggot eggs stuck all over ever thing, permanently stuck

My kids are starring at me like I have gone physco, because well, I have!!!!

I throw everything back in the bin and throw it all out, all of it out!
Tears......

You know how holiday decor is, it is things you have collected over years and time and some things I had made

I was sad a permantely scarred, scarred forever from the maggots, the millions of maggots, some that were now flying around in my houseo

So instead of my pleasant afternoon drinking steamers and decorating, I spent it killing maggots and looking up signs of mold toxicity.  so fun.

I must have put a real squash/pumpkin in with the fake ones....

The story is not over

About a week later, Brett and I were putting the kids to bed and there was an agressive door knock and bell ring.  It startled the heck out of me so I had Brett run downstairs.

He opened the door, and there was no one.  So I assumed it was a ding dong ditch kinda thing.  Put then on our front step was a small pumpkin and note, inside the note was a $35 gift card to hobby lobby.

I cried.

It was a simple, sweet, small act of kindness and it blessed me so much.
And I had a good idea of the people up to it!

It is so good to live life in community

And then yesterday we were booed!  You know someone dropped off a halloween treat basket for our family, and they obviously knew Norah's situation because it was so thoughtfully put together.

There have been other things this month, when the budget has been super tight that the Lord has provided for us and I am reminded how he cares about the little things and He loves us.  And it has also reminded me to give, even when things are tight I can still find ways to give!

And now I have started my new fall collection, thanks to my sweet friends and left over pallet wood, that $35 went a long way DSC_9250 DSC_9251

And we made some Vail inspired placemats for $1.75 DSC_9252

And even with no crock pot or food processor I still have my sweet family
DSC_7765

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

they are fun



I like being with my kids.

They are fun!

Mostly.... ha!

Brett is busy with soccer season and gone many evenings this fall.

That leaves a lot of time with just me and the kids

We go exploring

DSC_6702 DSC_6678 DSC_6691 DSC_6686 DSC_6704 DSC_6701

or sometimes to the library

 or the park DSC_7696 

and sometimes our car ride home is everyone crying all.at.once.  
 

But I still like being with them, we hang out, we ago places, they are my best friends.
DSC_7634 DSC_7585

There is really no one else I would rather be with

And it has gotten easier.  The kids are getting older and so much more helpful
see, it's mommy #2
DSC_6716


I am in a season of just really wanting to be with family.  Not filling our lives with busy-ness and lists of things.  But just enjoying each other.  Simplifying things a bit.  I don't need a play date every week anymore (although I like them), I just need time with my husband and kids

I have a good husband DSC_7514

And some good. silly.  kids DSC_7475